Winx Club 1. Back to School

_Hello everyone, I'm back! First off thank you to all the people who sent me messages asking me to make a sequal to 'Through Azure Eyes' it really lit a fire under my butt and I worked out a plot and new events for the story. This is obviously the sequal to through azure eyes and as such a lot of the orginal characters that were originally presented will be coming up once again. (in fact as you will see, Daniel is in a lot of this first chapter) if you want you can read the little bio i have on them in my profile. Like before this story will be following Musa through her second year at Alfea. I had a lot of fun dreaming up this season becasue of all the stuff that happens to her and all the potential drama i can stir up (jared!) and a few other characters. I am enkeeping with the plot of the show and most of the script and adding in a bunch of stuff just for Musa. _

_Hope you like it! _

**Back to School**

"You know sophomore means wise fool," (**1**) Daniel said as he looked at the many pictures Musa had pinned to her corkboard, examining them as if he were committing them to memory. But he did not seem to be too interested in the people he didn't know. His eyes continued to wander the clutter of photos before looking back up at Musa as she put the finishing touches on her room.

"You realize that you're a sophomore too," Musa said as she threw an old teddy bear onto her bed. She gave a contented sigh as she looked around her dorm room and saw that it was completely furnished – well her side anyway- and ready for her to live in.

"I know," Daniel defended looking back at the corkboard as he continued to look at the people Musa had befriended at Alfea. He had met most of the people that were in these pictures, probably because half of them were their mutual friends; the others were the people Daniel had met the year before when he had come to visit Musa at Alfea, with the exception of a few people that didn't look the least bit familiar to him. "I'm just trying to make conversation; it's so quiet in here,"

"I swear the letter said sophomore move in was at 1," Musa said as she turned and walked over to Daniel. She had arrived on the campus over an hour ago, thinking she was right on time to move in, but when she got there she only saw a bunch of freshman moving in their things. She had been so anxious to move in that she had arranged for her things to be set up before she got there so she only had to set up the smaller things.

"It's no big deal," The prince had offered to help Musa move back into her room since they were in Magix anyway. "You finished early so now we can hang out for awhile,"

"Cause we haven't been doing that all summer," Musa pointed out as she and Daniel began to walk out of her room and through the halls of the newly remodeled school. While most of the interior stayed the same, Musa had noticed a veil made of magical doves was covering what she could assume was the new bell tower to replace the one that had fallen the year before during the witch invasion.

"What? Are you getting tired of me now?" Daniel said mocking hurt. They really had spent the entire summer together since they had gone to Wizardapalooza together and Musa even got to perform. It lasted a month and after that they spent their time jetting off to one vacation spot after another. Musa's summers were always eventful.

"It hasn't happened in the last 16 years, so I don't think it will be happening anytime soon…or ever," The two continued through the hallways of Alfea until they reached the quad. She looked around with happiness and gave a contented sigh and leaned on best friend as they walked, while she wasn't ready for the summer to end, being back at Alfea gave her the best feeling. "Isn't it amazing here?"

"Looks like something straight out of a storybook," Daniel teased. He was more used to palatial look of his prep school. Devon Prepatory was modeled in a more gothic tradition. It has high bell towers and ornately decorated carvings in it's marble construction. The school had originally been a castle that was used by Harmonic royalty before the capital city was changed to what it is now. Devon prided itself on being a school of history and sophistication. It was easily seen when you entered the larger than life foyer.

"Shut up," Musa pushed Daniel away for a second before he walked back up to her and put his arms around her shoulders. "I love this school,"

"You know I'm only kidding," He defended as the two made their way out of the school and onto the freshly mowed grounds of the campus. "How about we explore Magix while I'm here, I've still got a few hours to kill before I need to get back,"

"Uhh yeah," Musa said unsure of when everyone would be arriving back to school. Everyone was going to be moving in at some point today, that she wasn't sure when. She had actually been in Magix for a few days now with Daniel and they had been hanging out. She had also finished moving in way before any of her friends arrived so there was ample time for her to go to Magix with Daniel. "I've got time,"

As they began to walk towards the front gate Musa and Daniel both heard their names from behind. "Musa? Daniel?" Musa turned around to see a fairy with platinum blonde hair and light blue eyes, for a second she couldn't believe she was looking at who she was looking at.

"Galatea?" Musa spat out still not sure if the person she was looking at was really who she thought it was. She hadn't seen Galatea in years, but she any doubts she had about the identity of the fairy vanished when she saw one of the two diamond necklaces her grandmother passed on to her only two grandchildren. Musa owned the other necklace. "What are you doing here?" Musa said in a defensive tone, not realizing how mean she sounded.

"What Musa means is, how are you," Daniel cut in, trying to keep the surprise out of his face since Musa was not doing a very good job at it, and gave her a hug. He hadn't seen the princess in a long time either, not that he minded, Galatea wasn't his favorite person.

"I'm great!" Galatea said a bit uncomfortably feeling the awkwardness of the conversation. "I'm attending Alfea now; well obviously why else would I be here? Well I guess I could be here to see you, but I haven't seen you in years so you might think something happened. But nothing did so….how are you?"

"Good," Musa said with the overwhelming desire to run away and leave Daniel to talk to her so that she could go hide somewhere. This was drama that she was really not ready to deal with. "So you're a freshman here now?"

"Uhh yeah, I thought why not come to Alfea," She explained. "I mean it's the, you know, big fairy school thing,"

"Yeah," Musa agreed as she looked down to her feet and began to dig a small hole in the dirt with the tip of her foot. "That's why I came here,"

"Yeah….," Galatea said before swiftly changing the conversation to Daniel. "So Daniel are you going to Red Fountain now?"

Daniel laughed at the very thought and rejoined the conversation. "No actually, but the thought that I would follow Musa anywhere she went is so comforting,"

"Well, we have to go to lunch," Musa said trying her best to get out of the incredibly uncomfortable situation.

"Oh, okay," Galatea said and before she could say anything else, Musa and Daniel were well on their way to the limo.

With the settled Musa and Daniel hopped in the limo that had been carting them around all week. Daniel decided to take Musa to lunch at the same place they had lunch together when he had come to visit for the day of the rose, the day that everything went to hell the year before. Of coarse it was a new school year and the events that played out the year before were less than likely to happen once again.

* * *

Lunch had passed and conversation shifted from everything from the tour they had gone on to trying to figure out a way Daniel would sneak in and out of his castle without seeing his father before he went back to school. And as the hours passed the two realized that Daniel had a plane to catch and Musa had a school to get back to. "Can you believe Galatea is going to Alfea," Daniel said as the two sat in the car on the way to Magix international airport, addressing the elephant in the room – or in this case the limo.

"It's unbelievable," Musa said curtly as she watched the buildings pass by.

"Do you remember when we were 7 and she convinced you that boys had cooties? You guys made that clubhouse and Nate and I had to sit outside with the nannies because we would infect the place with boy germs," Daniel recalled with a bit of disdain in his voice. "What a bitch,"

"Daniel!" Musa chastised. "You don't think her coming to Alfea has an agenda behind it do you?"

"You don't?" Daniel questioned. This was definitely a power play from Galatea's family and it was probably meant as some type of warning or otherwise. "Come on Musa, you know you're family as well as I do and they are just like my family. Your aunt Serena is sending a message, I mean why else would Galatea leave Stiveson Academy and come here?"

"Maybe she liked the school too," Musa said knowing how ridiculous that sounded after hearing Daniel's argument. "What the hell is going on this was supposed to be a good year," she complained as she laid her head back against the plush leather interior of the limo. "Why does this stuff keep happening to me?"

"Oh yes give me the family drama speech," Daniel said with a groan making Musa look at him. "My father hates me and I'm pretty sure my mom thought I was the help the last time she was at the castle. I always win this one so stop trying,"

"What am I going to do?" Musa asked her tone becoming serious. "I have no idea how I am supposed to be handling this, do I just start talking to her now? Its been almost ten years, should we just go back and start making forts out of cashmere sweaters and blankets?"

"I don't know about the whole fort thing," Daniel said as the limo came to a stop at the private hanger where his jet was waiting for him to take him back to Crescendo where is father would give him his 'don't embarrass the family this year at school' talk. "But everything else, talk to her if you want to and if you don't then treat her like anyone else at Alfea. Just because she's being thrown in you're face doesn't mean you two have to become best friends again like when we were kids. Personally, I don't know if I could trust her if she came to Alfea willingly, it sounds a bit too convenient," Musa nodded

"Thanks Daniel," Musa said as the two got out of the car and began to walk onto the landing strip. They walked over to the steps that led up to the steps that led up to the jet's entrance door. Musa then wrapped her arms around Daniel and rested her head against his chest.

"Limo will take you back to Alfea," Daniel said in her ear quietly as they began to pull away. Musa smiled, he was one of the people in her life that she could truly trust and that would always have her best interest at heart. "I'll try to dig some stuff up on what ever is going on when I get back to the castle, I'm sure my dad will know something,"

"No don't," Musa insisted, she knew how much Daniel hated talking to his father since their talks usually ended in an argument that led his father telling him about how disappointed he was in his son. "It's really not that big a deal,"

"No don't worry about it," Daniel assured. "It won't be a big deal, trust me,"

"Thank you," Musa said giving Daniel a grateful kiss on the cheek. "Call me when you land," Daniel nodded as Musa got back into the limo as she watched Daniel get on his jet. She couldn't help but feel a little pain in her heart, she had spent so much time with him and all of her friends over the summer and now it was over and it was a little depressing.

* * *

Musa got back to Alfea and walked onto the campus to many familiar faces walking around with bags and luggage. She began to walk faster towards the school, like a child walking to a toy store, more excited by the second with the idea that she was going to see her friends for the first time since she had left Magix for the summer.

As she around the campus she remembered that the boys had been invited to join the girls in a back to school mixer, it was a yearly tradition and Musa distinctly remembered last years mixer. It was when she realized just how messed up the witches really were and it was when she had first seen Riven, although they didn't officially meet until a week later when she and the girls had a nature class that led them through Black Mud Swamp.

She had thought about the moody specialist a few times over the summer, though they didn't really keep in touch, she wanted to but she also didn't want to seem clingy so she refrained. Plus she knew she would be seeing him when school started up again so she tried not to think about him too much. But knowing she would be seeing him in a few hours was enough to make a million butterflies start racing in her stomach.

"When did you get here?" Techna said excitedly as she walked up to her roommate and gave her a hug.

"A while ago, I read the wrong time on the letter they sent home," Musa said as she walked into her room and saw her roommate's things beginning to fill the empty part of the room, it was looking like it did the year before. "Daniel helped move me in, we've been in Magix for the past week,"

"Daniel?" Techna asked with a raised eyebrow, looking up from the laptop that she was hooking up to the printer. "I didn't know you were seeing him this summer,"

"Yeah, well actually we spent the whole summer together, on the tour. It was a blast." Musa asked as she laid back on her bed and rested her head in her arms. She looked over to Techna and saw an even more surprised look on her face. "What?"

"I didn't know the two of you were so…" Techna said at a loss for words. She knew that Daniel and Musa were friends again, but she didn't realize how close they were, probably because Musa had never really gone into too much depth about their relationship to the girls. As far as they knew, Musa had forgotten all about Riven and was back together with Daniel. Although Techna doubted that was the case. "Close,"

"Yeah," Musa said picking up on Techna's surprise. "He is like my oldest friend, and yes I said friend and I mean friend,"

"Sorry," Techna apologized. "It's just a lot can change over one summer,"

"Believe me if anything changed you guys would have known about it," Musa assured as she sat up and looked

"So nothing's changed?" Techna asked again but with a different inflection in her voice. At first Musa was confused with the question, since she had just answered it, but when she looked at her roommate's face she knew what Techna was hinting at. Riven. And when it came to Riven, Musa was pretty sure her feelings hadn't changed.

"Nope, not a thing," Musa said almost dejectedly. Techna was excited to see Timmy, they had been talking all summer, just like Bloom and Stella with their respective boys. But Musa hadn't heard from Riven all summer.

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I'm not really sure yet," Musa answered with the urge to chance the topic of conversation, but since she hadn't really kept in touch with any of the Red Fountain boys, with the exception of Brandon who had called her a few times to chat, Musa really didn't know what was going on with Red Fountain. "Speaking of the boys, where are they going to be staying, when we left Red Fountain was basically a pile of rubble,"

"Timmy told me that the new school building will be unveiled soon," Techna informed her. "But he hasn't seen it yet, until then they are staying in one of the older building that they used to use for an armory, although I'm not sure if it's safe,"

"I'm sure it is," Musa assured, they wouldn't stick students in an unsafe environment (**2**).

"When do they even get here, do you know?"

"I'm not really sure but it should be in the next couple of hours," Techna said. "You know Flora and Bloom have both returned as well,"

"Oh great I'll go see them," Musa walked out of her room and over through the common room and saw there were indeed boxes all lined up in the hallway outside of the room that the two shared. Musa walked through the already opened door to see Flora setting up a bunch of different planters while Bloom was making her bed.

"Musa!" Flora exclaimed happily as she ran over to hug the musical princess. "How was your summer?"

"Great how about you guys," Musa asked as she sat on Flora's bed.

"Great!" the two replied in unison. "Do you know where Stella is? I need her help with something," Bloom asked in an uncomfortable voice.

"No, I haven't seen her yet," Musa replied. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Bloom said with a sigh only to look up and see Musa and Flora's faces, obviously not buying her façade. "There was this article in Teen Fairy about Sky's family and there were some pictures of him and Diaspro, it said that they were canoodling at Lilypond in the Amptons (**3**) when they went on vacation together,"

"I wouldn't believe Teen Fairy," Musa told her. "They make drama because it's their job. There was an article that said that Daniel and I were engaged last year, during the time when we weren't even speaking. They have nothing better to do than report nonsense. Don't buy into it or you'll go crazy," Musa advised. She knew these types of tabloids and gossip magazines all too well, but growing up around that stuff helped her learn how to avoid all of it, and having a publicist and lawyer on retainer was also very helpful.

"Yeah," Bloom said still not convinced but there was only so much Musa could do.

"Look, you go find Stella and she'll tell you the same thing," Musa assured. "He's so into you and come on, Diaspro? If he was going to cheat on you, I don't think he'd do it with someone that makes a normal person want to kill themselves,"

Bloom nodded and went off to find Stella, who would surely tell her the same thing. Flora then went to go to the dining hall to work on some of the spells she had learned over the summer. Musa then walked back down and went back outside. Just as she walked onto the quad she looked up to see a petite brunette shouting at some poor other student who was frantically picking up clothing that looked as if they had spilled out of a suitcase. Ali's clothing was in a pile on the ground and she could only guess that the girl she was yelling at was probably the one who had perpetrated the crime.

"You stupid stupid – Musa!" Ali yelled happily as the anger washed off her face when she saw Musa walking towards her and she then embraced the musical fairy. She then looked down to the fairy that was still picking up her clothing and addressed her with a stern voice. "You take my stuff up to my room and so help me god if you stained any of my couture you'll be so –,"

"Just take it upstairs before she kills you," Musa said as she knelt down and picked up the last few pieces of clothing that were on the ground and handed them off to the girl who them ran off in a hurry to do as she was told. "Establishing your power early?"

"Of coarse she is," Musa and Ali turned to see Whitney walking towards them with a large tote bag in her hand. "Would we have it any other way,"

"Our power," Ali corrected as the two walked to the steps that led up to the main entrance and took a seat. "Turns out that a lot of the fairies found out about our little power play with Karen last year and nobody dares to mess with me or you for that matter,"

"Lovely," Musa said sarcastically with a sigh. "Now people are scared ot me? I was just getting revenge, which was totally just since Karen basically set out to ruin my life," Musa defended, not that she needed to since she was talking to Ali.

"Okay maybe not scared, just respectful," Ali cooed. "They're very different things, respect is good,"

"That's true," Whitney added.

"Sure," Musa said not too convinced making a mental note to try not to get into anymore drama with anyone. "So how was your summer?"

"Good, had some fun and got a tan," Ali answered. "I'm excited to get back though, my parents were keeping me under lock and key it's so annoying. How about you? You had you're big tour this summer, how did it go?"

"Great, I learned a lot about music it was so cool," Musa said. "It was so amazing, I got to meet everyone that my dad would never even let me talk to and the parties after were really cool. It was probably the best summer ever," Musa gushed; her summer really had been the best she could remember. And even though she had to hide it from her father, she didn't even feel guilty, Daniel had convinced her that she had every right to be happy and it just so happened that singing and music made her happy.

"Well then play us a little something," Whitney challenged in a playful tone. "Since you had such an amazing learning experience,"

Musa accepted the challenge and conjured the saxophone and began to play a song that she had played on one of the last nights of the tour. A few seconds in she heard Bloom call out to her. "Where's that tune from, it's cool,"

"Thanks that one's from the improv realm," Musa said and then continued to play. She stopped a few minutes later and realized that she had yet to get ready and the guys would be here soon. "Okay well enough of your free concert, I need to go get ready before the mixer starts,"

While Musa was never really the type of girl to freak out about how she looked, she felt a particular anxiety about what she was going to wear today, no doubt she wanted to impress Riven, but then she didn't want to seem like she was trying to hard. With a heavy sigh Musa continued to sort through her wardrobe looking for something suitable to wear, every now and again hearing Stella throw a fit because she had also not figured out what she was wearing. Of coarse Musa let no one know about her worries to look appealing, after all she wasn't going to let her ego get bruised once again by the same guy. If anything did happen with Riven then so be it and if not, she refused to let an ordeal like last's years occur once again. Finally deciding on a fitted top with low rise jeans, that showed off her petite waist just enough without being too much, Musa looked in the mirror and began her way back to the quad to meet Stella and the rest of the girls as they anxiously awaited the boys to arrive.

"Ugh where is Bloom?" Stella complained. The entire Winx Club had assembled in the quad, minus one Bloom. It was rather ironic that she was the one that everyone would be waiting on, but today Bloom was even more on edge about "I want us all to be together when the boys arrive, I have a theory that beauty enhances beauty. If I'm surrounded by the four of you I'll look four times as beautiful, she'll ruin it all."

"Don't worry Stella you look good," Flora assured.

"Good is not good enough," Stella demanded angrily. "One should never settle when it comes to beauty potential,

"Hi girls," Bloom said as she ran over to the Winx Club, hopping along the path as she put on her other shoe. "Sorry I'm late,"

"Why were you late, you're not still obsessing over that tabloid article about Sky are you," Stella asked.

"Maybe I was doing some realm wide web research, but I'm over it now," Bloom said not sounding too convincing and from the look on her face it was pretty obvious that it was still bothering her. "Like you said Stella, why would anyone want to cheat on me?"

"You don't sound so sure,"

"I am," Bloom demanded angrily as she turned around." Check my skirt I just go it,"

"The boys will be here soon," Flora said looking down at her watch.

"I know," Musa said feeling the excitement coarse through her. She had spoken to Brandon the day before since she was already in Magix and because the boys moved in a couple days before the girls did. "In fact they're gonna race here,"

"Let's check it out," Flora said as she, Techna and Musa walked over to the front gate and awaited the boys to arrive.

"Riven is gonna win for sure," (**4**) Musa said confidently. While she hadn't spoken to Riven all summer, they had a short conversation while they were at prom at the end of the last year and she had learned that he was going to leva bike camp for the summer. Although Musa didn't know much more than that about Riven, which made her wonder for a second as to why she was so excited to see him. They hardly ever talked and she spent most of last year hating, liking and being angry at him all the same time, while still attempting to mask those feelings.

"I don't think Stella would agree with that," Flora said quietly.

"Yeah it's gonna be Brandon," Stella agreed as she and all the other girls looked out into the forest and the path that led into it.

Just then a low roar of leva bikes began to grow louder. Musa looked out into the distance to see three leva bikes racing towards Alfea, all three looking as if they were lines up with each other. Finally, the boys had made it to the finish line with Riven leading the way and Sky bringing up the rear.

"And Riven wins," Flora said softly over Stella's whining.

"Well he did go to leva bike camp this summer," Musa said with a laugh. She then looked over to Riven who had just taken off his helmet.

"I won, looks like you guys will have to do all my chores this week," Riven bragged in victory. Musa thought about walking over to Riven's bike and greeting him, like Stella and Bloom had with Sky and Brandon, but instead she stood with Techna and Flora.

Shy wouldn't be a word that Musa would use to describe herself, she tended to conform with her environment and she could make new friends pretty quickly, though it did take her awhile to really trust a person. But when it came to guys Musa was not very extroverted. The only other guy that she really felt something for was Daniel and he was the one to initiate their relationship. And Musa knew Riven was not the kind of guy to simply kiss her out of the blue like Daniel had when she had begun her relationship with him. Needless to say she wasn't the best when it came to the beginning of a relationship.

Musa and Riven instead looked at each other and exchanged smiles from a short distance. Over the summer she had questioned her feelings towards Riven, but then she saw him and doubt just washed away. She had tried to figure out what kind of hold he had on her but one thing was for sure, it wasn't loosening in the least. Just as she was about to wave to him a large shadow cast over the group. She looked up to see the boys' squad ship. "That's Timmy he upgraded the squad ship over the summer," Sky explained as the entire group looked up at the massive craft.

"He made significant modifications, he emailed me about them over the summer with all the details," Techna said excitedly. "Very nice,"

Sitting on the same steps that Musa was just on when she performed her saxophone solo for Ali and Whitney. Musa had taken a seat next to Riven and just as she was going to break the ice, Riven turned to her and spoke with softness in his voice, something Musa was not used to from him. "How was the tour?" He asked, his violet eyes making her melt.

"Great, I learned a lot and you know there was some fun involved," Musa said beaming/ "I would ask how camp was, but the race pretty much covers it,"

"Yeah," Riven said with a laugh and Musa then saw something that she wasn't used to seeing either. A smile. While Riven's signature smirks or scowls were sexy in their own right, his smile was nothing less than dreamy.

"I believe style is change," Stella interrupted before Riven could continue the conversation. It was clear from the looks on both of their faces that they didn't appreciate the interruption. "Change is good. Hint, hint Riven."

Musa couldn't help but let out a giggle before turning her face to a more composed look. While Riven didn't seem to appreciate the comment that the princess of Solaria made, but he didn't take her bait and say some snide comment back which was even more surprising for the princess. He was full of them today. He did however comment dryly at her attempt at humor. "Funny"

"I mean, look at Timmy. He looks so much better in his new sweatshirt." Stella said now moving onto Techna and Timmy to pick on. Musa was never really sure if Stella knew how hurtful the things she said could be to some people but she never hesitated to put the princess in her face whenever she even tried to make her feel bad.

"Well, Techna picked it out and sent it too me this summer." Timmy said shyly, obviously not taking

"Yeah," Techna agreed.

"One small change can make a world of difference, Musa." Stella said moving on to Musa, not that she didn't see this coming.

"I am not gonna changing my pig tails," Musa told her sternly but with a smile and absolutely no venom in her voice, she figured when Stella didn't get a reaction she would stop, but she was wrong. "They were all the rage at Wizard-pa-looza."

"Yeah and they make you look like you're going to pre school,"

"Well you're clothing makes you look like you're going to go work the streets, so maybe a little change wouldn't hurt you," Musa said sweetly being sure to put Stella in her place. She heard Riven desperately stifling a laugh while everyone else, except Bloom and Sky who were in their own little world, looked with some surprise. Flora however rolled her eyes as if she were expecting this to happen when Stella opened her mouth. It much to her surprise, Stella took it, probably because Stella had nothing left to say.

"You two are starting the bickering early this year," Flora said disappointedly not wanting to play mother hen to the two, just as Ali walked up to the group.

"Ms. Faragonda wants everyone to assemble in the quad, she's going to reveal the new tower that was rebuilt," Ali said and then looked over to Musa, who had now scooted over closer to Riven and then raised her eyebrow, she then swiftly turned around and began to lead the group over to where Faragonda had assembled the school.

"Fairies of Alfea and heroes of Red Fountain, I would like to welcome you all back to Alfea and back to the school year. I hope you all use this year to your fullest potential," Ms. Faragonda said to the students as she walked up the steps of the school. "I would also like to say thank you for coming to our back to school mixer. What a great start to the year. After last years witch invasion the school had to under go major remodeling," Ms. Faragonda continued as she looked over to the tower that was covered by the magical doves.

"In a moment we will unveil the new wing which we've named in honor of a very brave fairy. We would not be here without her. Bloom, my dear, would you please join me up here."

Musa looked over to the fairy in question and saw Bloom's eyes widened with surprise at the recognition. "Me?"

"What are you waiting for?" Musa asked as she got behind Bloom and began to push Bloom towards the stage. "Go take a bow."

"Hold on a second," Stella then promptly removed the head band Bloom had one letting her hair loose. "Perfect, now stand up straight and remember to smile. Your smile is your most outstanding feature."

Bloom walked about half a step before turning back around and looking at her fiends. "You girls all have to come up there with me, we all beat the witches together."

"You sure?"

"Come on. Let's do it Winx Club!" Bloom cheered rather loudly and waved to her friends that soon followed after her. Musa walked onto the platform where all the teachers and Ms. Faragonda were and waved at her fellow students, now quite sure what do from there.

"And now let's unveil our new dragonfire wing," Ms. Faragonda said as she queued the magical doves to fly away. "Release the magical doves!"

The tower looked remarkably like the tower that was destroyed, but it was nice to have the entire school looking like it was supposed to. The tower was now going to have a large potions lab on the bottom floor and then on the top would be a large observatory equipped with telescopes to look out at the different galaxies.

"So dance team isn't doing anything for the back to school mixer?" Sky asked Musa. The group had taken a seat at one of the tables that had been set up for the back to school mixer. "That's too bad, it's usually a good performance,"

"No there was that whole witch thing last year, so we couldn't have any practice," Ali said as she walked up the group, answering the question that was originally meant for the Harmonic princess, and took a seat next to Musa right before Riven could. Like Stella, Ali and Riven didn't exactly get along. She didn't like his attitude; she thought him to be too arrogant and rude; which he was. But Musa could see past that and she knew there was more and with time Ali would see it too.

"I was hoping we could put something together," Musa said a bit regretfully, pushing the food on her plate from one side to the other. The food was actually really good today, the school had it the affair catered, but Musa was not really hungry right now. The day had been pretty eventful. "But there really was no time, maybe the next big event,"

"Well that should be the re-opening of Red Fountain," Timmy stated. The boys were all looking forward to seeing their new school, but there was a certain bittersweet feeling to it since the other building had been around for centuries and withstood countless battles. Not to mention it was home to a lot of the students that went there.

"Actually I think it's gonna be the first pep rally we have for our girls soccer team," Musa said.

"Yeah do you guys know what the new school is going to look like?" Stella asked as she laid her head along Brandon's arm.

"No, its going to be a surprise," Sky answered. "So were homeless till them," he joked.

"Speaking of surprises," Ali said as she stood up and tapped Musa on her shoulder and signaled her to get up and follow her. "The girls need to talk to you,"

Musa nodded and excused herself from the table. She walked over to where most of the girls from the dance team were assembled. They were now missing a few members since the seniors had graduated the year before and it was usually their job to get new members before the year let out but there were a few exceptions. One was if there was a huge problem with the school, like say if there was an army made of rotting flesh. "We need three new girls for the team and we need them in like a couple of days," Whitney said.

"So what are we going to do?" Musa asked before remembering that in the midst of her war with Karen the year before that she had become the captain of the team. "Oh right, that's my decision,"

"Yeah and we kinda need one soon because we need to start getting our next few routines together," Tessa, another member of the team said, the golden haired fairy looked a little more cross than anyone else. "So what's the plan, cappie?"

Musa, not too pleased with the nickname that the fairy had given her, gave her a look before answering. "We can have tryouts beginning tomorrow, tell everyone you know," Musa began trying to think of how she could prepare a routine to teach to other girls and then have tryouts and pick the new team. "And we'll give the girls a day to learn the routine and then we can go back and judge them the next day or better we teach them in the morning and they should have it done by nighttime,"

"You expect a good turn out on one day's notice?" Tessa asked skeptically, obviously not too excited about Musa taking the lead. "That is not gonna happen,"

"Well it's gonna have to cause there is no time between now and our first scheduled performance so how about you stop complaining and help," Musa spat out, this is not what she wanted to deal with on her first day back to school. "Look we have the entire school here right now, just talk to the everyone and hopefully we'll get 10 or 15 girls and that should be good enough, we only need three or four,"

"Fine," Tessa said as she walked away and the rest of the dance team began to disperse.

"I'm not doing too well at this whole captain thing," Musa sighed. She and Ali were the only ones now left of the dance team still standing in the spot where they had their impromptu meeting. "Of coarse it's not like I asked for it," Musa said looking at Ali with steel in her eyes.

"What!?" Ali asked defensively. "It's not like you were begging to abdicate,"

"The plan was for _you_ to stay as the captain and then make Karen cry,"

"Well you were the one with the vendetta," Ali pointed out. "So it only fits that you…I don't even know where I was going with this…"

"Point is, this is all your fault,"

Ali would have shot back some smart reply but for the life of her she couldn't think of a thing. "Just go away,"

"Fine," Musa said crossing her arms as she began to walk back to her table. She then turned around and stopped Ali from walking away. "But can you please tell people to come to the try outs, I really don't want to be sitting there and no one shows up. The girls would be so pissed with me," Ali smiled and nodded as she walked away to spread the word about the try outs.

"Do any of you girls want to join the Alfea dance team?" Musa asked as soon as she got back to her table and took the only empty seat that just happened to be next to Riven. "Or know anyone that can somewhat follow a beat?"

"I've got two left feet," Flora said honestly. "Sorry,"

"Well I'm pretty smooth on the dance floor," Sky admitted in a joking matter. "In fact I might be able to teach you a thing or two,"

"And by a thing or two you mean tripping and falling," Musa quipped back. "Right?"

"Why?" Bloom asked. Musa knew that it wasn't the best idea to ask them to try out considering she had seen most of them dance it was pretty awful, but she was desperate.

"Ugh random junk with the dance team girls," Musa explained. "We need a few girls to replace the ones that graduated last year and I need them by tomorrow,"

"Good luck, I'll ask around," Stella offered before escorted to the dance floor by Brandon. Sky soon followed suit with Bloom and then Timmy took Techna to the new squad ship leaving Flora Musa and Riven sitting awkwardly together at the table.

"I think I'm going to go…" Flora began unable to think of a good reason to leave the table. She didn't want to say the prospect of being a third wheel was appealing and she knew Musa would kill her if she said she wanted to leave the two of them alone, so she said the first thing she could think of. "Water a plant,"

Musa watched as her friend walked away and began to laugh at the situation she was just put in. She looked over to Riven, who sat silent in his place and then looked over to her. "And then there were two," she said with a laugh. "Almost as if they planned this,"

"Of coarse they did," Riven said in a sarcastic manner that was meant to make the princess laugh or at least cut the obvious tension between them, but of coarse the words didn't come out the way he meant them to and they only served to offend her.

"Sorry to be such bad company," Musa said with a roll of her eyes keeping any anger out of her voice, she didn't want him to know that he had the power to offend her so easily. Even though the fact of the matter was that she wanted him to like her so desperately. The princess began walking away in an attempt to keep from letting him see how insulted she was just as she did so, she was stopped by something that she really had not expected.

"Sorry," Riven said from his seat as he turned around to face her and even though she wanted to keep walking away, she reveled in the fact that he had made some attempt to be nice to her. _God you're pathetic _Musa thought to herself as she began to walk back over to him. Just as she got back to her original place next to him, Riven attempted to be funny again, and just like before he was a bit off mark. "Don't you think you're being a bit overly sensitive?"

"If you're wondering why so few people can stand to be around you," Musa sniped with cross look on her face that made Riven want her even more. "This is it," Before Riven could get another word out of his mouth Musa stomped off, clearly upset, leaving Riven alone again, the specialist couldn't help but smile however. She was the cutest thing when she was angry.

The mixer continued as most dances and get together with the boys from Red Fountain usually did. Of coarse this year there weren't as many planned festivities since most of the clubs and organization committees had basically become a big mess after the witch invasion and were now beginning come together and become organized.

The hours passed quickly and before she knew it the sun was beginning to set and the mixer was nearing it's end. "Thanks for coming guys," Stella said as she waved to the ship as if took off and blew a kiss over to Brandon who had taken the wheel with Timmy. "Great party!"

"That was fun," Musa said with a contented sigh. Although there really wasn't much time for her to talk to the person she really wanted to talk to, Musa figured that she would have plenty of time later to talk to him.

"Bloom, I sense a strange disturbance," Flora turned just as the girls had turned to go back into the dorm. She looked around suspiciously as if something were approaching.

"Where?" Bloom asked not listening to whatever Stella was going on about.

"It's coming from the east woods,"

Musa automatically began to focus on what Flora was sensing. She began to her the faint sound of footsteps stepping on dead leaves, walking through the woods slowly. "I hear something, someone or something is coming here, slowly,"

"Look!" Bloom said pointing into the woods. Musa looked out into the woods to see a shadowy figure stumbling out of the woods. The girl who finally stepped out from the shadows was just about their height but she didn't look like she was okay. Her eyes were filled with tears and her clothes were torn and her face and body was filled with patches of blood, scratches, and dirt. Whatever happened to her, it wasn't good. Musa immediately walked over to her, following Bloom.

"Hey are you okay?" Bloom asked as she approached the girl slowly. Musa was also very cautious with her approach. While she was sure the witches were locked away for good, her freshman year had taught her to be very wary about who she let into her life. But just as Bloom asked if the girl was okay, her eyes closed slowly and she fell to the ground.

"Is she okay bloom?" Musa stood behind Bloom looking at the fairy with concern no longer unsure if she was a threat or not. This girl needed help right away.

"I upgraded my PBA, I'll have it do a magi-scan," Techna said letting out here ladybug scanner thing and allowing it to scan over the limp body. "She's a princess from the realm of Tides," Techna informed a few seconds later.

"Come on please wake up," Bloom and Flora are knelt down by Layla while Musa continued to look at her, not remembering that there were highly trained medical personal inside the school and they could have easily called one of them before the girl went septic and stopped breathing.

Of coarse, none of the girls thought of that and instead their attention went to something that had fallen out of the princess's hood. Musa looked at the baby pixie that had fallen to the ground although it didn't seem to bother the baby as it was still fast asleep.

"What is that," Stella said with some disgust in her voice, although she didn't look upset.

"Aww, it's a baby pixie," Bloom corrected quickly as she walked over to it and gently picked it up off the ground. The baby pixie was pretty cute. "She's so sleepy,"

For a few seconds, Bloom looked as if she were in deep thought. "This is just like the physic said, a fairy with long flowing hair would have a sleepy baby pixie,"

"What else did she say," Musa said before wondering when Bloom had seen a psychic and where she could have seen one, but not giving it another thought, she continued to listen to what Bloom had to say.

"She said that there's gonna be adventure and darkness like we've never seen before,"

"Of coarse there is," Musa said with a sigh. "Why wouldn't there be?"

"Guys maybe we should get her inside," Flora said with growing concern. The fairy didn't look like she was fairing too well and her face was going very pale.

"Yeah, come on," Musa put on of the fairy's arms around her shoulder while flora did the same and the two then picked her up and quickly got her to Ophelia's office.

The girls didn't get much information as to what was wrong with the princess but Ms. Faragonda and Ophelia looked very concerned when they were examining her. No matter what hey did they couldn't get her to wake up and they had begun a multitude of spell regimens when the girls were told to go back to their rooms and get some sleep before their first day of classes.

* * *

"Do you think that girl will be okay," Techna asked right before she went into the shower. Everyone was pretty worried about her considering she had just walked out of the wilderness with a pixie and she looked like she had just been attacked by a pack of wolves and the abominable snow man in a thunderstorm. "She didn't look very good,"

"Hopefully," Musa said as she laid in her bed, ready to get some sleep. "But Ms. Faragonda looked pretty worried, last time we saw that face was right before the witches attacked Alfea. We will find out in the morning so we should just let it be till then,"

"I guess you're right," Techna said realizing that the two had just switched roles. Musa was usually the impatient one that needed to know what was going on and didn't like to wait to find out and Techna was usually telling her that patience was a virtue, something she never liked hearing especially because it happened to be her aunt's favorite thing to say, next to pressing Musa to act more like a princess would act. "I'll be back soon," She finally said as she picked up her towel and her robe and headed off to the shower.

Musa nodded and pulled her blanket over her, turning to her side and closing her eyes. Just as she began to fall asleep she heard the ring to her phone go off. Musa, who couldn't ignore the sound if she tried since she had super sonic hearing, reluctantly turned back over and felt around her nightstand to find her ringing phone. "Hello?" Musa said with some irritation in her voice.

"Sounds like you had a fun day," Daniel's voice came through the phone and she smiled, while she would have loved to hang up, she couldn't do it. He hadn't done anything.

"Oh hey Daniel," Musa said forgetting that she had even seen him that day, it felt like such a long time ago. But of coarse it was a pretty eventful day. "I forgot all about you,"

"What every person wants to hear," Daniel teased. "I've arrived back at the castle, so I don't really think you're allowed to complain about your day,"

"I wasn't going to complain," Musa defended. "It's been eventful,"

"Galatea?"

"No actually but thanks for reminding me about that," Musa said. "Actually we had a party, I found out that I need to save the dance team in the next two days or I'm totally screwed and we found a girl wandering out of the wood, dazed and confused and looking like she had just been hit by a bus and then left for dead,"

"What the hell is it with Alfea," Daniel asked side stepping the fact that Musa had just told him that they had found some girl that may or may not be dead at the moment. "You really need to come back to Devon Prep, at least here we didn't have any murder mysteries,"

"Yeah well there are a few pluses here too," Musa defended. "I have a lot of good reasons to stay here too,"

"Like your loving cousin," Daniel teased.

"You never know, this could be our chance to get over all the family drama and move forward." Musa admitted. "It might be nice to rebuild the family and you never know maybe this could bring our parents to be civil again,"

"Yeah Muse I know you want this to be something great," Daniel said realistically. "But don't be surprised if it doesn't turn out that way. It's been years since you've seen her, a lot has changed,"

"It could be for the better,"

"Or for the worse," He reminded and didn't hear a quip back. He didn't want to be the barer of bad news but he knew Musa had to hear it since she tended to throw herself into things with high hopes and it would sometime lead to a big let down. "Just don't get too comfortable with that idea,"

"I won't," Musa admitted with a sigh, just as she thought her life was becoming less complicated, this happened. "But what am I supposed to do, ignore her? I'm pretty sure doing that will just make it worse,"

"Well I haven't found anything out yet about her but I'm sure that I will," Daniel assured.

"Look, I will ask around about Galatea, someone in the palace should know something,"

"Thanks," Musa said and continued to talk to the prince for a bit before finally getting back to bed. It had been a long day and a rather interesting start to another year at Alfea.

* * *

_**1**__. It's true, its' the combination of the Greek words: sophos – wise and moros – foolish; ergo, sophomore means a wise fool. _

_**2.**__ Unless of coarse there are psycho witches attacking _

_**3**__.Much like the Hamptons, I do love the Hamptons and my family has a home in Lilypond._

_**4**__. The actual line was 'Riven will win for __shigity__' and I don't think any self respecting person would ever say that, and for the life of me, I could not get myself to write it. The dialogue they chose can be really annoying…_

_So that was chapter one! I know that the show doesn't introduce Galatea until the next season but I thought it might be fun to bring her in now. Besides I have some plans for her._

_I am not even close to finished the entire story just yet, I have the skeleton of the plot and everything else made, now I simply have to write it. But, I've got all summer and plane flights seem to be the perfect time to get some writing done. _

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


	2. The Princess of Tides

_Glad to see you guys like the story so far, here goes chapter 2!_

**The Princess of Tides**

It had been four days since the girls had found come across the wounded fairy that had wondered out of the woods and she had yet to wake up. The girls had taken shift over the past couple of days watching over her and making sure she was alright, hoping that she would wake up. But they were ordered to go get some rest since they were spending night and day with the fairy. Musa really wasn't sure if the girl would ever wake up now and without her waking up, nobody could identify who she was.

"Try to relax Bloom," Flora cooed as the red haired fairy paced around the room nervously. They had all gathered in Bloom's room after being told to leave the infirmary and get some rest, except they couldn't really sleep knowing that something was going on. Everyone could sense a disturbance and the fact that the fairy had emerged from the woods so badly beaten with marks that indicated strong dark magic made the girls wonder about what could have possibly inflicted the wounds.

"She's been asleep for four days!" Bloom repeated for the fifth time that night. Of all the girls, Bloom was the most worried, probably because she still couldn't shake the feeling that the witches would be returning and now with this girl, Musa was beginning to believe it too. But she still had a hard time believing that the Trix would be able to escape the Looney bin that Griffon had sent them to. It was super high security and the Trix may have been powerful, but their lack of strategy in the battle at Alfea showed that they weren't exactly the brightest crayons in the box. "If she's the girl that the psychic pixie saw in her vision than she's been through a lot,"

"At least she's safe now, right," Flora said trying to look on the Brightside, something that she was now known for, whether it was wanted or not.

"I don't know, if something is after her than it might come here,"

"that's why we have to stay on guard," Musa then slightly regretted saving the girl. While it was the right thing to do, if she was in some type of trouble then her coming here put the girls in the line of fire. And judging from the extent of her wounds that were healing slowly and he inability to regain consciousness, the person that had done all of it to her was not going to be gentle.

Stella, who hadn't said anything all night, then stood up with an irritated growl and then looked to the girls with some annoyance in her tone. "We have no idea what she's been through, I mean she could just be struggling from shopping exhaustion," Stella said downplaying the entire matter, no considering the extent of the damage on the unconscious fairy. She had been lying on Bloom's bed silently listening to the conversation and not really adding anything helpful.

"I don't think anybody but you has ever suffered from that Stella," Musa pointed out, and the only time she had ever seen Stella that exhausted was one day before a big dance with the Red Fountain boys. She was found by a store clerk, passed out in a fitting room. The girls needed to go down to the boutique and drag the princess out of the store because she didn't want to leave. While most people dealt with stress and problems with things like exercise or a hobby, Stella shopped compulsively. Musa remembered dragging her back to her room only to have her pass out for a week.

"I never slept four days after shopping," Stella said angrily under her breath as if she were jealous with all the attention that the princess from Tides was getting. She crossed her arms and frowned, walking back and taking her seat on Bloom's bed once again.

"That's right," Techna added. "You slept for a week,"

"Good one Tech," Musa laughed only to have the Princess of Solaria glare at her from her spot on the bed. "Sorry, but it's true, do you not remember last year's fiasco,"

"Will you check on her again Techna," Bloom asked hoping that the girl's condition had changed.

"Nothing has changed, she's still asleep," Techna said as she looked on her PDA

"We should get some sleep," Flora suggested. With that the girls all went off to bed and deiced to go visit the fairy in the morning.

"Okay this is how it's gonna go," Ali said as she strutted across the floor of the dance gym and looked at the 21 girls that had lined up hoping to make the cut and fill the three spots that were open on the team. The entire Alfea dance team stood behind her ready to show the girls the initial routine. "You are going to be taught a routine now and you have the rest of the day to memorize it and then come back and we'll make the cut. The routine isn't long and it's a set of relatively complex 8 count steps,"

"Are you the captain?" A fairy with platinum blonde hair asked shyly from the back of the gym.

"No actually, she hasn't decided to grace us with her –," Ali began with irritation in her voice, Musa was late and that meant they couldn't get the try outs started because they needed the entire team to show the new girls the routine that they were going to have to memorize and then perform. But just as the words left her lips the door flew open and the musical princess ran into the gym making a huge squeak on the freshly mopped hardwood floors as she ran up to the front of the studio. "Well here she is, this is the captain, Musa,"

"Sorry," Musa said through a heavy breath as she leaned over a bit in an attempt to catch her breath. "I was held up at the infirmary but I'm here," Musa explained to Ali who didn't look too happy with her, she then stood in the center of the floor and then addressed the girls that were trying out for the team. "I'm sure Ali explained everything to you girls, we need three of you and we can teach you the routine now and then you guys can work on it and come back at 7 and so us what you learned.."

"Still looking after coma girl?" Ali asked as Musa put her bag on the floor and pulled out a CD. "You realize that her being in a coma means she won't be doing anything so you really don't really need to be checking up on her,"

"That's awful,"

"But true,"

"Can you be nice for like maybe a second," Musa asked with a laugh as the two walked over to the stereo system and put the CD in. As the music started to play the dance team girls cleared the floor and began to walk onto the floor, ready to perform.

"I can be, it's just never any fun," Ali said as she and Musa took their places in formation and showed the new girls the routine.

Musa then sat with Ali and watched as some of the dance team girls helped the others memorize the steps to see which girls could pick up the routines fast enough. As she scanned the room she stopped when she came across a familiar looking fairy. "Oh crap, you can't be serious," Musa said as and banged the back of her head against the wall, then regretting the action a second later when she felt her head throb with pain. "Of all the girls that could try out,"

"What's wrong with her?" Ali asked a little surprised that Musa was the one making the judgment so prematurely; usually it was Ali who judged people before she had a chance to really get to know them. "I mean besides the fact that she can hardly walk a straight line, let alone dance. Why do girls like that even show up?"

"To piss me off," Musa said throwing her water bottle on the ground. She had been stupid enough to give Galatea the benefit of the doubt for following her here to Alfea thinking that she genuinely wanted to be here, but she was standing here acting like she wanted to join the team when Musa knew very well that Galatea hated to dance not to mention she was absolutely terrible at it.

"Do we know her?"

"You don't," Musa said. "That's Galatea, she followed me to Alfea and now she wants to join my dance team,"

"You know she might be trying to spend some time with you," Ali said still not sure how the two knew each other. "How do you even know her?"

"She's my cousin," Musa said dully, she hadn't spoken to Galatea in years and now she had just turned up. She began to think that maybe that was why Galatea was here, she didn't have a deceitful bone in her body and maybe she had jumped the gun too early.

"Do you really think your cousin would be after you?" Ali said pointing out how ridiculous she sounded with her conspiracy theories. "I mean she doesn't look like the back stabbing kind,"

"Yeah but my aunt might be,"

"You have a twisted family," Ali said, while she had never really asked too much about Musa's family, she knew that there was a lot of family drama that she had dealt with in her life. And she didn't really ask since it wasn't her business. "But hey if you don't like her, than we can break her legs or something,"

"You cannot keep saying stuff like that," Musa said to Ali, getting less surprised with her blunt words by the day. "You are going to get in so much trouble for that mouth one day,"

"Ehh, I'll cross the bridge when I get there,"

"Whatever," Musa looked up and saw that the dance team girls leaving the gym, and the other girls staying behind to practice. "Looks like we're done for now,"

"Good, I was getting bored," Ali said as she got up and prepared to go to her first class of the day. They had held the tryouts in the morning so that they were able to go to classes right after, but of coarse it wasn't the best idea of the girls trying out.

Musa began to walk back towards the infirmary where Flora had been all morning. It was a little amazing how much time and attention they gave a girl they didn't even know, but Musa felt like she had to. When she had walked out of the woods with tears in her eyes and a look of utter desperation, Musa felt pity well up in her. She wanted to make sure that she would be okay.

She walked out of the gym and began on her way to the other end of the quad when she heard her name being called behind her. "Musa wait up," She turned around to see Galatea running up behind her. "Hey can I talk to you?"

"Sure but make it quick I have to get to the infirmary," Musa said trying not to be mean, but it just kinda came out that way. She remembered all the fun she used to have with Galatea growing up and she thought maybe Alfea would be a chance to regain that relationship.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out," Galatea said nervously. "Like we did when we were little,"

"Sure," Musa said starting to believe that Galatea may have come here for other reasons than her, it was rather egotistical to assume that she had decided to attend Alfea solely to piss Musa off, or to have her back in her life. There had to be other factors in her decision. Whatever it was, Musa figured it was better to let her estranged family back in her life than to simple ignore her, since she knew ignoring her wouldn't go unnoticed and there would definitely be repercussions. "I'm a little busy today, but maybe later we can hit some of the cool clubs around here, there are a lot of great variations in music here,"

"Cool," The blonde headed fairy said happily. "I'm gonna go practice this routine and then we can talk later,"

"Yeah sure," Musa agreed and then continued on her way to the infirmary.

Flora sat at the still nameless fairy's bedside when Musa walked into the room. "How is she doing?" Musa asked as she walked over to the two and took a look at sleeping fairy before walking over to the window that was flooding the room with the early afternoon light. "I'm guessing from the look on you're face she hasn't woken up anytime today,"

"Nope," Flora said sadly, she was the most empathetic of the girls and she tended to feel others' pain to a higher extent than any of her friends. She continued to lay cool towels on her head, occasionally re-cooling the towel in a basin of water she had brought to the bedside towel. "I really don't understand how this is possible,"

Musa looked back out the window with her tow arms resting on the top of her head. From the large infirmary window she could see the entire campus plus the forest that eventually lead to red fountain. "I'm sure she'll wake up soon," Musa said in an attempt to placate the floral fairy. "I mean she's not in a coma yet, right? So there's no reason she shouldn't wake up,," While it did sound nice, Musa knew she was no doctor and what she had just said could be totally off mark, but it served to ease Flora's anxiety for a bit.

"She's waking up," Flora quickly sat up in her seat and Musa turned from the window and looked over to the bed to see the fairy not only moving but tossing and turning in her bed violently until she began to murmur some indistinguishable words, and then a few that Musa could make out.

"They're gone,"

"Who's she talking bout?" Musa asked Flora even though she knew full well that Flora had no idea what was going on.

"Get away!" The fairy said loudly, sitting up in the bed and for the first time showing some signs of life since she had arrived in the infirmary. She yelled out in panic before Flora had a chance to answer Musa.

"It's okay sweetie you're safe," Flora cooed when it looked like she had calmed down and began to catch her breath as she sat at the side of her bed, looking blankly at floor.

"I've been asleep for four days," She then yelled loudly as she examined her hands, Musa was no officially wierded out, not only was she unable to talk to the people in front of her, but now she knew how long she had been sleeping simply by examining her hand. Musa had heard of unique powers before, but that was a stretch.

"You can tell that by just looking at your hands," Musa asked.

"Piff, where's Piff! I can't loose her," she stood up and began to frantically look around for whatever 'Piff' was. The fairy was obviously not in the mood to interact with the girls and she continued to ask questions in a panicked tone. "Is this still a nightmare?" Right after she asked the question she plopped back down on the bed, with the same glazed look in her eyes as before and then fell back onto the pillow, fast asleep.

"Who's Piff?" Musa asked. She had never heard that name before and even if it was a fairy here at Alfea, how would this girl know her?

"She's the baby pixie that fell out of her hoodie yesterday," Flora said as she continued to put the cold towel on her head.

"How do we know her name?"

"Oh I dunno," Flora said looking up with some confusion. "Ms. Faragonda told me that it was the pixie's name so I assumed it was. I guess she was right,"

"Unless Piff is someone else,"

"I doubt it, who else could it be,"

"True, either she is still a little whacked or she's still half asleep," Musa deduced.

"I think we're all half asleep today," Bloom's voice said from the doorway. Musa and Flora turned to see Stella and Bloom entering the room, with books in their hands.

"How was class?" Flora asked from her seat at the bed side.

"Good, Bloom fell asleep and now has to right an entire paper," Stella teased as the two made their way to the bed, just missing the entire tantrum that the fairy had just thrown. "So she woke up,"

"Yeah, but only for a sec" Musa said, but could she really considered whatever just happened being awake? Because it was more like she was sleep taking, sleep walking and screaming during a bad dream, More likely she was simply still suffering from post traumatic stress. Either way, this girl was far from okay.

"Is she okay?" Bloom asked.

"She seemed out of it," Musa said. "Really disoriented, but I guess that's pretty predictable since she's just wandered out of the woods and passed out. No way she knows what's going on.

"She's suffering from post winx depletion syndrome," Ophelia, the head nurse at the school, said as she walked into the room with a medical chart in her hand. "But don't worry, based on my observations, the worst of it's behind her,"

Just then the fairy's eyes flashed open and she looked around the room as panic set into her face Flora was the first to react and she quickly began to soothe the fairy when she woke back up. "No one is going to hurt you," Flora said calmly. "You're at Alfea

"What happened," She said sitting up in the bed and rubbing her head in confusion.

"We were hoping you could tell us," Musa suggested.

"You got here four days ago,"

"Please keep him away from me, you have to keep him away, please," She begged grabbing both of Flora's arms and shaking her a bit, showing her utter desperation.

"We haven't officially ruled out insanity have we?" Stella whispered to Musa and Musa hesitantly nodded, she didn't sound like she was in her right mind.

"Who are you talking about?" Flora asked in an almost patronizing tone. Flora wasn't the kind of person to ever do that, but she never had a strict or stern tone so her 'happy go lucky' voice and actions sometimes made it seem like she wasn't taking you seriously.

"There's nobody here but us," Stella informed her. Looking like she didn't believe Stella, the fairy sighed with a disappointed look and layed back in the bed.

"I think she's still in shock," Bloom said pointing out the obvious.(**1**)

"You were asking for Piff earlier, would you like to see her?" Flora asked.

"She's right over there," Stella offered pointing toward the pillow on the table with the sleeping pixie on it. Musa looked at the pixie and tried to figure out when she had gotten there because she hadn't noticed her on her way in. and she was still sleeping through everything that was going on in the room, but if she could sleep through whatever landed the fairy in here, Musa was sure Piff could sleep through the background noise. "Ta da!"

"Piff! You're okay," She said as she got out of the bed and walked over to the table. She knelt down and looked at the baby fairy with relief in her eyes. "I was having nightmares, I thought you were gone," As the fairy talked to Piff, she began to move in her sleep and just as they thought she was going to wake up she became still and fell back into deep sleep.

"So hey you must be pretty hungry right?" flora asked, the girl didn't need to answer though, her stomach did that for her.

Hearing her stomach growl, Stella picked up the sandwich that she and Bloom had brought from the cafeteria for her just in case she had woken up. "Here, have some cafeteria foods," Stella offered still unable to control her volume even when she knew there was a baby in the room.

"Keep it down Stel," Flora said softly.

"Why?" She asked just as loud as she had just been. "What's the big deal?"

As if answering Stella's question, Piff burst into tears and began to cry loudly. "ugh! What's it doing? Does it want the sandwich?"

"Uhh Stella, Piff isn't even teething yet," Bloom reminded.

"Pick her up," Musa told her. While Stella was basically an idiot when it came to caring for someone other than herself, it was rather entertaining to watch her scramble to calm the baby. She was still amazed that Stella didn't know why the baby pixie was crying after she had practically shouted in the room where Piff was sleeping peacefully. A traumatic escape couldn't wake the pixie, but Stella's shrill voice did the trick.

"What?" Stella said with revulsion as if being asked to eat a worm or something.

"Pick up the baby," Musa said once again.

"Ummm, but I," Stella said nervously as she walked closer to Piff, but just as she got close enough to reach her hand out – granted her hand that was shaking with anxiety about touching Piff, as if she were diseased - Piff began to scream louder. Stella, startled by the scream, dropped took three quick steps back losing track of the sandwich in her hand. She then looked up and saw her coated in the lunch Stella had brought for her. "Oh sorry,"

"I'll go get you another sandwich," Bloom said as she and Flora walked out of the room to go to the cafeteria, leaving Musa, Stella, the fairy whom they didn't know, and of coarse a screaming baby pixie.

"Musa will you please take care of her?" Stella begged plugging her ears with her fingers.

"Where are your maternal instincts," Musa said shaking her head with disappointment in Stella. She picked up Piff and gently rocked her in her hand. "It's okay, the scary lady won't bug you again I promise," Musa cooed to the pixie that began to calm down as she gently rocked her in her hands. She was so small and adorable, Musa had always had a soft spot for little babies, they were the cutest little things, after they reached the age of two however, she wasn't the biggest fan. "Aww yeah you're okay," She continued as Piff's eyelids began to droop downward until she fell back asleep.

"Whoa how did you do that?" Stella asked in disbelief.

"Everyone knows rocking a baby makes them less fussy," Musa said assuming that most people were born with the innate knowledge of how to care for children "How are you going to take care of your kids?"

"Have you ever heard of a nanny?" Stella asked sarcastically.

"Fine, but when you're kids start calling the nanny 'mommy'," Musa threatened. However it wasn't an empty threat, she had been raised by nannies when her father was away when she was a kid, but that was when she was 5, before that her mother and father were around a lot. But she knew for a fact that Daniel used to think one of his nanny's was his mother for the first few years of his life. He cried for hours the one day his actual mother decided to take him out for a day because he was separated from the nanny.

"That doesn't really happen," Stella said dismissively.

"Okay, but when it happens to you, don't say I didn't warn you,"

"So what's your name?" Musa asked as she picked up Piff and rocked her in her one hand a bit as she gently caressed her cheek with her index finger. She smiled as Piff began to settle down and with a few more cries she had stopped crying all together and Musa even heard a laugh escape the baby pixie's lips a few times before it drifted off to sleep once again.

"Layla," The dark haired fairy answered. "I'm from the realm of tides,"

"You look a little familiar," Musa admitted almost as if she had seen her before, but when she had only been to Tides once before and it was for a royal ball that the King and Queen threw. "Have you lived in Tides long," Musa asked trying to figure out if this girl was indeed the one she had seen at the ball, remembering back the princess she had seen was very reserved and she had ducked out of the ball rather early.

"Yeah all my life," Layla said. "I'm kinda the princess there,"

"You're a princess too!" Stella said excitedly with a cute clap. "So am I, oh and Musa too,"

"Oh cool," Layla said not as enthusiastically as Stella.

"So what exactly happened to you?" Musa asked hoping Layla would be getting some of her memory back some time soon.

"It's a little hazy, but I remember –,"

"We got you another sandwich," Bloom said walking into the room with Flora, who was holding a soda. "Oh Piff stopped crying,"

"Yeah, no thanks to loud mouth over here," Musa said finally putting Piff back down on the table and letting the pixie sleep.

"So you're a princess from the realm of tides?" Bloom asked a couple of minutes later when the girls were all filled in on Layla's past. She was the only hier to the throne and her parents had been very hesitant to ever let her out of her sight.

"Yup that's right,"

"I'm Musa by the way," Musa said realizing that she had not really introduced herself yet.

"My name is Flora,"

"I'm Bloom and this is Stella," All the girls waved politely as they introduced themselves

"Nice to see some friendly faces, after what I've been though,"

"I was trapped in the under realm," Layla explained.

"Whoa for real!" Stella said almost in

"Bad things can happen to you down there," Musa said.

"Yeah I know,"

"So what exactly happened," Bloom asked. "You said something about the pixies, why were they down there,"

"And how did you even get to know the pixies," Musa asked. She had been wondering that since she had seen Piff roll out of Layla's hoodie. Pixies were known to live in very secluded spots and while they were also supposed to bond with specific faires, it hardly ever happened since they were so hard to find in the first place, and most people tended to leave them be.

"When I was a little girl, I discovered a little pixie village in the woods outside my father's castle," She explained. "They became my best friends; I snuck out to see them whenever I could. But when I went last time, the village was empty, except for Lockette and Blinky. I found them hiding, shadow creatures had found them while they were out picking gin-gin leaves for their autumn festival. They kidnapped the entire village, only Blinky and Lockette managed to escape. So we went to the gin gin forest and followed the trail that the creatures had left behind. The foot prints led us down to the deep, the deep dark inner chambers of the under realm and to the kingdom of Shadowhaunt,"

Musa had heard stories about people getting lost in the under realm and never returning but she had never believed them because there was no proof, but now she had someone telling her that she not only went to the fabled Shadowhaunt, but returned relativity in the same shape that she had gone in. "Shadowhaunt!" Flora gasped with surprise, along with everyone else in the room. "My parents used to tell me I would go there if I was bad, I never thought that it was real,"

"Neither did I," Layla said. "But after wanted in through the caves, I found the legendary castle in the rocks. And that's when I heard it a horrible shrieking something like I have never heard before. And then he appeared,"

"Was it the lord of Shadowhaunt!" Flora asked looking like she was getting scared. It was almost like Layla was telling a ghost story at a sleep over. "Was it?"

"Yes,"

"What did he look like,"

"firs he was a bird, then he was sort of a man," Layla explained. "And he's got dark powers stronger than I have ever seen before, and now he has all the pixies except for piff,"

"What does he want from them!" Flora asked.

" I dunno, but I'm scared something really horrible is happening to them, and they are counting on me to save them. But I – I – I dunno how I'm gon-gon-gonna," She said as she began to cry without being able to finish her thought. It was clear that these pixies meant a lot to her and since she was obviously no threat to the girls, she figured that they needed to help her.

"Aww come here," Musa said pulling Layla into a hug in an attempt to comfort her. She couldn't' imagine how upset she would be if her friends were kidnapped, not to mention taken down to shadowhunt and being held captive by Lord Darkar.

"We'll do whatever it takes to help you Layla" Bloom assured.

"Yeah don't' worry about it," Musa said

"Really?" Layla said through a sniffle as she looked up at the girls.

"That's right we're gonna get the pixies back,"

"Not to get off topic, but had anyone seen Techna?" (**2**) Stella said as she looked around and noticed that one of the girls of the Winx Club was missing from the room. Musa thought about it and she was pretty sure that Techna didn't have classes right now either.

"No idea," Musa said. "I saw her leave for class early this morning, but I don't think she has anymore till later,"

"Who is Techna?" Layla asked.

"She's our friend, you'll meet her later," Bloom assured.

* * *

Later, after dinner, while Layla was talking to Ms. Faragonda and the rest of the girls were back in their rooms with the exception of Stella. She had already offended half of her teachers and was now serving the first detention of the year at Alfea. Musa, who had finished all of her classes and eaten dinner, was heading down to finish the try outs that they had started with earlier that day.

"Wow are you early?" Ali said sarcastically as Musa stepped into the dance gym. Musa looked around to see the new girls stretching and getting ready to perform, but of coarse most of them had been practicing in there all day. She looked and saw Galatea, who eagerly gave her a wave. "The other girls haven't gotten here yet,"

"And why are you here so early?" Musa asked putting her phone down on the table and taking a seat next to Ali. There were three tables lined up side to side in the front of the gym where all the current members of the team would judge the girls and then make their decision. It strongly reminded Musa of Magix Idol, but the girls wouldn't be singing.

"Let's just say I enjoy the power," Ali said with an amused smile, tapping her finger against the desk and watching the girls practice with sharp eyes. "I've been here for like ten minutes, it's so funny; they get so nervous when I look at them, and mess up,"

"You're not well," Musa said shaking her head with a laugh. "And I hope all of them don't get stage fright, we need someone to be able to perform in front of others,"

"Oh I'm sure we will, we only need three girls and we have 21 to choose from," Ali reassured. "I'm sure that three of them will be a little less disappointing than the rest, oh how's coma girls by the way? You girls were up there for awhile, you missed lunch,"

"Come girl isn't coma girl anymore," Musa informed. "She woke up while we were up there, she's a little disoriented still but her name is Layla, she's the princess of Tides,"

"Really? I summer there sometimes," Ali said. "So why exactly is she here?"

"Long story," Musa said thinking about how her entering their lives would effect her and her friends. They had promised her that they would help her save the pixies, which meant that they were going to get on the Lord of Shadowhaunt's bad side, meaning they were probably in for another adventure this year. But she would cross that bridge when she got there, for now she had to fill in the three missing spots of the dance team. "How long till we can start?"

"The others should be getting here any minutes," Ali told her. "We can start then,"

When the rest of the dance team finally got to the gym the try outs began. It didn't take too long to see all of the girls perform and once they had that done all they had to do was decide which ones were good enough to be on the dance team.

"Okay so we are all in agreement on Taya and Melissa," Musa said after all the girls had tried out. They were waiting outside while the deliberation inside the gym occurred, it hadn't taken long to pick the two best girls from the group, they had stood out the most. But then the final spot was difficult to fill. "For the last spot I was thinking, maybe Galatea," Musa said knowing she wasn't going to get a great response from the girls.

"You're kidding right," Tessa spat. "She missed half the steps,"

"Yeah but they only had a day to memorize them, the steps she did get, she –,"

"Butchered completely," Tessa finished for her.

"No," Musa defended. She knew very well what she was doing, she was favoring Galatea but for the life of her she didn't know why. But Musa didn't realize how much she had missed her and she was family, for some reason she felt that she had to protect her feelings and her. "She just needed some more time, I saw her practicing and she worked really hard," Musa lied, but she figured if she could get her into the team then they could spend more time together and maybe overcome all the family drama.

"What she needs is to learn how to dance,"

"Plus she nearly ran into the short girl during her slot to perform," Whitney pointed out.

"Yeah and there are like 10 girls that are better than her," Ali pointed out giving Musa a knowing look with a little disappointment. She was supposed to be fair and this was hardly that. "She's not even in the running,"

"Yeah I guess you guys are right," Musa said in defeat, hoping that Galatea wouldn't take it too badly when she got cut. She knew it was wrong of her to try to get Galatea in but she had to give it a shot. "Then I think the next best girl was Madison,"

The girls reached a decision and then called the others back in. "We made the cuts and the three girls that will be on the team are Madison, Taya and Melissa," Ali said curtly with her arms folded. "Everyone else sorry, but maybe next year,"

"You are just the sweetest girl," Musa said as the girls began to file out of the room, with disappointed looks on their faces.

"At least I had the guts to break the news, captain," Ali said

"Don't get me started on that," Musa warned. "Can you give the newbies a quick orientation, I should go talk to Galatea,"

"Yeah sure," Ali agreed. "And what was with trying to get her in, you know she sucks,"

"I just don't want her to hate me,"

"You care way too much about what people think," Ali said as Musa walked out of the room with a wave.

Musa walked out onto the quad just as the sun was setting over the horizon and looked around and saw Galatea walking back to her dorm with another fairy who didn't make the cut. "Galatea wait up!" Musa called and saw the other girl walk away as Galatea looked back at Musa, with a face that told her she wasn't exactly happy.

"What's up?" She asked.

"I was making sure you were alright," Musa said apologetically. "I'm sorry you didn't make it, it's just that there were only three spots,"

"No don't worry about it, I get,"

"Good, cause I didn't want you to feel bad or anything,"

"Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Galatea said.

"Yeah I mean there were only three –," Musa began before noting the steel in Galatea's eyes and she began to re run what Galatea said in her head and then realized that she wasn't being a very graceful loser. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh I dunno," Galatea said with more fire in her voice. "Maybe you don't wanna share the spotlight with me, you didn't want to when we were little and everyone in the Harmonic Nebula forgot that I even exist because of you,"

"You moved away to your dad's kingdom how is that my fault?"

"And now you don't want share the spotlight with me here," Galatea continued without listening to whatever Musa had to say.

"That's not even close to true," Musa defended. She didn't want to argue with Galatea, but she was feeling like she was being attacked and like anyone else who was being attacked, she went on the defense. But when that didn't stop Galatea, Musa posed a few questions of her own. "And why are you here? You had plenty of good schools where you live and you not once ever showed any interest in Magix, so why did you come here? Was it to make me angry because I have to say you are really good at it. Or maybe it was to take what's mine because you have a history of wanting to do that,"

"Oh I'm sorry are you the only one who gets to go here," Galatea shouted pretending to shocked. "I did not get the memo, honest. I must have forgotten that if poor baby Musa doesn't get what she wants then it just can't happen. Silly me."

"Please! You were the spoiled one," Musa yelled. "God forbid anyone not do as you say, you had the throw a temper tantrum like the rotten little – ,"

"Are you seriously going to talk about getting everything you want? God all you had to do was play the 'dead mom' card and you got anything. 'Aww poor me my commoner, whore of a mother is dead like anyone even cares Musa," Galatea ranted.

Blinded by unbridled fury, Musa did what she swore she would not do this year at Alfea. She got in a confrontation, and in the first week. A hard slap flew across Galatea's face, forcing the freshman fairy back a few steps, leaving a throbbing red hand mark across her cheek. Musa, now ready to advance and hit her again was stopped mid swing by Galatea's hand as the fairy reached to grab at Musa's hair. "You bitch," Galatea screamed through clenched teeth. "How dare you,"

"Get away," Musa finally said pushing Galatea back with more force than she thought, seeing Galatea on the ground after he shove.

"I don't even know why I talked to you again," Galatea spat as she pulled herself off the ground and stepped back away from Musa for her own protection.

"Then next time," Musa said. "Don't,"

Musa stomped away angrily not knowing how what was supposed to be a talk got so out of hand. She began up the stairwell towards her room when she stopped and glanced in her window and saw he hair disheveled and her clothes looking as if she had just had a quicky in the closet. Running her hands through her clothes and then her hair Musa managed to fix herself up enough to look as if she had an intense practice with the dance team so she could avoid any questions about what just happened with Galatea. She didn't want to get into every family secret that would explain why she and Galatea got into like they did. It was too much for her to explain and its not like she wanted to either.

* * *

After her shower, Musa found herself on her balcony feeling the wind whip through her hair as she looked over the horizon into the darkness. The stars sparkled in a cloudless sky like diamonds scattered over a black silk blanket. Taking in a deep breath Musa pulled out her phone and called someone who was already filled in on all of her issues.

"Hey," Musa said when Daniel picked up his phone.

"Hey Muse what's up, how's school?"

"Not too good," Musa began, she and called him because she didn't want to keep everything inside because she knew she would end up crying in front of everyone, so it was easier to talk to him. And this was Daniel, a guy who hardly drew the line when it came to morals, so she knew he wouldn't judge. "I got in a fight,"

"Another catfight? That didn't take long," Daniel laughed on the other side of the phone. "With who?"

"Galatea…"

"Musa!" Daniel scolded his voice becoming serious. "You had to get in a fight with the one person that can actually get you in some trouble,"

"It wasn't a big fight," Musa defended. "I just slapped her and its not like anyone was around,"

"So it's your word against hers,"

"Only if things get sordid and she actually tells Faragonda,"

"What happened anyway?" Daniel asked wondering what exactly one had to do to piss Musa off now-a- days. Last year she pummeled Karen for everything she had done, but that was a lot and Daniel had also suffered a few physical assaults by the princess when he had screwed up royally. But he was not going to bring that up for anything. "I mean you aren't exactly aggressive, what is Alfea doing to you?"

"Shut up!" Musa said knowing he was sort of right, but she in her mind Galatea deserved the slap and the punch Musa would have thrown if she hadn't stepped back. "We were bitching after she didn't make the dance team and she went too far,"

"Too far?" Daniel said. "What did she rag on your pig tails,"

"She ragged on my mom,"

"Oh…" Daniel said a few seconds later. If there was anything he had learned over the years was to never talk about Musa's mom, even if it was something good. Musa had never really gotten over her death and any conversation with her mother ended in tears, but Daniel also knew how much Musa had to simply take when it came to her mom. There were so many people who would say awful things about her father's choice in a spouse and those were people that Musa couldn't just slap in the face. He was never going to pretend he knew what it felt like, but he had seen Musa get cut deeply from the careless comments of superficial society people that only cared about rank and bloodlines. So when someone that Musa could hurt did bring it up, she had take the opportunity to do what she ahd wanted to do to everyone else. "Musa I'm sorry,"

"It's okay, it's not like it's your fault," Musa told him, her voice cracking a bit in pain. Musa felt tears form around her eyes as leaned on the balcony railing. She never cared what people said about her but it hurt when they even commented on her mother, especially since she was far better of a woman than those that were judging her.

"Like I said before, ignore Galatea," Daniel advised. "It's best for everyone and frankly she doesn't deserve the attention. She is a brat,"

"Yeah I guess,"

"Don't think about what she said either, okay?"

"Yeah I wont," with that Musa hung up the phone and wiped te tears that had fallen from her eyes. It took her a few more minutes to compose herself, but after she felt okay, she walked back into the common room where all the girls had gathered. Bloom, Flora and Techna sat on the floor around the table while Stella lounged on one of the couches, flipping through a magazine with Layla on the other couch, watching the show that Flora had put on. Musa smiled as she looked at her friends, she felt at home so at home here and yet she still had a problem opening up to her friends.

"Layla's parents are letting her stay for awhile more," Stella said excitedly from the couch putting the issue of 'teen fairy' back on the coffee table. "Isn't that awesome,"

"Ms. Faragonda told them that I'll be shadowing you guys for the next week to see if I like it here at Alfea," Layla explained. "So I can stay for awhile and figure out how to get the pixies back,"

"So Faragonda lied to your parents to keep you here?" Musa mused at the thought remembering back to the year before when Ms Faragonda kept the truth from her father so that Musa would be allowed to attend Alfea the next year. "Gotta love that,"

"Yeah, but it wasn't a complete lie," Layla said. "I will be going to classes with you guys until we figure out what to do and who knows maybe my parents will be okay with me staying here,"

"That would be awesome," Musa said as she took a seat and opened her laptop and began to check her email. "But you should be warned, we tend to get into a lot of trouble in here, but this time it looks like it's the lord of shadowhaunt instead of the Trix sisters,"

"Oh yes you missed them last year," Stella added with immense sarcasm. "What lovely girls,"

"I'm just glad that they're gone," Bloom said laying her head against the side of the couch with a smile of relief on her face. "I can only deal with one crazed group of psychos a year,"

"Hey Musa, is that a Kai Fly invite!" Stella said out of the blue as she sat up on the couch and then cocked her head to get a better look at her computer. Musa looked down and hadn't even noticed her email until Stella brought it up.

"Yeah, I guess so," Musa said almost as if she were expecting to get one.

"What's Kia Fly?" Layla asked.

"It's one of the four sororities at Alfea, it throws amazing parties and they have some of the best connections in the universe," Stella gushed. "Even royals can't get those kinds of connections. And the best part is that there is an affiliated fraternity at Red Fountain and they have amazing coordinated events,"

"Wow, I never knew that," Flora said softly as she stroked the back of Piff's head. The pixies was laying on the coffee table, sleeping as usual, but this time she didn't wake up when Stella decided to screech happily. "That's pretty cool,"

"Yeah the sororities here don't exactly advertise, they recruit girls," Stella noted. "I have to go see if I got an invite!"

A minute later all of the girls that had gathered in the common room looked in the direction of Stella's door after hearing a loud sequel of joy coming from Stella's room. "I'm guessing she got an invite as well," Techna noted.

"I'm in, I'm in, I'm in!" Stella said as she ran out of her room and back into the common room, standing in front of everyone, jumping up and down with her hand flailing in the air in random directions. "I'm in!"

"Is that all?" Flora asked. From all the movies that she had seen, she figured that there was a lot more to getting into a sorority than just an invitation. "There's nothing else you have to do?"

"Actually there is a mixer and then they choose girls and then we have to go through hazing, which I don't think is too bad and then we become pledges!" Stella said excitedly. "Oh. My. God. That means we were invited to the Kai Fly invitational mixer! I need to get a new dress and new shoes and maybe some pretty new jewelry…"

"I didn't know you were into the whole sorority thing, Musa," Bloom said, while Stella definitely looked and acted like a girl that would be a part of a sorority, but Musa didn't, she didn't really fit the mold.

"Oh they wouldn't have even invited me if I wasn't a legacy," Musa told them. Her mother had gone to Alfea and she had joined Kai Fly back when sororities actually stood for something, like doing charitable work and helping others. At that time Kai Fly was still known and held in high regard which is what helped her mother break in the music industry.

"You're a legacy?" Stella said almost as if she were expecting it, she also knew that Musa hadn't really been trying to get on the good side of the sorority girls.

"My mom was a Kai Fly sister, so they had to invited me because my mom was one when she used to go here,"

"So are you going to take the invitation and go?" Layla asked.

"I'm not really sure," Musa admitted. She had thought about it before, knowing she would be getting an invitation in the beginning of her sophomore year, since the sorority only recruits sophomores and juniors. "I was thinking about it cause, I dunno my mom was a Kai Fly sister so it would be cool if I did it too. But, I'm not really one of those girls…"

"No!" Stella blurted out. "You have to come with me! You have an automatic bid cause you're a legacy, you're already in as long as you make it through the months of rushing. Please do this with me! It will be fun,"

"I dunno,"

"You have to!"

"Does this mean you guys are gonna move out of the dorm?" Bloom asked with concern on her face. The sisters did have an allocated part of the school and certain dorms where they lived, but Bloom couldn't imagine not having them here in the dorm. "I mean that would be okay, but…"

"I'm pretty sure we don't have to move into the sorority housing if we don't want to, Musa reassured seeing the anxiety set into the princess of Sparx's face. "And I still haven't decided if I'm even going to go,"

"You're going," Stella commanded. "It'll be fun and you can maybe meet a cute boy…"

"We are not doing this again," Musa said sternly looking at Stella. There was doubt that Stella thought Musa could do a lot better than Riven and she had been trying to subtly change Musa's mind about her choice in guys. She had even been mentioning names of different guys that she was hoping Musa would consider going out with. "Don't even go there," She warned. "I mean it,"

"I'm just saying there are bound to be some great guys at the events they plan," Stella said pushing the boundaries she knew that were there. Everyone in the room knew better than to get in the middle of one of their arguments, except for Layla. "What's the harm in talking to them? I mean they are cute, built and they actually treat you the way you deserve to be treated.

"What's going on?" Layla said confused.

"Musa refuses to date some of the nice boys from Red Fountain and she insist on hanging onto some pathetic hope that –,"

"Stella!" Bloom and Techna snapped at the same time, then immediately turning to Musa and seeing an angry look painted on her face.

"Whatever, I'm gong to bed," Musa said rolling her eyes and walking back to her room. She knew Stella really did want what was best for her friends and she really never meant any harm by what she said. But Musa had heard enough of that the year before and she really didn't want to hear it now. Especially since she had finally managed to get Riven out of her head that day, which was a feat since she had been thinking about him since she had arrived back in Magix.

"Musa," Stella called but Musa simply waved and walked into her room.

A couple of minutes later, while Musa sat at her bed and talked to Leslie and the twins online, Layla walked into the room quietly. "Can I come in?" She asked nervously not too sure if Musa was angry or not, she had left the room but she seemed more disappointed than angry.

"Sure," Musa said with a friendly and welcoming smile. Layla took a seat at Musa's desk while Musa tried to figure out the princess of Tides. She was admittedly not the best judge of character, which was usually why she kept herself so guarded, but Layla seemed like a genuinely good person, not one that was simply masquerading as one. After all she had risked her life to save the pixies. "What's up?"

"The girls are going to watch a movie and they wanted to know if you wanted to watch too," Layla said offhandedly and a little awkwardly as if she hadn't really had a lot of friends before. "But they thought you were going to bed, so I figured I would at least ask."

"No thanks," Musa said. "I just wanna chill here for awhile,"

"Oh okay well if you wanna talk," Layla offered, she hadn't really had many close friends before and she was beginning to feel a certain kinship to Musa for some reason, she had all these friends and yet she tended to distance herself. "Well I'm a good listener,"

"I'm fine, really," Musa insisted as she continued to tap away at her keyboard, giving Layla the impression that she was kind of ignoring her, and Musa sort of was, she had a habit of keeping to herself unless she was with her old friends. She honestly didn't know why she did it since she was so close with the Winx Club, but sometimes she just pulled away. "Stella and I tend to bicker a lot, she just knows how to push my buttons and vice versa, we are like cats and dogs; well in our case; a cat and a bitch,"

"Oh," Layla said not really sure if Musa was joking by calling Stella a bitch, since Stella had some bitchy qualities it was hard to simply pass what she said off as simple sarcasm. "I know I haven't been here long but she looks like a pretty nice person…"

"Oh she is," Musa defended. "It's just we have our moments, you know how it is,"

"Yeah, of coarse, so what was that about?"

"Nothing," Musa said really not in the mood to get into her relationship; or lack there of, with Riven. It was already complicated enough and Musa was pretty confused by it already. She had no idea where they were and she had considered maybe moving on since it looked like nothing was ever going to happen but she couldn't. "Stella likes to pick out everything, even the guys her friends date,"

"Oh,"

"She means well," Musa insisted. "But it just doesn't really look that way sometimes,"

"But you're okay?"

"I'm fine thanks," Musa said with a genuine smile, she was beginning to like Layla and she began to hope that she would stay at Alfea permanently after they rescued the pixies.

Layla nodded and then walked back out of the room to join the other girls for a movie until she needed to get back to the infirmary and get some sleep since Ophelia still wanted to run some tests that measured her brain wave activity while she was sleeping. Musa then looked down to her computer and continued to type away to her friends back home and then began to think about everything that was going on. There was the decision to join Kai Fly, Galatea, this knew threat with the lord of Shadowhaunt and then of coarse her ever so interesting love life.

It was shaping up to be another eventful year.

* * *

_1. tends to do that a lot_

_2. This is one of those episodes where all the girls are together (as opposed to the rest that focus around Bloom) So where was Techna in this episode? _

_This is another chapter where a lot kinda happened, it's all just a lot of background work that I needed to add so that I could set up for coming chapters. _

_xoxo,  
princessm_

* * *


	3. Into the Underrealm

_I've been watching 'the tudors' lately, catching up on episodes that I missed while I was at school.(god, school gets in the way of everything…) And all that royal scandal, power and intrigue really got me interested in the idea of royal succession, power hungry lords and that good stuff and since Musa has the perfect dramatic royal past, it was fun to concoct a great story about her and Galatea. It's human nature really, to want more power even when you have soo much. I also wanted to explore the idea of Kai Fli, it would be so much fun to have Musa and Stella rush since Stella seems like the kind of girl who would love it and Musa seems like the kind of person who wouldn't. _

_So anyway here goes another chapter, hope you guys like it! _

* * *

**Into the Underrealm **

Musa laid her head against the cool desk that sat in her classroom as she waited for professor Palladium to begin class. It was still early morning and she had been awake for hours. The next dance team event was quickly approaching, and she needed to prepare the team just in case she the girls decided to go on a mission to save the pixies, which was becoming a growing possibility. After an intense two hour dance practice and then an hour of a grueling defense class with Griselda, she ended up here, dead tired.

However she managed to avoid Galatea all morning and was planning on doing so until she figured out why exactly Galatea was here. Or until she had some plan as to how to approach the situation without getting in a physical confrontation with the fairy.

"Coffee?" A petite brunette fairy sipping a cup of coffee as she looked down at Musa whose head lay in her arms as she rested quietly on the table, her midnight blue locks free from their normal bunches. Musa turned her head slightly and looked up to see Ali standing above Musa with cup in her hand and an annoyingly perky smile on her face. With a slight groan and nod of approval Ali took a seat and put her books on the table. "Late night?"

"Not really," Musa admitted dragging herself up and leaning her head on her hand looking over to her friend, trying her best to keep her eyes open. "It's just something Stella said that was annoying me,"

"What'd she say?"

"Hardly matters," Musa told her. "She just really knows how to push my buttons,"

"What a bitch," Ali said as she pulled out her cell phone and quickly types a message someone that Musa assumed was some guy she had talked to at the mixer. She then looked over to Musa to see a cross look on her face. "What?"

"It's okay when I call her that," Musa told her sternly. "Not cool when anyone else does,"

"Sorry," The other fairy apologized. "So anyway, what's going on with the princess of Tides? I saw her run into class in nothing but her little jammies, attempting to catch a sleeping pixie. Where did you find this girl?"

"Okay well the sleeping pixie thing can be explained and she's not that weird," Musa defended. "She's actually pretty noble, she went down to shadow haunt to save her pixie friends from Lord Darkar," Musa said matter a factly. "They were kidnapped and she went down there to get them and that's how she got so beat up,"

"Lord Darkar?" Ali questioned with skepticism thinking about the fairy tales that had involved the lord of darkness and his defeat at the hands of some valiant prince. Most of the stories that involved him usually involved him kidnapping a princess or something of importance and then getting his butt handed to him from a prince charming of sorts.

"Yeah,"

"Like the ultimate evil, ruler of the underworld, he'll steal your soul if you –,"

"That's the one,"

"Yeah…" Ali said not buying the story for a second. "More likely she got really wasted and went to a horror movie," Ali told Musa realistically not really believing a fairy not only managed to get to the underrealm but also see the dark lord himself, if he even existed.

"Do you take anything seriously?" Musa asked.

"Do you take everything you hear at face value?" Ali quipped back. "Come on what are the chances that she actually went down to Shadowhaunt, saw the dark lord (**1**)- "

"She had a million cuts and bruises, Flora did a spell to see where the mud and dirt that was all over her clothes and it was from there and Faragonda confirmed," Musa told her as Professor Palladium walked in and addressed the class.

"Wow," Ali whispered turning to face the front of the class. "So, does this mean you're on a wild goose chase for this guy to get back the pixies?"

"I assuming so," Musa told her lowering her voice to a whisper as well. She definitely wanted to go after the maniac who was keeping the pixies captive. She couldn't even understand why this guy wanted the pixies, all pixies held some power, but there wasn't enough to actually do anything. And even if he took all the pixies from pixie village, he still wouldn't have enough power to break down the front gate at Alfea.

"That said, you're going to need this more than me," Ali told her as she slide the coffee over to Musa who looked over to her with a raised eyebrow. "No worries, I don't coodies,"

Musa smiled and politely decline the coffee, not really sure she wanted to be sharing a drink with Ali. She then sat up and tried her best to stay focused and not fall asleep during class, a feat that proved to be nearly impossible when Palladium began to lecture on the physics and momentum of flight.

"So, I meant to tell you this earlier but there was that whole silly class thing" Ali joked as she and Musa exited the classroom after class had ended and began on their way walking over Musa's dorm. "But I got an e-vite to the Kai Fli mixer later this month; I didn't even know Kai Fli rushed in the first semester,"

"I got one too," Musa said not too surprised that Ali was invited; she was pretty much the picture perfect sorority girl. Much like Stella, she was always well dressed and looked her best at all times, not to mention she had a certain iciness about her that all the Kai Fli 'sisters' had. All the more reason Musa was a bit resistant to join the sorority, while she wanted to follow in her mother's footsteps, she wasn't too sure how much she would actually enjoy like as a Kai Fli girl. "But Kai Fli isn't exactly the institution it used to be,"

"All the more reason to join," Ali stated. "All of the fun of being in a sorority without any of that annoying philanthropy crap, I mean it's not like anyone cares anyway,"

"Yes because helping people is just so awful," Musa said sarcastically. "And they haven't gotten rid of that, philanthropy is one of the only reasons they get to keep their charter,"

"Really? I thought it was all the alumni that throw money at them," Ali quipped as the two turned the corner in the hallway. Kai Fli was a sorority that had a lot of prominent alumni, including many of the universe's rulers. And they had a lot of money to give the sorority for whatever the sorority wanted.

"Well that too,"

"You need to join, it would be so much fun," Ali tried to convince Musa as the two walked into the common room where Stella and Techna were sitting; both reading. Although Stella was flipping through a teen fairy and Techna was reading something that was the size of a complete dictionary.

"Oh please tell me you're talking about Kai Fli," Stella said immediately forgetting about the gossip magazine and focusing on the two fairies that had just entered the room. "She's actually considering turning them down, as if that is even an option,"

"It's tot an option," Ali demanded. "Nobody turns down Kai Fli, you have no idea how many girls want to be invited. The KF's throw the best parties and they are the sister sorority to the frat at Red Fountain,"

"That's what I've been telling her," Stella complained. "It would be so much fun to join and they throw the best parties and you meet the best people…"

"Not to mention the guys," Ali added sounding exactly like Stella which was proving to be way too much for Musa to take. The two tended to do that when they were around each other, and even though they were very different, their similarities tended to be over exaggerated when they were talking at the same time. "Well I guess I just did, but come on,"

"Don't you have class?" Musa asked the both of them with a frustrated sigh as she took a seat on the couch next to Techna.

"Nope we were waiting for everyone to get back, we need to talk to Faragonda," Stella informed her.

"Well I actually have to go before I end up in detention in the first week of school," Ali told them as she ran off to Griselda's defense against dark magic class. "God knows Griselda is just waiting for me to slip up," she yelled down the hallway as she went.

"See ya," Musa told her as Stella walked to the door and shut it.

"The mixer is in a week and a half, you are coming right?" Stella asked seriously. "I don't wanna be there alone,"

"You won't be there alone, if Kai Fli is as incredible as you say it is than you will surely have someone to talk to," Techna pointed out looking up from her book, while she and the other girls had resolved never to take sides during one of their debates, she couldn't help but play devil's advocate.

"You're not helping," Stella spat before looking back at Musa and realizing that before discussing the subject anymore there was something she had to do, hoping that once she did it, Musa might be a bit more open to accepting Kai Fli's invitation. "Look, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday about the whole Riven thing,"

"It's fine," Musa said swiftly hoping to get off the subject as soon as possible, whenever anyone brought up the specialist it was usually best to get off the subject since it led to a very awkward silence followed by a very awkward attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah well, you are so much better off," Stella told her getting the hint and trying to make her feel better to balance out her unintentional cruelty the night before. "I mean you are so much better than him and come on we all know you could do so much better,"

"Yeah okay, so I'm thinking maybe I'll go to Kai Fli," Musa said desperate to change the subject. She hated hearing about how much Stella was against her and Riven and even though she was beginning to think that would never happen anyway. "Even though they only invited me because I'm a legacy,"

"Really!"

"Anything to end this conversation," Musa muttered to herself as Stella began to sequel inaudible words and just before she could continue she heard the door open and saw Bloom walk in with Flora and Layla behind them.

"Hey girls," Bloom greeted before throwing her things down on the side of the couch and taking a seat with Layla. "We were talking in the quad and I think we should talk to Ms. Faragonda about letting us go down to Shadowhaunt and get the pixies back,"

"Is that really the best idea?" Techna said looking up from her computer. "I've been running simulation diagnostics ever since Layla told us what happened and I don't know if we'll even be able to get down to Shadowhaunt. It's a long journey and the closest cave that leads to Shadowhaunt is way off. Not to mention there is a long walk down if you ever hope to make it to Shadowhaunt. I think we need to plan this a bit better before we propose it to Faragonda,"

"The pixies don't have that kind of time," Layla pushed urgently. "I've been down there, I'm sure I can find my way once we get there,"

"Yes but you went from Tides," Techna told her calmly. "That is a completely different set of tunnels and passageways, we would have to find a different cave entrance that is closer to Alfea. Then we would have to map out a new course and –,"

"And we can do that after we convince Ms. Faragonda to let us go," Bloom pushed.

"She's right," Musa agreed. "If she's on board than she will probably help us think of something,"

"So let's go see her," Layla said.

"She should be in the west wing, she teaches a senior class on advanced magical theory till noon so she'll be in the room right now," Flora informed. The girls nodded and walked out of the room to go see Ms. Faragonda.

Once in the class room they awaited the headmistress to return and then they broached the question. "Ms. Faragonda," Bloom began as Ms. Faragonda walked into the room and saw the six girls sitting around of the desks. "We were thinking about the pixies and how they won't survive long on their own in Shadowhaunt. Someone needs to go down there and get them."

"And we were thinking, since we're all pretty familiar with dark magic," Flora reminded before continuing. "We think that we could go down there and get them back,"

"I won't allow it," Miss Faragonda interrupted sternly before any of the girls could continue with their argument. "I simply won't allow it, the underrealm is dangerous enough. Going to Shadowhaunt is out of the question, I went their for research during my studies of magical places for my doctorate and I barely made it out,"

"By Miss. F, we're the winx club remember," Stella pointed out. She did have a pretty solid argument as well, they were only freshman when they were sent to a dead planet alone and they came back in basically the same condition. "We're the girls that went to Sparx and we faced down that snow abomination,"

"The under realm is very different, it is far worse than anything you have ever encountered," Miss Faragonda continued.

"So it will be a challenge, we can totally do it Miss F," Stella convinced. Musa, who was zoning in and out of the conversation due to the fact she was just put through two hours of intense dance practice after a night of very little sleep. Holding her head up and leaning against the desk in an attempt to conserve the little energy she had. "Just give us a chance,"

After a few moments of silence, Miss Faragonda began again as she turned away from the girls, giving them the clue that they were not going to be allowed to go to the under realm. "I'm sorry girls, I love confidence in my students, but it doesn't matter how confident you are because your powers will most likely not work in Shadowhaunt. That's the way it is,"

"With all due respect," Musa began with a shot of energy all of a sudden. If there was one thing the princess wasn't a fan of, it was being told that she wasn't able to do something, while some took it as advice, she took it as a challenge. "No realm is gonna cramp my powers, Miss. Faragonda,"

"The problem is that it is not up to you at all," Faragonda began again turning back towards her students' trying to keep her frustration with their inability to see the danger in front of them, to herself. "Shadowhaunt acts on its own in ways that are not only dark but unpredictable,"

"But we have to go," Bloom interrupted loudly. "The pixies need us,"

"Try to understand," The head mistress began again firmly with the look on her face turning frustrated. " Shadowhaunt is so dangerous that even I, as a magical doctoral student, could not go without first passing a survival test that was so hard that most of my classmates failed, you wouldn't want to take that test,"

She began to walk out of the room as the six fairies exchanged looks to each other. It was very clear that they were not going to let this be the end of it. "Miss Faragonda, Miss Faragonda…wait up!" Bloom called out after the six of them agreed on the plan without saying a word.

"Miss Faragonda we want to take the test," Bloom said as the six of the girls followed their head mistress down the hallway. The girls walked quickly until they caught up to her, she was pretty quick for a woman so advanced in years.

"We will find another way to save the pixies," She told them firmly without turning to address them this time.

"Come on at least let us try," Bloom insisted once again, this time she and Flora ran up to either side of the head mistress.

"Yeah, if we fail the test then we promise we'll back off,"

"It's such a difficult test that three quarters of the people that take it fail,"

"A twenty five percent chance of passing is better than no chance," Techna pointed out not too far behind from Bloom.

"There is one more thing you should know about the test," Miss Faragonda warned as she ascended the staircase of the grand entrance of Alfea. She looked down at the girls that were now following her up as well. "Everything in it is real,"

"You mean it's like the magical reality chamber?" Flora said as she raised her hand as if they were in class.

"That is correct, so if something hurts you, it will really be hurting you. You will feel real pain," she warned.

"It's okay, we can handle it," Bloom assured.

"Yeah, we can," Stella agreed nervously.

"It places you in the under realm environment to test your resistance to it. So if you are not able to use your powers you won't be able to protect yourself at all,"

"My dad says it okay to try and fail than to no try at all," Musa reminded everyone and mostly herself. She was becoming a bit nervous about the test, she was usually very good with exams, especially ones that involved an application of her magic, but this one was daunting. And it wasn't like she was very prepared for it, especially now and with the fatigue, she was worried about being about to tap into her powers in the first place.

"Very well than, follow me," Miss Faragonda waved. She led the girls down the stairs and into the foyer of the grand entrance, it was usually the place that was used as a waiting area when alumni, parents and benefactors came to visit Alfea but it looked like this time it would be the scene of their test. "This is where you will take the test., right here in the great hall. Stand there," She instructed.

"Realm of good and light erase, let evil and dark fill this space," She chanted loudly as she conjured a completely new environment around the fairies. Musa looked around and saw a cave like scene and she could feel the cold of the environment around her. And there was a very pungent scent of rot all around her, sending her unwanted memories of her last week of freshman year. "Now try to survive," She yelled before the scene transformed completely.

Only given a second to react, Musa quickly forgot her fatigue and transformed into her Winx. She looked around and saw herself in a cave, and she could feel herself slowly losing power. Looking up, she only saw that Flora was the only one who had transformed as well. "I don't know what's happening; I can't use my powers at all,"

"It's okay, Flora, I'll get us outta here with a sound blast," Musa said as she looked back and saw a failed attempt at an attack by Flora. Musa then fired a relatively strong attack at the cave wall thinking she could simply blast her way through, unfortunately her plan didn't exactly go as planned. The cave walls began to shake furiously and the ground began to buckle underneath them "What happened?" Musa yelled out trying to keep her balance.

"The cave walls have seemed to magnify your powers," Techna yelled as the girls began to run for cover.

The newly shaken walls then revealed a new obstacle, shadow creatures began to appear out of nowhere. "Monsters," Musa warned as she took a firm stance on the ground, prepared to attack but then hesitating when she realized her attacks were probably not going to make the situation worse for everyone. Unsure of what to do, she let Bloom, Stella and Layla take the lead, but just as they began to attack she heard faint clapping in the background of the battle.

The next second, she was sitting on the floor of the grand entrance with Miss Faragonda pulling back the spell she had placed over them. "Bloom, Stella, Layla," She began. "You pass,"

Musa sat dejectedly on the floor, she wasn't exactly used to failing. She hated having to sit back and simply wait for things to happen, she had enough of that her entire life when she sat back and watched as everyone did everything for her. She was getting pretty tired of it. "It's okay Musa, everyone's power is different, we'll need your power on other missions," Miss Faragonda comforted after seeing the obvious disappointment in the fairy's eyes. Musa simply looked away, it wasn't fair. She knew she could be of help.

"You can't be serious," Musa said as she looked out onto the quad to see headmaster Saladin standing by the well where Miss Faragonda was giving Bloom, Stella and Layla a last minute briefing on what exactly they were going to experience.

"What's wrong?" Flora asked.

"Saladin is here meaning the boys aren't far behind," Musa groaned. "They get to go but we don't. I was the first one to conjure my powers and the only one to get a solid attack out, why can't I go!"

"Sorry you can't come Musa," Layla said as she walked out of the bathroom in her official Alfea adventure outfit, ready to go. Musa really hadn't decided how she felt about the new edition to their little group. While she had been rather welcoming to change, she was not exactly trusting with her friendships ever since Karen turned out to be such a colossal bitch. But Layla seemed nice enough and since everyone else seemed to like her so she was willing to go and see for herself. "I thought you did pretty well during the test, but I wasn't really focused on you," She admitted.

"It's okay," Musa admitted with a heavy sigh. "But good luck,"

"Thanks," Layla said as she walked over to the other end of the room and began putting on the hiking shoes that went with the adventure outfit she was in. "I think we are gonna need all the luck we can get, it's not going to be easy getting the pixies back," She admitted with worry filling her voice.

"And complaining like a five year old isn't helping, Musa" Techna snapped as she continued to type away on her computer, she didn't seem the least bit upset that she wasn't allowed to go, but then again she wasn't exactly paying attention to them anyway. She was far to busy punching in numbers and locations into her computer, attempting to find the safest way to approach Shadowhaunt. "We must stay focused,"

"No, they need to stay focused," Musa complained on. "They are the ones going on the mission; we're the ones being left behind remembered?"

"We don't know that, maybe he came here to give some advice to the girls," Flora offered softly as she looked out to the quad as well. "We should probably get down there, they will be leaving soon and we should be there to wish them luck,"

"Fine," Musa said curtly as she walked away from the window and began towards the door. "Are you coming Tech?"

"Yes, just give me a few seconds I need to gather my things to show Ms. Faragonda," Techna said as she began to gather a few things from her desk.

"I'll give her a hand," Flora offered as she walked back over to Techna. Musa then opened the door and followed Layla as she walked through the hallway.

"So wait, who are these guys that are supposed to take us to Shadowhaunt?" Layla asked as she and Musa made their way through the hallway. "And are they the same guys Stella was telling me about last night?"

"What exactly did Stella tell you?" Musa asked hoping Stella hadn't recited Musa's embarrassing past from last year. "She tends to –,"

"Nothing bad," Layla assured. "She told me about her boyfriend, a lot, and about his friends. Then she told me about how I had to find a guy there. She was pretty excited about all of it, I am pretty sure she already set up a few dates for me."

"Yeah that's Stella," Musa laughed. "But she means well, she really does. And she probably wont start working on the whole dating thing until after you guys get back from Shadowhaunt,"

"She also told me about the witches from last year," Layla explained and then saw Musa immediately tense. There were a few things Musa hated thinking about and the witches, in particular Darcy, were one of them. "And then she tried to explain you and Riven…whoever that is,"

"There is nothing going there,"

"Yeah Stella said that a lot," Layla emphasized. "But I think I got a biased opinion, she doesn't really seem to like him, but after last year I guess I know why,"

"Well Stella hated him before any of that happened," Musa explained. "But he can be an arrogant, self centered, vain, ass,"

"Well if I get a chance, I'll knock him down a few pegs," Layla said with a laugh as the two walked out onto the quad, where Stella and Bloom were already awaiting their departure. "That is assuming they are going to be coming along with us, by the way what is it exactly that the guys are studying for?"

Just as Musa got ready to answer Layla's question she was summoned by Miss Faragonda leaving Musa to stand by herself, waiting for Techna and Flora to come down to the quad.

A few minutes later, while Saladin and Faragonda explained the plan and gave the three pointers, Flora, Techna and Musa sat quietly awaiting any call for assistance. "I know," Techna said from her place on the bench with Musa and Flora. "Why don't we go with them as a support team?" she proposed and Musa laughed to herself, she knew Techna wasn't that okay with being left behind either, no matter her calm demeanor.

"Any fairy that cannot pass the test can't go to the underrealm," She told the girls firmly.

"Besides they'll have a support team," Headmaster Saladin said just as three leva bikes pulled into the Alfea quad.

"Told you," Musa said softly in a sing-song tone to Flora and Techna. She then sat back in her seat even more upset with the current circumstances. If the she and the girls couldn't be any help, then how were the guys going to be any better. They didn't have any powers for Magix's sakes.

"The boys are going?" Techna said angrily as if she hadn't already seen this coming. "That's not fair!"

"Oh come on they don't even have powers!" Musa complained as well, she knew this was coming but she thought maybe if she complained a bit more than maybe it would help. It tended to work with her nannies when she was younger; however she had grown out of it when she reached the age of 8.

"Which means they don't have powers to lose," Ms. Faragonda added.

"Last year the boys took a coarse on unexplored terrain, these two did the best in their class," Saladin said just as Brandon and Sky took off their helmets and looked over to the girls. "Brandon and Sky will be of great use to the girls,"

"Oh come on," Musa spat. "We all know what they're going to be doing," She then looked over to Layla who looked even less happy than Musa at the moment. "Yeah that would be Brandon and Sky,"

"Looks like I'm going to be a fifth wheel," Layla groaned. "Great,"

"According to my calculations their presence barely increases the rate of success, you would be much better off with us along," Techna stated desperately trying to be included in the mission.

"You're probably right," Layla said then looked over to Miss Faragonda in the hopes that she might change her mind. "Why would we need high school boys?"

"We're not just high school boys," Brandon told her defensively as if he were insulted by Layla's not so subtle scorn." We're heroes."

"And what does that mean?" Layla said still unimpressed. Musa couldn't help but let out a small laugh with her demeanor, it was nice to deflate the egos of the boys that were sometimes completely out of whack. And the looks on their faces weren't too bad either, but it l

"We go to Red Fountain," Sky said in an awkward voice that was clearly meant to ease the tension but his action only served to make everyone look at him and then simply overlook his weird action and continue with their conversation.

"These boys are highly trained and prepared for any emergency situation," Saladin said "Either worldly or magical,"

Musa looked up and met Riven's gaze just as he looked to her. She felt her heart jump when those deep violet eyes met hers, she had no idea how this guy had such an effect on her but she sure as hell was not going to let him know everything he did to her. And for some odd reason she didn't mind that she wasn't met by a smile, rather a cold smirk, the bad boy thing worked for him.

Hey it's Timmy," Techna said happily, pulling Musa's attention back to their departing friends. Techna then watched as the squad ship landed and her eyes became cross when she realized that he might be going on the mission while she was left here. "Is he going too?"

"Timmy and Riven are going to use the squad ship to transport them. Only Brandon and Sky will go on the mission," Saladin explained much to the girls delight.

"Glorified chauffeurs," Musa noted causing a bit of laughter to erupt at the two specialists expense. She figured it to be payback for the way he had acted at the mixer although he remained cool behind his helmets visor, knowing that it would make the princess angry, which it did. Musa simply looked away a little annoyed that he could make her angry so easily yet she didn't seem to have that power over him.

Just then Layla walked up to Riven's bike and did something nobody expected. "Hand me that helmet," She said politely then stood there as if waiting for something. "Now slide to the back seat," she commanded firmly.

Everyone stood still, awaiting Riven to lose the little patience he had and go off on the unknowing princess of Tides. And for a few seconds he just sat there almost in disbelief that someone had actually asked him that. Musa for one really wanted to see the outcome of this, Riven wasn't one to change and even though the bad boy thing was hot, it got to be rather annoying. She was becoming rather sick of his behavior and she was really hoping he would just let this go, but she knew him well enough to know that it was not going to happen. People don't change because you want them too; Musa had learned that lesson over and over again. "How am I going to drive with you sitting in the front like that?" Layla demanded, her voice growing a little less impatient.

Without another word Riven unclenched his hands from the handles of his bike and slide back with the furious scowl on his face that Musa could easily see through his helmet. Layla then got onto the bike and looked over to Musa and let out a small laugh that Riven was sure to catch, normally he would have been insulted that the girl liked so much and her annoying friend were laughing at him, but then he looked to Musa and saw a small smile paint her face as she acknowledged him. Swallowing his pride for the moment, Riven let Layla wake the wheel and let it go for now.

Layla had done what Musa thought impossible, she knocked Riven down a few pegs. "Wow, I was expecting a temper tantrum," Musa noted to Techna a bit loudly as the leva bikes and the squad ship left Alfea.

"Really?" Saladin said to the girls. "I was expecting a visit to the emergency room," He said with a smile and then walked into Alfea with Miss Faragonda. Musa and Techna held in a laugh until they were out of earshot. The headmaster of Red Fountain was always a bit intimidating, he was able to instill a level of fear and respect with all his students, so it was rather surprising to see him being so, well normal.

"Well they're on their way," Flora noted as she Musa and Techna turned around and watched as the quad ship and the leva bikes quickly disappeared into the sky.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be going along with them too?" A voice said from behind the trio of fairies that were left behind. Ali walked up to the three with a handful of books and then looked out to the horizon that the three were gazing at. "You know chasing the leader of Shadowhaunt or whoever,"

"We aren't allowed to go," Flora said in the same pleasant voice she always had.

"We didn't pass the test to go so we're just gonna hang around here," Musa said dejectedly.

"We're still an integral part of this mission," Techna asserted as she sat down and opened her computer. "I have a connection to the squad ship and the guys' personal heroes assistant and with that I can help monitor the caves and even see what is around them," she told them as she began to type furiously on the computer. "We simply aren't there with them but we can still help them,"

"Well if you're not too busy I have a question for you," Ali said as she pulled the musical princess away from Flora and Techna and the two began walking into the school. "You know that girl you tried so hard to get into the dance team during tryouts?"

"Yeah," Musa said, she knew it would come out eventually since everything tends to turn out that way, plus there was no reason to hide it, it's not like she could ruin her relationship with Galatea anymore than she had the other night. Plus, if push came to shove, Ali was the person she needed more than anyone, "She's actually my cousin,"

"Well I'm assuming you two aren't exactly close considering the way she was trashing you this morning to her friends," Ali said, Musa looked over to her with some surprise but not that much. Ali then continued without being asked to, seeing that Musa wanted to know more. "She was out in the quad before the morning classes started and she was talking about you, things that should not be repeated,"

"Cause that's ever stopped you,"

"Anyway now that I know she's related…its still makes little sense," Ali said, she treated gossip like a religion and felt the need to tell everyone about the information she had gathered.

"We just don't get along," Musa said as the two walked back into Musa's room and she sat down by her computer. "But that does not mean I want anything bad to happen to her," she said firmly turning to look at Ali who was now sitting on her bed flipping through one of the many book that she had now laid down on the floor.

"What are you looking at me for?" Ali said defensively closing the book. "I am not going to do anything mean, it's not like I ruin people for the fun of it," she admitted and saw Musa giving her another hard look. "Okay maybe it's a little funny when they're on top of the world one minute and crying the next,"

"I mean it," Musa answered firmly.

"I won't do anything," Ali said. "I promise, even if you beg me to,"

"Trust me that's not going to happen," Musa told her. "I really don't want to get into it with her, I'm just going to go along as if she doesn't exist,"

"Yeah but what it she's not as willing to take the high road," Ali told her. "If you too really don't get along as well as it seems, then she might be out to get you. I mean you did cut her from the dance team and she's got a perfect reason for some vendetta,"

"You're being paranoid," Musa told her. Galatea was a bit spoiled when she didn't get what she wanted, but she wasn't the type of person to plot and scheme, of coarse Musa hadn't seen her in more than ten years and that was definitely enough time for someone to change. Plus, from the way she had acted the night before, there was no telling what she was capable of, and then of coarse there was the fact that she was probably attending Alfea as a part of some scheme cooked up by her mother. Maybe there was some reason to be wary. "I mean even if she wanted to do something, what would she do?"

"Well she doesn't have any ammo to blackmail you with since it's so early in the year," Ali said as she began to think of what she would do in the situation. "If I were her I would probably go after something you want, and since the whole school knows what that is…"

"Ali," Musa warned. "Do we really need to bring that up, besides that is probably the last thing that would work,"

"I wouldn't be so sure," Ali warned her. While Musa was not quite the kind of girl to do what Ali had just mentioned, she could name a hundred that were and from past memory, the slutty approach worked pretty well. "Guys are very easy to manipulate, especially when you're in your underwear. How do you think your old friend Karen managed to get her claws into Nate,"

"Okay this was fun, but I have some homework to do," Musa said stopping the conversation trying to get the beyond despicable image of Riven with Galatea out of her head. "Besides she's next in line for the Armadian throne, and her family is so strict with the rules. I doubt she would ever act like that, I think the stick is too far up her butt,"

"I'm a duchess, fifth in line for the throne and I would," Ali reminded. "And before you try to politely tell me that my moral compass is a bit skewed, remember that not everyone is so weighed down by their conscious. I think a certain specialist is the prime example of that,"

Musa threw Ali a filthy look letting her know that she had gone too far. Ali, similarly to Stella, didn't exactly realize when she was going too far to prove a point and sometimes she needed a friendly reminder. "I get it, and that was a bit too far," She scolded before turning her attention back to her desk, refusing to look at the other fairy in her room. She had enough of thinking about Riven and how badly he hurt her the year before and while she decided to forgive him after finding out about the spell, she still felt awful when she thought about it.

"Sorry," Ali said as she began gathering her things to leave, she thought it best since she had already done enough to upset Musa. "I didn't mean it like that, I was just trying to prove a point. Sorry," She repeated. "I'm not saying she will do anything, but if she does; I've got your back,"

"Thanks," Musa said with a genuine smile, dealing with Ali was a lot like dealing with a child. Musa knew she didn't mean half of what she said, it just slipped out. She then turned her attention back to her computer, sorting through the many emails in her inbox, deleting most she saw and then stopping at one in particular.

"Crap," Musa said to herself as she looked at the contents of the email. They were official pictures taken by photographers of a major music magazine, more importantly they were pictures of her performing during the tour. Pictures she could not let out considering her father thought she had abandoned music like he had after her mother had passed away.

Musa quickly picked up her phone and called one of the only people that she knew would take care of the problem. "Hey Nate," she said when she heard someone pick up.

"Hey Muse, how's Alfea going," He asked

"I need your help,"

"Already?" He teased with a laugh

"Pictures from the tour this summer got out and there are a bunch of pictures from magazines," Musa explained on the verge of a full on breakdown. She couldn't let her father see what she had been doing over the summer. Even though it wasn't exactly what most would consider shameful behavior, Musa knew her father would not be happy to know she had been pursuing music so adamantly or at all for that matter. "They want me to authorize the use of the pictures in the magazine for an article on the tour,"

"Just say no," Nate pointed out in a smart tone. "It's kinda obvious,"

"Well duh!" Musa scolded. "The only problem is that there have to be a bunch of other ones circulating. Daniel and I thought we controlled the media pretty well, but obviously not,"

"Look I wouldn't worry about the pictures being put in a magazine because they need your permission to put them in the magazine." Nate explained to her. "And don't worry about tabloids because you can always tell your dad that the photos were doctored, and we'll back you up so he won't have any reason to not believe you,"

"Okay," Musa said with some relief. She could have told herself that, but it made her feel a lot better to know she had someone to back her up. "Alright then I shouldn't worry?"

"Don't give it another thought," Nate told her. "I'll look into some major magazines and send some forms prohibiting them from using any pictures of us, and I'm sure I can make a deal with the tabloids. They are only in it for the money so it shouldn't be hard,"

"Thanks Nate,"

"No problem," he said. Musa hung up the phone and gave a relieved sigh and put her head down on the table. She felt a stab of guilt for everything she had been keeping from her father. All the dance classes she had taken, aside from the ones Galiena forced her to take, all the instruments she had leaned to play on her own in secret. She knew how much it hurt her father to even think about music and here she was deliberately disobeying him. But she couldn't help it; music was a part of her

Musa looked away from her computer and turned her attention to something else. Putting down her phone and looking to her bed she walked over and laid blissfully on top of the sheets. Making no effort to actually pull the sheets above her, she laid still. Her exhaustion from the day was catching up with her and she needed a break. Within seconds she was fast asleep.

A couple hours later Musa woke to the sun shining in her face, it was late afternoon and she could see that the sun would be going down in a few hours. Getting up from her bed she looked out her window onto the quad and saw that Techna and Flora were still in the same spots that they were in hours ago when Bloom, Stella and Layla. She wondered how far her friends had gotten, trying not to think of the things that could be going wrong, she turned away from the window and began to walk towards the door and on her way to the quad.

Musa stepped onto the quad and stretched her arms after the very restful nap. She walked up to the two as they watched the small computer monitor. "How's it looking?"

"Oh hey Musa," Flora said greeting the princess warmly.

"Hey girls, how far are they right now," Musa asked as she sat down on the bench next to them and watched the screen in from of them. She couldn't really tell what was going on sicne there wasn't a screen actually showing their friends. It looked like a topographical map and the only thing that really distinguished where they were was a series of blinking dots, on the other side of the screen was a bunch of binary code that Musa couldn't even begin to decipher. "Can you understand another of this," Musa whispered to Flora who was looking at the screen intently as if she understood what was happening perfectly.

"Not really," Flora admitted with a small laugh. "I think the blinking dots are Bloom Stella and the boys, but I don't really know what the numbers mean,"

"From what I can tell they are now safely inside the caves," Techna said answering the unasked question. "That is binary code on the side of the screen, it's telling us what else is going on in the cave and I've installed a new program that can track other life forms inside the caves."

"But there aren't any blue dots on the screen," Musa noticed as she looked on the screen. Were there no creatures in Shadowhaunt? If so why the hell couldn't she go along? She was not too happy about being left behind especially after being the first one to tap into her winx inside the test cave that Faragonda conjured, and it wasn't like she messed up. The reason that she was at fault was because she didn't realize her own strength, but her attack was still really effective. (**3**)

"Ive been working on getting that feature working but it doesn't' seem to respond," Techna said as she popped another CD into the computer in the hopes that something new would come up on the screen. "I don't understand why this keeps happening,"

"Why don't you take a break for awhile and then come back to it," Flora suggested, she and Techna had been out here all afternoon and it was probably time that she took some time to do something else. They all had work to do for school and it was probably best that they do something else since they would go crazy if they continued to watch an unchanging screen for hours. "It would probably be best to rest awhile,"

"But then how will we know if they are okay or not?" Techna asked in worry. Her eyes continued to scan the screen restlessly. "I don't want to be away from the computer if something happens, I mean if we are gone then –,"

"We won't be able to help them or even warn them either way," Musa pointed out. "They are prepared for the mission and if worse comes to worse then remember that they are with the guys and they should be helpful since they don't have powers to lose,"

"She's right," Flora agreed as she placed a supportive hand on Techna's shoulder. "We are all worried but we have to hope for the best. Besides this is right up their ally and they were trained for this,"

"I guess you're right," Techna said as she began to gather her things, just then her computer began to beep frantically and she turned back to the screen in panic. Musa also turned her attention to the screen and saw a bunch of blue dots suddenly appear on the screen. _Oh this can't be good_ Musa thought as worry began to set into her mind. "Something is waiting for them in the cave," Techna said in a panic and she began to type furiously on her lap top in an attempt to see what was awaiting her friends. "Oh no, it's cut off my signal, I think something terrible is going to happen to them,"

"No," Musa trailed off looking at the screen that just went completely black. "No, they will be fine, they knew they had to be prepared for a fight," Musa said in an attempt to convince her friends and herself that their friends would be okay. "They know what too do, they'll be fine,"

"I don't know what happened," Techna said trying to get the screen to reappear. She looked like a mad women as she punched the keys on her laptop harder with each passing second in what seemed like a random order. "I have to get this thing to get me back online,"

"No," Musa said stepping up and pulling the laptop out of Techna's grasp. She knew she had to be the sane one in all of this. Flora was the ever optimist and even though it seemed to comfort her, her outlook wasn't always the best way to cheer someone else up. And Techna was having a melt down so she had to be the one to step up. "Okay now you need to stop this because it's not helping, put the books and programs away,"

"But how will we know if they are okay or not" Techna asked as she tried to grab her laptop back from Musa, however she managed to dodge Techna's advances quickly, there were many benefits to being such an avid dancer and a quickness on your feet was one of them. "Please just give it back Musa, this isn't funny,"

"Good because I wasn't joking," Musa said seriously as she turned to Flora and addressed her. "Can you take these books up to our room and put them on the desk, I'll take care of the laptop and the other random things,"

Flora nodded and took the materials up to Techna's room. Musa soon followed with everything else leaving Techna out of the quad alone for a few minutes until she gave up on her mission and followed the other two fairies back to the dorm.

* * *

Dinner and the rest of the night went along slowly; the girls were all worried about their friends in Shadowhaunt and whatever they were going through. After dinner Flora spent the rest of the night in the greenhouse that she and a few other students had created at the end of the year last year. She had headed up taking care of it sicne she was the most inclined to and since most of the teachers and facility trusted her most with the responsibility.

Techna had gone to bed early in the hopes that a good night's sleep might help calm her uneasy mind, however getting to sleep was proving to be quite a difficult task. She kept thinking about everything that could be going on.

As for Musa, she sat in the common room and fingered through a music magazine looking at the pictures that were taken during Wizard a palooza tour that summer. She smiled when she saw there were no pictures of her or Daniel in sight. Keeping her mind off of everything going on Musa continued to flip through the magazines that she had not had time to read in the past couple of months and then went on to watch some mindless television, eventually falling asleep on the couch.

* * *

_1. Watched three Harry Potter movies last night, hence some Harry Potter lingo may sneak into the story. _

_2. Armada means large fleet – another word that has been stuck in my head since I watched the Tudors non stop for the past few days._

_3. Anyone else find that interesting? Musa was the first to get in her winx and she didn't get defeated by anything, she shook up the cave because of her attack because the caves amplified her powers. If I were doing down to some unexplored cave, I would want someone that could protect me and stronger powers seems like a good start. Just interesting I guess…_

_That is chapter three and the next up is chapter four, 'Queen of Perfection' – however this update may take some time, we're off to Hawaii for vacation and it will be a couple weeks before we get back. However I will have my laptop with me so I can probably get some work done on the flight there and back. a_

_Ciao for now – xoxo,  
__princessm_


	4. The Queen of Perfection

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* * *

_

When I started the 'through azure eyes' series, I had decided that I would only use Musa's perspective in the story, but a some points I found it would be a little better if I added some other perspectives so every now and again you may see them switch off. It's not very often so….no worries. Also while i was in Hawaii i thought of so many other things i wanted to add to this story to add a bit more spice to the story (and by that i mean drama) and so on the entire plane flight back i was brainstorming and revising the plot so that i could make it more interesting. So some of the following chapters may take awhile since i have added a few new things. But the next one shouldn't be too long from now since it's a bit short.

_Anyway this chapter is a bit of a shortie, not too much happened with Musa in this one except of coarse her and Riven! (YAY!!!) But he is not the only man in Musa's life you will be seeing here. (oh yes the prince of crescendo is far from gone and I plan on making him very useful) So hopefully you will enjoy it!_

_here goes another chapter!_

* * *

**Queen of Perfection**

The next morning came quicker than Musa had thought. She was awoken suddenly to the sound of her phone ringing. Musa caught a sharp breathe and slowly opened her eyes trying to figure out what that frustrating noise was. After slowly sitting up in bed and identifying the sound was indeed her cell phone, Musa looked around to see where it was and noticed it wasn't un it's usual spot on her nightstand. "Oh come on," Musa complained to herself as she continued to look around her bed reaching all over the place in an attempt to keep from getting out of bed. Finally she stumbled upon the phone as it continued to ring under her pillow. "Hello," she answered in irritation she as collapsed back into her bed and tried to get comfortable. She did not get much sleep the night before, she had been tossing and turning most of the night with worry and when she had finally gotten some sleep she had need awoken by the ringing of her cell phone.

"You never sound happy to hear from me. It kind of hurts a little,"

"Hi Daniel," Musa replied with a smile and a small laugh as she settled back into the warmth of her bed. "What's going on?"

"A few things actually," Daniel answered. "I'm on a flight to Magix as we speak,"

"What?" Musa asked in a bit of a delightful shock. "Daniel you have school today,"

"Obviously I'm not going to make it since I'm on a jet Musa," Daniel said sarcastically. "I wanted to come by and see you, come on don't you miss me?"

"It's only been a couple of weeks since I saw you," Musa said not really answering his question. She did miss him a little since she had spent almost every waking moment with him this summer, but it had only been a couple of weeks, she wasn't expecting to miss him for a little longer. "But yes I missed you,"

"Good cause I'll be landing in a few hours and then we're going to lunch," Daniel told her without asking if she were free, he knew that if she was busy then he would simply prolong his trip a couple of days and find some parties to go to in the meantime. "After I land I'll come and pick you up,"

"I'm still in bed," Musa complained, she was not in the mood to get out of bed just yet. She was warm and comfortable and she had just been able to get some sleep and was really not in the mood to get up and start the day. She needed at least another hour in bed.

"Don't worry, I wont land for a another couple of hours at least so you can sleep for a bit longer," He told her. "Unless of course you want to spend my visit in your bed, which I am totally fine with,"

"Funny," Musa said dryly. "Call me when you land and I'll be ready by the time you come and get me,"

"Alright, I should be there around 1,"

"Okay," Musa said. The two then said their goodbyes and Musa ended the call, turned over and went back to bed for another hour.

After her shower, Musa walked into her room to see Techna at her computer typing away with the same screen she was looking at yesterday. "Does it look any better?" Musa asked as she walked over to her side of the room, letting her hair down from the towel it was wrapped in.

"I can't get to reboot the system," Techna said still perplexed. "I think I'll have to restart the installation of it,"

"Well have fun," Musa said as she walked in front of her mirror and looked around for her hair brush. "I am going out later,"

"So you are not going to be here this afternoon?" Techna asked.

"Nope," Musa told her as she walked over to her mirror and began combing through her wet hair with a hairbrush. "Daniel is coming by a little later to pick me up and we are going to lunch to talk,"

"Sounds awfully like a date," Techna pointed out. While Musa had told everyone that her relationship with Daniel was completely platonic, nobody seemed to believe her. For one their relationship was rather complicated and whenever she tried to explain it to others it ended up either confusing them or further convincing them that the two had something going on. And then there was the fact that Riven was the one in their group that didn't know about the prince. Everyone had kept quiet about Musa's past relationship with Daniel because they knew the can of worms it would open if it ever got out. But if their relationship was so innocent, why couldn't Riven know? Techna was not about to start an all out interrogation like Stella would have, but she was a bit curious as to why Musa kept going back to this one guy. Of course her innocent remark earned her a filthy look from Musa who was not in the mood to get into this again. "Sorry just wondering,"

"I am going out to lunch with my friend," Musa told her emphasizing the last word sounding a lot like a kindergarten teacher trying to get through to a slow five year old. "Because I miss him and want to tell him about all the fun things going on here and in my life. You have never gone out with your friend to catch up,"

"No I have, but I never dated that friend for over a year," Techna said before realizing that this conversation would not end well if she continued. "But I was wondering because Timmy may be coming by a little later today,"

"As much as I love seeing Timmy," Musa began with a joke as she continued to comb through her hair and then moved on to her closet to look for something appropriate to wear to lunch. "I think he is probably coming by to see you,"

"Yeah, Timmy is coming by to check on program I have installed," Techna informed her as she picked up some books around the room and began to gather her materials to go down to the quad.

"Exciting," Musa said turning around from her wardrobe to give a knowing look at Techna, who blushed a bit and then turned away. "Interesting, I mean he could probably help you over the phone, that is usually what you do for IT help,"

"I think Riven may also be coming by, I don't know how much help he would be with programming though," Techna informed the musical princess. Musa felt her heart begin to race for a brief second and she was suddenly even more concerned about how she was going to look that day. "He must be stopping by for some other reason,"

"Point taken," Musa told her, and then turned her attention to what she would be wearing that day, feeling an awful lot like Stella at that particular moment. After another couple of minutes of looking for something before simply settling on a pair of jeans and a single shoulder top, Musa simply gave up on looking for something different. "What time are they coming by?"

"In about an hour," Techna informed her as she began to walk out of the room on her way down to the sunny green quad of Alfea.

Musa smiled and closed the door as she continued to get dressed. She was sure this week was going to suck because she was so weighed down with worry, but the fact that Daniel was coming by to see her and so was Riven seemed to brighten the day. After she got dressed she finished fixing her hair and putting them up in their normal pigtails when she realized that Daniel and Riven were both coming to Alfea, in and around the exact same time. "Crap!"

The musical princess began to pace in the room trying to figure out a way to keep the two from meeting, she was not sure how that would turn out. She was sure that Riven still felt something for her and whatever it was she didn't want Daniel's presence to ruin it or deter the chance at Riven making an advance, not that she was even remotely sure that Riven ever would. Musa simply wanted to keep her options open, that may have been a bit selfish of her but it's what she wanted. Besides she knew that if Daniel met the guy that was basically responsible for their break up last year, he was not going to be prince charming and he would use everything in his arsenal to make Riven feel just as bad as he did last year. Hence, Musa needed to make a few changes in her plans without arising too much suspicion.

Grabbing her phone, Musa sent a quick text to Daniel, hoping that he wasn't already on his way. –_Hey, how about I meet you at the restaurant, Alfea is kind of crazy right now, and there are a bunch of alumni here today – _

Musa then waited for a text back, which came a couple minutes later and thankfully Daniel was fine with it and didn't ask for an extra explanation. In the next hour Musa finished getting ready and then grabbed her phone and small handbag and began on her way out of Alfea as she looked to see Techna sitting in the quad along with Flora. "I'll see you girls later," Musa said as she walked past the two sitting on a bench. She looked out and saw that there were no leva bikes or squad ships in the distance meaning she could make her exit before Riven got here.

"Have fun at lunch," Flora said warmly, Musa nodded and began walking towards the Alfea gate when she remembered something important to the two.

"Oh and if anyone asks where I am," Musa began feeling like she was about to ask her friends to lie for her, but it wasn't exactly a lie, she didn't want them to make something up, just leave a few things out. It was omission, not lying. "I'm out with an old friend,"

"Isn't that where you're going?" Flora asked innocently. "You are going to lunch with Daniel right?"

"Yeah but leave out the Daniel part," Musa advised. Flora and Techna nodded, both with knowing smiles that Musa was not about to try to defend. Everyone knew that she and Riven something going on, but nobody had any idea what exactly that 'something' was. She was unusually shy and reserved around him and he was, well he was Riven.

* * *

Musa waited at the gates for a few seconds and got on the bus that would take her straight to the restaurant district of Magix, not to far from the restaurant Daniel was meeting her at. She sat and watched Alfea disappear into the backdrop of the forest as she made her way to the magical metropolis. She began to get a bit nervous when she thought about what Daniel had to tell her. He was coming all the way here to tell her something. Meaning it had to be big, but then again Daniel would take any reason to get outta school for a day or two. He had once taken an entire week off from school just so he could get ready to throw a crazy party at his family's beach house in the ultra exclusive beach town, the Amptons.

"You look nice," Musa said as she sat down at the table the waiter had directed her too, when she arrived at the restaurant Daniel had already been waiting at the table with drinks. Musa looked down and noticed her outfit was a little too casual for the restaurant she was at. "I feel a bit underdressed,"

"Ehh, who cares," Daniel said as he took a sip of the liquid in his glass. Musa knew him better than to think it was water or soda, it was definitely some type of liquor. And on her side was a glass of wine awaiting her. Daniel had power, he was prince after all, so anything he wanted was his and he made sure that any place he would be at would be serving him whatever it was that he wanted, even if he had not reached the legal age for it. "Want something else to drink?" Daniel asked her after seeing her eye the glass.

"No, wine is fine." Musa said as she sat down and put her phone at the side of the table and he bag hanging off the chair.

"Yeah, but liquor is quicker," Daniel said with a smile and took another gulp of his drink, finishing the contents of the glass. "So how's school?" He asked as he beckoned a waiter over to refill his glass with, what Musa was sure was a very expensive drink.

Musa smiled and took a sip of her wine before answering, it had been awhile since she had alcohol, she didn't drink at Alfea. She hardly drank when she was at Devon, but there is was much more common to do it. Alfea was a lot lower key; there were hardly any ridiculously extravagant parties that seemed to be so ubiquitous back at her old prep school. "It's good, we've got a few projects going on but other than that everything is okay," Musa said referring to the fact that half of her closest friends from Alfea were now trekking through the unknown territory of Shadow haunt.

Daniel gave her a skeptical look as if he knew that she was down playing the 'projects' that she had just mentioned, but they had their own business to get to so he ignored it.  
The two ordered and then began chatting about what had been going on in the last two weeks.

"This is really good," Daniel said as he took a bit of his pasta dish in the middle of their conversation.

"It is really good," Musa agreed as she took another bite of her pasta and then a sip of the wine.

"I wonder if they threw it against the wall to see if it was done," Daniel said stifling a laugh as he continued to twirl is fork in his plate as he took another taste of his dish.

"I saw it on a cooking show!" Musa defended. She had tried her hand at cooking over the summer while they were all following the Wizard a palooza tour. Everyone had decided to go out that night, but Musa was too tired from that day's performance so she stayed in and Daniel decided to keep her company. Musa had then decided, against Daniel's plea's, she was going to cook dinner instead of ordering something to their palatial hotel pent house. She was into an hour of cooking when Daniel decided to check in on how she was doing, he walked into the kitchen to see Musa flinging hot pieces of pasta at the wall, seeing it they would stick. She had tried to explain that if pasta stuck to the wall then it was ready to eat, but Daniel was too busy rolling with laughter to listen. "If the pasta stuck then it was ready," she explained once again. (**1**)

"Okay Musa," Daniel said still with a small laugh trying to keep his laughter at an appropriate level, they were in a pretty upscale restaurant and a prince busting out in laughter was probably a little out of place. "So I have a few things to tell you,"

"Okay," Musa said sitting up, unconsciously preparing herself for some bad news. She was sure there was something about Galatea since he had been trying to find out as much as he could about whatever was happening with that family.

"I found out a little about Galatea," He told her and then continued. "I was at my palace in Crescendo and I asked my dad about their family and he, well he yelled at me and told me that I was acting like a child,"

"Sorry," Musa said feeling bad for making Daniel have to deal with his father.

"Ehh, nothing I'm not used to," Daniel said and then continued with his story. "So I flew over to Siren Isle to see my mother. She told me that Galatea's mother hasn't been around many of the popular vacation spots lately, and then she went off on this tangent about some lady and botched plastic surgery so I went to my aunt Cecilia, who happens to be married to a lord from Galatea's kingdom,"

"I love you for doing all of this but can we get the point," Musa asked. She really could go without hearing about Daniel's little odyssey to find the information. "Please,"

"I'm getting to it, just wait," Daniel affirmed. "Aunt Cecile told me that Galatea's cousin from her dad's side of the family is being groomed to rule the kingdom. He is taking all the proper classes for taking over and he is even making meetings with all the other royals. If he is the one that takes over –,"

"Galatea will get her throne taken away from her," Musa finished for him. "But how can he just do that? He is third in line and Galatea is second,"

"Well for one he's a guy and they are still very traditional there," Daniel explained. "And since Galatea was born in an grew up in the Harmonic Nebula for such a long time, he is arguing that he has the exact same right to the throne as she does, but he would be better since he is more loved by the people since he has been around there longer,"

She knew where this was going but she didn't see how it was at all possible. "But what does that have to do with her sudden interest in my life. She can't take my throne, parliament decided," Musa defended starting to worry, she wasn't the biggest fan of the life of a royal but she always saw herself ruling over the Harmonic Nebula someday. "Parliament ruled that I was the next in line because I'm older than Galatea, so unless she plans on killing me, I don't see how she is going to go about getting my throne,"

"What I think she's trying to do is make an argument that she has more…pure blood line," Daniel said trying to sound as unoffensive as he could. Musa wasn't exactly a pure bred royal because her mother was a commoner while her father was royal. "If she can make some argument that says she would be a better ruler because of that, then parliament can rule to push you down in line for the throne,"

"That's not fair, it's not possible," Musa spat trying to think of something that could keep Galatea from taking what was rightfully her's. She looked down to her plate of food and tried to say something, anything but the shock had set in and she had no idea what she was going to do. She had never even seen the possibility of losing everything she knew, she couldn't just let all of that go, and she was damn sure not going to let it all go to Galatea. "She can't take it, it's mine,"

"Look after I found out I went to my dad," Daniel told her reaching across the table and putting Musa's hand in his to comfort her. "I told him everything and he told me the chances of you actually losing your spot in line is next to impossible,"

"How can he be so sure,"

"Parliament rules in favor of the monarchy and the people," Daniel explained. "Well, one of your kingdom's greatest assets is it's strong alliance with mine, and vice verse. If Galatea takes the throne from you, Crescendo will no longer be an ally, after all the Crescendian royal family has strong ties with you,"

Musa smiled and looked up at Daniel, she could see exactly where he was going with this. "And everyone that you are close friends with also have a stake in the future of the Harmonic Nebula's allies. If Galatea tries to take your throne, she will be in essence destroying all diplomatic relations between it's closest allies. I've already talked to Nate, Leslie and the twin and they will all take your side, not that it's any surprise,"

"I don't know what to say," Musa said feeling her eyes begin to fill with water. She had simply asked him to looked into the matter and report back anything he had heard and here he was solving the entire problem. If Musa ever needed a prince charming in her life she never needed to look to Daniel. "I can't believe you did all of this, I really owe you one,"

"I wasn't about to sit back and let some girl take something so important from you," Daniel told her as he wiped a tear that began to run down the side of her cheek. Musa put her hand on his as he rested there on her face and smiled. "Besides you know how much I hate that girl, and how much I love you,"

"I love you too," Musa said as she wiped her eyes clear and laughed a bit. "This whole crying bit, never happened,"

"But that doesn't explain why she's here," Musa said, if she wanted to stage a cue she could do it from the comfort of her kingdom, why had she come to Alfea? "Did she come here to brag?"

"She's trying to prove that you wouldn't be a good ruler," Daniel told her. "She's probably here to dig something up on you and use it against you,"

"I can't believe that," Musa said. Galatea may have changed since the last time she saw her but there was no way she was here to sabotage Musa, they were family after all, it had to mean something. "She wouldn't do that,"

"Not everyone is as nice as you," Daniel pointed out. "And think about it, if she can't take her throne than why she wouldn't take yours. I'm sure she has it all justified in her head,"

Musa sat quietly for the next few minutes until Daniel picked up the conversation after it fell flat."So I still have some more news, the reason that I trekked all the way to Magix," Daniel said pulling away from the former topic. He couldn't stand to see Musa cry, even when it wasn't out of sadness, it brought him back to the year before, when they had broken up and he thought he had lost her for some time. And now after all of the drama it was nice to have things back to normal having her back as his best friend. "The annual Devon formal ball is coming up soon it's at the royal yacht club,"

"Sounds fun," Musa said recalling the year before when she had attended with Daniel; it was hosted in the most beautiful mansion. It was the biggest social event of the year for Devon students and even some of the neighboring prep schools made it a big deal. Musa had loved that night so much and was a bit sad that she wasn't going to be able to attend this year. "And who will you be going with,"

"I was thinking about what lucky lady I would as to the ball," Daniel said arrogantly and then turned to her and looked at her pointedly. "And I was hoping you would be my date,"

"I would love to go," Musa began thinking about how much fun it would be to go to the ball with her friends. She had never been a huge fan of royal affairs, but this one was something she couldn't ignore. All of her old friends would be there and none of the stuffy old royals there. "But is that the best idea?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" Daniel asked in confusion. "I mean it will be a lot of fun and it's only gonna be a couple nights away from Alfea,"

"It's not that," Musa began. "But come on, nobody wants to believe that you and I are just friends, do we really need to give them more fuel for it?"

"Come on who cares?" Daniel said with some surprise. Musa had never been the kind of person to give into gossip and have it affect her. Besides there was nothing going on between the two of them so it's not like they had anything to hide. "It's just a ball and we went together before we started dating,"

"Yeah but still," Musa said. She was still trying to convince her close friends, ones that knew the situation well, that there was nothing going on with her and Daniel and now this would only add to the questions. It was probably best that she not go. But as she thought about how much fun the ball was and how much she used to look forward wanted to go so badly. "It's not the best idea,"

"That's too bad," Daniel said disappointedly and looked down at her and then back up at her with a less somber face. "You are still going,"

"Daniel," She complained

"Yeah you are because you know you want to and I don't want to go with anyone else and you owe me remember?" Daniel told her with a smug smile, he folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. "It's next week, I'll send a limo to pick you up and you can take your jet or mine back,"

"I don't have a dress for such a big occasion," Musa said making up a poor excuse. She had plenty of regal ball gowns, but it was a social taboo to wear the same ball gown twice, not that it mattered since her aunt Galiena was constantly buying her new gowns in the hopes that Musa would attend more royal functions.

"That's a horrible excuse," Daniel laughed. "I'll call Penelope and have her get you a new one and don't start crap about your size because I'll have the twins go since you guys are basically the same size,"

"I think I have an exam that day so I need to study," Musa flat out lied, at this point she didn't know why she was even attempting to say no since Daniel could find a loop hole in any situation. Besides, she was beginning to get really excited about going home for the ball. It would probably be a lot of fun and it would help keep her mind off of everything else going on.

"Stop it, now you're just making stuff up," Daniel told her. "You have to go and that is final,"

"Fine," Musa said with a smile as she thought about that night with anticipation. "It will probably be a lot of fun so I don't mind going,"

"Good, now that we have settled that matter, why is it that you didn't want me to pick you up from Alfea," Daniel said. "Because I don't buy that it's about these supposed alumni and I have a feeling it has to do with the 'projects' that you mentioned so tell me the real reason,"

"It was an alumni thing!" Musa defended but didn't convince Daniel.

"Really…"

"Okay no, actually, that was a lie," Musa told him as she looked down to her plate and played a bit with her food. She wasn't too sure what she was going to tell Daniel, but she was sure that if she didn't tell him about the while Shadow haunt thing now, he would find out eventually when he gave her a surprise visit, which knowing Daniel was bound to happen. She sure as hell was not going to tell him the real reason she asked him not to stop by since he would then follow Musa back to Alfea and insist on meeting him. Something she was not going to allow, not yet anyway. "I didn't want you to pick me up at Alfea because there is kind of a lot going on right now and I don't want you to worry about it,"

"It can't be any worse than whatever was going on last year," Daniel told her. He had not actually found out all the details about the witch invasion, but he did know that Musa and her friends were fighting off a trio of psycho witches from Cloud tower, but Musa assured him that what happened that year was a fluke and the witches were locked away under lock and key at some boot camp. "So lay it on me,"

"You have to promise not to tell anyone, not even the girls or Nate," Musa warned. She had worked hard to keep all the witch drama a secret from her father and the more people that knew, the bigger chance of her father finding out. The city of Magix had a very good way of covering the whole thing up so that the magical elders did not have to get involved, but still she had to be careful. "And you also have to promise not to freak out either,"

"Fine," Daniel agreed. "Are you planning a bank heist?" He joked and saw that it didn't go over to well with Musa. Admittedly he was not always the most serious person in the world but sometimes Musa needed to lighten up.

"So the girl I told you about, the one that was beat up and stuff," Musa began, Daniel nodded and was ready to add some clever remark but kept his lips pressed tightly together since he knew anything he said would interrupt Musa while she was being serious and that tended to end badly for him. "She's the princess of Tides and she actually got beaten up by this guy named Lord Darkar,"

"Lord who?" Daniel asked with general confusion. Last time he checked Tides didn't have lords and ladies.

"Lord Darkar," Musa repeated. "The ruler of Shadow haunt,"

Just as the words left Musa's lips she knew how ridiculous this must have sounded to someone who was not familiar with the situation. Daniel gave her the exact same face that Ali had given her when she first told her about the mission to shadow haunt. "Look shadow haunt is a real place and Lord Darkar is taking power and he kidnapped pixies and my friends went down to save them and I'm getting a little worried about them,"

"I'd be worried too," Daniel said in serious voice that cracked with some laughter. "I would be worried if I sent my friends to a place that does not exist," he said finally bursting out in a fit of laughter, finding it a bit difficult to stop laughing.

"I'm not joking," Musa said seriously through her clenched teeth. She absolutely hated it when Daniel didn't take her seriously. "It's a real place and they are really there,"

"Seriously?"

"Why would I joke about something like this," Musa snapped still a little angry with his reaction. "I'm not you,"

"They were sent there? How is that legal?" Daniel asked. He couldn't think of a single headmaster or headmistress that was okay with letting their students go to such a dangerous environment. It was like they were asking to be fired or sued.

"I don't know, but they are there and that is why I seem distracted,"

"At least you didn't have to go," Daniel said thankfully, he didn't know her friends very well so he didn't exactly care too much about them, but he did not want Musa going down to Shadowhaunt.

"I wish I could have gone," Musa said regretfully as she poked at the little food left on her plate.

"Why?" Daniel asked. "You could get killed,"

"I could help,"

"Well I'm glad that you didn't have go," Daniel said as he got the check and gave the waiter his credit card. "When do you have to get back to school?"

"Soon," Musa said looking at her watch and realizing that she and Daniel had been talking for almost three hours, this was supposed to be a quick lunch.

The two walked out of the restaurant and over to Daniel's limo. "Come on, I'll take you back to Alfea," he offered as he stood at the door waiting for her to get in.

"No thanks," Musa said declining his offer. "I think I'll just go back on the bus,"

Daniel cringed at the idea, a princess on a public bus? He was not about to let that happen. "Come on Muse, you already told me why you didn't want me to pick you up, just let me drop you off,"

"Daniel I can take a bus," Musa affirmed. "Besides you need to get back home and you have a long flight ahead of you. And while I'm on the subject, I love your visits but you shouldn't keep blowing off school to come all the way here. You have enough strikes at Devon already,"

"Yeah but no amount of strikes will get me outta there and you know it," Daniel argued. "And it's not that long a flight and I love seeing you. God it gets so annoying back home sometimes, everyone is coupled up, it's like freakin' Noah's arc,"

Musa smiled and gave him a hug, she was taking the bus back and that was final. If Riven and Timmy were coming by today then they would be there by now and she didn't want Daniel to be around at the same time Riven was. So she would take the bus back. "Don't worry I'll be back for the ball and you can hang out with me all night. Now, I'm going back on the bus. I'll see you for the ball, I can't wait,"

"Okay," Daniel nodded as they pulled away from each other. "I'll see you then princess Dannington," he said with a smile and got back in the limo. Musa waved as it drove off and then made her way back to Alfea with a lot of new information and a stomach full of delicious pasta.

* * *

Musa walked back onto the Alfea campus and looked around to see Techna and Timmy out on the lawn talking. "Hey guys," She said as she walked up to the two.

"Hey Musa," Techna said in a voice that showed she was trying to force herself to sound happy, Musa could tell that she was concerned about something and it wasn't hard to guess what that something was. "How was your lunch?"

"Fine," Musa said and looked to Timmy who had the same concerned look plastered all over his face as well, but it was clear from the looks of it that he was attempting to comfort Techna. "How are the numbers and programs looking?" Musa asked not too sure how exactly they were getting their information since manipulating advanced technology was not her forte. She began to worry when Techna took awhile to answer and she knew it the outlook wasn't good.

"Not too good," Techna said. "Their chances of surviving Shadowhaunt keeps dropping and their chances of surviving and saving the pixies hardly exists,"

"They will be fine," Musa said looking down at the ground and feeling herself start to fall into a near panic. Her mind began to go to a dark place, where the worst had occurred. What if her friends didn't return, she didn't know what she would do if they were gone. It would be too much for her, she could not think of how Alfea would be if they weren't here. "They have to be,"

Without another word Musa walked away from the two with no idea as to where she was going. A few minutes later she found herself on the back grounds of the campus, sitting on an empty picnic bench. Musa looked up and felt her eyes begin to fill with water. She was angry, upset and worried all at the same time. Why hadn't she been allowed to go along? They could have used her help and she didn't think of herself as some liability that would require more work than she could offer. She was perfectly capable of taking care of herself in Shadowhaunt and now all she could think about was the horrible mess that her friends were inevitably in.

Musa didn't realize she was pacing but she found herself walking up and down the path that led to Alfea's gardens. She felt it hard to breathe at moments and others she felt chills, she was definitely going through some shock and worry. Musa tried to calm herself down by not thinking about the worst case scenario, which she tended to do when faced with difficult situations.

Then, her hypersensitive ears picked up on footsteps as they drew closer to her. "I'm not worried," Musa told the figure she heard approaching from behind her before anyone has asked her anything. She could tell it was Riven by the way he walked, she did have excellent hearing and it was so acute that she could distinguish between even subtle footsteps.

"Okay…" Riven said not really sure how to approach the situation, he wasn't exactly the kind of guy who could comfort people very well. He was horrible at even attempting to be sensitive and now was a time where it would have been very sensitive. He wanted to be able to tell her how much he cared for her, despite how he acted towards her, and take her in his arms, but he couldn't be that forward, not even in his dreams.

"Should I be?" Musa said turning around to face Riven and looking into his tortured violet eyes, he had said nothing but one word but Musa needed to know what he thought. She knew he would be straight with her, and not sugar coat the truth, but she wasn't too sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Well yeah. Those guys probably screwed up everything," Riven told her realistically. He had no idea what he was supposed to say to make her feel better so he told her what he was thinking. Musa's eyes began to well with tears once again as the feelings of worry and anxiety she tried to hard to suppress or at least mask temporarily began to resurface once again. Before she knew what she was doing, stepping towards Riven in the hopes he could comfort her, she felt Riven's strong chest against he cheek as tears feel from her eyes.

Musa didn't look up at Riven but she could distinctly hear his heart rate increase since the side of his face was pressed up against chest. She then realized that maybe she was having an effect on him, but it wasn't hard to tell there was chemistry between them, but it was so hard to get him to open up, Musa didn't know her little meltdown helped tremendously. "Don't you dare tell anyone I cried," She ordered quietly.

"I won't," Riven told her a bit softly. Musa opened her eyes after crying, trying to get a hold on her emotions and say how hesitant Riven was to make any movement. His arms stayed at his side after a moment of hesitation when she was sure he was going to wrap his arms around her, something she could have really used as comfort at the moment. "Look maybe by some miracle they will get lucky and won't screw it up," He told her in his attempt to try to comfort the princess, the last time he had seen tears fall from her eyes was the day that he had abandoned her and left her at the mercy of the Trix sisters, he still couldn't get over the guilt of that day; of all the people he had hurt the year before Musa was the one he trying the hardest to make it up to and Riven really could not stand to see the princess cry again.

"Maybe," Musa said with a small smile pushing the remainder of her tears away as she felt his arms relax and he then wrap around her waist as his one hand moved from it's place from her waist and began to run up and down her back. "They have to be okay,"

"Trust me, when it comes to dumb luck, Brandon has it down," Riven said quietly, dropping he head down and saying it softly into Musa's ear.

Musa let out a small giggle and pushed away slightly from Riven's chest and looked up at him, not forgetting that Riven's arms were still wrapped around her keeping her close to him. His features had soften and she could see a smile tempting his lips but as he looked down at her she could tell he was trying his best to keep the smile from forming. "You know it is okay to smile, I won't tell anyone. Promise," she joked as she felt his head drop closer to hers, feeling his hot breath hitch just as he drew near.

"Promise?" Riven said with a smirk forming rather than a smile, her scent filling his senses. He suddenly felt a rush of desire for her, too much for him to simply hide like he always did, he wanted herf. Musa felt her heart begin to race as he drew closer and their eyes didn't move off of each others. She was suddenly unaware of everything else around her and the way he was looking clouded her mind of all judgement. The princess then began to move a bit closer as well and when the two were only inches away from something they both wanted so badly, Riven stopped and pulled away. He wanted to kiss her more than anything, but he still felt so undeserving of her, she needed to be with someone so much better than him, hell she was a princess and what was he?

Not sure as to what was going on, Musa pulled back as well and began to move out of his grasp when she sensed his hesitation, her eyes quickly falling away from his. It took a couple of seconds to realize that she was being rejected; sure he hadn't outright said anything but it was obvious he was backing off for a reason. Her heart dropped inot the pit of her stomach and she felt like she was just slapped in the face. Musa turned away quickly and began to walk away from him. "I should probably go up and see Flora," Musa said quickly as she moved away from him and finally turned and walked back towards the building, not seeing the regret painted all over Riven's face.

* * *

"You saw us!" Musa gasped with some embarrassment as she sat on her bed with Flora sitting at her desk, her face heating up. She promptly looked down at her blanket and began playing with the soft cashmere feel of it. A couple of seconds later so composed herself the best she could and said. "Well you didn't see anything because nothing happened,"

"Yeah I saw that too," She replied softly a little more carefully than when she told Musa she had seen Riven almost kiss her. "Maybe he didn't want to –,"

"Kiss me?" Musa finished for her. She never liked talking about her feelings for Riven since she had been so humiliated after last year, she really wanted to pretend it never happened and get over him. But the fact was she couldn't and everyone could tell. However, Flora was easy to talk to because she never made a judgement on the situation, not that the other girls did on purpose. But Flora was simply a lot more understanding than anyone she knew, making her the perfect person to confide in, which was why she was the one that knew about the interesting relationship between Musa and Riven. "Yeah he made that pretty evident,"

"I was going to say rush things,"

"I've known him for over year," Musa pointed out and then remembered why she and Riven were not exactly close the year before, which fact seemed to have slipped her mind up until now, probably because her mind was still hazy from what had happened with Riven not too long ago. "Okay, I guess last year doesn't really count,"

"He likes you," Flora told her after another few seconds of silence. "I can tell,"

"I don't want to think about it," Musa groaned and fell back and stretched out onto her bed grabbing her pillow and covering her face, replaying what had happened over and over again in her head. What happened? They were so close and then, nothing. Maybe it was time to give up on the hopeless fantasy.

"Think about what?" A voice said from the door as a fairy entered the room with a small handbag in her hand.

"Oh, hello Ali," Flora greeted warmly as she swiveled around childishly on Musa's desk chair.

Musa, pulling the pillow off her face but still remaining in her stop spread all over the bed, looked over to Ali and smiled. "Nothing, what's up?"

"Found this on the picnic bench on the back grounds of campus," She said presenting the handbag to Musa. "Looked familiar and then I realized it was yours,"

"Thanks," Musa said taking the bag.

"How did you know it was Musa's?" Flora asked taking a look at the small handbag, it was a fashion that had swept Magix and everyone had bag like this. "It looks just like the ones that everyone is carrying around,"

"At first I thought it was mine," Ali explained. "But I kept hearing a phone ring and it wasn't mine and I recognized it as Musa's, plus the caller was Daniel, so I assumed it was your Daniel,"

"Speaking of him, how was lunch?" Flora asked as she stood up as if remembering something.

"Good," Musa told her.

"I think I should go, I forgot to water my plants in my room,"

"Lunch with who?" Ali asked as Flora began to walk out of the room to tend to her flowers. "Did you have a date!"

"Hardly," Musa told her dryly as she sat up in bed. "Daniel came by to help me with something, and I think I need your help too,"

"Sure," Ali said bypassing any smart remarks she had about Musa and Daniel together.

"The spying that you had planned for Galatea," She said a bit coldly remembering all Daniel had told her earlier that day. "Do it,"

"Finally, something to do around here," Ali said. "Any particular reason?"

"I need to find out why she's really here," Musa told her and then headed back off to her room. The rest of the night went along slowly, Musa had decided to get to bed early although she couldn't sleep for hours after getting in her soft bed. She kept replaying what happened that afternoon with Riven in her head. She loved the way he had held her, she felt so safe in his arms and even though he didn't know it, he had made her feel so much better. That was until the very end of thier encounter and she could not figure out what happened. Musa hated thinking of the very real possibility that Riven didn't feel the same way she did, partially because it meant she needed to move on and partially because she had already told herself not to let him make a fool of her, and now she felt like one.

Musa turned over in her bed once again and tried so hard to get some sleep.

* * *

_1.I thought that was true for awhile, but after watching a myth show on the food network, I found out that throwing pasta against a wall to see if it's done does not work._

_Musa and Riven were so close! But don't worry it has to happen sooner or later ;) (of coarse a lot is going to happen in between 'sooner' and 'later')_

_xoxo,  
__princessm_


	5. Rescuing the Pixies

_This chapter is another short one, (although the last one was supposed to be short and came out to be pretty lenghthy) , it's building up to next chapter that should be pretty long, so get ready. Like always, there will be drama :)_

* * *

**Rescuing the Pixies**

Another day passed by with no word from Bloom, Stella or anyone that had gone on the mission to shadowhaunt. And with worry about them increasing with every passing moment, it was safe to say everyone was a little on edge about everything that was going on. Musa had decided to be as optimistic as Flora had been through everything, she was right, all they really had was hope so she decided to hold onto that; no matter how bleak the outlook was. Techna on the other hand had fallen deep into panic and was spending every waking second trying to figure out a way to reopen communication with their friends.

"So what exactly are we looking for?" Flora asked as she flipped through yet another spell book that she took from the large pile that had accumulated on Techna's desk.

"Any type of spell that can put us back in contact with the girls," Musa told her as she looked through a book of dark magic and simply placed it on her desk, disregarding it since dark magic was never known to have very good communication spells besides it was not like Musa or anyone else at Alfea could conjure a dark magic spell anyway. She had been trying to focus on the task at hand but her mind seemed to wonder to other problems that were still so fresh in her mind.

"There are hundreds of communications spells, how are we supposed to know which ones work and which ones don't," Ali complained as she rifled through another dusty old book of spells. "This is ridiculous, we would be better off following them to shadow haunt and wandering aimlessly in a cave. At least then we wouldn't get so many damn paper cuts" Ali continued frustrated as she sucked on her finger after yet another paper cut.

"We cannot stop until we've exhausted all of our options," Techna pushed as she picked up another spell book and began to read the text of the massive book. "There has to be a way to get into contact with them,"

"If all of the communication spells we have used haven't worked then most of the ones we are reading probably won't either," Ali pointed out. "Professor Palladium told us that spell variations usually only occur because of changes in the people that are spelled. The problem we're having is that the spells somehow get cancelled out from the Shadowhaunt environment. If anything we need some type of combination with a sustenance spell,"

"Look who was paying attention in potions," Musa teased as she looked through yet another spell book. "Do you think a book on dark magic spells could help,"

"We would need someone who can actually use them, so probably not," Ali pointed out as everyone continued on to read the books."Hey check this out," Ali said as she leaned back against the wall and began to flip through something that didn't look like a spell book. "They look so weird,"

"What are you looking at?" Flora asked.

"Looks like Techna checked out more than spell books," Ali said as she continued to look at the pictures in the yearbook she was looking at. "This year book must be from twenty years ago,"

"Cool," Musa said putting down her spell book and walking over to Ali. "Wow, look it's the old potions lab!" She said pointing out the potions lab wing she never got to see since Stella had blown it up the year before she started Alfea.

"Before Stella got her hands on it," Ali added.

"Hey look, there used to be a whole other garden on the side of the campus," Flora pointed out as she too moved over to Musa and Ali and began to look at the stack of old yearbooks as well. "They covered it with the field hockey field,"

"Girls!" Techna said loudly, clearly upset with the fact that they had veered off topic. "We need to be searching the spell books for a way to make contact; we have no time for these shenanigans,"

"Shenanigans?" Musa said looking up from the yearbook she was flipping through, crinkling her brow in a bit of confusion, was Techna suddenly 20 years older? "You sound just like my aunt, minus the martini in one hand and jewels in the other," she joked and notices Techna's face showed she was not amused. "But hey you have the disappointed face down,"

Musa and Flora then walked back to their places and began to search through the books again, but Ali continued to laugh at the fashion choices previous Alfea students used to make. "Ali, how about you take those yearbooks and look at them somewhere else?" Musa suggested noticing Techna was ready to snap and she didn't want her to get in a fight with Ali, because she knew Ali would win.

"That was subtle," Ali remarked as she picked up her things with a laugh. "Okay well good luck guys and if I think of something I'll tell you," She said and then turned here attention to the musical princess. "Are you going to be showing up for dance tonight, remember you are captain," she told Musa emphasizing the word 'captain'.

"Yes," Musa told her. "There isn't much going on here anymore so I can definitely make it practice,"

"Okay good," Ali said with a smile and walked out of the room.

After another couple of hour of flipping through almost the entire stock of spell books that the famous Alfea library had to offer, Musa and Flora had officially given up. As for Techna however, this search for a new spell to contact their friends had become almost an obsession, she hadn't lifted her head from a book since she had scolded Ali, which was hours ago. "I think I'm gonna go head down and get some lunch," Musa said as she stretched her arms out and sat up from the foot of her bed. "Wanna come with?"

"That sounds great," Flora said as she stood up as well and dusted off her pants as she did, the old books had a tendency to leave a pile of dust and other foreign materials all over clothing. "I am so hungry right now,"

"I think I will stay here and continue," Techna said not looking up from the spell books when she answered. "There are still many books that I haven't even looked at yet,"

"Tech, you need to get some rest," Musa told her with some concern. Techna was not really dealing with the worry and stress very well. Musa remembered last year when they were left behind when Stella and Bloom went to cloud tower, Techna was pretty worried back then too. But this was getting a bit ridiculous, the poor girl was running herself into a hole. "Why don't you get some sleep or watch some television or something,"

"I have far too much work to do" Techna insisted.

"Okay, but you have to do something to take your mind off of this stuff," Flora said as she walked over to the digital fairy and attempted to take the book she was reading out of her hand, only to have her hand slapped away by Techna. She looked at Flora with a strict face. "Sorry," Flora said pulling her hand back with surprise, it was like trying to pry a pair of designer high heels out of Stella's hands.

"I'll take a break later," Techna told the two with a fierce look in her eyes. "I'm fine here,"

"Okay," Musa said giving up, looking at Techna who was now borderline crazy, as she an Flora walked out of the room and began to shut the door behind her. "I'll bring you something back,"

Techna simply nodded and Musa and Flora began on their way down to the dining hall. "I am getting a bit worried about her," Flora said right before Musa had the chance to say the same thing. "She hasn't been able to get her head out of the books since she got them this morning. I really don't think she's taking the stress of everything very well,"

"Yeah," Musa agreed. "She's not getting much sleep either, I heard her typing on her computer last night and I woke up in the middle of the night as she was still up. I doubt she's gotten more than a few hours of sleep,"

"Hopefully she'll listen to us and get some rest,"

"Hopefully,"

* * *

After lunch Musa went back to the room while Flora went the gardens in the back of the school to care for some of the seedlings that were just beginning to sprout. Musa walked into the room to find Techna humming happily as she came out of the shower and strutted around the room in only her bathrobe. "I see you took our advice,"

"I did need a quick shower," Techna said with a smile. "And the break was nice,"

"You know what might be even nicer," Musa asked as she walked around looking for Piff, Layla had entrusted her with Piffs care and she had to make sure not to mess that up. And it turned out caring for the pixie was harder than Musa had thought, she was either crying or sleeping. "Putting on some clothes,"

"That's weird, this computer only freezes when somebody tries to hack into it," Techna said as she sat back down at the desk in the common room and began typing away on her computer, disregarding Musa's last comment.

"Maybe Piff was playing with it," Musa said as she continued to look around for the sleeping pixie, she hated it when Piff cried but now she wished she was so she could find her. Just as Musa began to worry that she may have lost Layla's beloved pixie, she found her sleeping beneath a pillow.

"It looks more serious than that,"

"There she is, look how cute," Musa said looking at the baby pixie sleep peacefully on the couch. Musa smiled at the small pixie and gently caressed Piff's cheek with her finger. It reminded her of a project she had at Devon where every boy and girl were paired up and assigned to take care of a mechanical baby; it did everything a real baby did except it was also built to monitor how it was cared for. She and Nate had been partners and managed to do a pretty good job, the baby came back with no scratches and the two were given an 'A'. Other students, like Daniel and Isabelle, who had lost the baby then found it under a couch a week later had to take an extra credit assignment since they effectively failed that one. (**1**)

"Musa we might have a situation here," Techna said trying to draw Musa's attention back to the problem, since the princess seemed to be very drawn by the sleeping pixie. "I don't know why this isn't working, I've tried to reboot this thing three times,"

"You said that last night when your computer froze cause of the program, do you think that maybe you're overreacting," Musa asked, she had been trying to fix the problem for awhile now and she was having very little luck. "What's the problem Techna, it's probably just a spell hacker. I'm sure you're just wiggin' cause you're anxious about Bloom and the others. I know I am,"

"But that's the thing, I've been trying to reestablish contact with them," Techna said as she got up and walked over to the balcony door and let the warm breeze into the room. "Someone could have intercepted the signal,"

A few seconds later Musa heard a small thud from Techna's place at the balcony door. "Well what do we have here?" Techna said as she pulled the pixie off the laptop that she had just collided with it.

"Where'd you come from?" Musa asked as she walked over to the balcony when Techna turned around, she was looking down at the small pixie that was struggling to get out of Techna's grasp and looked as if she were about to start crying if the digital fairy didn't let go. "You might wanna let her go,"

Techna took Musa's advice and the new pixies proceeded to tell the girls why she was here at Alfea, of course it took a good twenty minutes to do so since she kept getting distracted with something, like Piff or crashing into a table. The new pixie then went on to tell the two about her job as being the pixie of messages. She was supposed to be delivering a message to Red Fountain about the Realm of Realix, it was supposed to be a big secret and even when Musa and Techna interrogated the poor pixie she really didn't know anything.

"So, what do you think this realm of Realix is?" Techna asked after the pixie went to see Miss Faragonda about an hour before that and Musa put her on her dance team clothing.

"Dunno, but if it's under lock and key with Red Fountain it must be pretty important," Musa said as she put a ice cold water bottle from the freezer into the side pocket of her work out bag. "I dunno maybe somewhere where they keep important relics or something,"

"Do you think it has anything to do with this whole Shadowhaunt situation?" Techna asked as she fidgeted with her computer a bit more. "The timing is rather interesting, I mean the pixies are now under fire and there is a strange power in Shadowhaunt and now this pixie is telling us there is something up with the realm of realix,"

"Look, we really don't know too much right now," Musa said as she picked her bag up and threw it over her shoulder. "So please try not too drive to drive yourself crazy over this,"

"Okay, I'll try not too," Techna said with a laugh. "Have fun at dance,"

* * *

"Attention girls!" Ali nearly yelled as tried to get the rambunctious group of girls in the dance gym to quiet down. A couple of minutes of yelling the same over and over again she finally got the team to quiet down.

"Thanks Ali," Musa said before addressing the rest of the team. "We have to have this routine down because I have to teach you the next one; we're going to be performing it at the unveiling of Red Fountain's new campus. So we're gonna finish the routine tonight,"

"I didn't want to bring this up when we were in your room because I wasn't sure if you told Techna and Flora about your plans," Ali said as she and Musa began to make their way out of the dance gym, following the rest of the dance team. Practice that day had been particularly brutal since they had to memorize the entire routine and then test every girl to make sure they had it down. Musa grabbed her towel as the two walked off the sleek wood floors of the dance gym.

"Plans?" Musa asked as she tried to think about what plans she had made that were a secret from Techna and Flora. "What are you talk-,"

"Galatea," Ali said before Musa could finish and Musa simply nodded knowing exactly what Ali was talking about. She had asked her to do some spying for her since Ali was really good at and since Ali seemed to have her own little army of minions that would do exactly as she told them, it was a little scary to know how much social power such a seemingly innocent fairy possessed. "I have had my little worker bees following her and listening in on her conversations and she definitely does not like you,"

"Thanks, but I already knew that," Musa told her hoping that wasn't all that she had uncovered more than that.

"There's more," Ali said again. "I've had a few girls make friends with her and find out what they can and not only does she hate you but she has also apparently befriended Karen. God only knows what Karen is telling her,"

"Lovely," Musa said as she took another drink from her ice cold water bottle tempted to dump the whole thing on herself to cool down, a bit amused that Ali had people working as double agents, high school was becoming more like a secret covert operation. "It's safe to say that with Karen as her friend, she won't be willing to be friends,"

"Why are you having me spy on her if you _want_ to be her friend?"

"I don't want us to be in a feud, it would be great if we could just put all of our family crap behind us," Musa explained. "But since that's not gonna happen, I guess I will have to think of something else,"

"Well I can think of a few things we can do to shake the girl if your up for a little sabotage," Ali suggested. "It won't take too long either, but it will probably ruin any chance of you two being friends again,"

"You know, I don't doubt you have your torture methods," Musa said with a laugh. "But I think we can lay low for awhile, I want to know what she has planned before I do anything,"

"What makes you so sure that she is planning something?" Ali asked her as the two approached a fork in the hallway and stood, continuing their conversation. One hallway led to Musa's room and the other to Ali's room and after that intense dance practice, neither wanted to walk all the way to the others' room and then back to their's. "I mean all we know for sure is that she doesn't like you,"

"That and she is hanging out with Karen which is a lot like hanging out with the devil so I would expect her to be concocting something with Galatea," Musa told her. "They have a mutual hatred towards me so this could be pretty interesting,"

"Yeah," Ali said with a laugh. "Hopefully you won't have to need my help, but if you do I've already got a few ideas brewing,"

"Thanks," Musa said as she began to head back to her dorm room.

"Oh wait, I have another question," Ali said turning back around stopping Musa from going back to her room. "How is it exactly that you forgot your cell phone on the ground, you usually have it at your side at all times and if you don't you know exactly where it is,"

"Point being," Musa said not really sure where Ali was going with this. It was true that Musa liked having her phone by her all the time but that was simply because she would like to be the one answering it just in case someone called, she wasn't too comfortable with the idea of someone else taking her calls.

"Something had to be distracting you," Ali concluded with a knowing smile growing on her face. Musa had to admit, Ali knew her pretty well and it was not always a good thing, especially when Musa was trying her best to keep a small secret. "What was it? I mean you did just get back from lunch with Daniel, and when I saw you in your room you couldn't stop smiling,"

Musa hadn't thought about her almost kiss with Riven since the night before, and a bit that morning, when she was agonizing about what it had meant or if it meant anything or if she was a complete loser for agonizing over a guy she had yet to even kiss. She replayed the situation over and over again but still could not make heads or tails of what was happening. Hell, when given the chance he didn't take it, which wasn't exactly a confidence booster for the already shy princess. "Why does everyone assume that a smile out of me has something to do with Daniel?"

"Not just a smile, that smile," Ali said pointing to Musa's face seeing that the same smile was beginning to form on her. "And cause there are only two people that have ever induced that smile and since the one is a tool that refuses to do anything about the fact that you to have explosive chemist -," Ali stopped once she noticed Musa immediately looking away with another more telling smile painted her face, she tired her best to suppress it but she couldn't when the though of kissing Riven popped up in her mind.

"Oh my… something happened with you guys!" Ali nearly screamed in the middle of the hallway with excitement and a little bit of disgust, she wasn't exactly a fan of Riven she would much rather see Musa fall in love with Daniel, but she was excited none the less. "What happened? And out in the middle of the garden you little -," she continued excitedly before being stopped by Musa.

"Nothing happened," Musa said remembering the end of her encounter with Riven, specifically when he rejected her. There was no need to tell everyone about her almost-miss with Riven since it was just that, almost. Nothing really happened and Musa was pretty sure, now more than ever, that nothing would so there was absolutely no reason to tell everyone about it since they would get her hopes up for nothing. "Trust me,"

"Then what's with the smile?"

"Nothing is with the smile!" Musa retorted defensively unable to stifle a laugh and a smile that was forming once again, maybe it was _a little_ funny. Dammit it was so hard to not smile when she thought about that jerk, even after yesterday.

"So nothing happened?" Ali asked skeptically. "With Daniel or Riven?"

Why the hell was Daniel even an option! She had told everyone time and time again that they were simply friends now and that there was no romantic feelings left between them but nobody wanted to believe it. True their relationship was a bit unorthodox and they tended to use each other as a crutch, but other than that it was completely normal. "Nothing, not even a little," Musa said painting over the truth with a small white lie.

"Huh…okay," Ali said skeptically with a face that told Musa that she was not buying her story and that she would eventually get the truth. "Well I guess I'll see you later, I'm off to peruse the yearbooks we found today,"

"Okay, bye," Musa said with full knowledge that Ali was not going to drop this, she was a lot like Stella in that aspect, of course Stella would be busy trying to find the perfect guy for Musa to date that fit the standards Stella had for the princess. Musa turned around and began back on her way to her room.

Musa opened the door to the common room to see Flora reading the novel she had began in the beginning of the year and Techna was sitting on the couch watching television. The windows and the double French doors to the balcony were open, letting the cool night air fill the room with an occasional breeze that would make the drapes move gently away from the window panes. Smiling, happy that the two took her advice and took some time away from freaking out about the mission to Shadowhaunt to relax, Musa approached the two and asked "Relaxing?"

"You were right," Techna said as she took a piece of popcorn from the bowl sitting on her lap and jammed it into her mouth pretty uncharacteristically savage. "I needed to relax for awhile,"

"Oh you got something in the mail," Flora said looking up from her book towards the coffee table where a large white dress box sat with a satin ribbon tied around it. "Looks like a present, but your birthday isn't for awhile," (**1**)

"Did you order something online?" Techna asked looking up from the teen drama she was watching, Stella seemed to be rubbing off on everyone. She had forced Techna to sit down and watch with her one day and now Techna was hooked and had to know who broke up with whom with every passing episode.

"I think I know what it is," Musa said throwing the towel she had in her hand around her neck and putting down her towel and duffel bag full of clothing. She walked over to the coffee table and slowly pulled the ribbon to release the carefully made bow on the bow, then pulled the lid off to reveal a beautiful ball gown. It was a sleek satin sea green with a thin wave of sequin starting from the top of the right side of the gown down to the bottom left side, sinched at the waist, perfect for her curves. Musa smiled as she carefully picked up the dress and held it out in front of her, not noticing a small paper fall from it as she lifted the dress. It was soft and beautiful, and whiles she wasn't the biggest fan of formal affairs and fancy dresses, she had to admit she was excited to put on the dress. She knew Leslie or the twins would have the perfect shoes and jewelry to match so she was ready to go to the ball.

"There's a note," Flora said walking over to the floor where it had fallen when Musa picked up the dress. She read it over, smiled then read it aloud to Techna and Musa. _Leslie picked it out, I thought it was nice and I'm sure you'll look great. See you in a couple days – Daniel. _

"A couple days?" Techna asked as she pulled herself off the couch and walked over to Musa and Flora. She looked up and down the dress with a confused expression on her face. "You're going home for the weekend?"

"Yeah," Musa began as she put the dress back down into the box and the note along with it. "It's the annual Devon ball and it's like the social event of the year and Daniel really wanted me to be there since I've never missed it, so we're going together. I'll be back on Monday,"

"Oh that sounds like a lot of fun," Flora said avoiding the obvious subject and question that was on her mind knowing Musa wouldn't want to answer it over and over again. "You have to take some pictures, from what you've said about Devon Prep it sounds like it's a beautiful campus,"

"It's actually going to be at a country club from what I hear," Musa told her avoiding Techna's gaze since she knew Techna was going to say something along the lines of how irregular and illogical Musa was for accepting Daniel's offer to go to the ball. "But I am going to visit the school so I'll definitely take some pictures, there are a few gardens actually, I think you would like them,"

"Well the dress is lovely," Techna said as she wiped her hand clean with a paper towel and looked over the dress. "I'm sure you'll look great in it," She said rather coldly and walked into her room.

"What was that about?" Musa asked Flora after Techna was out of earshot.

"I dunno, she seemed fine earlier," Flora said as she helped Musa put the dress back into the box. "Did you do something to upset her?"

"I don't think so, I'll go in and see what's up,"

Musa walked into the her room to see Techna at her computer once again. She was never much of a talker but Musa could see that Techna was upset with her for some reason. "Are you angry with me?"

"No," Techna answered curtly.

"Come on Tech I can tell you are," Musa said as she put the dress box in her closet and sat down on her bed. "What's up?"

"I just can't believe that you are leaving when so much is going on here," Techna told her, still not turning away from her computer.

"So much going on here?" Musa asked as a defensive tone in her voice picked up. "There is nothing happening here, we are sitting like bumps on a log. We weren't chosen to go to shadowhaunt so we are stuck here waiting for them to get back and worrying until they do. So I think that having a fun weekend might be the best thing since we can't really do anything about the situation,"

"Still it just seems like you're leaving us to go out with a guy that doesn't even…" Techna said before stopping herself. She didn't know why she was so upset, she simply felt like Musa was ditching her for her other friends like they were more important. She really didn't mean to bring up Daniel, but now that she had, there was definitely an argument waiting to happen.

"That doesn't even, what?" Musa asked beginning to get legitimately angry.

"Nothing, it's just that you are always the first to point out that you and Daniel have nothing going on but now you're deciding flying off to go to a ball with him in the middle of the week as if it's no big deal," Techna told her, masking her real issue with something she managed to forge in her mind at that moment. She was admittedly a little jealous of how close Musa was with her old friends, Techna barely kept in touch with hers and she didn't feel to bad because she felt so close to the girls here. But with Musa she always felt second best to them and it was a little annoying.

"It's not a big deal!" Musa defended angrily. There was a reason she tried her best to keep any confrontation with her friends down to a minimum, it was because she tended to blinded by anger and would say things she didn't mean, no matter how hurtful they were. "I know this might be a tough concept for you to understand but I want to have some fun since this week has been pretty crappy. Not that I'd expect you to understand,"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Techna snapped back. "I know how to have fun,"

"No offense Tech, rewiring a circuit board isn't exactly most people's idea of a good time,"

"No I guess it would be more fun to ditch the people you say are your friends to go party," Techna snipped. "We only just found out about this realm of realix and now your running off to gallivant with Daniel when you could be figuring out what we are going to be up against,"

"We have no idea if this realm is good or bad," Techna yelled in order to match the volume of Musa's voice. "You're being such a –,"

"You know what, I'm out of here," Musa said before Techna could finish, grabbing her phone and slamming the door.

The next couple of days went by slowly, Musa spent most of her time either packing or hanging out with Ali and the other dance team girls in an attempt to avoid running into Techna. She still had no idea what prompted the argument they had but she was not about to apologize for doing nothing wrong. She shouldn't and didn't feel guilty about going back home to visit her friends, if she were needed here she would have stayed, but she Techna and Flora were left behind, meaning they were of no use.

Musa and Techna didn't talk at all to each other making things extremely awkward for Flora who had to relay messages between them since they refused to speak. It was very similar to when small children fight, except of course both fairies were being far more stubborn. Finally she was ready to leave and it was the prefect time, she wanted to forget her worry and angry and have some fun at home with her friends.

"Have a good time!" Flora said at Alfea's gate giving Musa a hug as she got into the limo that Daniel had sent for her. "Call when you land!"

"Okay I will," Musa said and with a wave the limo pulled away from Alfea and she was on here way back home.

* * *

_1. I've seen this particular project on a lot of sitcoms and television shows but I never had a chance to do it myself in high school. Kind of a pity cause it kinda sounded like fun. Oh well…_

_Next chapter is almost exclusively when Musa is back home with Daniel and the whole gang .Hmm, Musa is feeling a bit vulnerable because of Riven and then upset because of Techna, and now she's going home to a fancy party with her ex… it should be interesting…_

_xoxo,  
__princessm _


	6. My Boyfriend's Wedding

_. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..............................................................................................................................................._

_I have been looking forward to this chapter for awhile. I had a ball writing it since there is so much emotional distress and confused feelings (as you will soon see). In the episode, Musa and Techna and Flora don't appear at all so I get to do whatever I please!_

_So, Musa's back home and in the arms of a certain prince charming, but can you blame the poor girl? Riven is making no attempt to make her feel like he cares and what's a girl to do? Here begins a fun little love triangle, and Jared hadn't even entered the story! (I really do love Daniel Cunningham) Silly Riven, doesn't he know pushing someone away only pushes them closer to someone else. _

_There is no boyfriend like an ex-boyfriend. :)_

**My Boyfriend's Wedding**

Musa looked out of the window from the jet as it began to descend towards the landing strip at the Royal Harmonic Airport, it was restrictive airspace used only for royals and other people of particular importance. She gazed at the palatial mansions coated in snow and smiled; she had forgotten how much she used to love winter time at Devon Prep. She was so used to the eternal sunshine in Magix, the temperature never dropped too low and the most clothing she would need to stay warm was a small jacket. In the winter, the dorms at Devon, which were basically townhouses, would be covered in snow. She remembered so many occasions when she and her friends would ditch school to simply stay in one of their houses and drink hot chocolate, spiked with peppermint schnapps, and talk about anything and everything. Occasionally they would venture out to the lake and ice skate for awhile.

She then buckled her seatbelt as the jet began to make its decent onto the landing strip and Musa felt the strange rush she always got the second she felt the jet's landing tires hit the runway. She couldn't help but stop from literally giggling with happiness, this was exactly what she needed right now and she was beyond excited to be going to the ball and seeing everyone she had left behind when she went to Alfea for high school.

"You may exit the jet now your highness," The stewardess said politely and then proceeded to the back of the jet.

Musa stood and put on her coat, it felt so odd to be putting on warm clothing. She then made her way to the exit door and began down the steps and looked out to see a limousine waiting for her, her smile did fall a bit when she saw that Daniel wasn't outside the limo waiting, he was usually the type to show up with flowers. Musa put the large tote bag on her arm and walked off the steps and into the limousine to see a note sitting on the seat. _Sorry we couldn't pick you up, we'll see you later at the castle!_Musa smiled as the driver pulled away from the landing strip and began to drive through the capital city of the Harmonic Nebula.

The city was alive with bustling cars and buses and of course a gentle tune drifting through the cold winter air. The upscale music shops and designer boutiques were sitting in a blanket of fresh snow with only the walk ways cleared; the lamp posted glowed dimly due to the abundant sun shining down, causing the snow to sparkle brightly. The scene laid out in front of her looked as if it has been pulled straight out of a storybook. There was nothing like being back home at this time of the year, the warmth and sun of Magix was nice, but there was something so amazing about winter at home.

Upon arriving back at the palace, Musa walked through the ornate doors and into the main foyer. She could hear the emptiness of the palatial building with every step she took with her boots; the echoes resonated through the halls and the impossible high ceilings. She remembered how full of life this place was when she used to live her, she would visit on the weekends and most of the time bring friends along with her. Now, the palace was simply a place for her to stay when she visited and a place for her father to reside when he managed to find time in his busy schedule to come back home.

"Your things have been placed in your room," A maid said from behind Musa, nearly making the princess jump out of her skin. Even with her impeachable hearing, she could not hear them approaching, they were like ninjas with feather dusters (**1**), probably because they were trained to be so quiet that it was as if they weren't there. "Your highness,"

"Thanks," Musa said gleefully as she quickly made her way to the staircase and began to make her way to her room, hearing the _clacking_ sound of the small heel on her boots against the marble flooring.

Musa walked through her bedroom door and greeted the chamber maid as she scurried out quietly. Looking around, the room was just as she left it before she went off on tour with everyone. Her bed sat perfectly made in the middle of the room with instruments on one side and an exquisite bureau on the other. The room was more than twice the size of her room at Alfea, With an uncontainable smile Musa threw her small handbag on her bed and looked at a pair of brand new ice skates with a decorative bow on them that sat on the bed as well. She sat at the side of her bed and lifted the white skates and gently ran her hand over the laces then the sharp steel tip that shone brightly in the light's reflection. There was no note left with them, but Musa figured it was her father that had bought her them since he knew how much she loved ice skating, however he didn't know she was coming home with weekend.

"It's crazy, you can put those things on and glide on top of ice," A voice quipped sarcastically from behind. Musa turned to see a tall blonde teenage boy with sparkling hazel eyes leaning at the side of her door frame with his arms crossed, dressed in a preppy sweater. "I didn't know Daniel had to bribe you to make you visit once in awhile,"

"Nate!" Musa yelled gleefully as she hopped off her bed and ran into the boy's arms for a long overdue hug. She hadn't seen him since the tour had ended and he and the rest of their group had headed back for school and Daniel escorted Musa back to Alfea. "I missed you,"

"Missed you too," He said as she pulled away and then looked back at the princess. "How goes Alfea?"

"Good, I guess," Musa said. "Oh but you'll get a kick out of this, guess who the newest freshman is?"

"Galatea, Daniel told me," Nate said. "I hate that girl, she's luck she didn't come to Devon, she'd be up for a burning,"

"Probably why she opted out of coming here, but whatever," Musa said happily as she passed the thought aside. It had taken her a lot of convincing to get time off from school, and a few phone calls from a butler at Daniel's palace impersonating Musa's father, and she didn't want to think about anything that would be upsetting. That meant ignoring anything about Galatea or about her friends that were still in the under realm and had yet to make any contact. And of coarse her spat with Techna and her embarrassing rejection with Riven, there seemed to be a lot that Musa was escaping from for the weekend. "I don't even care, I came here to have some fun and attend the party of the year," She finished with a grin.

"Good," Nate affirmed putting his arm around her shoulder and leading her over to the window, it overlooked a small part of large garden that encircled the south wing of the caste. "But for now everyone is expecting you in the garden,"

"The garden?" Musa asked skeptically as she turned and looked out of her window onto her balcony that overlooked the garden in question. She loved the gardens at all of her palaces, but she enjoyed them the most during the spring and summer when the garden was full of life, instead of blanketed with snow, now it was simply a place to stay out of since slipping and falling in there was such a big possibility. "The garden is frigid,"

"Yeah but there is a surprise for you down there, you were supposed to get the hint with the skates but obviously you'll need a little more explanation," Nate teased as he headed. "Just grab something warm and get you're ass in gear,"

Musa threw her coat back on and grabbed a warm cashmere scarf and put it around her neck. "Okay hold on one sec," She said and grabbed the ice skates off the bed, holding them by the laces, being sure not to point the blades at herself or Nate since they lacked the proper protective case for transporting the skates safely. The two quickly made their way down the steps and over to one of the many entrances to the garden.

Stepping outside with Nate, Musa looked around to see the grand fountain completely frozen through with Daniel, the twins, Duke and Leslie skating about, stopping when they saw the two walk out of the castle. "Musa!" the girls yelled happily, skating off the ice quickly then wobbling on the cobble stone in their ice skates.

After many hugs and cordial greetings the group went to ice skate for awhile, watching the twins slip and fall over each other was particularly entertaining, before going back into the castle and warming up by a roaring fire in one of the more cozy rooms. Musa walked into the room, with a cup full of hot chocolate in her hand. The room was light with a few dim lamps and everyone was lounging comfortably on the plush couches, with the large movie screen on in front of them, playing some movie that not really anyone was paying attention to. They spent a couple of hours chatting when Musa realized that it was a Friday night. "So what are we doing tonight?" Musa said sitting down on the large couch, leaning into Daniel's chest instinctively and pulling a small blanket on top of the two.

"What makes you think we have something planned?" Leslie asked. It was already dark outside but it was still very early in the evening, there was still a lot of time left in the day to not only get ready for a party but also have an amazing time at one.

"Well it's a Friday night and I can't remember the last Friday you guys spent in," Musa said as she took another sip of her hot cocoa, this time it lacked the peppermint schnapps (**2**) she was so used to when drinking hot cocoa, although she wasn't the biggest fan of schnapps not having it in her cup almost made her miss it. She loved how warm it felt when she drank it, it was simply a part of the winter experience she was used to. "The only thing that's stopped you before was the blizzard a few years back and if I recall that night turned into one hell of a house party,"

"That was a good night," Duke recalled with a glazed look in his eye as he brushed the midnight black hair out of back away from his eyes, revealing his intense pair of blue eyes. He was notorious for throwing some of the best and wildest parties at his mansion outside the city since his parents were almost never home and the domestics in his estate were very easily bribed to do as he said. "We should have another one of those parties,"

"Yeah but not my place again," Daniel told them. "It smelled of Vodka for a week and god only knows how many people used my bed for some private time," He said with a cringe, he had to throw away most of his bedroom after that night. Musa distinctly remembered that party since it was the one and only time she had drank entirely too much and it turned out that she and Daniel were some of the people having some 'private time' of coarse they ended up in a closet rather than his bedroom only to be discover by Annabelle who took as many pictures as she could before Daniel and Musa managed to escape. Luckily for the two, Annabelle had given Musa all the pictures and Musa dealt with them properly.

"So what are we doing tonight!" Musa asked again impatiently. While she wasn't much of a party girl she did love to go dancing at the hottest club, she never got to do much of that with her friends at Alfea (**3**), everyone tended to do house parties or nothing at all, which was fine by here but sometimes she really needed to let loose. And in the Harmonic Nebula the dj's were always mixing the best beats from the newest artists. Going out to clubs was usually a lot of fun.

"Come on Musa, give us come credit," Nate joked. "We do enjoy the occasional night in," Musa refused to believe it, she knew her friends and they hated staying in, sure they would do it every now and then when they had an exam or when they were simply too tired to go out. That was one thing she loved about them, they were always fun and knew exactly how to get her mind off of things she wasn't ready to deal with, which was perfect since she had left so many worries back in Magix.

"Seriously where are we going," Musa asked gritting her teeth with some annoyance. "I know you guys are not gonna stay in the one night I'm actually here,"

"Don't worry, we're not. I was thinking maybe going to that new club right near the restaurant district," Annabelle said as she took the remote to the large television and changed the channel to something else. "Taboo,"

"Oh yeah that place is really nice, the VIP room is so big and there is a full dance floor up there," Leslie said as she sat up on the couch excitedly. "And it's ultra exclusive so we won't have to deal with trashy city folk,"

"I am up for anything," Musa said as she sat up and pulled the blanket off herself.

"That's always good to hear," Daniel said with a raised eyebrow as a smirk grew across his face. "Don't go teasing us now,"

"I guess we should get some dinner and then get ready," Musa proposed, she had been pretty exicted about her trip home so she had made some plans for them. "I called ahead to Butter (**4**) and made reservations for all of us and it's in our favorite room,"

After a nice dinner the group got ready for their night out and before long the limo arrived in the restaurant district's hottest new club, Taboo. "Wow this place is nice," Musa said as she and everyone else walked into the club and she looked around the VIP room. It was designed with soft white leather couches and every table had a bottle of top self booze on it. There were a few small waterfalls along the walls and one that flowed from the VIP down along the steps down to the rest of the club. She looked around and then down to the non-VIP room and saw how nice that part of the club was. This was a very exclusive

"It's where god would party," Daniel said as he put his arm around Musa's shoulder and began to walk her over to the balcony that overlooked the bottom floor of the club where everyone what wasn't a VIP partied.

"If he could get in," Penelope said as she walked past taking a sip of her martini and walked on by to the dance floor. "Please don't tell me the two of you are going to just stand there, we are at one of the hottest clubs in the universe, have some fun!"

"Well we wouldn't want to disappoint Penelope," Daniel said pulling Musa onto the dance floor with him. "Not that she's gonna remember tomorrow by the way she's downing the martini's,"

"I didn't know it was that exclusive," Musa said softly into Daniel's ear, taking a particular note to the fact that he had his arm around her waist since they had all exited the limo and she was not making any effort to move it. "But it makes me feel a little important,"

"That's because you are," he whispered gently in her ear as the two began to dance close. Musa had forgotten how good of a dancer he was. She remembered how Annabelle always told her how luck y she was since she had a theory that if a guy was good on the dance floor than he was pretty good in other area. Not that Musa had ever gotten a chance to find out.

"Yeah I guess I am," she said cheekily as the two continued to dance close. For the time that they were dancing she had forgotten about how worried she was about her friends in Shadowhaunt and how angry she was at Techna for yelling at her for no reason. She even forgot about Riven for the time being, which was not easy for the princess to do. All that filled her head was how much fun she was having with her friends and in particular, Daniel. She was glad she came home this weekend, she was very close to turning Danile down since the line between friendship and more was blurring, but right now she didn't care if it disappeared all together. She was with someone that didn't play with her feelings and lead her on, she deserved that much.

"No thanks," Musa said turning away the drink that was offered to her by Leslie after she and Daniel took a break from dancing and sat on the couches to talk and enjoy the atmosphere. The party reminded her lot of Daniel's last birthday party. She and Nate had planned a huge bash for him and she even did a cute Happy Birthday number where she popped out of a large cake, and nobody let her live it down, of coarse it was for Daniel so she took the abuse.

"Nah I'm good," Daniel said as Leslie offered him a drink as well, much to both Leslie and Musa's surprise. The prince was hardly the type to turn down a drink, let alone a really good one.

"Wow you turning down a drink, that's will power,"

"Hey I take offense to that," He said jokingly giving her a playful push. "I can resist anything… except temptation" (**5**)

"Of coarse," Musa said rolling her eyes.

* * *

The next morning the sun rays coming through the half drawn drapes that decorated Daniel's bedroom window woke the musical princess rather early on in the morning. Musa's eyes opened and winced immediately when the brightness of the sun struck her eyes. Putting one hand by her eyes Musa waiting a couple of seconds to adjust to the light before looking around the room in slight confusion. Gazing around the messy room she looked at random clothes thrown in corners and an enormous flat screen television on the wall in front of her with many gaming systems on the table underneath. She had almost forgotten that she had spent the night with Daniel; she laughed quietly to herself realizing how that sounded in her head.

Still averting the sun's rays Musa say up in the bed and began to remember how early the sun rose in the capital city. She preferred ot be around her beachfront house since it was further south and she got to sleep in way later.

Scratching her head as she continued to look around the room from her place on the bed she wondered where exactly her best friend had gone. She remembered coming back from the club and spending some time on the couch talking to Daniel until she was far to tired to even speak. She had forgotten how hard it was stay up the entire night in three inch heels, which was why she loved sneakers so much more. Then the two ended up collapsing on the closest bed, which happened to be Daniel's. Of course, in true Daniel fashion, he refused to give up his bed and the two spent most of the night pushing the other off of Daniel's bed, stopping only when Musa gave up and simply took a part of the blanket and feel asleep under it, resisting Daniel's attempts to move her to the guest room.

It was for her own good really, Daniel tended to kick in his sleep.

Musa continued to scan the room wondering where the prince had gone since he enjoyed sleeping in more than Musa did. That was when Musa felt some shuffling from under the blanket and noticed the large lump laying next to her in the bed. With a laugh Musa got out of the bed and walked into the bathroom taking another look at Daniel, sleeping on the bed with on arm hanging off and the blanket covering the rest of him. She was not surprised that Daniel refused to move from the bed, she and him had always had chicken contests to see who would give in first and it was nearly impossible to beat the prince of Crescendo, he was do darn stubborn.

"Good morning sunshine," Musa said in a sing song tone very loudly from the bathroom, peaking out to see Daniel's head perk up and peak out of the blanket, causing the princess to laugh uncontrollably. He was adorable. "If it isn't sleeping beauty,"

"You know some people ask me how I can possibly resist you," Daniel said as he sleepily sat up in the bed and winced at the sun rays that had bothered Musa as well, with a sarcastic laugh, looking at Musa. Her hair was disheveled and one pigtail was lopsided while the other had come undone in her sleep and she still had the look of sleep on her face. "I just don't know what to tell them,"

"You are so funny," Musa said drolly as she washed her face and Daniel continued to lay lazily on the couch and turn on the television. Musa walked out of the bathroom after brushing and washing her face, drying herself with the towel too see Daniel still in bed watching the replays of the basketball game that was on the night before. "Am I boring you that much,"

"If you lose the clothes, I'll lose the remote," Daniel joked not moving his eyes from the television screen.

"Is sleeping with you not enough?" Musa quipped as she began walking out of the room to get some things from her luggage which was in the guest room.

"You realize when people sleep together, they do more than sleep right," Daniel said with a laugh poking fun at Musa's innocence. "You see when two people love each other very much, or they have had entirely too much to drink…"

"Well you would know," Musa said throwing the towel at him and heading over to the guest room and grabbing some clothes before heading into the shower.

After Musa and Daniel finished getting ready the entire group went out to brunch at a trendy bistro not too far from Devon Prep to catch up on all the major events with everyone and of course recite funny moments in their history.

"We would love to continue this boys," Leslie said as she looked at Isabelle who then looked at her watch. "But it's already half way into the afternoon and we spent three hours here. We need to get ready,"

"Come on we're having fun," Nate complained putting his hands on Leslie's waist trying to pull her back down to her seat. "You ladies don't need that long to get ready, you're so pretty,"

"That's so cute baby," Leslie said giving Nate a kiss on the forehead. As she began to walk away from the table. "We have hair, nail and makeup appointments,"

"I guess that's my cue," Musa said from her seat in between Daniel and Nate putting her napkin on the table and pushing her seat back, grabbing her purse and walking out of the bistro with the rest of the girls.

"So who's living in my dorm now?" Musa asked loudly from the bathroom as she put on her dress carefully. They had all gone back to Leslie's town house after going to the salon and she was trying her best to get her dress on without getting her makeup all over it, maybe she should have had it put on after getting the dress on successfully. The satin dress fit her perfectly and she didn't want to pull it on too quickly and cause an accidental tear. "Last year it was empty, who has it now?"

"We tried to keep it empty this year since Isabelle and I didn't want a new neighbor," Annabelle said. Much like real estate, the inner circle of the social hierarchy at Devon depended a lot on location. While the elite had to like you to get into the inner circle, those who were close by we usually able to find some type of ammo to black mail them with. And Wysteria Lane was the spot where the best houses were and the most elite from the prep school lived. (**6**) "And we didn't need some random person moving in that we didn't know. Besides we kinda wanted to keep it as a guest house for you, but Headmaster Charleston would not hear of it. No matter how much we tried to bribe him,"

"And this girl was a transfer from Stiveson Academy and she wanted to move in there," Penelope explained. "And she was not exactly the kind to sit down politely and take orders. We thought if she got here and was that close to us then she might try to disrupt the order of things and we can't have that,"

"So Penelope moved dorms from next to Daniel to next to the twins and we had Duke move next to Daniel," Leslie explained. "Now there is an empty house down the street and we don't have to worry about anyone moving onto our lane,"

"I see," Musa said as she walked out of the bathroom and up to the full length mirror. She looked a bit surprised when she looked over herself in the mirror. _Wow_ she thought to herself. _I look pretty!_She thought happily, squealing to herself on the inside. "It's good that you guys are as protective as ever," Musa said remembering how careful her friends were when it came to new people entering their little world.

"We have to be," Leslie said seriously then us a turned to Musa and raised her eyebrow. "Wow that dress looks great on you,"

"It should make Daniel smile," Penelope said a little under her breath, not that everyone didn't hear her comment and then turn to her with a stern look. "Oh what? Everyone else in here was thinking it,"

"Thinking what…" Musa asked suspiciously as she walked over to her bag and pulled out a large velvet covered jewelry box.

"Well…it's just you seem to have--," Isabelle began.

"Repeated history," Annabelle finished for her sister.

"Come on guys not this, not now," Musa complained.

"We are just wondering if this is the best idea. You have to understand why we have our reservations about this considering what happened before between the two of you," Leslie said as she and the twins exchanged unsure looks.

"What?" Musa asked looking up from her dress and back to her friends? "Going to the ball? I always go, this year shouldn't be any different,"

"No not that, we wouldn't have said _two_ if we meant just you " Leslie said. "But you're going with Daniel…"

"So?" Musa knew what they were getting at but she was sure there was nothing left between her and Daniel, but over the past day… It was stupid to think anything was going on but she felt something different and she wasn't quite sure what it was. "It's just the ball, it's not like I agreed to marry him,"

"You're staying with him, in him room," Annabelle pointed out.

"First of all I'm the staying in another room at his place and second –,"

"And did you sleep in the separate room last night?"

"How many times do you need to touch the flame before you figure out that you'll get burned every time?" Leslie asked her tone getting more frustrated.

"That's not fair, "Guys there is nothing going on," Musa said. While she hadn't actually slept in the guest room there was a completely innocent explanation. She and Daniel had spent most of the night talking and spending time together like they had over the summer, well actually they had spent most of the night fighting over the bed like children, but they had talked for awhile before that. It was all innocent fun. "We we're just talking,"

"Is that what you crazy kids are calling it?" Penelope added as she put on her shoes back sarcastically.

"You know nothing happened, why are you being so annoying about this? Do you want me to just not go tonight and leave him to go to the ball alone?" Musa demanded angrily. "Daniel and I spent the entire summer together and there was not a single issue and now…"

"Only because we kept it to ourselves this summer," Leslie said as she finally stepped out of the closet in her dress. "You two were always out to dinner together or doing something else, just the two of you, and that's all well and good but from where we were standing, it was like you two were back together again,"

"And you didn't point this out before because?"

"We figured it would be gone by the time you went back to Alfea and the buzz of summer wore off and reality sunk in," Leslie continued. "But come on you two are basically playing house, and if you keep acting like your dating you guy will eventually be back at it again. And we all saw how that turned out,"

"If you guys never noticed, Daniel and I did that stuff before we ever started dating," Musa continued. She herself had had her doubts about whether she and Daniel were 'playing house' as Leslie called it and if that would lead to something else, but she felt pretty confident that she wasn't feeling anything for him besides friendship. Although there were times that she would get a little excited or nervous to see him, but that was normal when you haven't seen friends. Musa was sure of what she felt now and she knew that she didn't want Daniel in that way anymore, someone else had taken that place in her heart.

"Okay well if this is so innocent, does that guy from Magix know about your odd relationship with your ex?" Leslie reminded Musa of Riven. He was the only on of her friends that didn't know about Daniel, excluding Layla which caused a tinge of worry to set in. The last thing she wanted was Sky or Brandon letting it slip that she was still hanging out with her ex, while she knew she had nothing to be guilty of, it didn't exactly sound innocent to unfamiliar ears. She didn't know where she and Riven were going or if they were going to go anywhere in the first place, but like last year, she wanted the option. But now the mention of Riven got her thinking about how hopeless the situation really was with him, maybe she needed to move on from him as well. "What was his name?"

"It's really none of his business, besides Riven and I are just friends," Musa defended dejectedly. Her friends, both at home and Alfea, had known about her feelings towards Riven and they had basically let the subject die when she hadn't mentioned him all summer, but they had a sneaking suspicion that he was the reason she had been so blithely unaware of why she might be falling back into with Daniel.

"Well if you two are friends like you and Daniel are friends…" Leslie said with a sly smile as she put her earrings on in front of the mirror and looked back at Musa through the reflection in the mirror. "So what is happening with him, you tend to leave him out of all your stories,"

"That's because nothing is happening," Musa told them, defending herself from the accusation were beginning to get her angry, but she was willing to take any change in subject.. "It's a little frustrating," She finally admitted knowing that if she couldn't fool Bloom and her friends at Alfea than she couldn't very well hide it from people that had known her for so much long. "It's probably over before it even started so let's not talk about that either," Musa told them hoping they could drop the two subject and talk about something more fun.

"That explains it," Leslie said sitting down as she applied her lip gloss.

"Explains what?" Musa groaned frustrated, she wasn't exactly enjoying the force therapy session she was in. It was clear that all attempts at avoiding the conversation would not be effective so she was going to have to talk it out. But on the bright side maybe it would help her finally get over that stubborn specialist.

"Well you do tend to run to past comforts when you are having issues with something," Annabelle pointed out. "Last year with Riven when you didn't get what you wanted, you held onto Daniel even though you didn't really want him in that way anymore. This year that relationship isn't going the way you want it and here you are,"

"Wow and where did you get your degree in psychology?" Musa snipped sarcastically.

"Hey don't get mad at me because you are in an extremely bizarre codependent relationship with your ex-boyfriend," Annabelle said throwing her hands up in defense and slipped on her designer shoes carefully.

"Can we please stop picking my brain for a second and have some fun," Musa begged them as she sat at the side of the bed in the room and put her head in her hands.

"Oh but this is fun!" Annabelle teased walking straight past Musa and grabbing her clutch bag. "And don't do that you will mess up your makeup," She said as she pushed Musa's hands away from her face.

"I don't think that between two ex's that a friendship is possible," Isabelle pointed out. "There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship." (**7**)

"That's a bit general don't you think?" Musa asked.

"Well lets see, we all know you and Daniel had or still have passion; you have the pictures as proof. Enmity, come on you were ready to kill him last year –asv," Isabella said as she began to list the ways in which she was correct.

"I get it,"

"Oh but I'm not done," Isabelle insisted. "Where was I? Oh right, worship. You two can't do anything major without consulting the other, that's pretty devoted. And we all know to you love him,"

"Not like that though," Musa defended once again. "And the passion, please that's been gone for awhile,"

"Right because that wasn't passion at the club last night," Penelope added. "Issy has a point, you two are acting very romantically, maybe ex's cant be friends. It's why they call them ex's you just cross them out of your life (**8)**."

"Well I'm not crossing him out of my life because we tried that and it sucked," Musa told them remembering the four months that she went without talking to Daniel. She was furious with him but not speaking to him for so long felt like she had lost something so important to her and she was not about to do it again because her friends were concerned. "Can we just drop this? Nothing is going to happen, why can't you guys just believe me!"

"Because seeing is believing," Leslie told her. "And we've seen enough to the contrary,"

"Fine believe what you want, I will just have to prove you wrong," Musa said again trying to get off the conversation the best she could.

"I would continue but I promised Nate that we would pre-game at his place before we went out tonight," Leslie said. "He'll be coming by soon and then we are all heading back to his place for a bit,"

"I'll hang back here," Musa told her. She had told Daniel to pick her up from Leslie's place since she was getting ready there, besides she loved the idea of being away from the girls for awhile so that they could drop the third degree interrogation. "I told Daniel to pick me up here, but we'll meet you guys at Nate's place,"

"Alright," Leslie said as she heard the boys enter the house downstairs. "We're going now, if you two get swept away, try not to do it on my bed,"

"Funny,"

"Oh and put a tie or a bra or something on the door," Leslie said as she and the girls began down the stairs. "I would hate to have to walk in on you two," she yelled from the steps with a laugh and a few seconds later Musa heard the door close and gave a relieved sigh.

* * *

Musa stood in front of the mirror in her gown and smiled, she felt like a princess. The green satin dress fit perfectly and the shoes and jewelry went with it perfectly. Musa moved her hand to her hair and played with one of the curls that hung loose from the clip that held back half of her hair, the part that was curled. She was not used to seeing herself all done up like she was now, she hardly ever wore makeup, and the spa day that Annabelle had scheduled had definitely made a bit of a difference. Musa gently skimmed her finger across the top hem of her dress and then onto the large tear drop diamond necklace, then she heard a knock from the opposite's side of the room.

She looked up from fidgeting with the somewhat bothersome diamond necklace around her neck to see the knock came from Daniel who was leaning casually at the door, dressed in his tuxedo looking as if he had just walked out of a designer's photo shoot. She had always thought him to be attractive, he had that amazing refined look to him, probably why so many girls were starry eyed when he walked by. After her mini-intervention with the girls she had spent some time trying to think what had attracted her to Daniel in the first place. Musa was sure that the way she felt for him when they were dating seemed to spring up out of nowhere and now it was gone, making her think that maybe there was never anything there in the first place.

But then, seeing his standing there, his emerald eyes sparkling in the dim light, focused completely on her, Musa knew what it was that made her fall so hard for him. He gave her attention that she had never really had before. Sure she was a princess that was constantly under the watch of someone, but Daniel always made her feel as if she were the most important person in the room, or the universe. He never neglected her or made her feel like she didn't have someone to turn to, all in all her was a model boyfriend, a regular prince charming, if you overlooked his minor flaws.

The funny thing was she had then fallen for a guy that was nothing like him, Riven was rude and so callous at times it was hard to tell whether he even liked you or not. A part of her resented him for ruining her relationship with Daniel, not that it was really his fault. She couldn't simply ignore the intense attraction she had towards him, but she was beginning to believe that what she and Riven had was simply chemistry. She had hoped that their attraction would become more and for awhile it looked as if it would, but he seemed to be holding himself back for some reason as if he didn't really want her and was trying to keep himself from making a mistake. Musa was starting to see that maybe he would never really care for her.

Not the way Daniel did, or still does.

She realized just how much she took advantage of his caring nature when they were together. While he was the one to deliver the final blow to their relationship the year before, Musa had been the one truly destroying it bit by bit. She had been so focused on her love/hate for Riven that she had made it so obvious to everyone that she had feelings for someone else and she knew how much it hurt Daniel to find out that she had moved on from him when he was not expecting it in the least. He had claimed that he loved her and Musa told him the same thing, but she was unsure if either of them truly meant it. Sure she loved him, the same way she loved all of her close friends; but in a romantic aspect. And then before she had a chance to really find out their relationship ended, and for what? It was so obvious she and Riven were going nowhere, as if that weren't depressing her enough. She had been trying to stop thinking of it but the more Riven pushed her away the more drawn she was Daniel.

"Your chariot awaits," Daniel said after a few seconds of silence between the two. it wasn't awkward at all. Rather the two simply stood there and looked at the other ad if they hadn't seen them in years. "Ready to go?"

"Yup," Musa said happily as she walked over to the table and picked up her small sat clutch containing only her cell phone and her credit card, like many nights partying at Devon. she didn't know where this night was going to take her. "Don't you look debonair," Musa turned to him and gave him a quick wink and a broad smile.

"Yes well you look amazing," Daniel said as Musa stepped towards him and gave in a quick hug. He smelled the same as he always did, like milled soap and the usual hint of cologne, she loved it. "But I'm sure you already knew that,"

"I did," Musa said cheekily, linking her arm around Daniel's waiting arm and walking down the hall. "But, thank you,"

"Where is everyone else?" Daniel asked as he looked down the hallway at the other bedroom. All the Devon prep dorms were townhouses and most students got their own, equipped with a guest room and many other amenities. But Leslie's specific house way completely quite. "I thought you girls were getting ready together,"

"We were but they all headed over to Nate's place to finish getting ready and have a few drinks," Musa said as she and Daniel made it to the foyer and she put on her coat.

"Then what are we doing here?"

* * *

After about a half an hour of drinking and taking pictures at Nate's dorm, the group got into the limo and began on their way to the country club that the ball was going to be held at.

"Now how happy are you that you get to arriving at this party with the sexiest man alive?" Daniel said as he and Musa walked into the grande ball room. It was ornately decorated with silver balloons and white roses everywhere. The parties that were thrown in affiliation with the school were always very classy and refined; the parties that Devon students usually attended were held at trendy clubs, like the one Musa had attended the night before. One thing that was in common, yet a bit strange was the fact that there was alcohol at the parties even though they were thrown by the school. Most of the teachers and the administration knew that the students were going to drink anyway so they basically allowed it at parties since everyone was taking a limo back from the party anyway so at least they would be safe. Besides they were the type of society people that found drinking to be as common place as sneezing and they had the idea that the more access they had to things to alcohol, the forbidden allure would vanish and they would not abuse it as much. As long as students didn't go ranting and raving in a drunken stupor and kept up appearances in the proper way, they were after all being groomed to rule some of the most powerful kingdoms one day - at least most of them were.

"I'll tell you as soon as I find him," Musa quipped cheekily as she put her arms around her waist and smiled up at him, the cosmopolitans that she had at Nate's place had taken before the ball had taken the edge off and were making her a bit friendlier than she would have been normally. "But for now I guess I will just be stuck with you, at least until I find this sexy guy you're talking about then you are on your own, buddy,"

"Glad to see I mean so much to you," Daniel said with a dance as he grabbed a couple of drinks sitting on the bar and gave one to Musa. The night passed along like a fairy tale, Musa got to see almost everyone that she had left behind the year before, they dined and danced and it was almost like she had never left. There was something so comforting about being back in a room full of people that she had known for so long.

"You know I'm actually having a good time tonight," Musa said softly in Daniel's ear as she and Daniel continued to dance the night away.

"Ouch," Daniel replied mocking offense as he gave Musa a quick spin and pulled her back close to him. "What made you think you weren't going to have fun? This is the social event of the year remember?"

"Well you have to admit, the idea of us going to an event like this," Musa began with a knowing look, but it looked like Daniel would need some more explanation. There was no way he was this oblivious to what was going on, he had to be getting some crap from Nate and the other guys about the fact that he and Musa were still so earlier close even though they had broken up about a year ago. "Come on Daniel, you have to know where I'm going with this," Musa said as she looked down to the floor uncomfortably.

"Yeah but it makes no sense," He said, following her gaze as she looked to the floor. He then took his finger and lifted her head so that she would look at him. A strange nervous sensation began to run through him, one he was sure he would never have when Musa was around; god he didn't want to open this can of worms again. "Right…" he continued becoming more and unsure of himself. This could not happen, he loved Musa but he was finally over his romantic feelings for her were finally gone, they could finally go back to the way thing had been before.

Musa opened her mouth to answer just as the music stopped playing and everyone began to walk back to their seats. That was when the headmaster of Devon Prep, headmaster Charleston, made a quick speech and then allowed everyone to continue on with their night. "I am gonna go get some air," Musa said to Daniel immediately after the speech and walked away from him without turning to look at his face first. Everything was becoming all too real all of a sudden and she had no idea what was going on with her and with Daniel and if there was now something between them.

As the princess rushed through the ballroom on her way to the exit she felt herself hit someone walking in the opposite direction. "Oh I'm sorry," Musa said as she turned around, feeling the soft satin of her dress move along with her, looking up Musa recognized who it was she had run head long into. Musa looked at the tall blonde boy in front of her, peering at her through his slightly glazed honey eyes. "Oh Heath, how nice to see you," she said with a horribly fake smile unable to fool him of her real feelings towards him. He was basically scum that was friends with everyone from her circle even though everyone tired of him very quickly.

"Come on Musa you were with Daniel for an entire year, you should know how to fake it by now," Heath Orsino said as he brushed off his tuxedo and then very forwardly put his arm around Musa's waist. "It's been a while since I've seen you princess, now how about I show you what it's like when you don't have to fake it,"

"Please Pony," Musa said exasperatedly. Heath was the son of the Duke of Illyria (**9)**and he had prided himself on being a ladies man although and the thing was every popular girl at Devon had kissed him at some point or another. And Musa was not proud to admit that she had been a part of that crowd as well. Heath was probably one of the most well known guys in the school simply because he was very approachable and would hit on anything in a skirt. He got his nickname 'Pony' because he thought himself a stallion that everyone wanted to ride but he usually fell short. "You should know by now that nobody wants a ride, so why don't you give up,"

Musa really didn't need to be sexually harassed by Heath at this particular moment, however it looked like he wasn't ready to end their little reunion. "You hurt me when you say things like that M," He told her putting his hands to his heart mocking heartbreak.

"Well that was the point," Musa said irritatedly as she turned around and began to walk away when Heath moved to get in front of her, further delaying her exit.

"Hey, hey, hey…." He cooed and then laid his hands on her shoulders, only to be slapped off by the musical princess. "Don't be like that, especially not after that night, don't you remember, it was at Penelope's summer house, right on the shore. You and I had something,"

"Yeah, way too much to drink," Musa told him firmly as she walked out of his way and began down the hallway. "At least I did," she yelled, not stopping her advance towards the door.

"Nice to see you haven't changed," Heath yelled rudely as Musa continued to walk along the hallway.

Musa continued to walk along the hallway and then outside the country club and felt the cold winter air brushing across her skin. She cursed herself for not remembering to grab her coat on her way out, but she really needed to get away from Daniel to get some air. Musa could not believe what she was feeling right now, not that she was sure of what she was feeling right now. All of a sudden she was drawn back to Daniel, feeling the way she had felt over a year ago before she had even arrived at Alfea, before she met Riven. Now all she could think about how nice it was to be in his arms again, to feel like she was needed and wanted. At least Daniel didn't reject her when she needed comfort.

The princess leaned against the marble base of the fountain, feeling the cold mist against her bare back and getting even colder in the winter air. She ignored it and gazed up at the sky, it looked completely different than it did back in Magix, probably because she was about half way across the universe. Musa couldn't really think of what would happen if she fell for Daniel again, would she be able to tell him? It had taken so long for them to move past the betrayal and the awkwardness that followed their break up, was she really ready to get back into that. Besides, there were still so many unresolved feelings for that stubborn specialist that lingered in her heart and she was sure that those feelings would be stuck with her for awhile.

Then again maybe she was simply over thinking everything that was going on. Yeah that was it, maybe she was just thinking too much into everything because of everything Leslie and the girls had told her. And the fact that she was feeling a little vulnerable after everything that went down in Magix wasn't helping much either.

Daniel found Musa about five minutes later sitting out by the large fountain that stood at the entranceway of the country club. He smiled as he walked toward the princess as he began to unbutton the jacket of his tuxedo and put it around Musa when he finally got to her. "It's freezing out here," he told her as he ran his hands up and down her arms rapidly in an attempt to warm the princess. She simply looked back at him with a small smile and then turned back and looked back up at the star filled sky. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" Musa said softly as she looked down and leaned onto Daniel's chest, basking in his embrace; feeling her heart race a bit, it really was cold outside. She looked up at Daniel and saw that he didn't buy her excuse, not that she expected him to be. "I dunno," she said with an exasperated sigh. She couldn't help but smile when she laid her head on Daniel's shoulder, he was so willing to make sure she was alright and so concerned with her happiness.

"Come on let's go back inside," Daniel said, putting his arm around her shoulder and beginning to pull her back inside. "We can talk there, I really don't want to tell your dad that I let you become a really pretty popsicle,"

"I'm sorry I'm being like this," Musa said not moving from her spot feeling all her emotions come to an ahead. She was not a fan of crying in front of people but it tended to happen a lit, she was a bit of an emotional person and for the last week or so she was not really able to contain it as well as she had hoped. "It's just everything is just catching up to me and I don't want to think about it. Bloom and Stella haven't returned, Techna is still angry with me and ugh don't even get me started with that pompous ass. I can't believe I had been wasting my time pining like some stupid–," Musa began to rant growing angrier and angrier as she spoke each word, not realizing that she was slurring them a little and that tears were beginning to spring from her eyes. Daniel than did the only thing he could think of an wrapped her tightly in his arms and gently caressed her back trying to get her to calm down.

"It's okay," He told her quietly in her ear. "I'm here alright, don't worry everything will be okay," He cooed even though he didn't catch half of what she and just said but he did manage to catch a name he didn't really know. _Riven?_ He thought to himself but didn't question the princess since she seemed to be in an emotional crisis at the moment.

"And this is why I should not drink," she finally wailed a little louder than before. She then began to calm down and her crying subsided until there was only a small hiccup of he tears left. She stood there in his arms for a few seconds before she began to laugh a little bit. And before she knew it she was laughing a lot more and she looked up to Daniel who seemed baffled with her sudden change in temperament.

"Are you okay?" He asked again cautiously hoping she wasn't about to break down again, she was as moody as a pregnant woman.

"I guess I needed to get that out," Musa said with another small laugh as she pulled away from him and grabbed his hand. "How about we go back inside, I am freezing,"

"You know I've had just about enough of the ball, there is only so much of that formal stuff I can take, I'd much rather do something else. With you." Daniel said as the two walked up the marble steps of the elite country club. "How about we head back and hang out and watch a movie tonight,"

"Sounds amazing," Musa agreed as the two walked over to the coat room and got her coat. She was excited to go back to Daniel's town house since she really hadn't had much time to simply hang out with him since she really didn't get to tell him too much the night before since they fell asleep soon after they got home. She smiled as they walked back into the limo and sent a quick text to Leslie '_Going back to Daniel's to hangout – please don't read too much into this – Musa'._Musa then turned off her cell phone, not really in the mood for her friends to make her concerned with what was going on with Daniel, since Musa wasn't exactly sure.

Daniel smiled and put his arm around her and lead her into the limo that awaited to take them back to his house. Once she got back to Daniel's dorm she immediately went up to his room and found something more comfortable to wear than her tight dress and heavy jewelry while Daniel sorted through his massive collection of movies for something for the two to watch.

Musa took the opportunity alone in Daniel's room to do a bit of snooping, she had seen his cell phone sitting on his nightstand and felt the need to see who exactly he was texting. She didn't mean to be so nosy, but she was beginning to feel a little worried that maybe he was talking to some other girls, not that she would say anything since he was completely free to do whatever he wanted. She just wanted to know if he was taking full advantage of that fact.

The musical princess quickly opened up the message box and saw that there were no messages, _Damn_ she thought to herself then hit the exit button, putting her phone back on the nightstand. She grabbed a large t-shirt of his and a pair of tennis shorts since she wasn't in the mood to rummage through her things to find a pair of pajamas.

"No offense, but that looks so much better on me," Daniel said from his spot on the couch as Musa came back down the stairs to see a plethora of snacks placed on the coffee table. "I couldn't decide which movie to watch so I figured you could pick,"

"Hm…" Musa said walking over to the couch and looking over the choices. "I think we should watch Mission Improbable, it's always fun to watch the over acting,"

"Very true," Daniel said putting the dvd into the player and sitting back on the couch.

About an hour into the movie Musa had drifted off to sleep he alcohol was taking a bit of an effective on her. She had drank more than she should have that night. Musa couldn't help but nod off, she had seen the movie way too many times and she couldn't help but fall asleep only to be awoken by the sound of a car exploding on the screen.

"You fell asleep like an hour ago," Daniel, laying on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table, said softly looking down at his chest to see Musa as she woke up a bit. Musa opened her eyes to see that she had fallen asleep on Daniel's chest. "I didn't want to wake you,"

"Sorry," Musa said sitting up a bit not moving her hand away from his chest, feeling his heart beat under her hand, feeling a little off balance, she really should not have drank that night. "I guess I was more tired than I thought, and you're a good soft spot to sleep,"

Daniel didn't say anything he simply moved his hand to her face and pushed the hair away from her eyes and smiled. Without thinking twice Musa pulled her face towards his until her lips met his only for a second before she immediately pulled away, her heart banging in her chest, not sure as to what she had just done. She couldn't figure out why she did it, the alcohol she had consumed probably had something to do with it since it had clouded her judgment.

But she was feeling close to him all night, every time she told herself to be more realistic and think about what she was getting herself into; but the fact was he was a far more realistic choice than anyone else. In particular one maroon hair specialist. She had been telling herself to stop but there was something about how close she was to him all night. They had spent the entire summer together and she never felt this way, probably because she was clinging to some hope about Riven, but now she had nothing.

Except Daniel.

Of course seeing the surprised look on Daniel's face made her want to turn back time. "I…I am so sor –," Musa said pulling back quickly and looking away from Daniel. She didn't know what to do but then she felt Daniel lift her chin with his hand and before she knew it he was kissing her back, this time with a lot more passion.

Before she knew it Daniel had turned her over and was on top of her while Musa was down underneath him on the couch, kissing intensely and she had lost track of where his hands were. Musa's mind cleared of all reason and subjectivity and all she could think about was how good it felt to be kissed. It had been awhile to say the least, Daniel was the last guy she had kissed and that was a long time ago. Not to mention being in someone's arms like that, it felt amazing.

The two stayed on the couch kissing for what seemed like an eternity when a Musa and Daniel jerked away from each other hearing a loud bang from the television. The movie had still been playing and the final action scene was in progress. The two looked at the television screen for a brief moment and turned back to the other and then immediately averted their gaze to the ground. Musa's heart was still pounding fiercely her chest as her mind reeled at what she had just gotten herself back into. She may have kissed him but he kissed her back. What did that mean? Was he kissing her because he thought it was what he should do since she started it, or was it because of something else.

Daniel moved quickly to the other end of the couch almost as if thinking separating himself a couple feet from Musa would do something to erase their last make out session, not that it wasn't enjoyable, because it was. But going back down this road was not a good idea, it had taken him so long to get over her the first time there was no way that it would be easy the second time around. He was sure he didn't feel anything like that for her now anyway, but how was he supposed to tell her that?

After another couple of minutes of simply sitting there staring at the floor Musa looked to Daniel and decided the approach the situation the only way she knew how. Run. "I think I'm gonna get some sleep," she said as she got up quickly and went straight up to the guest room, leaving the prince of Crescendo downstairs and confused.

* * *

The next morning Musa woke up after getting very little sleep. She had heard Daniel come up the steps a few minutes after her and peak into her room to see if she had fallen asleep. She pretended she was out cold to avoid any awkward conversation and set her alarm to wake her up early so she could be out of there without having to see him.

Musa got up early and decided she would simply shower on the jet back to Magix. She tip toed around his place getting her things and trying her best not to wake him. Musa had almost accomplished her mission when she was at the front door but just as she opened it she heard her name from the top of the steps.

"Musa?" Daniel said from the top of the stairs, looking down to the foyer floor, his face still looking as if he were sleeping. He didn't say anything further but simply lifted up a piece of paper. "I can hear better than you can sneak out,"

"I didn't want to wake you," Musa said looking at the note Daniel had in his hand. "Sorry,"

"Musa what's going on?"

"Nothing, I'll call you when I land," Musa said as she stepped out of the town house and into the limo before Daniel had a chance to stop her.

Musa got on the plane and looked out as the plane took off and saw as all the houses and buildings got smaller and smaller as she moved further away from her home. Leaving with even more problems than she came with.

* * *

_My sister and I were staying at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City for the summer when we were taking frequent trips back and fourth from the Hamptons and the maids were so quiet, you honestly had no idea that they were in the room. _

_My friends love schnapps and hot cocoa but I am really not a fan, it tastes awful to me. Why anyone would disrupt the simple perfection of hot cocoa is beyond me. _

_Anyone else find that a little weird? Most high school students are used to partying either in someone's house or in my case we went to clubs pretty often (since bouncers in NYC are pretty susceptible to bribes). But at Alfea they don't do anything! I refuse to believe that those girls are as perfect as the show makes them out to be. I'm sure that there are a few party girls among them. _

_fave restaurant in new York city_

_this is a quote from oscar wilde – one of my favorite writers _

_Reference to the utopian suburban town of Fairview from Desperate Housewives – they all live on Wysteria Lane_

_Yet another Oscar Wilde quote, ive been reading a lot of him lately _

_Gary said this in the show 'what I like about you' _

_This is a reference to Shakespeare' 'twelfth night' or some of you may know the name from 'shes the man' which is a slash-dash of the play. Either way I love the story and Amanda bynes in the movie was simply hilarious. (if you haven't noticed, she is one of my favorite actresses) The movie is also one of my favorites!_

_Wow I had a lot of little notes, probably since I could write whatever I wanted for this chapter since there were no scenes at Alfea. Anyway that's the chapter hope you liked it. I loved writing about Musa and Daniel's bizarre relationship since it mirrors the one I have seen a lot with other people who remain friends with their ex's. it's an interesting thing to watch. The little thing with her checking his texts was something I just wanted to throw in cause I hate it when people do that but I know I've been guilty of it when I was a bit suspicious of a guy. Yes, I realize many of you probably were not fans of the Musa/Daniel kiss but come on that's half the fun! Next up is when a hot new teacher graces the halls of Alfea. _

_See you later!_

_xoxo,  
__princessm_


	7. The Dark Tower

_This is the first appearance of the major pixie characters (lockette, tune, digit…) I am not really a fan of the pixies, they seem kind of unnecessary to me so I try to make their appearances as minimal as I can. But since Tune is such a big part of Musa's life (since they are like bonded or whatever) I have to include her every now and again to keep their relationship more realistic. I also don't understand why the Winx girls get to have pixies to be bonded with but nobody else does. Just one of the many things that makes very little sends on the show. I think the producers and writers just got bored she they decided to add some characters to make things more interesting, they should have taken a page out of my book and added some drama. Who doesn't love that? _

**The Dark Tower**

Musa got out of the cab when it arrived at Alfea early that same morning, thanks to the time difference she arrived at Alfea only an hour after the time that she had left the Harmonic Nebula. With her small carry along tot on her arm Musa got out of the cab and walked through the quad. The dew from the grass collecting on her feet as she walked, the air was so brisk for the morning but she still felt awfully warm, probably because she was still dressed in winter clothing since it was frigid when she left Daniel's that morning.

Daniel. She had thought about him her entire plane flight. She knew it was beyond stupid to kiss him like that the night before but she was feelings vulnerable and Daniel was there, like he always was. Why did he have to be such a prince charming sometimes? She felt so awful about the way she left things too, she was the one who kissed him and then she left like that with no warning or explanation she left. Not that he had called her since she had gone, but she didn't give him much time and it wasn't his job to fix something she had broken. But he didn't have to kiss her back, sure she gave him a quick peck on the lips that started this whole ordeal, but he was the one who bumped their kiss up to NC-17. (**1**)

The musical princess got to the door to the common room and opened it as quietly as she could, trying her best not to wake Flora or Techna but as she tip toed past the couch she felt a cool breeze. Musa looked up to see the door to the balcony was open and Flora was standing out looking over the quad. She was surprised she didn't see Flora standing there before or that Flora didn't call out for her when she was walking up but by the way she was just standing there, Musa could tells she wasn't really paying attention to the surroundings. "Flora?" Musa said just above a whisper as she put her tote bag down next to a sleeping kiko.

"Oh hey sweetie," Flora said giving Musa a hug as she stepped onto the balcony. The sky was still dark since it was so early in the morning, but the sun would be rising soon. "How was your trip?"

"Fun," Musa said not wanting to get into the whole Daniel kiss ordeal, besides she knew telling Flora would then require a lot of explanation and Musa really didn't have one. She had no idea what she was feeling right now so explaining it to someone else would not be easy. Besides she didn't want to hear any 'I knew it' or 'I told you so' not that Flora was really one to do that anyway. "It was nice to be home for awhile, away from everything. Speaking of which have you heard anything?"

"No," Flora said, her voice full of worry, looking back down at the quad. "We went to see Ms. Faragonda yesterday and she told us that she and Saladin are going to g9ve them a couple more days before they send search parties,"

"Oh," Musa said feeling all the worry she had tried to forgot when she went home set back into her mind. Her thoughts then went to Techna, she and Techna didn't have a very happy goodbye when she left to go home, and Musa was still a little upset that Techna had accused her of bailing on her friends. But still she knew Techna could not be taking this well and she was hoping her roommate hadn't driven herself into a psyche ward. "How is Techna taking this?"

"The best she can," Flora said. "She's worried. And she's really sorry about what happened, before you left,"

"Yeah?" Musa said cheering up a bit, she was sorry too. In the midst of her angry rant she had said some really hurtful things, which she seemed to have a knack for. "I feel really bad about the things I said, I was just angry,"

"I know and she does too," Flora told her. "She really wanted to apologize, you know she's probably awake, we haven't really been getting much sleep since we talked to Miss Faragonda about everything,"

"I'll go in and see if she's up," Musa saif leaving the balcony and picking up her tote bag th3en making her way into her room. She walked in to see Techna on her bed reading a book at a time when most people would be sleeping. "Hey," Musa said putting her bag down on her bed.

"Hey, how was your trip?" Techna asked putting her book down at her side and standing up, ready to have what was sure to be an awkward conversation.

"It was good,"

"About what I said before," Techna began. "I am sorry, I was upset and I took it out on you. I am so sorry,"

Musa didn't want to be angry at one of her best friends anymore so instead of saying anything she simply walked over and gave Techna a hug. "I'm sorry too," She said as she pulled away and smiled. "Let's just forget the whole thing never happened,"

"That would be great" Techna said sitting back down on her bed. "So how was the ball, you seemed pretty excited about it,"

"It was great," Musa told her giving the same generic answer that she would give anyone else who asked her until she could sort everything out and make things go back to normal and even after that she was going to go on like the whole thing never happened. Musa tried not to think about that right now, she had enough to worry about and she would deal with that as soon as everyone was back safe. "It was so nice to see everyone again,"

"That's good," Techna said. "Flora and I went to take to Miss Faragonda while you were gone,"

"Yeah she told me," Musa said. "I saw her on the balcony when I walked in like ten minutes ago,"

"She's still up?" Techna said with some concern. "I thought she had gone to sleep by now,"

"Well you're still up," Musa pointed out. "I guess she couldn't sleep either, "

"Look they're back!" Flora shouted from the balcony of the common room. Techna and Musa looked out the door and over to Flora who was literally jumping up and down with excitement. The two then looked back at each other before running over the balcony with Flora.

"Seriously!" Musa exclaimed running up to the balcony herself with Techna not too far behind. Musa looked up to see the squad ship hovering in the distance and she felt herself leap with happiness and before she knew it she was running out of the dorm and onto the quad, following Flora who was remarkably nimble on her feet.

"Bloom what's up girl!" Musa said running through the quad just as the squad ship landed and opened it's door. She ran up to Bloom throwing her arms around the red headed fairy and giving her a hug.

"We did it!" She yelled out happily as a bunch of pixies flew out of the squad ship.

"Stella!" Musa yelled then running over to the blonde, she never thought she would actually miss her but not knowing if she would ever even see her again made her realize just how good of a friend Stella was and how much she really treasured their friendship. Besides whom else was Musa going to go toe to toe with? Their back and fourths were epic and she wouldn't trade that for the world and it wasn't like anyone else would be as much fun watch when they had a melt down about something silly like their shoes.

Musa stood next to Stella and looked over to Layla and waved, not sure exactly how to greet her since they really didn't have much time to get to know each other. She simply smiled for now since it may have been awkward if she just ran up and hugged her. "These are the pixies you guys," Bloom said looking over to the pixies that they had rescued.

Musa looked over and saw one pixies fly over to her quickly and she immediately felt a type of connection to the small pixie dressed in a very proper day gown. "My name is tune, I am the pixie of manners," She said very politely "I love your hairstyle, its so um…unique,"

"Thanks it's like my signature," Musa said not quite sure if the pixie liked her hair or not since it took here a couple od seconds to think of some way to describe her hair and she said it in the tone that her aunt always used wit her when she didn't like something but was too polite to say so. "So you're the pixie of manner?" Musa asked a bit nervously wondering how exactly Tune would react to hanging out with a princess that didn't really act too much like one.

"Yes and I must say you have excellent posture," Tune said politely and then quickly looked over to see Piff and with a polite sequel she flew off to greet the baby pixie. Musa smiled at the compliment, at least something from charm school stuck, that and learning all the proper ball room dances like the waltz. Of course Musa had enjoyed learning that.

"I guess you guys didn't totally screw up," Musa said walking over to Brandon and Sky, who stood in front of the squad ship. She then gave Brandon a hug looking over his shoulder to see Riven walk out of the ship and look at her and then immediately look away. This was all his fault, if he didn't make her so crazy and feel like a total reject than she wouldn't have been so quick to fall into Daniel's arms, not that she wanted to think about again, not for now anyway. "You did have us worried,"

"Aww you were worried about me?" Brandon said pulling away. Musa didn't know why Penelope was so sure that opposite sexes couldn't be friends, she had such great guy friends like Nate, Sky and Brandon. Maybe it was because Penelope tended to get a bit too friendly with her guy friends, with the exception of Nate and Daniel.

"You were stuck in a cave with Stella," Musa told him. "Of coarse I was worried about you,"

"Guess who Brandon married," Sky said stifling a laugh as he walked over to Musa and gave her a hug as well. Musa was kind of glad Timmy hung back in the ship, she didn't know why but it was so awkward when she was around him. She remembered the first time she and Timmy were in a room together alone, she had walked into her dorm room last year and Timmy was there with Techna looking at their computers. When Techna left the room for a couple of minutes she tried a million times to make conversation but he seemed to be so skittish with her or girls in general when he was with one by himself.

"Married?" Musa repeated. What the hell were they doing in Shadowhaunt and how come she had to miss the party. And since Sky asked the question it wasn't Stella, so who else could it have been? "This was supposed to a serious mission not a drunken weekend in Vegas. Oh please tell me it was Bloom,"

"Why would it be Bloom," Sky asked as his voice became high pitched. Musa had first heard the girlish voice when they were at prom the year before and someone had told him his parents dropped by for a surprise visit. The prince of Eraklyon then turned to Brandon with a strict face. "Why would it be Bloom,"

"Oh you didn't know about him and Bloom?" Musa asked looking over to Brandon who looked like he was going to die in a fit of laughter. "Brandon how could you not tell him,"

"Yeah let's not take this any further, I have to live with him and he will kill me in my sleep," Brandon said walking up to Sky and putting his hand on his shoulder. "She's kidding bro,"

"I love the voice," Musa said laughing at him as his face became less serious when he saw that Musa was messing with him. "And you are so easy to screw with,"

"That's not funny,"

"Not from where you're standing, but from here it's hilarious," Musa said looking over to the girls seeing that they were waling over to the school with the pixies. "I'm gonna go in and give the pixies a tour," Musa said as she began walking away and then turning around and walking backward. "But I want the whole story later,"

"Magix Central Park on Thursday," Brandon asked. "I'm a little busy tomorrow and then it's the big thing at Red Fountain,"

"Perfect," She called out as she ran back into the school with a wave. Brandon was probably the guy from their group that she was closest with. Musa had also become really good friends with Sky and Timmy as well, but Brandon was a lot like Nate to her, a big brother type. And she usually went to Red Fountain to see him and hang out since their schedules were hard to find time with and then Stella usually had him out with her so the little time they could find to hang out they took. Of course Musa would probably find out about Brandon's almost wedding from Stella since she wasn't going to see Brandon until after the ceremony at Red Fountain, but still she wanted to see him a little more often. "See you there,"

* * *

Musa walked into the common room to see everyone sitting with their bonded pixie doing something. She had never really believed that there was a pixie for every fairy since most fairies never even came in contact with pixies, probably because most pixies stayed in pixie village. But she felt a strong bond towards Tune, like she had been friends with her for longer than the last five minutes. Without questioning it, Musa simply showed Tune around the dorm. "And this is my room," Musa said as the two walked into the room Musa shared with Techna.

"It's very nice," Tune said as she floated in and sat on the side of Musa's bed. Musa looked at the small pixie and couldn't help but notice just how tiny she was, Musa tended to be careless as to where she put things and now she would have to be extra careful to not drop a book or tote bag on her. "So you're the princess of the Harmonic Nebula?" she asked when she looked around and floated over to the large board where Musa had pictures posted everywhere.

"Yup," she said sitting down on her bed remembering just how sleepy she was. "If you couldn't tell I love music,"

"Oh yes I see," Tune said ever so politely. Musa almost felt as if she had to walk on eggshells when she was around since Musa wasn't exactly the picture of grace and decorum. "You look lovely in this picture," Tune said pointing to the picture of her and Daniel at her father's annual spring time gala. It was taken while they were dating and the two looked rather lovey dovey in the picture, Musa only kept it because it was one of the few pictures she actually had with Daniel since he hated having his picture taken. "Is that your boyfriend?"

Musa rolled her eyes at the irony of her life. She had just resolved to not think about Daniel until everything was fixed her and then within ten minutes of thinking that everything was fixed. Now she had to think of what she was going to do. After a long pause to think about how funny the situation really was Musa finally answered the pixie who simply floated there awaiting an answer. "No he's umm…he's not- he's just…well he's not my boyfriend," Musa finally spat out finally.

"Oh well you don't seem very sure," Tune said looking away from the pictures and back to the musical fairy. "Is there something going on?"

The question she had been trying to answer herself was not so easy since she really didn't know if there was something going on. Musa promptly shut the door, but managed to see everyone bonding with their respective pixie so she figured that maybe talking to Tune abut this might not be the worst idea. As long as she didn't tell a soul.

"Okay, kinda, I'll explain but you have to promise not to tell anyone, not even the other pixies," Musa said not really sure why she trusted Tune so much, she just did. Besides she needed an unbiased audience and since Tune knew nothing of Daniel or anything about Musa really she decided that it was probably best to tell her, Tune's advice would [-probably be the most honest that she would get.

"Gossip is so impolite, I would never tell," Tune swore. "Besides what kind of friend would I be if I gossiped about you?"

"True," Musa agreed. "Okay he's technically my ex but I just recently kissed him and now I have no idea what we are,"

"How recently?"

"About 12 hours," Musa said getting a confused look from Tune.

"Oh is he a boy a Red Fountain," Tune asked.

"No he goes to a prep school in the Harmonic Nebula," Musa explained. "His name is Daniel Cunningham, I went home this weekend to go to a ball with him this weekend,"

"Why would you go to a ball with him if you two aren't dating anymore,"

"Well we're still friends and we have been since we were kids," Musa told her. "But I think I majorly screwed up because kissed him and then I just left without any explanation and I don't know if he thinks I have feelings for him again,"

"Well do you?" Tune asked.

"No, I don't know" Musa admitted. She had been thinking about it all day and while she kept going back and fourth about how she felt, if she had to chose to have him as a friend or as a boyfriend, it was always friend. No matter how she was feeling now, she knew a lot of things were clouding her judgments. "But he kissed me back, what if he wants something more? I can't put him through another break up, not while keeping our friendship in tact at least,"

"You need to talk to him," Tune advised. "It's the right thing to do, if he does indeed feel something other than friendship for you than you will be leading him on if you don't tell him. And if not than you two can simply move on, unless you still want him,"

"I don't want to see him," Musa said looking at the ground not wanting to face Daniel after that night. "I can't,"

"My advice is to figure out what you want," Tune advised. "Then talk to him, it's very impolite to keep someone waiting like that,"

"You're right," Musa said sitting back on the bed and then falling back and laying on the bed. "I really should not have kissed him," she said mostly to herself as she began to drift asleep. Tune smiled as the princess fell asleep and then went back to the common room to spend some time with the other girls.

Musa woke a few hours later hearing a fuss in the common room. She walked out to see Stella modeling some of her clothes in front of Piff and Amore. Bloom sat on a chair playing with Lockette as if the pixie were a baby and Layla and Tune played Musa's interactive dancing game. Techna was also playing a video game of some sort with Digit, while Flora and Chatta discussed social affairs at Alfea while tending to the plants. Everyone seemed to be bonding well with the new pixies. "Hey Musa I hope you don't mind, me and Tune are playing your awesome dance game. I didn't even know it came out yet,"

"It hasn't," Musa told her. "I got an advanced copy from the manufacturer, my friend's father owns the whole company,"

"Would you like to join us?" Tune asked ever so politely.

"Yeah come on it'll be fun," Layla said. She really couldn't get a good read on this girl. Stella and Bloom seemed to really like her since they had time to bond with her over the time they spent in Shadowhaunt. Musa knew that she was a good person in general since she was so willing to go find the pixies and help out so much around here, Musa even hoped she might stay awhile longer so they could be friends. But for now she was not used to this girl and she knew from past experience not to trust someone too soon because they could turn around and become a Karen. And nobody wanted that.

"Sure," Musa said joining in on the fun. The group of girls in the dorm continued to hang out in the common room until there was a knock on the door.

"Miss Faragonda would like to see you," Griselda said when Stella got the door wearing one of her less than appropriate dresses, earning her a disapproving look fron Griselda as she began to walk away from the door expecting the girls ot get up immediately and go to Miss Faragonda's office. "And why don't you change before that tiny piece of clothing falls off, although it looks tight enough to stay on you through a tornado,"

* * *

"You wanted to see us?" Bloom asked as the girls lined up at Faragonda's desk. They had left the pixies behind in the room since they were all pretty tired from the power draining spell that they were put under when they were in Shadowhaunt.

"I've sent Libby to the Elders secret hideaway to ask that they come join us at Alfea immediately," Miss Faragonda said as she closed her door, walking back behind her desk. "After speaking to Lockette and Chatta about this man that calls himself Lord Darkar, I'm gravely concerned that we are up against a most dangerous force,"

"Now then," She said waving her finger to shut the blinds and then clapping her hands to form a screen that she then walked over to. The girls turned around and looked at the blank glowing screen. "Have you ever heard the story of the destruction of Sphereia? In a single day the realm was anileated by a dark force stronger than any force that anyone had ever seen before," (**3**)

"We read about that in class, they say it was the worst disaster the Magical universe had ever seen," Bloom said recalling her magical heritage class from the year before, it was a class Musa was not a big fan of that class sine most of what they learned was pretty depressing.

"Yes and it was the direct result of someone tampering with the dark forces in the underrealm. A man named Arjulus went down there seeking to control a power called the shadow fire but it was the shadowfire that ended up taking control of him,"

"By 'taking control of him' do you mean it took him over," Layla asked with a raised hand, although the answer was pretty much in the question, taking control usually means taking 'over'.

"Yes that is absolutely right you see girls there are certain powers that are so powerful that they create a will of their own and anyone that tries to control them ends up being controlled by them," She warned. Musa did wonder why she hadn't told them all this before they went down to Shadowhaunt since it would have probably been helpful information.

"So where did the shadow fire come from?" Musa asked

"The shadow fire has always been there," Faragonda said opening the curtain. "Buried in the heart of the underrealm, in the kingdom of Shadowhaunt. That horrible place may be made of rock and stone but it is very much alive, the shadow fire still roams through its halls waiting for someone foolish enough to come down there seeking its power. What Layla saw down there may be just that, someone who has merged with this dark force and become twisted and distorted and then reborn as the shadow phoenix. I believe that is who Lord Darkar is,"

"And what is this lord Darkar after?" Flora asked.

"Well the shadow fire seeks only one thing and that is what Lord Darkar is after," She putting her hands down flat on the desk and looking up at the girls. "And that is total control of the universe,"

"So what do the pixies have to do with all of this," Musa asked. This was a meeting to discuss them but so far Musa could not seem to find a linkage between the pixies and this Lord Darkar guy. She had originally thought that they were kidnapped because Lord Darkar wanted to take their power, but she could tell now there was a bigger plot in the works. Luckily this Lord Darkar guy didn't have any minions among him so they could probably figure him out without dealing with other muscle in the way.

"They said he was trying to find the location of Pixie Village," Layla added. "But I don't get why, what is down there that this guy would want,"

"What's important now is that we have to keep the pixies safe and under our care for now," Miss Faragonda said obviously dodging the question; Musa looked over to Techna who had picked up on the fact that she was dancing around their question. "We cannot let them fall under Darkar's hands again. Therefore the pixies will be staying here."

* * *

After the meeting the girls went back to their rooms to get Layla situated since Miss. Faragonda had agreed to let Layla stay with them as long as her parents agreed and since they did as well, she was going to finish the year with them. Musa didn't know where exactly she was going to sleep since the only single was with Stella and no matter how much Stella liked Layla, it did not look like she was about to give up having her own room.

The rest of the day progressed slowly, Musa stayed in her room for most of the night trying to catch up on the homework that she had left to do when she got back from home, since she was attending a ball she didn't want to bring homework with her on her trip, not that she would have gotten anything done even if she had. The princess worked diligently on her homework and when she felt a cold breeze come through the window. She looked outside at the eerie calm outside as if a terrible storm was about to rain down.

Just as she had expected, not too long after the rain began to pound against the glass windows, Musa put down her pencil and joined the rest of the girls in the common room. She had finished the bulk of her homework and whatever was left she could just leave for later when she had something in her stomach. "Anyone hungry? I'm think I'm gonna get some dinner," Musa said grabbing her keys.

"Sounds great," Stella said getting up off the couch with everyone else and they all walked down to dinner.

After dinner the girls began walking down the hallway back to their dorm. The storm looked like it was getting worse by the hour. As they continued to walk down the corridor with large glass windows she could see the menacing flashes of lightning followed by the loud clapping of thunder. It seemed like it was the beginning of a horror movie.

"You know I gotta tell ya, personally I didn't think that Lord Darkar guy was all that scary," Stella said still eating the sandwich she had started eating at dinner. She was probably the slowest eater in the universe and it didn't help that she had such a big appetite.

"What are you talking about? Layla is the only one of us that actually saw him," Techna pointed out. They had been filled in about most of the mission over dinner, but Musa had forgotten to ask about the marriage thing that Sky had brought up when they arrived back early that morning.

"I dunno I feel like Miss. Faragonda was giving off negative vibes," Flora added as they continued down the hallway.

"Do you really think she doesn't know Darkar true identity," Bloom asked. She and everyone else thought that she had to know something about Darkar since she knew so much about the shadow fire and she basically knew all of his motives, not that she told them anything about that either.

"What I don't understand is why she won't tell us what Darkar wants with the pixies," Techna said looking over to Musa. She and Techna had discussed the issue earlier. What exactly was she hiding? It wasn't like they couldn't handle it since she had

"You roll with the pixies, Layla," Musa said turning to Layla thinking she was the most reliable source since she was the one who had stumbled upon their village. "Do you know?"

"I have no idea," Layla admitted. "When I was there I thought it was just a place where they lived, it didn't look like there was anything too special or different about it. You know besides the obvious,"

"I've got a really bad feeling about all of this," Flora said as another clap of thunder roared through the sky and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Yeah you're not the only one," Musa said noticing that it the only time it ever stormed in Magix when was something bad was going to happen. It was odd to have such strong storm in this part of the universe, which only served to concern her more.

"Listen up everyone," Libby, the blonde pixie that tended to ride around on a letter, said as she flew in front of all of them. "Urgent news from Miss. Faragonda," she said and then unrolled the piece of paper that she was riding around on. "My dear girls, please put your robes and meet me at the south shore of the lake, something has happened, tell no one. Signed Faragonda."

"Do you think she's alright?" Musa asked looking at the girls, all of whom had the same look of fear and concern on their faces.

"Let's hope so," Bloom said. "Let's go get our robes and get going,"

The walk to the lake was not as leisurely as it usually was, since usually when they went to the lake it was sunny and warm. But that night was brutal. The rain fell hard against the robe that Musa wore above her clothing and the wind only served to blow the rain in her face and get her soaked from head to toe even though the robe covered her. "I can't even tell where we are," Musa nearly yelled to the other girls even though there were only a few feet from each other.

The dark clouds filled the sky and the only light was provided by the menacing flashes of lighting that ran across the sky only to be followed by loud bellowing claps of thunder. "I think we're close," Techna yelled back. Musa was rounding out the tail end of the group since she really had a lot of trouble seeing in front of her due to the wind. "We are approaching the north side of the lake,"

_Meaning we have to walk along the entire lake to get to the other side_ Musa thought to herself. She was freezing, the temperature had to of dropped at least 10 degrees and now she was soaking wet. This could not be a good way to get over a weekend of drinking and bad decision making.

"There she is," Techna said after awhile longer of walking along the tumultuous lake side. She looked up bushing aside a tree branch pointing to another figure in the traditional Alfea robe.

"Miss Faragonda what's going on?" Musa said following their headmistress as she motioned them to follow her. She stopped right at water's edge and pointed to an enormous obelisk. Musa wondered how she and the rest of the girls had not seen that on their way over but most of them had spent their time looking down at the ground trying not to get anything in their eyes.

"Follow me girls," She said curtly turning away from then and walking closer to the shore of the lake. "They appeared shortly after the storm began," Miss Faragonda said pointing to the giant obelisk sitting boldly in the lake as the water splashed up against it, not even causing it to rock in the least.

"They?" Flora asked scanning the lake and only seeing the one.

"Another appeared in Black Mud Swamp," The head mistress informed the girls. "And in Haralin woods as well. Palladium and Wizgiz have gone to investigate them with other students,"

"What are they?" Stella asked.

"We're are not sure,"

"According to the magi scan it's not even made of matter," Techna said after her scanner lady bug flew back into it's little case and read out a result for her.

"It must be composed of magical energy," Miss Faragonda told the girls as the storm raged on, growing stronger. "Wizgiz believes them to be beacons of some sort. And Professor Arianna is concerned that they are meant to activate and form of static blanket robbing us all of our winx. Either way we can't take any chances you must destroy this thing,"

"This thing's huge," Musa exclaimed giving the obelisk a good once over.

"That's what she said!" Stella nearly yelled out proudly, finally finding the perfect time in a conversation to yell that out and then followed to laugh at her own joked while everyone else simply gave her a hard look and ignored the princess of the sun and moon. "Why is never funny when I say it…" she mumbled to herself.

"We have a saying back on earth," Bloom said turning to the girls. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall,"

The girls quickly transformed and began their attack on the stone looking tower in an attempt to bring it down. Musa looked around after she transformed and saw that Faragonda was gone. If she wanted the thing down so badly why didn't she help? She was far more powerful and in control of her powers than they were.

"Alright you big dumb hunk of whatever," Stella said shining her scepter and flying up to the height of the obelisk. "Let's see how it can take the power of Solaria, take this!" She fired what Musa knew as a very powerful light attack. "She shots she scores! Done and done," Stella cheered happily thinking she had crumbed the tower, not looking to see nothing happened when the dust cleared.

"It's still there," Bloom called to her.

"I used all I had," Stella said falling to the ground. "I don't get it,"

"Let's go Flora!" Musa said flying up and taking her turn to see if she could do any damage.

"A green vibration attack outta shake it up," Flora said sending out a green orb at the obelisk.

"My turn," Musa said conjuring he magic as quickly as she could, hoping a one-two punch between her and Flora would be enough to knock it down. "Sonic storm wave," Musa said aiming an attack at the water hoping the water would haven enough force to shake it at it's foundation. Unfortunately the obelisk refused to move even the slightest. Musa landed on the ground, breathing heavily tired from the strength of the attack she had conjured. "That thing is way tougher than it looks,"

Layla, Techna and Bloom were up next to try their hand at knocking over the colossal tower but they had no luck. Even with a few more attempts, nobody could shake the thing at all.

"I'm all out of Winx," Techna complained lying down on the sand.

The winx club went back to the dorm and changed out of their wet clothes and showered since there was half of the lake's mud and dirt caked onto their legs.

After her shower Musa collapsed on the couch out of pure exhaustion and looked at the time. It was not too late in the night, she would be up normally at this time, it just seemed so much later since it was so dark outside. "Do you think Bloom is still out there zapping that thing?" Techna asked.

"If I had any winx left, I'd be out there too," Stella said with a yawn. The girls stayed up late for the rest of the night talking about the most random things, hoping Bloom would be coming back soon. The storm raged even more powerfully, so much so that it blew the balcony doors open.

The biggest part of the night was probably when a mysterious man dropped Bloom of off on their doorstep and vanished mysteriously. After putting Bloom in her bed the girls walked back to the common room, not sure what exactly to do about the new development. "I think I am going to go to bed guys," Stella said awkwardly walking over to her room.

"Same," Musa said getting up and walking back into her room to put on her pajamas and getting into her soft, warm and most importantly dry bed.

* * *

The next morning the girls were called over to Miss Faragonda before they could discuss anything that had happened that night.

"The powerful storm last night was the work of the powerful wizard, someone some of you have already met before," she said calmly, not mentioning the obelisk they had been trying to knock down the night before. She motioned over to the side of the room to the man that was cloaked in the corner.

He took off his hood and revealed a very chiseled and handsome face. Musa couldn't help but giggle when she saw him, he was very attractive. "It was that awesome Paladin that saved us from the witches!"

Musa mind reeled when she heard 'witches'. It was a part of the story the girls had left out when they told them about the mission. The witches were back? They were supposed to be locked away in that boot camp! How did they get out and what were they doing with Darkar! Musa suddenly felt her heart begin to race, the last thing she wanted was for that maniac Darcy and her crazed sisters running amok. All of a sudden she felt a sudden surge of anger and some of it was directed at Riven for some reason. She couldn't think of the witches without thinking of what happened last year. Even though it wasn't his fault, it still hurt. "I just wanted to let you girls know, you may head off to class, remember you have class at the lake today,"

* * *

"Let me introduce our newest professor," Miss Faragonda said at the lake. "He comes to us from the esteemed malicoy paladin academy, Professor Avalon,"

He then demonstrated his power by destroying the obelisk, making all the girls swoon over him a bit more.

"How did you do that? "Bloom asked.

"You young students have what I call true genial power, but once you can tap into it, your winx will grow and you will be able to control magical energy," He explained, not that many girls seemed to be paying attention, they were a bit distracted. Musa sure as hell was.

Avalon went on to explain the tower and explain his class, exciting the girls even more. It looked like they would be spending a lot more one on one time with them. They were dismissed and Musa began to walk to class when Ali caught up with her. "Can you believe that new teacher!" She said as Tessa ran up to the other side of Musa.

"I dunno, I guess I'll have to touch him to make sure he's real," Tessa said with a sly smirk on her face. "And then I dunno, do other things,"

"Well he is definitely eye candy," Musa admitted. He had that way about him that made her just want to giggle like a lovesick school girl when he was around. He was so charming and debonair and the fact that he saved lives as well was really hot.

Tessa and Musa continued on their way to class while Ali went back to her room.

After leaving class with Tessa, Musa began on her way back to her room to get some homework done. She walked into the common room to see Ali and Stella talking, waiting by the door as if they were waiting for her to walk in. "Why aren't you dressed!" Ali and Stella said at the same time in almost the exact same tone as they looked over the musical princess.

"What?" Musa said looking at the two and how nice they looked. Both wore very conservative and proper pencil skirts with designer button up blouses and cropped blazers on top, the outfits were almost exactly the same except for the color and the large designer emblem that rested on Stella's left pocket.

"The official Kai Fli rush brunch is today!" Ali said walking straight past Musa and into her room with Stella following. She went straight to her closet and began to rifle through her clothing, as Stella began to look through the small collection of shoes Musa owned. "I can't believe you forgot, it's a good thing I came up here or we would have left without you,"

"Do you have any other shoes?" Stella said as she searched the floor. Musa knew her shoe collection was not nearly as vast as Stella's since she only liked to wear sneakers. She had hundreds of pairs at home but she only had them because of the different balls and parties she had attended, she never wore anything but her normal comfortable sneakers on a day to day basis. Stella said grabbing a pair and holding them up, they were a strappy pair of silver heels. "Oh wait, these will go perfectly with the other outfit I was about to wear," she then turned to the other fairy going through her things. "Ali have you found anything cause I can just have Musa wear one of my outfits with these shoes,"

"No I think I found a good outfit," Ali said pulling out a skirt and a dressy top and handing it to Musa. "Here put this on and hurry cause we have to put on your makeup too,"

"Yeah about that," Musa began. As if she didn't have enough going on in her life, piling on a sorority that didn't seem to much like it fit her style was something she did not seem like a good idea. "I don't think I'm gonna take my bid to be a Kai Fli girl; it's just not really my thing,"

"Come on you have to!" Stella complained putting the outfit in Musa's hand and pushing her through the bathroom door. "It will be a lot of fun and it's not like you'll be alone, you'll be with us!"

"Yeah come on, you even said yourself it would be cool to give it a try since your mom was a sister and all," Ali added as the bathroom door shut and Stella held it closed. "Besides we're not letting you out until you're dressed and ready,"

"Well If you don't you can't go either," Musa shouted pointing out a major flaw in their plan. She wasn't in the mood to be going all the way into the city and having lunch with girls she was sure would be less than friendly. Over the last couple of weeks she was beginning to meet the Kai Fli girls and they all fit the stereotypical sorority girl type. A lot of things had changed since her mother was a member of the elite sorority. "But come on can you girls really see me as a preppy little sorority girl?"

"And what's wrong with that?" Stella asked sternly through the door. She and Ali were trying to get into the sorority that Musa was passing off as something beneath her so she couldn't help but take offense.

"Nothing," Musa said as she put on the blouse and skirt, there was probably no way to get out of this so she figured she would go for now to appease Stella and Ali. "It's just I am not really the type, not that there is anything wrong with it. I'll take sneakers over heels any day and I am not as into fashion and makeup and hair like you guys are,"

"Because that's all us sorority girls talk about," Ali said rolling her eyes. "You realize how ignorant you sound,"

"Fine," Musa said finally opening the door and walking out of the bathroom. "Prove me wrong, if more than 8 of the girls there are not self absorbed and bitchy than I will not only rush Kai Fli, but I will do it with a smile,"

"And if you get pledged you'll stay a pledge all year," Ali asked. "Cause if not, no deal,"

"Fine,"

"And you'll become a sister if you're accepted," Stella added.

"Don't push it,"

* * *

The restaurant that had been reserved for the Kai Fli girls was an elegant bistro right off the busiest street in Magix, it was pretty upscale and Musa was pretty sure if was one of the many restaurants that Penelope's father owned, Musa knew it looked familiar and it turned out she was at the opening. He was a very wealthy businessman who owned a lot of the upscale clubs and restaurants as well as resorts. "Oh there's the table!" Stella said as she Ali and Musa walked up to the maitre de and followed as there were seated.

Musa sat in between the two as the trio talked amongst themselves. She looked around and noticed a few familiar faces, she saw one of the dance team's girls, Tessa, there and the rest of the girls were juniors. Not that she was surprised since Kai Fli usually never scouted underclassmen. The table had about 20 places set and each place was made perfectly with plates of appetizers all along the middle of the table. She looked down to the other end of the table and saw five girls dressed in red polo's with Kai Fli emblems on them. Two girls at each side while another girl sat at the head of the table, Musa figured it was safe to assume that she was the president of Kai Fli, she had met her once before at the freshman orientation.

The girls sat around the table and talked for at least an hour before anyone made an announcement about the dinner. Surprisingly, Musa had enjoy a lot of her time at the dinner since most of the girls were actually really nice. She really wasn't expecting it since she had heard so many rumors about Kai Fli being stuck up, but she had already met most of the girls that were planning to rush and they were all being pretty nice to her that night. Of coarse it wasn't like they had any reason to be mean, it's not like she had a problem with anyone that was in the semi- secret society.

"Does anyone actually know if Kai Fli is secret?" Musa asked thinking about it, she had heard about it when she was at freshman orientation she then her father told her that her mother was a part of Kai Fli, so she didn't understand why it was considered secret.

"I think it used to be," Tessa said as she picked up a small bound book that sat in front of her. Musa looked down and saw that she was looking at a handbook for Kai Fli, she began to flip through it as well and she saw there were chapters on proper behavior and then a lengthy history about the sorority. She rolled her eyes at the fact that there were so many rules to follow, not that she was planning on remembering all of them. "Well this little book says that it used to be secret because sororities weren't allowed, only red fountain was allowed to have that type of thing as a frat, so they had to make this underground,"

"That's actually pretty cool," Musa said a she put some food from the center of the table onto her plate and began to eat a bit as well. She had been fighting that obelisk all night and suffix to say she was pretty famished.

"Attention girls!" the fairy at the head of the table said about ten minutes later as she flicked her shiny brown hair back behind her shoulder. Musa noticed that she, unlike the other four girls, also had a gold trim on her collar. "My name is Kate Carmichael and I am the president of the Alfea chapter of Kai Fli, I'm here with our social chair, treasurer, vice president and activities coordinator," she said looking pointing out the other girls at the table that gave a simple wave.

"Hope you girls are enjoying your year," She continued. "This brunch was set up so you girls could get acquainted with Kai Fli and the other girls rushing for Kai Fli, I'm sure all of you have had time to flip through the official Kai Fli handbook."

"Also, we wanted to let you know about the official rush mixer which is next week," Said another girl standing up with the Kai Fli polo on as well. "I'm Lucy, the social chair. We have a mixer next week and it's going to be a lot of fun and after the night is over we are going to announce the girls that will be pledges for this year,"

The table suddenly erupted in chatter as all the girls began to discuss how excited they were or what they wanted to wear or something like that finally to be silenced a few minutes later by Kate. "I'm glad you girls are all so excited! So please enjoy the rest of this dinner and have some fun tonight and we can't wait to see you at the mixer,"

* * *

"Okay so maybe everyone was pleasant," Musa admitted as she Ali and Stella left the restaurant and began walking down the street in Magix. It was a warm evening and the sun was just about to set as the three walked along, making a familiar sound with their heels against the pavement. "This was actually some fun,"

"That means you are ours until pledging is over!" Ali said happily as she skipped ahead of the two and then clapping giddily and then walking back in place with the two.

"That is unless I don't get past rushing, then I'm all yours until next week," Musa pointed out. "Either way it looks like I've sold my soul to the devil,"

"You are a legacy," Stella said swinging her arms back and fourth tossing her hand bag up and down occasionally. "As long as you don't bitch slap Kate or something like that, I'm pretty sure you're in,"

"Yeah well she seemed nice enough, hopefully it won't go that far," Musa joked.

"Well we all know that Musa won't hesitate to get into a catfight," Ali said. "I'm sure Karen will vouch for that?"

"What ever happened to her anyway?" Stella asked.

"I dunno, I haven't seen her around," Ali said as the three stopped at a traffic light to wait for the traffic to pass before they could cross the street. It was a perfect night, Musa loved walking through the city with her friends. It was warm outside and the sun was just beginning to set, these were the kinds of nights that made her love Alfea so much. "Who knows maybe she duped some idiot into marrying her, and they ran off together. That or she changed schools. Either seems pretty likely,"

"Yeah okay," Musa said rolling her eyes as they walked past a bakery in the heart of Magix, she breathed deeply and took in the amazing smell of freshly baked bread.(**2**) "But speaking of marriage, what was Sky talking about when he said Brandon almost married someone on your mission to shadow haunt?"

"Ugh don't even get me started," Stella said.

"You two got hitched?" Ali said with little surprise in her voice. "Not that I'm surprised, but Musa had me thinking that this mission was life or death not some drunken weekend that ended in a wedding chapel and slurring vows,"

"That is exactly what I said," Musa pointed out with a laugh. "Well not exactly, so what did happen down there, Brandon was gonna tell me later but I really don't want to wait until I see him Thursday,"

"It's a long story," Stella explained. "And I am not so sure I'm okay that you go out on weird little dates with my boyfriend," she teased.

"Please you have him way too whipped," Musa shot back. "I need someone who thinks on their own,"

"So Riven's out," Ali joked and laughed then looked at Stella and Musa to see her joke hadn't gone over too well and maybe it was way too soon to joke about that or maybe she should stay away from the subject all together. Musa simply looked at the ground and Stella stayed silent. Musa had really tried not to think about the fact that he was basically Darcy's lap dog the year before since it only served to drive her insane.

"And onto something less awkward," Stella said cheerfully as the girls got onto the bus that was headed to Alfea. "Anyone else wants to go in for extra help for our new origins class. I feel like I can learn a lot from Professor Avalon,"

"I think I could teach him a few things," Ali added. "I can't wait for class,"

"Do I need to remind the two of you that you both have boyfriends," Musa asked as the three took their seats. "And I really don't think they well be too happy to know how that you two are dreaming of banging the hot new teacher. Although I can't blame you for wanting it,"

"It's not like we would ever do anything," Stella said. "We're just appreciating god's handiwork,"

"Speak for yourself, if I could get Avalon alone in a closet or copy room or class room…" Ali said. "Well anyway what James doesn't know wont hurt him,"

"That's horrible," Musa pointed out. The three sat and discussed the topic on most of the minds of the students of Alfea, Avalon, for a while longer until they got back to the Alfea. They had made it back just as the sun set and darkness began to spread across the campus, lit dimly by the lampposts located around the outside gate.

"Looks like the welcome party for Professor Avalon already started," Stella said pointing to the auditorium seeing that all the lights were on and many shadows shone through. "We should get in there,"

"I'll be there in a second," Musa said as Ali and Stella walked into the school and she looked down into her small purse and saw that she had a few missed calls. She had seen that Leslie had been calling her all day and she decided to ignore it and when she called at dinner it would have been rude to pick up the phone during dinner. It was not like she could avoid her forever since she would have to go home at some point and she knew her friends would not wait until she got home if they smelled trouble.

"Hello," Musa said picking up her phone as she began to walk aimlessly around the campus, walking back and fourth from one spot to another, hearing the music from the auditorium every time she walked by.

"What the hell did you do!" Leslie nearly yelled into the phone. Musa had hoped that maybe this was just a call about making sure she got back to Alfea alright or something else, but it was pretty clear that she knew about her little slip up with Daniel that night. And it looked like an entire day of dodging her calls did not help the situation at all either. "I hate to say I told you so, but we totally saw this coming! Are you out of your mind, as if last year wasn't bad enough you want to do this again? And have you even thought about what this might be doing to your best friend, my god Musa sometimes I think that you –,"

"How do you know about this?" Musa asked avoiding the myriad of questions Leslie had just ranted at her. But what she asked was a legitimate question, how did she know? It wasn't like Daniel to gossip about these things, at least not when it involved her.

"Daniel was acting weird all day, like something big was bothering him. At first I assumed it was something with his father when he refused to talk about it," She explained, the fury in her voice still very evident. "And when I confronted him about it he kept walking away until I started naming things that could have gone wrong and as soon as your name came up he became very dense. From there is very little he can hide from me, if you recall I am the one who found out about that little transgression last year,"

"Oh," Musa said. She really had no idea what to tell Leslie, she wanted to explain that it meant nothing and there was nothing to worry about but the fact was that she could not really support that since she wasn't so sure. But she didn't want to tell Leslie that since, to be perfectly honest, Musa was a little scared of the 5 foot 4 tiny little fairy. "Look I can explain it really wasn't a big deal,"

"If it wasn't a big deal why did you leave before he was even awake," Leslie pointed out. _Damn, she got everything out of him_ she thought. "Come on what were you thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking," Musa admitted. "I just looked at him and, let me remind you I had been drinking, then I kissed him. But you know I kissed him but then he kissed me back,"

"Yeah Musa you started and you expect Daniel to end it," Leslie said disappointedly. Daniel was never the kind of guy who could resist temptation; in fact he was probably one of the people who indulged in anything to make himself feel better. That as probably best seen by the obscene amount of alcohol he consumed when he was at a ball, dinner party or even family breakfast with his father. She knew she should have known better, but it wasn't all completely her fault, she could blame some of it on the alcohol. "You've met him; he has the will power of an obese woman trying to resist eating cake,"

"Well it happened and I can't take it back okay?" Musa said feeling a cool breeze go by her. She continued to walk along the campus green until she got to the trees that boarded the side. She then leaned against the truck of a large tree, seeing magi beves running along the ground. Normally she wasn't a fan of the annoying little things but right now she could care less, besides they looked a little distracted as well. "So let's just move on,"

"We would love to," Leslie said sarcastically acting like nobody else had thought of that yet. "Here's the problem, Daniel doesn't want to call you because he doesn't know what to say and you are obviously making no move to change that,"

"I'll talk to him," Musa groaned. "I promise,"

"Really?" She asked still feeling unsure of the princess. "When?"

"Later," Musa said. "I just need to figure out how I feel about this whole thing and how -,"

"Wait, hold on. Are you saying you might be having feelings for him again!" Leslie nearly yelled once again just when her she was starting to calm down. "You made it seem like it was some stupid drunken mistake, please please please tell me the only thing you're feeling is regret,"

"Can you stop yelling for a second to listen," Musa asked sliding her back down against the trunk and taking a seat on the cold ground, being careful to fold her legs to her side, she was in a skirt after all. She knew Leslie only meant well, but yelling was getting them nowhere and now she was getting even more worried about whatever she was feeling. "Les, I don't know what to do,"

"You need to figure out how you feel first," Leslie cooed her voice becoming softer. She was probably one of the most caring people in the universe but she hated when people did things they knew were bad for them, which was why she always got on Daniel's case about all the things he did. "I'm sorry for yelling,"

"Who else knows?"

"Nobody knows I didn't tell anyone," Leslie assured. "Again, sorry for yelling,"

"It's okay," Musa said as she gently dug a small hole in the ground with the tip of her foot. "I will call him when I figure this out. Everything will be okay,"

"Yeah," Leslie said unsure if anything was going to be the same. Musa and Daniel's break up the year before caused a horrible rift in their tight knit group. Musa refused to see him and she didn't visit home for months, of course in the end everything was okay and it worked out but there was no guarantee that it would happen again. Everything was hanging very precariously right now and for the life of her, Leslie hoped the two of them could solve the problem and forget this whole mess. "Don't worry about it now, just figure things out and talk to him when your ready,"

"Okay,"

"Just don't take too long," She advised.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later," Musa said as she hung up the phone and pulled herself off the ground. As the princess dusted the dirt off the back of her skirt she heard a branch come crashing down behind her.

After nearly jumping out of her skin Musa began to back up slowly, ready to dart into the school. This was how a lot of horror movies started, a girl in the dark hears a noise and instead of running away from it like a smart person would, and she goes towards it. Then an hour later, after torture and seeing everyone she loved die, she finally was killed. (**4**) Her pace becoming quicker, Musa began rushing into the school when she heard someone say something with a very familiar voice. "Dude can we please go now?"

Turning around Musa began walking back towards to the origin of the noise. Walking over a few bushes and past a couple of trees she found two heroes on the ground with a broken tree branch on the side of a tree trunk. "What the –."

"Hey Musa," Sky said casually with winced eyes rubbing his head and looking up at her, then pulling a few twigs out of his blonde hair.

"Tarzan," Musa addressed Sky with a crumbling smile, trying her best not to burst out in laughter. "Jane," She continued when she turned to Brandon, who had landed a little more comfortable in a bush with his clothes stuck to random branches. Sky on the other hand was sitting up rubbing his arm indicating that his fall wasn't cushioned by smaller plant life. Musa then looked over to see the broken tree branch.

"What are you two doing here," Musa asked looking back up at the tree in confusion. She then looked over to see that they were in a tree that overlooked the auditorium where the party was being held. "Were you guys looking into the aud –."

"It's not what it looks like," Sky said nervously quoting the official phrase that every guy said when they were in trouble trying to cover up something that they really could not.

"And what does it look like?" Musa said obviously toying with him since it was pretty obvious what was going on here, but she didn't' exactly understand why.

"Okay so we were just in the neighborhood and we…" Sky began. He was a terrible liar.

"Dude just give it up," Brandon groaned.

"You know Stella and Bloom would not be happy to learn you two were spying," Musa pointed out with a wicked smile growing on her face, not that she would ever use that to black mail them or anything, but they were just peeping at Alfea, she figured she could at least mess with them for a little bit. "Trust is the basis of a strong relationship,"

"Who were you on the phone with?" Brandon asked with a knowing smile crossing his arms. "Because I think there is someone else who would be interested to hear about your conversation on the phone," he finished, the truth was he had only heard that she went to the ball with Daniel, even though that was probably enough to drive Riven insane with jealousy, it wasn't like he was about to tell him that.

Musa assumed he was talking about Riven and suddenly realized how bad things would get if he found out, any chance of them having something would be gone. But she knew Brandon would never tell and judging by the confused look on Sky's face, he hadn't heard a thing. "Besides, it was Sky here that was doing all the spying,"

"You cannot be serious," Musa said disappointedly. Sky hardly seemed like the jealous type, especially after Bloom really hadn't given him any reason to spy. Musa then looked up and figured out which classroom he was looking into, it was actually the office of the hot new teacher at Alfea. "Avalon," Musa said smiling putting a few things together, but Professor Avalon had only just arrived and there was no way Sky knew about him already.

"Why were you peeking into Professor Avalon's window," Musa asked ignoring his question. She would expect some of that from some of the female students since every girl at Alfea seemed to be in love with him, of coarse that still didn't explain why Sky was looking into his window, besides he and everyone else were downstairs in the auditorium at the welcome party they had thrown for him.

"_Professor_ Avalon?" Brandon said with his eyes getting wide and a smile forming on his face as if he was about to start laughing at Sky's jealousy issues. "How did you know that was his window?"

"Avalon is the new teacher here," Musa explained. "The hot new teacher, everyone is completely gaga over him, but I mean what else do we have in a school full of girls. Everyone at Alfea knows were his office is," Musa continued and then added. "Ali's already been in there twice for tutoring even though we haven't learned anything yet."

"Why was Bloom in there?" Sky asked becoming increasingly worried now that he found out who his girlfriend was inside the room with.

"Bloom's in there? But they're having a party downstairs," Musa said with surprise that came off like she was worried which caused Sky to think that maybe there was something going on between Bloom and her professor. She didn't mean for it to sound like that, Musa knew how curious Bloom was to know about her origins so it made sense that she had gone in to see him, but judging from Sky's face it was not what he was thinking.

"Dude calm down I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation," Brandon said finally standing up out of the bush, Musa helped him and helped to pick the twigs off of his clothing and out of his hair.

"Are you okay?" Musa asked looking him once over. Sky may have fall on straight onto the ground, but Brandon seemed like the guy who was more beat up. He had scratches everywhere and he was even bleeding a bit on his forehead. He nodded to indicate he was fine and looked back to Sky. "Bloom is really excited about the class, she's probably asking him a few questions. What did you think was happening?"

"That this Avalon guy was having his way with Bloom on his desk," Brandon mumbled sourly as he continued to pull the twigs off of himself. "Or something along those lines, right Sky,"

"Seriously?" Musa said through a laugh. It was probably the most ridiculous thing she had heard. She had some friends before that got involved with hot teachers but that was completely differently, mostly because those friends were a lot more 'open' than Bloom was. The idea of Bloom being involved with Avalon was ridiculous, if there was anyone that would do that she would chose Ali then Stella then maybe Bloom and maybe herself if given the opportunity. He was pretty amazing looking and debonair as well. Not that Musa needed to be doing much more of that, not until she figured everything out anyway.

"You didn't see the way they were chasing each other around the room," Sky said seriously only causing Musa to laugh even harder.

"Chasing?" Musa said finally gaining some composure. "I'm sure it was some kinky sex game. I couldn't be something as ridiculous like walking around,"

"You didn't see…" Sky said becoming less sure of what he had been looking at. Maybe he was being a little paranoid.

"Why are you even here?" Musa asked, if her didn't know about Avalon before he came her when why was he here in the first place.

"Bloom's just been," Sky began. "I dunno different. I can't even get her on the phone,"

"She's busy,"

"She missed our phone date," Sky said feeling like an absolute reject when the words came out of his mouth, as if uttering the words 'phone date' wasn't embarrassing enough but he got stood up as well.

"She's busy," Musa said once again. "You can't seriously believe something is going on especially not with Avalon,"

"That's what I told him," Brandon said stubbornly. "Can we please go now bro? I've got a practical in fencing technique tomorrow morning and I need to get some sleep,"

"Yeah let's go," Sky said looking at the ground in embarrassment as he and Brandon walked back over to their leva bikes. The two got onto their bikes and put on their helmets. "Can we keep this between us three?" Sky asked lifting the visor of his helmet.

"It's like you were never here," Musa assured the two of them as she began to step out of the bushes and trees. The boys revved their engines and with a wave the two were back on their way to Red Fountain.

Standing in the middle of the quad with a phone in oen hand and her small clutch in the other, feeling the gentle wind push past her and caress her face as it did, Musa smiled. She remembered what it was like to have a boyfriend be a little jealous, a little jealousy she really didn't mind at all. In fact it made her feel wanted. Daniel was never the jealous type but he did have his moments, but she did love the feeling of being wanted so much that someone was scared you would be taken away.

With a strange feeling of loneliness and longing that she hadn't felt since she first arrived at Alfea and missed Daniel dearly, Musa turned and walked back inside to join the party going on inside.

* * *

_Anyone who doesn't know the movie rating system (although fan fiction follows a very similar one so everyone reading this should), movies rated NC-17 usually have a lot of violence or nudity or both and there us usually a lot of sexual content. _

_1.I love that smell – mmmm…. Who does not love carbs ___

_2. if you remember last season, that is the same scene that Faragonda thinks of when she describes the destruction of Sparx – guess they were too lazy to draw up another._

_3. I never understood that about the dumb girls in horror movies. Why don't they simply run away! If there is a strange noise in your house then run! Or send someone else down there, like someone who won't get snapped in half like a twig. Stupid…._

_xoxo,  
princess_


	8. Party Monster

_So I got a PM asking if I was going to do a season 4 version of this series. Since I still haven't written season 3, I wasn't really thinking about it. However, from what I've heard season 4 isn't coming out in english, so i think im done when i finish season three. Besides I planned a lot of things from the first season that will carry through to the third and i have a lot that is going on that won't really work if the girls go to earth. I had a bunch of plans for the potentail break up in seaosn three that involves Musa's coronation and other royal drama. Also, I have had a few requests to write a Rai version of this series since, from what I've heard, there is better Musa/Riven drama. I was considering starting a Rai version when I did the first installment but I couldn't find the episodes online so I used the 4kids version. Bottom line - I will be writing a season three, probably not a season 4 (but nothing is written in stone) and it will be the 4kids version. Anyway, hope that doesn't upset anyone. _

_by the way, I really liked writing this chapter, I dunno, I just did :)_

**Party Monster**

Musa and Stella walked into a large ballroom, decorated with white orchids and hydrangeas, looking like it had been pulled out of a fairy tale. Musa wore a tight black cocktail dress that ended just above her knee. She looked around to see a lot of the girls she had seen at the Kai Fli dinner the week before. "Wow this place looks really great," Musa said to Stella as the two walked over to their table. She and Stella were seated at a four person table but it was just the two of them. When Musa looked around she noticed many tables set for four, but there were only two girls at each, with a chair between them from both sides. "But I don't really get the seating situation,"

"Who cares, we're here!" Stella said excitedly as she took her seat. She was probably looking forward to this night from the day they got their official Kai Fli mixer invitations. The mixer was supposed to be the last step till they found out if they were pledges tonight. The sisters and the president of the Alfea chapter of Kai Fli were going to decide who would be in and send pledge pins to all the girls that were accepted. "God you are so lucky you don't have to worry about not getting in,"

"Stella these girls love you," Musa reassured her. Stella was so nervous she would not be accepted by the elite sorority. She was so nervous that it had taken almost a week to figure out what she was going to be wearing; Musa even had to suffer through multiple shopping trips

"You two are looking nice," Tessa said walking over to Musa and Stella's table. "Why are all the tables half empty?"

"No idea," Musa said. "Maybe all the girls haven't arrived,"

"Leaving every table exactly two seats empty," Ali asked as she sat down as well. Musa looked around and saw the seating arrangements were anything but random; it looked like they were set up according to the girls that knew each other best. "That sounds a little convenient,"

"Maybe some of the girls that are already in Kai Fli might sit with us," Stella pointed out.

"Doubtful," Tessa said looking over to the front of the room seeing that there were tables set up in the front. "I think they are sitting up there,"

"Attention girls!" A voice said into a microphone. Musa turned to see a senior fairy in a cocktail dress addressing them, Kate Carmichael, the president of Kai Fli. "Welcome to the official rush mixer, we're happy you all came out tonight and it should be a lot of fun.

As you girls know, tonight it the last chance at rushing and after tonight we will be sending out our pledge pins for all the girls that will be potential sisters. So have fun!"

"You girls may have noticed that there are two empty seats at your tables," A different girl continued, Musa recognized her as the social chair of Kai Fli. "Well that is because we have a few extra guests. As you may have known, Kai Fli is affiliated with the Red Fountain fraternity Omega Chi (**1**) and we tend to have a lot of events together," She said as the room suddenly erupted in excited commotion.

"I knew it," Ali said biting down on her bottom lip.

"And since they didn't want to miss this event," She continued. "We thought it might be fun to invite them. Boys you can come in now," She finished with a pointing her hand out towards the large doors, just then the boys of Omega Chi and all the hopefuls that wanted to join the frat.

"Wow," Musa said looking at the boys, dressed in dress pants and the official Omega Chi blazer; most of them were guys she had seen at Red Fountain before, but a lot of them looked different today and Musa couldn't help but take notice. They were rather fun to look at. "Some of these guys clean up nice,"

"Anyone in particular?" Stella said hopefully, wondering which two of the boys would be sitting down at her and Musa's table.

"No," Musa said immediately looking back at Stella with a serious face. "And I don't need you scoping any out for me tonight so put away the arrows, cupid,"

"Please I am a lot cuter than a fat kid in a diaper," Stella said just as two guys came and sat down at the table. Musa and Stella exchanged looks, seeing that the boys they got to sit with her rather handsome looking.

"Well hello," Stella said politely. Musa envied Stella a bit for how open she was. Musa could be bold and witty when she knew a person but when it came to meeting people she was a little shy. Musa couldn't immediately strike up a conversation with complete strangers, which was why she tended to stay so close to her friends from home, since she had known them her entire life. The funny thing was that she had managed to become rather popular thanks to the fact that her friends were such social butterflies. "I'm Stella of Solaria and this is Musa of the Harmonic Nebula," She said very flirtatiously sort of making Musa want to hit her upside the head, she was after all dating someone who had become on of Musa's good friends.

"I'm Logan," Said one of the guys, looking at Musa with gorgeous blue eyes and a smile that said he was pretty smooth and didn't fail to use it to get his way with courting girls. "Nice to meet you, and this is Pete,"

After a couple minutes of awkward silence the table began to come alive with some conversation. The boy were actually very nice, but Musa really couldn't help but think about Daniel and then her mind would drift to Riven, wondering if he thoguth about her at all. An hour passed quickly and Musa found herself having a good time with the girls from Alfea and some of the guys that she knew from Red Fountain.

"Musa!" Stella said a bit later, running past a few Red Fountain juniors excitedly, grabbing the hand of the musical princess. Musa had been talking with a few juniors from Alfea when she went to get another drink and Stella intercepted her on her way. "Turns out Pete from our table was my fifth grade boyfriend!"

"That's…interesting," Musa said. She had a boyfriend in fifth grade? When Musa was that young she and Leslie were convinced that Nate and Daniel had coodies and refused to play with them in the presence of any other classmates. "You were dating in the fifth grade?"

"Yeah," She said with a flip of her golden hair. "It was nothing serious, I was just getting out of break up with Phillip, prince of Lumeria (**2**) and I was kind of devastated. He was totally jealous of when I played on the monkey bars with –,"

"And the point of this conversation was," Musa said pulling Stella's attention back to what she was trying to say, Stella had a habit of getting off topic.

"Well Pete and I got talking and introduced me to one of his friends and I just talked to him, he's this guy from Red Fountain and he is very cute. He's the editor of the school news paper and he's very cute, a little shy at first but he is very charming when you talk to him," She told her excitedly.

"Yes but Stella you have a boyfriend," Musa told her taking a sip of her drink, knowing where this was leading, the princess of the sun and moon had been hopping around all night talking to eligible Red Fountain boys in an attempt to betroth Musa right there. "And even though Brandon isn't completely possessive, I'm sure he is not gonna play nice if he has to share,"

"Come on Musa," Stella said disregarding Musa's sarcasm. "You have to meet this one, he's a prince," She whined loudly like a disobedient child, grabbing her hand and trying to get her to budge and meet one of the guys she deemed worthy of Musa. "Or maybe he was a duke, honestly really wasn't paying too much attention, but he's royal and he had these amazing eyes! You would really like him,"

"Sounds like you really like him," Musa pointed out.

"Oh please," Stella said waving her hand dismissively. "I really think you will like him his name is Ja-,"

"Stella look," Musa said pulling her arm out of Stella's grip with a frustrated groan. "I don't need you to look for a guy for me okay? I am perfectly capable of –,"

"Waiting around for Riven to grow a personality," Stella said bluntly. Musa would have normally been upset by her assumption that she was simply sitting by and waiting for Riven to admit that there was something between, but the truth was that she was kind of right. Musa had been hoping that Riven would make some attempt to be someone she could be with but it was becoming increasingly apparent that it may never happen. "Please just move on from him, you are far too good for him anyway,"

"I was going to say find my own dates," Musa correctly, side stepping the fact that Stella had just trashed Riven and the feelings that Musa had towards him. It was no secret that she was not the biggest fan of Riven, but Musa knew Stella never liked him and after everything that happened between Musa and Riven, she simply wrote him off altogether. But it was looking like their relationship was improving, they tended to be nicer to each other in person. "Thanks," Musa said walking away. "I'm gonna go find Ali,"

"Aww Musa come on!" Stella said as Musa walked away. She was not in the mood to be set up by Stella right now, not while she was still debating her feelings for Daniel while trying not to be too upset by Riven. "Is meeting one guy going to kill you,"

"No, but might kill you," Musa turned and warned before turning back around and walking over to Ali and Tessa who had been talking with a couple of the Kai Fli sisters.

"Stella trying to set you up again?" Tessa said as Musa walked over to the four fairies.

"Yeah," Musa said walking up to the four and grabbing another drink off the bar, not knowing what it was until she took a sip. She was so used to drinking alcohol at these kinds of parties since most of the fancy events she went to she was at home, but this one was school sanctioned and Alfea wasn't quite so fast and loose with the rules. "But I can't be too angry with her, she means well,"

"This is Scarlett, she's a senior," Ali said politely introducing the tall fairy with dark hair that was curled perfectly and held back with an ornately decorated head band, wearing a slinky black cocktail dress. "And you Priscilla," Priscilla was now a sophomore but she was a Kai Fli sister since she was one of the few freshman that had ever been invited to be a Kai Fli pledge the year before.

"So you're not dating anyone," Scarlett said pushing her hair back behind her shoulder, taking another sip of her drink. "Well Kai Fli events are the perfect place to meet them, we almost always have joint events with the Omega Chi frat from Red Fountain. There are lots of sexy eligible guys here,"

"Stella told me," Musa said with a laugh. "Over and over,"

"Looks like they won't be long before you get a few calls," Ali said glancing behind Musa's shoulder to see a couple of the brothers from the Omega Chi frat looking over to them. "We already have a few admirers,"

"Jeez," Musa said rolling her eyes and then turning back and giving one of the guys a flirty smile to appease Ali and have a little fun. "We should probably get going," Musa said to Ali and Tessa. "We are performing at that Red Fountain event tomorrow so we should be pretty well rested, "

"Nah, I don't need sleep," Ali told her, not removing her eyes from the one of the guys she had pointed out a second ago. She was the kind of person who had a lot of trouble with not flirting with other people when she was dating someone, while she did think twice before going too far and ruining a perfectly good relationship, she had a very hard time toning down her flirty behavior. "I wonder if James is here tonight,"

"Well you girls can stay," Musa told them putting her drink back down on the bar. "But I am going back to Alfea with Stella," She told them looking around the room hoping to find the princess of Solaria somewhere. "If I can find her,"

A few minutes later, after prying Stella away from Kate Carmichael and their conversation about the new fall collection from Oscar de la Spella. She and Stella took a cab back to Alfea and arrived back in the dorm after everyone had gone to sleep. Musa promptly went to bed as well. She had a long day ahead of her.

But as she laid in bed she thought of how much fun she had the party that night. She was usually a reserved person but she had met a lot of cool people and a lot of the girls were approachable and nice, of coarse some of them were completely awful, Musa simply stayed away from them.

* * *

The next morning Musa woke early with excitement. Today was the day that Red Fountain was going to unveil the new parts of the campus and she was going to perform in the half time show with the dance team and surprisingly, Layla. She had asked Musa if she could join the team since she was a big time dancer in Tides and Musa was pretty much fine with it once she saw Layla pick up the steps quickly. The other members of the team were not convinced and needed some proof of her ability, unfortunately there was not much time to do that so Musa, as captain, simply overruled them and let Layla in. Btu she was confident that Layla would more than show them her skill today at the half time show.

Stepping back into her room after her shower Musa walked over to her closet and grabbed something to wear. The weather was getting warmer by the day so she picked up a pair of tight jeans and a low rise top to match and quickly put it on and pulled her hair into their normal bunches. In true Musa fashion, she had overslept and she could hear Stella and Bloom calling for her to hurry up.

"I'm coming!" Musa shouted as she slid her shoes and walked out to the common room where everyone was waiting impatiently for the musical princess to make her entrance. "Sorry, I overslept," Musa explained as the girls began to file out of the room.

"I think most of Alfea already left," Techna observed

"I said I was sorry," Musa said, it was totally her fault that they were late, but the ceremony didn't start for another hour and they still had half an hour till they were going to meet the boys on the old campus. She then looked around to see that most of Alfea had indeed leave already, the dance team was probably already there practicing, making her feel bad that she wasn't there to help, but she was sure Ali had it under control, she could scare the stupid right out of someone. "Besides we have plenty of time,"

The walk to Red Fountain was short and pretty enjoyable since it went straight through the enchanted forest, which was always nice. The pixies had decided to come along since they had never seen Red Fountain before and since they were dying to see the heroes that the girls were always gabbing about, even though they had met them in Shadowhaunt.

"The campus kinda looks the same," Musa noted. She remembered the first time she had walked onto the Red Fountain campus the year before, it was when she and the girls had no idea where Stella was so they came here to ask Brandon, whom at the time they thought was prince Sky, about where she had gone. When she thought about it she had heard of the school before that, it was where Daniel's grandfather attended high school, he would always tell Musa about it whenever she saw him.

The princess then began to think about the prince of Crescendo, it had been over a week since the incident on his couch and she was no where near prepared to face him since she was not sure what to say. She was almost positive that her feelings for him simply sprang up because she was feeling so lonely that weekend and he was there to comfort her, but still her actions were a little extreme and she couldn't forget the fact that Daniel had also kissed her back. What if he wanted something more now? She was not ready to face that reality or the scary thought of restarting a relationship with him, even though she was almost positive that wasn't what she wanted.

"Well I heard that it was in shambles after the witch invasion last year," Techna aid. "So all of this has been renovated from last year. Timmy was tell me about it over the summer, he was even given a peak at the blue prints but he really couldn't see much about the new campus additions, just some of the remodels,"

"Hey look it's Professor Hottie," Stella said as she and the girls made it up to the main entrance and saw that Professor Avalon was ready to walk into the school. He looked as if he were examining the school; it was rather incredible when you first saw it. Musa remembered that Brandon had told her that it was an old military or fort or something that had managed to stand tall over thousands of years without ever being conquered, at least until the Trix sisters came into power.

"Hey professor!" Bloom said excitedly as she rushed up to him and the rest of the group followed. Musa, along with every other girl that went to Alfea, thought that professor Avalon was good looking and he made every girl giggle as he went by, but Bloom actually acted as though she _liked_ the guy. Almost as if she was trying to flirt with him which made Musa understand why Sky was acting so jealous the week before.

"Why hello girls," He said in that soft yet strong voice that made Musa want to melt, she couldn't help but let the goofy grin spread across her face. "Are you excited about today's festivities?"

"Sure the groundbreaking ceremony will be fun but the post party promises to be the highlight," Stella gushed, Avalon didn't answer they all simply walked behind him as he took in the scenery, not that his back was any worse than his front Musa thought to herself. There was really nothing like a hot male teacher at an all girl school to throw everyone through a loop.

"Yeah Sky said they hired an awesome DJ," Bloom said as they approached the school and stopped in the front.

"Yeah they got DJ mirage, that guy is brilliant. With him at the turntables it's sure to be a good party," Musa said as she walked along the stony path along the side of Red Fountain and then back to the girls, she was feeling a little restless today and a little nervous since it was the first time she was going to see Riven since their almost kiss, as she now referred to it. Musa was desperately hoping he would act a little warmer towards her but she was not going to get too excited about it since she knew Riven and she knew that he was not the type to ever share his feelings.

"Musa and Layla are going to be in the half time show professor," Bloom said to Avalon who had been walking in front of the group since they had said hello to them. Musa still couldn't tell if Bloom's infatuation with Professor Avalon was because stellar looks and personality and the fact that he was the guy that saved them in Shadowhaunt or if it was because she was so desperate to know about her origins. She had figured it was a little of both, nothing that Sky should worry about anyway since innocent crushes were completely natural.

"Well I look forward to it," Avalon said politely as he regarded Musa and Layla with a warm smile. Musa smiled back, seeing how easy it was to go crazy over that guy. He was just so damn smooth. "I have to get to the honor box. I'll see you at the party,"

"I thought you were sitting with us," Bloom said a little crestfallen.

"Cordatorta wanted me to sit with him, he had wanted to meet with me since he found out that I am a champion dragon wrangler,"

"Whoa that is so cool," Bloom gushed. On top of hero and sexiest man alive, he was also a dragon wrangler. _Of coarse_ Musa thought to herself. This guy could do it all.

"So I will see you all later,

"You wanna wipe that drool off your face Bloom," Musa said with a laugh as she walked over to Bloom and gave her a nudge on the shoulder. "Besides Sky should be here at some point,"

"I wasn't drooling!" Bloom defended suddenly.

"Okay," Musa said with the same knowing smile.

"Hey guys there are a group of witches coming this way," Layla said not sure how to respond to them. She had found out about the invasion from Stella while they were on their way back from Shadowhaunt and she wasn't sure if Alfea girls and Cloud Tower students got along since then. But she knew there was a definite tension between the two and the two groups were usually fighting over the limited supply of boys that were around, of course most of the guys dated girls which caused even more bitterness between the two groups. As Ali had pointed out to a group of witches so brutally last year during the invasion of the Trix, Cloud Tower girls were known for being one night stands that guys were ashamed to admit to.

"I bet they are trying to crash the party," Techna said angrily. Musa had her own issue with witches ever since that day in Magix right after the Day of the Rose. After that she had written off all Cloud Tower witches in general, even though she knew how awful it was to generalize a group of people by the actions of a small number of them. But the witches were already second class citizens and she really didn't care if they always stayed that way. They had after all attacked her for no reason, they simply followed orders from Icy and Darcy like mindless clones; she could have been seriously hurt that day and it killed her to know that Riven was a part of it as well. All the more reason she hated them.

"I'll check the guest list," Digit said pulling out her own mini computer and pulling up a virtual screen and typing away quickly.

"I heard they invited the witches as a good will gesture," Musa said, she had heard it from Ali, who was a notorious gossip. Miss Faragonda had suggested that they invite the Cloud Tower students at the meeting between the two schools and a lot of the important alumni, since they were bank rolling the entire party. The alumni were pretty much set against it until Faragonda convinced them that the gesture would show unity and make the school look even better for forgiving the sins of the witches' past. "Cause we all fought together last year. Emphasis on _good will_, nobody really wants them here,"

"Well that's okay as long as they don't cause any trouble," Bloom said as if she had the power to kick them out. The group of witches walked straight past the Winx Club and snickered and said a few things under their breath.

"We'll see how long they can behave themselves," Stella said. The girls then walked into the main entrance, which was the front watch wall that surrounded the school. There was still a long lawn before they entered the school itself. The girls took a seat on one of the few benches that was not taken. The crowd was way bigger than Musa had expected, of course there were many people coming to this event like alumni and parents, not to mention other people of importance.

Musa stood next to Layla when she heard a familiar voice not too far away. She looked and saw Tessa and Whitney, two of the girls from the dance team, walking into the old stadium, looking disapprovingly at the group of witches that she had just seen walking into the school. "I thought this was a classy event," Tessa said looking at the witches as they walked by. "Who invited the hookers?"

The witches immediately stopped and Musa saw the guards around them ready themselves as if they were going to have to stop a girl fight that was brewing.

"Tessa be nice," Whitney cooed with fake concern looking over to the guards just as the witches did. She then turned around and grabbed Tessa and walked away. "You know their kind tends to act barbaric when provoked. We don't want a scene," She finished loudly as she walked into the stadium, making sure the witches heard.

Musa simply looked away and began to talk to Layla about their performance. While it was unfair to be treated that way, it was not like the witches were making any effort to be nice to them so why should they reciprocate, it was high school so that chance of either parties being mature and stepping up was not going to happen.

Look! The boys are here!" Stella squealed a few minutes later as she saw the boys, their boys, walking over to them. Musa looked up immediately and caught the gaze of the specialist that had been giving her so much worry and anticipation. This seemed to happen to them whenever hey saw each other; they would stare for a second and then not talk for the rest of the time they were together. Musa had tried to strike up a conversation with him a few times and she was sure he made the effort once, but the attempts never led to anything, making Musa feel even worse about their lack of a relationship.

This time Riven gave her a small smile that made her hopes soar. She never thought that she would become so desperate for attention from a guy but she could do cartwheels when Riven smiled at her, he just did things to her that she had never felt before, not that she would eve let him know that, he had humiliated her enough for one lifetime. "Let us formally welcome you, ladies," Sky said and the proceeded to bow to them _"_Fair tooda att armous_."_

"Oh, how nice." Stella said looking over to Brandon. "Is that Latin for mi castle as su castle?"

"Hey the hero's welcome is a century's old tradition," Tune, the Pixie of Manners told Stella strictly. Musa rolled her eyes, she was never going to get away with anything with Tune around. "How about a little decorum?"

"So, are you psyched for the dance or what?" Sky asked the group getting off the subject of Stella's social faux paus.

"You know it," Stella answered quickly. "In fact, Brandon and I learnt the rumba."

Musa stifled a laugh the best she could. She knew how much Brandon loved Stella but god was he whipped and she took every opportunity she got to remind him of that fact. Just then Musa looked up and saw a familiar face walking past them, it was that guy from the Kai Fli party the night before. She couldn't quite put her finger on his name but she did remember Stella saying something about him being her boyfriend when they were younger.

"Hey Stella." He walked past and greeted only Stella with a friendly hello, but when Musa looked over to Brandon, she realized that it may have been a little too friendly. Brandon's forehead crinkled a bit as if thinking but she could see that he was not happy with they way that his classmate had just greeted his girlfriend.

"Hi," Stella smiled back with somewhat flirty flutter of her eyelashes. Brandon then looked to the ground and then to Musa as if silently asking her for an explanation as to who this guy was since Musa was like the inside man, or in this case the inside fairy, for him. She would tell him why Stella was upset about something or suggest dates that would help him earn points with the princess of the Sun and Moon, but this time all he wanted to know was who this guy was. When he looked back to Stella he tried his best to hid his obvious dislike with the way he greeted her and the way she greeted him back. "You know Pete? He was my fifth grade boyfriend."

"Sure," Brandon said in a cheery voice that sounded nothing like the way he felt, Musa knew that he was far from as happy as he sounded.. "He was the one who told me all about your middle school nickname. You're hair was so frizzy they called you Frizztella."

Everyone got a goof laugh out of the information except of course the Solarian Princess that simply found the whole thing to be embarrassing. Brandon was the kind of person to tease his friends in a playful way, unlike Riven who tended to be plain old mean, but Stella didn't find anything funny about her past hair problems. "I'm excited to see how they redid the stadium!" Bloom said turning the focus of the conversation to something else with a small jump of excitement.

"Me too," Sky agreed. "My dad said they went all out."

"Hey, I was still searching for the right conditioner but it was middle school. Cut me some slack." Stella continued on, still harping on her middle school nickname, even though everyone else had moved on and forgotten all about it.

"Relax Stella," Brandon smiled, his face becoming more supportive. Musa couldn't really tell if her was jealous or not but he didn't seem too happy about the exchange between his girlfriend and her ex. "You know, we all had nicknames. I was Brandito."

Musa immediately began laughing at the ridiculous name earning a hard look from Brandon. "It's charming," She mocked and then giggled a little bit more. She then turned to the school and noticed that more people were beginning to head in. "Shouldn't we start heading in? The ceremony will be starting soon,"

The boys nodded and began to walk along the path towards the entrance into the old stadium. The walk over was actually longer than Musa remembered, they actually passed by what looked like a garden, something she didn't really remember or expect at the school for heroics and bravery. "So I hear your dance team is going to perform today," Timmy said turning back and glancing back at Musa.

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah we're going to be doing the half time show later, Layla is going to be in it too," She told him, Timmy was the only one of the heroes she hardly ever talked to, next to Riven but that was for completely different reasons, but it was nice to see him making an effort even when he was a little socially awkward.

"So you're adjusting to Alfea pretty well," Brandon told Layla. "You already made it on to the elite Alfea dance team; those girls can be vicious," Brandon teased looking at Musa.

"We're not mean," Musa retorted. "We simply don't take crap from other people,"

"The girls aren't really like that, are they?" Layla asked nervously. She was new in school and her first time seeing anyone was when she ran into Wiz Giz's class in her pajamas, chasing after Piff. It was hardly a good first impression and she was pretty nervous to see how everyone was going to treat her.

"The girls are nice," Musa told her while everyone got into their own conversations, except for Riven who walked behind the entire group with hid signature scowl. "Mostly," She corrected herself, it would have been a lie to say that all of the girls would be welcoming and nice because the fact was, she knew they wouldn't. Musa hated dealing with the ones that were like that but there wasn't much she could do since they were great additions to the team.

"Mostly?"

"There are always people that aren't exactly nice, just be polite to them," Musa advised. "They'll say hi and that's all you really have to say back, it's really just a group of three girls that really don't like me because of this girl Karen. Just steer clear of them best you ,"

"Oh," Layla said unsure of what drama she had just gotten herself into, but from her perspective, Musa didn't really seem like the kind of girl to hang around those types of girls, with the exception of Stella, who really wasn't as bad as she seemed once you got ot know her. "Who's Karen?"

"Nobody of concern now," Musa said. She hadn't seen Karen around campus at all this year, she knew she was around because Galatea was now best friends with her, which would have concerned Musa but she had Ali's little spies listening in on them and finding out what they were up to, but nothing came up. Maybe they were just talking trash about her, not that Musa really even cared anymore. "She was just not a nice person on the team last year and she got the boot and she's been bitter ever since,"

"Oh," Layla repeated. "I guess I missed out on a lot last year,"

"Yeah," Musa said. She and the group continued along the path and she heard Sky and Bloom talking about a date.

"Uhh, who's Professor Avalon?" She heard Sky say in a not so convincing voice. God he was a back actor, he couldn't even get away with omitting something without sounding suspicious. Luckily for him, Bloom didn't even pick up on it.

"He's our new teacher. He's teaching Masters Workshop and he's the best ever!" Bloom exclaimed excitedly, going so far as to jump in air. Not the smartest move considering how worried Sky had been about Bloom and this guy. Of course Bloom didn't know that and Musa had promised not to tell her about Sky's jealousy, but she would have to remember to tell Bloom to maybe tone it down.

"Well, that's great. It sounds like he's really something," Sky said with disappointment in his voice, this time any effort he made to hid it failed. But again Bloom didn't pick up on it and even ran off to see Avalon to get him to approve a paper topic or something along those lines.

* * *

Just as she ran off they all began to walk into the entranceway of the stadium. Musa looked around and it was not nearly as bad as she thought it would be. There were many prominent cracks in the wall, but they made the school look like it was very old and prestigious, which it was. She couldn't really see any new remodeling work done on it at all.

Musa noticed that the rest of the group had gotten way ahead of her as she was walking rather slow through the corridor into the stadium, and she was actually walking towards the wrong hallway. "Hey Musa," Riven called when he saw the object of his affection walking slowly off course. He had been trying to think of something to say to her, but he couldn't think of a thing that sounded remotely interesting besides 'I really wish I kissed you when I had the chance' but him saying that was not gonna happen. He just felt stupid for pulling away when he had the chance to kiss her, god only knew if he would ever get that chance again. He was a fool to pass it up. "The stadium is this way, you're walking towards the dragon stables,"

"Oh," Musa said with a laugh, not realizing that she was indeed walking far off from the group. "Thanks, I don't think I'd wanna wonder in there by accident," she said feeling her heart speed up simply from talking to him. She had been hoping he would say something to her all day, maybe they could move past the awkwardness of the 'almost kiss', it was insane how he made her lose her breath by just looking at her and the way her insides tangled up when he spoke. This was not fair, she hated that she liked him so much, but she kind of loved it at the same time.

"Yeah probably not," He said unable to help smiling, she did that to him, he tried to keep a cool demeanor when he was around her but it was so hard. She made him crazy, in a good way.

"So, Riven are you competing today?" she asked shyly, looking down at her feet unable to look up at his violet eyes, she could hardly keep a control on how she was feeling, she didn't want him to see just how much he was effecting her. "It looks like it is going to be a really interesting event,"

"I'm winning today," He told her. "And yeah it looks like its gonna be good,"

"I'm dancing at the half time show," Musa pointed out as she ran ahead of him to catch up to their group of friends, hoping it would catch his interest and when she turned back she could tell by the look on his face that it did.

"Can't wait," Riven said softly to himself as he watched Musa run forward with a smirk on his face.

* * *

"From my calculations, this is the best angle to watch the event," Techna said as Musa ran up to her friends, standing along the bleachers of the stadium, trying to figure out where they were going to sit. Musa stood next to Flora with Riven not too far behind, feeling a little cheated that his conversation with Musa was over.

"Yeah Tech, if you looked up you could just see that too," She pointed out to her friend, sometimes Techna missed a lot of obviously things because she was too busy calculating something when it would be a hundred times easier to simply look up from her computer and see it with her own two eyes. Like the night before at dinner, Techna analyzed a piece of bread to figure out what type it was when she could have simply tasted it to find that it was sour dough.

"Yes well calculations prove what we see," She defended and looked back at her small screen. Musa rolled her eyes and looked around at where their seats were going to be and spotted a boy, who looked about the age of her friends at Red Fountain. He was sitting by himself, looking intensely at a group of birds that were hopping about the floor of the stadium level; he watched them and then drew them carefully on his drawing pad. Musa hadn't seen the guy before and she had been to Red Fountain a few times before.

"Hey, who's that?" Layla asked the boys, just as Musa was about to. He looked rather thin, not as bulked up as most of the boys here who sported washboard abs and a generally tones physique, he looked tall and had long dark hair, he defiantly stuck out a bit. When she looked over to her friends, she saw that Flora had taken particular notice to him as well, almost to the point where she was staring.

"Is he a transfer student?" Stella asked looking from the new kid back to Brandon.

"That's Helia," Brandon answered looking back at the guy who was still sitting there drawing the scene in front of him.

"Helia is Saladin's nephew," Timmy explained to the girls. That was an interesting twist, it explained why, someone who looked nothing like a Red Fountain student, was here. Musa did however feel a little confused, how could he be so old and have such a young nephew.

"Is he going to be in the competition?" Flora asked without looking away from the boy in question, Helia, she was so obviously entranced by him and Musa rerally hoped that maybe she would get to talk to him since she was so taken aback by him drawing. Personally, Musa really didn't see the appeal, he was a little too thin for her taste, of course her taste led her to guys that would eventually break her heart so what did she know?

"No, not him," Brandon informed her, seeing a crestfallen look when he told her. "He's not a hero. He goes to art school but Saladin's trying to convince him to transfer here."

"The problem is he's a pacifist and doesn't believe in battles," Timmy added, making Flora like him even more. Musa knew Flora had been asked out many times, like most girls at Alfea, by boys from Red Fountain; but she really wasn't too attracted to them. This guy seemed perfect for her.

"I want to meet him," Flora said boldly, still unable to look away from Helia, and judging by everyone's surprised face, they knew that the floral fairy had finally hound someone she might want to go out with. Of course Musa getting a bit ahead of herself, the guy could have turned out to be a huge jerk.

"Helia!" Brandon called as they all walked over to him. "These are my friends," Brandon continued. "Let me introduce you. This is Flora, and that's Techna."

"And I'm Princess Stella of Solaria and I'm a great supported of art," Stella jumped in before Brandon could even finish his sentence. Musa wasn't surprised that Stella had done so, she was beginning to think that if Stella felt like she wasn't the center of attention for a short period of time than the solarian princess might have a heart attack or something. Flora didn't look too happy with the interruption thought, she had an angry look on her face that Musa was not used to seeing on Flora.

Helia smiled politely and put his paint brush down and picked up his notebook as he stood to formally address the girls. He formally bowed to the girls and smiled warmly. "I'm honored to meet you."

"With all due respect, Helia, why are you painting with antiques?" Techna asked sounding almost rude. She had just met the guy and she was basically insulting something that he was so obviously working hard on. Not that Helia showed any offence to what she had said to him.

"You can simulate any kind of art with a digi sketch from goblin cave painting to contemporary realism," Digit continued, Musa looked over to Tune who looked like she was about to burst with disappointment in their behavior, Musa hardly ever paid attention in charm school and she still knew it wasn't cool to diss someone like they did. "My cousin sells them. She can get you a deal."

"Let me see your work," Stella said nearly grabbing Helia's notebook and looking through the painting. "Wow! You're perfect to do my royal portrait!" Stella told him as if he would fall to his knees and thank her for the offer. "I'll have my people call your people."

"You're brush strokes capture the doves movements so beautifully," Flora said softly finally finding her voice and looking though the workbook that Stella had handed her, Musa got a quick glance as well and saw that he really was very talented. "It's like its wings hug the clouds and the sky and the dove become one."

"That's what I had in mind. I love that you got that." Helia said happily looking over to Flora with a wide grin, making her blush profusely and giggle lightly.

"Yeah, that's Flora for ya." Brandon told him.

"It's really nice to meet you Helia," Flora said politely.

"It was really nice to meet you too," Helia said to Flora, not taking his eyes off of her. "All of you," He said to them still not looking away from Flora. "I have to go see my uncle,"

"Bye," Flora said almost longingly, like she was scared she would never see him again.

"We should probably go to," Brandon said giving Stella a quick kiss on the cheek. "The ceremony is going to start soon,"

"Bye girls," Timmy said as he and the rest of the boys headed off to the dragon stables to help their classmates get ready for the first part of the ceremony which was an aerial show with the dragons.

The girls promptly took their seats and awaited the ceremony to begin. "When is the ceremony gonna start," Layla said impatiently. "And what are these activities the guys are gonna do? I mean how you practice 'heroics and bravery',"

"The guys do things like sword fights and dragon wrangling," Musa explained.

"And how is that at all relevant for the real world?" Layla asked. "And why is this an all boys school, girl could just as easily swing around swords, its not that hard,"

Musa rolled her eyes and simply looked over to her other side and saw Bloom coming back from her search for Professor Avalon. "Did you find professor cutie," Stella asked just as Bloom took a seat next to Stella just as the sound of trumpets began to fill the air.

"No but I didn't want to miss the beginning of the ceremony," Bloom told her and then looked forward to the center of the stadium.

"You got here just in time,"

"It's with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Red Fountain School for Heroics and Bravery," Codatorta greeted, with his thick accent as he walked to the center of the stadium floor and looked up to all the people in the stands addressing them as all cheering died down. "To all who fought with us in the great witch invasion of '05 we say thank you."

"You know he has always scared me," Stella whispered to Musa quietly. Musa nodded with a small laugh in agreement. Codatorta was actually just as mean as he looked. When Ali and Musa had come to Red Fountain the year before to visit her boyfriend and find out a few things about Karen, but they were not exactly met with open arms. After getting yelled at for disrupting the boys during classes, Codatorta left muttering something about how big of a nuisance women could be. He wasn't exactly the most pleasant man in the world. "And now to welcome you to the long awaited dedication ceremony of your new campus is our esteemed headmaster, Professor Saladin," Codatorta continued just as the crowd burst into another round of loud cheering.

"I would like to thank the generous donators to our capital fund," Saladin began and Musa laughed to herself. She remembered how much the administrators at Devon sucked up to the alumni and the parents of the students, since the students came from such affluent and powerful families. The situation was no different here since Red Fountain and Alfea were both funded mostly by their incredibly rich alumni. They were, after all, schools where many royal children attended. "And now everyone, the moment you've all been waiting for!"

"What's going on!" Layla said as she held onto the bottom of her seat. The entire stadium, and as far as Musa could tell, the entire campus, began to shake as if an earthquake had just hit the school. "Is this planned?"

"It cannot be an earthquake," Techna shouted over all the noise as well as the spectators that were either terrified or amazed or both. "Nothing in Magix or the surrounding area is on a fault line,"

Musa continued to look around, unable to find her voice as the stadium and school continued to fall apart around her. She saw the walls come crumbling down and with worry she thought of the school but as she looked down at Saladin, who wore a confident smile, she figured out it was all a part of the act. "Guys, I think this is all a part of the act,"

Just as the musical princess yelled that over the noise, she felt herself, and everyone else begin to descend off the ground. Before she knew it everyone was floating in the air, she then realized that this was the new school. It was a floating building, deep red, almost crimson in color and when she looked behind her, she saw the campus now had a small field surrounding the school, as well as waterfalls that shot off the sides. It was a feat of engineering and design.

"Wow, and I thought they were going to show a new plasma screen score board," Stella said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I don't think all the money that the alumni donated to one plasma screen," Musa pointed. "Besides this is so much cooler," She wondered, now that Red Fountain was in the sky, if it could be seen from the Alfea campus ad vice versa.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our new campus!" Saladin announced over the still roaring crowd. Musa had never seen the old headmaster look happier, and as the crowd began to quiet down, he continued. "The centre piece of our new campus is our state of the art stadium which we've upgraded with the hopes of hosting the 2012 magic games. It features five royalty boxes, an elixir bar and an invisible stage. It's a place for athletics and dramatics. It's a place where we'll create new memories for years to come."

"Wow, this place is so amazing," Flora said finally after everyone else had quieted down.

"We now declare the stadium open!" Codatorta shouted.

"The acoustics here are awesome, I can't wait for out show," Layla said as some of the senior class dragon riders took to the sky and opened the ceremony with a display of their ability to control the notoriously uncontrollable beasts.

* * *

The first hour of the ceremony completed quickly and was a lot more entertaining than Musa thought it would be. She and Layla then headed off to the newly gardened lawns of the campus to hang out for a bit until before their performance, she knew that Riven's match with Sky was a few matches before the half time show, so she figured she would go in early to see the match and use the time between that ant half time to get ready for the performance.

"Ali!" Musa called as she walked out of the stadium as Ali began to walk in with a few other girls.

"Hey guys," Ali said vibrantly. "James is up next and he needed me to cheer for him. How cute is that,"

"Adorable," Musa agreed. "You know Layla right," Musa said looking at Layla trying to prove that the dance team girls could be nice.

"Yeah, nice to see you again," Ali told her as she looked at her watch, realizing she was probably missing her boyfriend's match. "Look I have to go, but can't wait for out performance later," she said with a wave and hurried back into the new stadium.

"She seems nice," Layla said a little nervously. Musa couldn't really tell why Layla was so nervous about this, she was sure she was going to find some friends, she had already fit in so well with the Winx Club. Yet she already felt a strange kinship towards her, Musa herself was not always a social butterfly, in fact the only friends she had really made on her own were the ones at Alfea. She had grown up with Daniel and she remembered meeting Leslie and the twins in the first grade when they played with clay together.

So now she was becoming really good friends with a girls she was resistant to get know her since Musa was not one to accept people as friends very quickly. She had been burned enough, growing up in an elite prep school, to know trusting everyone was not the best idea. "Yeah don't worry about the dance team girls, most of them are great," Musa repeated.

The two grabbed a drink and chatted about the dance as they walked along the new green of the campus. "How cool is it that the campus is in the air," Musa said looking off the side of the school and seeing the ground below. "It gives them such a great view,"

"Yeah cause that's the first thing ever Alfea girl wanted," Layla pointed out. "Red Fountain guys with telescopes checking them out from a higher view point,"

Musa laughed. She did have a point, now that the school was at a higher elevation, she could almost see the immaculate Alfea campus from the side of the school that overlooked the south side of the forest. "But I think the enchanted forest is doing a pretty good job of keeping us hidden, so no need to worry," she told Layla.

"Ugh gag me," a girl with a hideous updo said as she walked by the two fairies. Musa knew the voice instantly, it wasn't like she could forget that horrible shrill voice, especially not after all the times Musa had heard it.

"That voice sounds like somebody I know," Musa said a second later thinking about it again. She knew Darcy had an entire arsenal of spells and it could not have been too hard for her to impersonate someone else, or create a new identity in the first place.

"Ugh, what's her problem," Layla said with a slanted look, not making the connection Musa had. "Besides the obvious," She said, the girl looked like a freak, and Layla was usually never the kind of person to think that about someone else.

"Hey you wait a second," Musa said loudly finally making the decision that this person was definitely the one person in the universe she probably hated the most.

"Eww, just get lost," The woman said, confirming Musa's suspicions. This was definitely Darcy in disguise. She then quickly began to run off in the direction of the school, if she really wanted to seem like she was innocent maybe she should have tried walking away calmly instead of running since that instantly made her look guilty.

"Come on let's get her," Musa said with enormous pleasure looking over to Layla. The girls dropped their cups and left Tune behind, knowing they would get a short lecture on littering later. Musa could help but feel pleasure, finally she was the one chasing around the witch and Darcy was the one running. And with Layla on her side it wasn't a fair fight and Musa couldn't care less, she did have to take on the entire senior class of witches by herself.

Musa and Layla stayed in pursuit of the witch, gaining some attention from onlookers, probably wondering why they were chasing the girl that looked like a fairy. They continued to run after her as she got closer to the school, she knocked into a fairy, making her drop her things, and then ran off. Unfortunately for Layla and Musa, they got stopped by the debris on the ground and lost sight of her. "Damn," Musa said and looked down to see who Darcy had carelessly knocked over. "Techna are you okay," Musa said as she helped Techna up off the sidewalk.

"What is going on!" Techna exclaimed loudly looking back to where the person who had just shoved her had gone.

"I think Darcy might be here," Musa told her. She couldn't believe the witches were actually going to try to mess up today's events, well she could believe it, but she just thought it was low. They had nothing to gain, they were doing it for fun and it made Musa want to pull out Darcy's hair.

"Darcy?" Techna said. She knew the witches were out but why would they be here? "Are you sure Musa, I mean maybe you heard wrong,"

"When have I ever 'heard wrong?" Musa defended. Why was Techna questioning her on this one? She knew what she hear and of all people Musa was the best at hearing things.

"I'm just saying you have a particular grudge against here," Techna pointed out gently. "I mean you could have just thought you head it since everything that happened last – ,"

"Don't we all have a grudge against her, she tried to kill us!" Musa reminded.

"Yes, but Musa," Techna began and received another angry look from Musa, so instead she finally gave in to Musa's suspicions and humored her. "Fine I'll try to look her up,"

"Well she's not on the guest list," Digit said as if she had just completed a feat in detective work. Of course she wasn't invited! Why would they invite a convict, known best for ruining the school in question.

"It sounded like her,"

"Maybe she has a sister that goes to cloud tower," Techna reasoned. "Or there can be another witch that sounds like her,"

"It wasn't just her voice it was also the way she looked at us and said 'gag' me," Musa said, she was sure this was Darcy. It made sense, now that the Trix were running loose; they had to at least address the possibility since the Trix did have a particular grudge against many of the student here.

"Either way that girl was putting out a bad vibe," Layla added

"Let's tell Bloom and the others about it and keep our eyes open for her," Musa suggested. "Just in case, you know what I mean?"

"Sure," Techna said still skeptical as to if Musa was letting her hate for Darcy cloud her judgment. "Digit and I will be in a couple seconds, just need to grab out things,"

"Okay," Musa said. "Layla and I will go back; I think the next event is starting anyway,"

"So what did Techna mean when she said you already have a grudge with her," Layla asked a little confused as she and Musa began to walk back into the stadium. Musa had thought Layla had heard something about what happened last year from Stella, but for the first time it looked like Stella had kept her mouth shut about something. "What happened,"

"Last year I had a crush on Riven," Musa began and Layla nodded, that part she already heard from Stella, but Stella also mentioned something about a boyfriend, but she would ask Musa about that later. "Well anyway he started to date Darcy,"

"He dated Darcy!" Layla nearly screamed. How the hell did you date a deranged lunatic like Darcy? That explained why there was so much awkwardness between the two of them.

"Yeah well one day I went to Magix alone and ran into the witches around the Hex café," Musa continued looking down at her feet as she and Layla walked back into the palatial stadium. "That day Darcy and her stupid sisters told the entire senior class to attack me. And after a fun chase through the slums of Magix the guys showed up with the girls and helped me out. Worst part was she had Riven help attack me. At the end of the year we out he was under a spell she put on him,"

"Wow," Layla said. She had to give Musa credit for putting up with all of the since most people would simply give up on the person. One thing that Layla didn't understand was how Darcy got Riven to fall under a mind control spell so completely. If he started out on the side of 'good' with a crush on Musa how did she turn him so completely? "What kind of spell was he under?"

"What?" Musa said looking back up at Layla.

"Well what kind of spell was he under cause I never heard of one that can work so well and completely, not to mention that long," Layla said seeing Musa's brow crinkle as she thought. Her face truned and looked worried. Musa had never really thought about that before. She had heard all the rumors that came out of Cloud Tower the year before and when she heard that Riven was spelled, she simply took the information happily, believing that Riven never wanted to do what he had done.

Ali was right; Musa seemed to take things at face value without asking any questions, especially when she didn't want to know the detail about something; like what the guy she liked so much was up to with her arch enemy. "I dunno," Musa stammered. There had to be a reasonable explanation for this, there had to be a spell that fit what happened to Riven. Musa could not go back to all the crap she went through the year before.

But when she thought of it, she had never heard of a spell like that. Even forbidden magic, magic that that killed the user when it was conjured didn't have a spell that could completely brainwash a person. (**3**)

Seeing the look on Musa's face, Layla promptly changed the subject. "Come on see Stella and Bloom, let's sit before we miss the match,"

* * *

"Hey guys," Stella said excitedly as Musa and Layla walked up to the bleachers, with Techna not too far behind. Stella and Bloom were looking down at the stadium floor and at Flora seemed to be looking off somewhere, Musa looked up to see that she was looking up at one of the honor boxes, the one that Helia happened to be in. "Where did you run off to?"

"We were just practicing for later," Musa said taking a seat a little higher up from Bloom and Stella. "Hey listen I think we need to –,"

"Hey look it's Sky!" Bloom said obnoxiously (**4**), cutting Musa off just as she was about the warn the her friends about what she was concerned about.

"It's kind of import-," Musa began again only to be 'shh'ed by the red headed fairy again. Ignoring the overwhelming urge to kick her in the head, Musa simply said nothing and looked down at the floor of the stadium, just as Riven walked in to face Sky.

They watched as the two began their fight and from the beginning it looked like neither of them would get an advantage since both could not manage to make a strike land, it was to be expected though, Sky and Riven were two of the best fighters in the class. Just as Riven jumped out of the way of Sky's blade he threw down a ball that instantly emitted smoke, stunning the prince for a second. "Can you do that!" Bloom asked looking as if she was getting upset.

"Sure this isn't the foil fencing edition it's the extreme fighting event," Musa told her. She actually knew nothing about this but Brandon had told her that he was nervous about it since the rules were basically gone in this event and that meant you could be caught off guard by any little thing.

"So when did that become a sport?" Stella asked.

"Exactly three years ago," Digit answered. They all then turned their attention back to the match. Riven gained an upper hand in the fight, keeping Sky on his toes, but in true Riven fashion he overlooked the smaller, less sophisticated, moves and allowed himself to be tripped by the prince.

"Yeah Sky!" Musa heard Bloom yell, not that she was really paying attention. She clapped for Sky but felt awful when she saw Riven walk off the floor. She knew he would beat himself up over losing the match because he had let himself be tripped. Maybe if Sky had won with a more involved technique, Riven might feel better. But the prince basically stuck out his foot at the right time and got lucky and that was something that Riven would hate himself for falling for. "Alight Stella, you BF is up next!"

"I hope Riven is okay," Musa said quietly to herself. She was still a little upset by what and Layla had talked about earlier and the issue with being spelled, but the fact was that Musa really cared for him, no matter how she tried to tell herself otherwise.

"Brandon is up against a senior!" Stella said loudly with a worried look on her face just as Brandon walked into the stadium up against a senior. It looked as if Sky was giving him a pep talk when Musa saw a shadow cast on the stadium. She looked up to see giant beast flying in from the sky.

The large monster let out a menacing roar that shook the bleacher and with a single swing of it's tail, it took out the south part of the stadium. Musa and the girls could not even figure out what kind of creature it was, it could have been a centare if it wasn't so large and it could have been a dragon it it's body wasn't so…well large. Whatever it was, it was doing some serious damage and all it did was hover over the school. Musa could only imagine the damage if it actually began to attack.

With a quick transformation, the girls flew over to the beast and tried their best to at least hurt it a little. Musa, Bloom and Stella were the first to send out attacks, but nothing really happened, it just seemed to absorb their attacks. "It's absorbing out magic!" Stella called over to the guys.

"That's a lio-dragouraus," Flora said flying back behind the beast with Techna and Flora, maybe an attack form another angle would work, not that it did.

"Right, but I thought they were extinct," Stella said.

"Let's attack together," Bloom shouted. The girls nodded and gathered their strength to fire an attack all at once in the hopes that an attack at a large enough scale would be enough to knock the monster down a few pegs, or enough to restrain it enough to shot it up with some heavy duty tranquilizer.

"Everything we do to it seems to make it stronger!" Stella said exasperatedly. Musa was out of ideas as well, since the exams in Monster Bio were pretty easy, she usually chose to sleep through he class since it was so ridiculously early in the morning.

Suddenly, fighter ships flew past the girls and began attack the lio-dragouraus with heavy fire, but it only seemed to anger the beast. "Okay this is the strategy," Flora said after she called the girls over to her. "I'll distract it and you guys attack,"

"Is that going to work?" Techna asked skeptically. This would have been a good idea if the lio-dragouraus was too fast for them or something, but the fact was that it was not effect by the magical attacks the girls fired at it.

"Do we have another choice?" Stella asked as Flora nodded to the girls and flew off to distract the beast. Flora flew in front of the monster, but just as she did it spat a disgusting ooze all over her, paralyzing the fairy temporarily so she couldn't move or see, at least Flora had fought hard enough to keep flying, if she didn't the fall to the ground would have definitely killed her.

"Flora get down!" Techna yelled in panic. They all watched in horror unable to move due to the shock and the fact that they didn't want to be next.

"I can't move," She said weakly as the monster approached her quickly ready to end her young life. Fortunately it was stopped in it's tracks by golden strings that pulled it back enough for Flora to get safely out of the way.

"Look. Seems like we have a new hero," Sky said as everyone looked back and saw Helia standing on the ledge of the stadium, pulling the monster back with his glove.

"He's over there!" Flora pointed with a giddy look on her face, she realy seemed to like him now, of course he had just saved her life. "Helia."

"Helia?" Brandon spat looking back in amazement. "How can an art student do that?"

"He is Saladin's grandson so heroics must be in his blood," Sky suggested however it didn't make much sense. The entire winx club was fighting the best and half of Red Fountain was trying to restrain it and this guy did it easily. Maybe 'pacifist' was a façade since it looked like he was more than trained.

"Are you okay, Flora?" He asked softly

"I . . . uh…" Flora said unable to form a coherent sentence, she was speechless thanks to her hero.

"She's alright." Sky said with a nearly giddy laugh, not that Musa would blame him, she was ready to kiss the guy for stopping the monster that nearly killed one of her best friend. But she would leave the kissing to Flora.

"Hey! Why did he let it go?" Bloom gasped. Musa turned back and saw that their so called 'hero' had just let go of the restraints that kept the monster from stomping all over the new campus.

"What a douche!" Musa yelled loudly after Stella and Techna got in their thoughts about his careless action, not knowing that Helia had heard her as he walked away, not that he didn't deserve it. The monster was ready to kill them all and he just lets it go when he had managed to keep it restrained. "Maybe we should put Flora on a fishing line and he'll actually help,"

"Forget him," Brandon called. "We have bigger problems,"

Musa nodded and the group began attempts at restraining the best again, however they failed in the attempt. They managed to hide behind a pile of rubble just ad Timmy and Riven joined them in the stadium.

"We should use Helia's strategy and try to get the monster tied down," Sky suggested, looking to everyone for approval and was met by nods of agreement..

"We'll need the entire archery battalion," Bloom offered. "Stella and I can co-ordinate it."

"Musa and I can keep the dragon restrained in one area so you the archery battalion can get a good shot," Flora proposed.

"We'll get the dragons," Riven said.

"Good idea," Sky agreed. "We'll use them to get as close as possible so we can spot its point of vulnerability. Techna can direct the positioning."

Then, to everyone's confusion and concern, Riven walked right up Sky and got in his face. Musa really hoped that he didn't say anything he would regret later. "Once that thing's restrained we can use the Four swordsmen Blast," He said with what almost looked like a smile. Musa felt herself relax a second when she realized what he was doing, since Riven could never drop his ego to say 'I'm sorry' he instead made the gesture to Sky in a different way. "You know the one you showed me."

"That's great idea Riven. Let's do it."

The dragon continued to roar over the group but now that the plan was set it was time to move it into action. Musa and Flora tried to keep it on the ground by using ivy sound blasts to keep the ground unsteady so it couldn't move well, but their efforts were easily demolished by the lio-dragouraus. Luckily the archery battalion was set up and fired their restraints quickly.

"It's going to break free," Flora yelled seeing the monster pull against it's restraints. "Ivy web grow and spread,"

Flora's final attack seemed to work well and long enough for Techna to find it's point of weakness" Tell them I found that that thing's point of vulnerability," Techna said calmly looking over to Bloom who then gave the signal to the guys to use their four swordsmen blast .

"Guys, fire!" Sky yelled.

As the dust cleared, there was nothing left of the beast that had trampled the campus. Musa did however notice a small cave dwelling bat fly off away from the school.

* * *

Although the party was interrupted by the Trix and the beast that came along with them, that did not mean the party was over. As the students began to clean up the materials that had been broken from the unfortunate turn of events, a voice came over the intercom system of the newly renovated school. "Attention students of Red Fountain, Alfea and Cloud Tower," Saladin said. Everyone looked up from their activities to pay attention to the headmaster's announcement. "Due to the excellent character shown by the students today with the unfortunate circumstances, we feel you should not be robbed of an after party. So while the headmistresses of Alfea and Cloud tower and the teacher from all three school go to Alfea to make plans for the coming weeks. We have decided to allow the students to stay here with limited supervision to have some fun,"

A sudden eruption of cheering broke through the air as all the students put down whatever they were doing and started to file out towards the newly gardened greens of the campus. DJ Mirage had already set up his equipment and the sound system was very impressive, enough to catch the eye of the musical princess who was no stranger to the most up to date musical technology. Musa and the rest of the Winx Club began to walk out of the stadium, that looked like it was still in shambles and began on their way out to the greens as well.

"However we expect you to act in a manner befitting the prestigious schools you represent and any misbehavior will land you in a nearly insurmountable mountain of trouble so please keep that in mind," He finished with a stricter tone in his voice. But as Musa walked around she knew that their idea to give the students some freedom would probably backfire, not that she was going to complain about it. Sometimes the restraints here were pretty tight. "Have fun,"

"Have fun and behave?" Ali said walking up to the Winx club. "It's not like we can do both,"

"Very true," Stella agreed. "I suggest we have fun and if there is some trouble, we'll head back before we get caught in it,"

"How noble," Techna said rolling her eyes. The group of girls walked over to a nice spot under a few small trees and sat and looked out as the sun was beginning to set, the party was going to get going soon since it was getting close to dark and the atmosphere always got more party like after dark.

Musa grabbed a drink from the table next to them and took a sip only to immediately cringing a bit when she realized what was in it, not expecting it in the least. Then after figuring it out she took another sip. "Well so much for behaving," She said with a laugh.

"What do you mean?" Bloom asked. Musa looked at her with a little confusion, did she really not for see someone spiking the punch, it was like high school 101.

"The punch is spiked," Musa said taking another sip of it, she could taste the alcohol very clearly, so well in fact she knew there had to be a lot in there and the fact that it practically burned going down her throat told her that someone didn't really know how to mix drinks. "Quite heavily in fact, it's probably more vodka than punch," (**5**)

"And you are still going to drink it!" Flora asked with shock. Sometimes Musa wanted to give her a good hard slap, not because she didn't like Flora because Flora was one of the best friends she had but she lived in an ideal world, or at least she tried to. Musa personally thought there was nothing wrong with a drink every now and then as long as she didn't develop a problem, which was highly unlikely since she hardly ever drank more than a glass. "We can't drink for another three years!"

"And what is going to change so drastically from now and three years from now?" Musa asked. Everyone used the excuse that at an older age people would be more responsible with alcohol intake, but if she was responsible now than what was the problem? Sure a lot of teens her age drank simply to get drunk, but Musa never really saw the appeal so it was pretty harmless for her to knock back a couple of drinks.

"Well… I dunno," Flora said a bit confused.

"Exactly," Musa said and took another sip of the drink, at this point she was rather sick of it since it contained entirely too much alcohol but she was going to finish the cup to prove her point.

Musa stood up and began walking over to some of the other dance teams girls when she saw Stella walking along the dark path with a guy, she had seen her earlier and figured it was Brandon, but she then remembered that Brandon was off on the other side of campus with some of his other friends. Musa squinted a bit and got a closer look to see Stella was hanging around Pete.

With an angry stomp Musa walk off after the Solarian princess, ready to yell at her for being so freaking stupid. "Stella," Musa said grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the other Red Fountain boy. "Get over here,"

"Excuse us," Stella said politely as she was pulled off the sidewalk and onto the grass, she looked back as Pete walked away. "What is the matter with you?" Stella asked calmly.

"Since when do you take romantic walks with your ex?" Musa accused not realizing how hypocritical she sounded. "You realize Brandon is around here somewhere,"

"So? Brandon knows that Pete and I used to date like a million years ago," Stella said plainly, believing that she hadn't done anything wrong. "Besides we weren't flirting, we were just talking,"

"Brandon would not be okay with this and you know it," Musa chastised to Stella. "He just doesn't want to tell you because he doesn't want to seem like he's jealous or possessive,"

"Aww, that's so sweet!" Stella said. "Brandon's jealous,"

"No its not," Musa said flatly. "Stop flirting with your ex and find your boyfriend,"

"Fine," Stella said almost laughing. "But are you really the one who should be lecturing me on proper behavior towards an ex boyfriend. I mean I didn't run off and go to a ball with Pete. Flora told me," Stella said seeing that she could still piss Musa off whenever she wanted. It had been awhile since their last argument and leave it to the Solarian princess to test the waters.

"That's completely different,"

"How?" Stella said as she began to list Musa's usual excuses for her bizarre relationship with Daniel. "We grew up together, we dated, we broke up. Only difference is Pete meant nothing to me since we were ten when we dated,"

"I don't have a boyfriend," Musa pointed out keeping her temper under control in the attempt to not cause a scene. "So I can do whatever I please,"

"Fine Musa," Stella said as she began walking away to take her advice and find Brandon. "But denial is an ugly color on you,"

Hours past along and the party was a lot of fun. Musa had hoped she would run into Riven, but he was only around when all the guys were around and then he seemed to disappear. When Musa got back to her room she was dead tired and as she threw her stuff on her desk she noticed the book on dark magic that she had put aside when looking for communication spells weeks ago.

Musa had been thinking about Riven's being spelled last year all night. Layla had a point, Musa hadn't ever heard of a spell powerful enough to completely wipe someone's mind like she had believed happened to Riven.

Forgetting her fatigue, the musical princess opened the ancient text and began reading, hoping to find something to ease her mind, but knowing she probably wouldn't.

* * *

_**1 –**__Got that from the show 'greek' the omega chi guys are very sophisticated and handsome ;)_

_**2**__ – Lumieria is actually a place that was created and named after a mythological legend. The Lumerian Dolphin Tribe was a lost civilization dating back to over 25,000 B.C. _

_**3-**__ I always wonder about that. If it was so easy to mind control Riven then why didn't darcy take it a step further and spell other, more powerful, people. It just doesn't make sense, so I think Riven had to be in on it a little bit too. _

**4**- _I hate Bloom. I really really really hate her; she's annoying and as seen in this episode, kinda self absorbed. Hence, I hate her character, so don't expect much about her or her and Sky. I'll add them in every now and then, but that is really it. I hate her._

_**5**__ – Since this is a kids show I get that they aren't going to show drinking or things like that, but let's be realistic, most high school kids know their way around a vodka bottle…or at least a keg. _

_Did anyone else think the girls were kinda bratty when they met Helia? It's a wonder that he actually stayed friends with them, maybe it was Flora that kept him coming back…_

_And Musa's looking into Riven's supposed 'mind control'. I watch the 4kids version and that says he was spelled but I have heard that in the Rai version he had joined the witches by his own accord; I found that to be more interesting since it gives him some responsibility. I mean him being a helpless victim is just so unappealing. So now Musa's doing a little investigating…_

_Till next time_

_xoxo,  
__princessm_


	9. Angel of Doom

_This chapter took me a long time to write for some reason, it's not too long (its actually a lot shorter than most of my chapters) but I just didn't like this episode so I filled this chapter with a lot of different things that I wanted for my story and things like that. And since I wasn't a fan of this episode, I actually cut down a lot of the dialogue and instead of changing it, I simply summarized and continued. _

_So one of my major problems with the show was when Riven got back from Cloud tower (after his spell was broken) and all seemed well. It's a little unrealistic, I believe that everyone would forgive him because he apologized, I just can't wrap my head around the fact that Darcy had complete control and why she wouldn't use that same type of control on a person that would help the Trix get domination (or use the same spell in season 2 to get the codex) So that means the victim would have to be a little willing right? With the obvious design flaw, I thought it would be great to have Musa explore this. So now she is looking into dark magic, trying to figure out if she really can forgive him. Besides Riven is a lot more badass if he had some hand in the spell and didn't simply play the victim. _

_Thanks Kraktzor for the info!_

* * *

**The Angel of Doom**

Musa let out another long yawn as she and Ali walked into the cafeteria early the next morning for some breakfast. She had spent most of the night looking through the enormous text about dark magic and she had only gotten through about half of it with no luck, not even the strongest of the spells she looked at had the ability to completely brain wash a person, not that Musa wasn't expecting that. "Long night?" Ali asked with a wide grin. Musa had noticed that Ali seemed to be wearing very similar clothing to the clothing she was wearing the day before, but she didn't point it out since she was petty tired and could have easily been seeing things.

"Yeah," Musa said quietly as she and Ali walked past a few tables and picked up some fruit. "I was reading some spell books," She then looked over to Ali and knew something was going on with her, she wasn't exactly a morning person and today she was practically on cloud nine. "What's with you," She asked a little more coldly than she had intended.

"Oh nothing," She said in a cheery tone with a glazed look on her face. "I was Red Fountain all night with James and –,"

"You know that is all I really need to know," Musa said a bit jealous that Ali had such a great love life and Musa's was going down the tubes, and fast. She had kissed Daniel a while ago and refused to talk to him since even though Leslie was basically jumping down her throat about it and now she was beginning to feel uneasy about Riven again. And not the usual uneasy she got when the two had a flirty back and fourth that made her wonder what would happen next. She was legitimately worried that maybe she had tricked herself into believing he was a good guy.

"Yes well I think we need to get you laid," Ali blurt out as she sat down next to Techna, making the digital fairy choke on her apple and getting a stare from the Winx Club. Tessa, who sat down on the other side of Ali, however seemed unfazed. "I mean it would make you a little less tense,"

"I'm not tense," Musa snapped, biting into her warm toast. "Just a little stressed is all,"

"I dunno I think Ali is right," Stella said going at her food like she had never seen it before. The funny thing was Musa expected her to be sick to her stomach right now after all the cake she had devoured the night before. "I think we need to find you a guy to, you know," Stella said with a wide grin. "Help release some of that stress,"

"Oh leave her alone," Flora scolded softly. "Musa is perfectly capable of finding herself someone to…" She said before realizing what Ali and Stella meant by 'stress relief'. "Oh my," She said with her face heating up as she blushed profusely.

"Are we done?" Musa said drolly, not enjoying being the center of attention, especially not during this particular conversation. She really could not let Stella and Ali talk for too long or they would have every detail of her wedding planned out, including the groom.

"Almost we just have to decide on a guy," Ali said with a smirk like she got some sick satisfaction out of making Musa face the fact that she was so heartbreakingly taken by Riven. Ali meant it to be a way for Musa to get enough confidence to make a move of some sort but Musa was never letting that happen, especially not with the recent developments. "Can you think of anyone,"

"Yeah we're done," Musa told her with glare telling Ali that if she didn't shut up now that she was going to have a fork permanently attached to her trachea.

"Well anyway, the party last night was a lot of fun!" Bloom said turning the conversation away from Musa's apparent need to have a liaison with someone of Stella and Ali's choosing. "Too bad the teachers came back early,"

"Yeah things were just starting to get interesting," Ali said with another sip of her orange juice. "The witches were completely hammered though so I guess it was a good idea to end the night early, Red Fountain already suffered enough damage for one night,"

"Yeah did they get in trouble?" Flora asked. "Miss Faragonda sent them back to Cloud Tower with a hologram note to Miss Griffin about their behavior, but I didn't hear anything. "I hope they didn't just get away with it,"

"They probably did," Musa pointed out, she had missed the last hours of the party since her mind had been so fixated on figuring out what type of spell Riven was under, she just needed to know that if he had a choice when he was spelled or if he really just was a victim in the situation . "I have heard of a lot of insane parties that go on at Cloud Tower and I'm sure Miss Griffin can't be oblivious to all of them. I mean there has to be at least one every night. "I'm sure Griffin doesn't have to time to punish every witch there,"

"I'm still hungry!" Stella said out of the blue with a fork in one hand and a knife in the other banging on the table like a child that had just been served broccoli covered in spinach. "We are growing girls, what do I have to do to get some food?"

"You know after you scarfed down all that cake last night," Musa recalled. Stella, who was normally a pretty smart eater, disregarded the fact that chocolate cake was probably the fattiest food she had eaten in weeks and completely devoured most of the cake. Fairies tended to be thin but it wasn't like it came naturally for everyone, Musa had dance that helped keep her thin and the fact that she never had a problem keeping off weight wasn't so bad either. Actually now, the problem looked like it was putting on some weight so she wouldn't be as small as she was. "I would be more worried about blowing up like a balloon. How is it that you are possibly still hungry,"

"You should stop by a dance practice," Ali told Stella, flipping some of her short brown hair back behind her shoulder and picked up a leaf of lettuce from her salad. "It's some intense cardio and amazing for muscle tone,"

"I don't need a workout," Stella snapped looking up from her empty plate. "I need something to eat!"

"Fine but you realize that's a bit counter productive," Ali said softly to herself, rolling her eyes and continuing to pick at her salad.

"For you information, most of us have completed growing," (**1**). Techna said from her place next to Ali at the lunch table. "And besides the breakfast that was served had all the nutrients necessary for a growing fairy,"

Techna then offered the Solarian princess some of her breakfast that Stella had already begun to pick at. Just as she went to pick up an apple and bit into it, it began to multiply into many holographic apples just like it. "Okay this isn't funny," She said still confused as she looked at the apples as they continued to multiply all over the table. "Techna knock it off,"

"Isn't it obvious Stella," Amaryl said snidely from next to Stella. Musa never understood why the two hated each. Amaryl wasn't known to be the nicest of fairies, but neither was Stella. The two seemed to bump heads from the time they had met last year and since then they used any opportune moment to make a snide remark about the other. Stella never really attempted to salvage a friendship out of it since Amaryl was not the kind of person to be willing to forge the past. Plus she was kind of a bitch. "Someone thinks you've _grown_ enough,"

"Oh clever," Stella said dryly with a roll of her eyes, not in the mood to take the bait and snap something back. The famished princess then turned back to Techna. "Seriously Techna knock it off,"

"It's not me!" Techna said loudly for the hundredth time.

"I see you've fallen for my magical multiplier girls," Wizgiz told them as he walked up to their table. He explained his new creation and told the girls that they would be learning about holographic multiplication in class. "See you in transformations class," He said as he walked away from the rather unnecessary meeting.

"Anyway," Musa said looking back down at her food. "Stel, if you're so hungry then go back to the room, there is tons of food in the fridge,"

"Or here have this," Techna said pushing her plate forward as she read something on her laptop.

Stella promptly picked up the plate and shoved the food in her mouth without any regard to everyone watching her. "At least these cookies are real, but they're still not enough," Stella said sitting down dejectedly. "How am I supposed to go to class all day on an empty stomach and without espresso magichiato,"

"I think this is how the fattest woman alive started out," Ali teased. "First it was a slice of cake and now she wears maternity clothing because nothing else fits her enormous gut,"

Before Stella could respond the girls were all surprised when flowers appeared in front of them. Suddenly the room became alive with conversation as the girls gazed at their beautiful gifts. "Aww do you think it's a cute gift from the boys at Red Fountain?" Stella asked as she picked her's up and look in it's lovely soft scent.

"Ugh why does every girl here drool over someone from that school?" Layla said rolling her eyes.

"Well have you gotten a look at these guys?" Ali asked. "It's like washboard abs are a pre requisite to even get into the school, with a few exceptions of course,"

Before Layla could respond to that by saying how stupid it was to center your life around guys, Professor Avalon walked in the room, proving to the feminist that some guys really did have a magical power over women. "Good morning ladies," Professor Avalon said as he walked into the cafeteria, clad in his normal white attire that just showed how muscular he was underneath those clothes, with his arms crosses behind his back. Suddenly the fatigued musical princess was wide awake.

"Good morning professor Avalon," The girls in the cafeteria said in unison as if it were planned or something. Of course he was the kind of guy that commanded the attention of everyone when he walked into the room; especially if the room was filled with teenage girls. Yup. Every girl in this school had a thing for professor Avalon.

"These flowers should show you how special you are,"

"This is amazing," Bloom gushed gazing up at him. "Such a sweet and thoughtful gesture,"

"Yeah, they're my favorite color," Flora added, finally finding her voice.

"Bloom, I think I have come up with a plan that will help you learn more about your origins," Professor Avalon said looking down at Bloom with his dreamy smile, placing his hand on her shoulder, making every other girl jealous that they weren't getting the same attention.

"I had another one of those dreams last night," Bloom said looking down at the floor, away from Avalon's gaze. "If you could help me figure this out it would be…well just great,"

"Later come see me and we will work on this together," He promised and then turned away and began to walk back out of the cafeteria. "Goodbye ladies,"

"Bye Professor Avalon," The room said in an eerie unison once again.

"Are we in freaking musical," Ali snapped after words, being sure to take a quick look as Avalon walked away and then continued to talk to Tessa who sat right next to her.

"He's teaching me a fashion spell," Stella said with a dreamy expression and a glazed look in her eyes.

"He's showing me how to make a potion that will add an octave to my range," Musa said in a similar dream like voice. Since he has arrived at Alfea, he had been making subtle improvements that everyone was beginning to notice and love. He was a great addition to the school since he was such a great teacher and everyone learned a lot from him since not a single girl even thought about skipping his classes.

"Don't you think it's a little strange that he makes promises to everyone," Techna asked the girls in an accusatory tone. She was the only one here that wasn't exactly a fan of Avalon, after he began to teach classes, she would complain that he would ask too much of the girls, like giving him all of their trust.

"Techna and I think that there is something very suspicious about him," Digit added.

"Maybe you're just jealous that he hasn't offered to help you two," Stella pointed out defensively, Avalon being the first teacher that Stella had ever and would ever defend.

"Some thing is up with Avalon and we're going to prove it," Techna said. "He seems a little too perfect,"

"There is nothing wrong with perfection," Stella said flipping her golden hair back behind her shoulder and smiling. "Trust me,"

"You really don't see anything fishy about this guy?" Techna asked turning to Musa and Flora since Stella was obviously not going to listen. "I feel like he is trying too hard to get our approval and trust,"

"Maybe he just really likes to teach," Musa pointed out. "I mean he obviously likes helping people cause he saved Bloom, Layla and Stella when they were in shadow haunt so maybe he's just a nice guy. And he's probably trying hard cause he's new, he probably wants us all to like him,"

"And we do," Ali pointed out. "So it's obviously working,"

"I don't know," Techna said, still not convinced. "I want to see if he is really as genuine as he makes himself out to be,"

* * *

Later that day after Avalon's class, Musa sat at her desk reading through the same ancient spell book that she had begun paging through the night before. She had made it to higher level magic, hoping that maybe witches at a higher level of training would know how to use more advanced mind control spells. But as she continued to read through the text in front of her, she saw that most of the spells couldn't completely rob a person of morality or change their true feelings, some spells were very good at masking them however they were quick to wear off and the victims of the spells usually died.

All in all, the book was looking like a dead end. Musa tried her best to remember what Riven was like when he was under the spell, but she had tired for so long to forget that her memory was a little fuzzy. All she could really recall was the first time she had seen him under the spell, the day that she ran head on into a gang of senior witches. Pushing back the pain she felt from that day, Musa tried to recall every horrible moment.

She remembered when she ran into him and pleaded to him to help her, his eyes were dead and void of any emotion or sign of life for that matter. Musa then flipped to emotionless states in the book and began to read through all the spells in the section. But the memory also seemed to bring up feelings of anger she had thought she had gotten over. A part of her really still hated him for turning his back on her when she needed him, and she had told herself it was the spell talking not Riven; but now she was not so sure.

Nothing seemed to fit Riven's actions the year before, she could find a handful of powerful spells that made someone turn against others for long periods of time, but that person would have to be somewhat willing to subject themselves to it, and Musa was not ready to face that reality. If he had truly been mind controlled, than the answer was not in this book.

"Hey, I got the books you asked for," Ali said as she walked into Musa's room from the common room. "Flora let me in since someone can't pick up her phone,"

"Oh sorry," Musa said as she finished reading the last paragraph of the spell book and closed the enormous thing. "I left it over on my bed and I just got caught up reading this," Musa said finally looking over to her bed, seeing that Ali had plopped down on the bed and began flipping through some of the books Musa had asked her to grab when she was at the library. Ali, who had her share of detentions already, was working off some of her demerits with Griselda in the library so she had access to all the books.

"So what's with all the dark magic books?" Ali asked. Some of the books that Musa wanted were in the vault that was specifically for professors and Faragonda only. The books were practically ancient and contained spells that most fairies couldn't even decipher. "It's not like you can even do them; planning to transfer to cloud tower,"

"No," Musa said trying to come up with an excuse, she did not want to tell Ali that she was now paranoid and completely freaked out that Riven may have really fallen for that witch and she was trying to find a spell that could prove that he hadn't. "I wanted to do a paper on different types of spells and I needed these books to help me out,"

"Oh," Ali said skeptically and then simply breezed past the subject. "Well guard those books with your life, some of them are older than the school,"

"I'll guard them with my life," Musa assured as she picked the stack of books off her bed and plopped them down on her desk, making a loud thud when she did so. "So what are you up to?"

"Finished classes, heading into Magix to see James," Ali told her. "We have a date later,"

"Oh cool, I'm actually going over to Magix in a little while too,"

"Ooh la la," Ali said. "Found someone to help with all that tension,"

"God no," Musa said thinking of who she was going to see. She and Brandon hadn't really had a chance to talk and catch up for awhile, ever since they got back from Shadow haunt and so they had decided to grab some ice cream and hang out for awhile since there was a lot be caught up on. Besides he had said there was something he wanted to talk to her about. "Brandon and I are hanging out later,"

"Oh cool," Ali said playing with the silver bracelet around her wrist.

"He needs to talk to be about something," Musa said. "It probably has to do with the fact that every guy in Red Fountain is feeling a little threatened by Avalon,"

"Not James," Ali said looking outside with a dopey smile. Musa had never seen her so much like a love sick puppy. She was normally very uncaring about the guys she was with and didn't really show too much excitement when going out on a date. She had never really gotten too excited over guys since they were so frequent and meaningless to her, but James had managed to worm his way into her heart and stay there. "He doesn't even care about Avalon,"

However Musa wasn't exactly feeling happy for everyone with a perfect love life right now since hers was beyond complicated. "That's nice," Musa said trying her best to sound happy for her friend.

"Yeah, it was cute though. He got all jealous when I told him about the Kai Fli mixer," Ali gushed. "He is so cute when he's jealous,"

Was Musa the only one put off when a guy was jealous? She remembered that Daniel tended to be that way, especially when she moved out here to go to school, and it was nice to know she was cared for but it was more annoying.

"Everyone seems to think that," Musa said with a small laugh as she twirled her pencil around her fingers and looked at another book Ali had brought for her.

"So speaking of Kai Fli, did you get your official acceptance into the Kai Fli pledge class?" Ali asked as she dug into her large tote bag and pulled out an ornately decorated envelope that held what Musa assumed was the acceptance letter. "I'm so excited, I wonder what our first pledge class activity will be,"

"I haven't gotten one today," Musa said almost offended. Ali and Stella were sure that she was going to get an acceptance as a Kai Fli pledge and now was she being rejected? Suddenly Musa felt offended, even thought she was on the fence on whether she was gong to join the sorority or not, but was she not good enough to be a part of the prestigious sorority? "Guess I didn't make the bid,"

"Of course you did," Ali said confidently walking out to the common room and bringing back a very similar envelope. "I saw this on the way in and just wanted to know how you would react if you didn't get in,"

"You're so clever," Musa said drolly, rolling her eyes. She took the envelope and opened to reveal a beautifully decorated acceptance card, looking much like a wedding invitation but with the Kai Fli crest at the top with colors embellishing the thick paper. "Well I guess I made it in," Musa said containing her excitement the best she could, she had never seen herself to be the sorority girl but doing something her mother had done at this very school made her feel so good. She loved the idea of following in her mother's footsteps.

"I saw another envelope on the coffee table," Ali said with a wide grin. "Looks like all three of us are going to there; I think Tessa is in too. How cool is it? I mean all four of the underclassmen they invited are in. Isn't it perfect?"

"Maybe a little too perfect," Musa said suspiciously. There had never been underclassmen that made pledges, well there had but their numbers were small, she was sure that four of them didn't make it in the sorority in the same year. It seemed a little too perfect to be a coincidence. But maybe she was just being paranoid, since paranoia seemed to be running rampid throughout the school today.

"Well either way," Ali said. "I can't wait to see what happens,"

* * *

Musa walked along the streets of Magix over to her one of her favorite places; purple berry **(2**), a haute little ice cream and frozen yogurt shop that was now all the rage in some of the world's biggest cities. She continued to walk along until she saw a familiar red fountain specialist. "Hey Brandon," Musa said as she walked over to him and ordered a strawberry ice cream.

"Hey," He said walking up to her and giving Musa a quick hug. "I needed to ask talk to you about something,"

"Go on," Musa said as she grabbed her ice cream and the two began walking into the large park in the center of Magix. It was actually a lot bigger than most people thought and included it's own lake as well as several ponds that people used in the colder months for ice skating, even though the cold weather only lasted a couple of weeks.

"Well I just wanted to give you a heads up on Stella," He told her.

"What about her?" Musa asked. Maybe he was upset about the whole Pete thing still. Musa knew that it pissed him off that she was talking to him but she thought that had blown over by now.

"She was looking to set you up with someone at Red Fountain," Brandon told her, expecting Musa to start ranting about how much she wanted to strangle Stella at times but instead the princess just laughed. "I don't know who though,"

"Yeah Stella's been trying to set me up with some guy she met at the Kai Fli dinner a couple days ago," Musa told with a laugh, knowing that Stella was never going to make any headway with her need to set Musa up with someone. "I think she's gonna get tired of me saying 'no' and start trying to set someone up with Layla,"

"I would love to see that," Brandon said, the idea of Layla on a date with someone was just hilarious. Not that Layla was ugly or anything, it was just that she had a very strong personality and she was an out and out feminist that would probably freak out if the guy tried to pay for dinner or something traditional like that. "Okay so now that I told you that, what else is going on?"

"That was your big news?" Musa asked. Brandon had seemed pretty urgent when he called her and Stella trying to set her up was not exactly front page news.

"Honestly, I thought yuou were going to be pissed when you found out,"

"That stuff really isn't fazing me anymore," Musa told him. "Stella has been trying to set me up since Daniel and I broke up last year, but she never actually goes through with it so I think I'm fine. I think she got the message by now anyway,"

"Speaking of Daniel, Stella told me you went home a few weeks ago for some ball," Brandon told her. Musa felt herself stiffen immediately at the thought of that night, and what happened after the ball. "How was it?" He asked, really wondering what happened and why she even agreed to go to the ball with him. Brandon knew that Musa and Daniel remained friends after their break up since they didn't want to throw away such a long friendship, but after spending the entire summer together and then this, he was beginning to think that there might be more.

"Yeah that was…fun," Musa said, she had been avoiding Daniel for awhile and he hadn't really called her either so she thought she could put off having the awkward conversation with him, but she knew she had to talk to him. She just didn't know what to say. "So you can keep a secret right?" She asked, Musa knew Brandon was trust worthy but she also knew that Stella had him whipped and he crumbled when she would bat her eyelashes.

"Yeah…" Brandon said. "Why?"

"So that weekend when I went home, I was worried about everyone and stressed," Musa began trying to make it seem like the kiss wasn't exactly her fault, even thought it kinda was. "Well after the ball Daniel and I were watching a movie and I sort of kissed him, and then he kissed me back and it got kind of…heated,"

The brown haired specialist looked at Musa with a mixture of surprise and disappointment when he heard the news, but mostly surprise. He thought maybe Musa was going to tell him that she had flirted with him again or something like that, but he was not expecting this. He had hoped that Riven could have dropped his ego for a second and let Musa know how he felt about her and Musa might not be so shy around him; but it looks like that wasn't going to happen now. Brandon also knew that if Musa and Daniel started dating again, Riven would find out this time since there was no psycho witch to distract him. And when he found out, he was not going to take it well. "Wow," was all Brandon could say as the two continued down the stony path in the park.

"Yeah, I know," Musa said looking down at the ground feeling a little ashamed at what she had done. "But listen only Leslie and you know about this so don't tell anyone,"

"You know I won't," Brandon reminded her. "But does this mean that you two are getting back together," He asked. Maybe Riven wouldn't react too badly, maybe he would just realize that Musa moved on and do the mature thing and try get over it; although Brandon knew it wouldn't be easy since he could tell how much Riven liked Musa. Or maybe he would kick Daniel's ass the first chance he got, yeah that was the more probable course of action.

"What?" Musa said taken off guard by the question. She didn't want to get back together with Daniel, she was sure of that now, but she didn't know if Daniel felt the same way. "No…I mean…no," she said, not sure how to answer that. "Why would you say that?"

"Well kissing is usually an indication of romantic feelings," Brandon said sarcastically.

"Sarcasm is such an ugly color on you," Musa said snidely. "And come on, I was obviously just upset and seeking comfort with Daniel,"

"Yeah if that were true than it would have been someone else," Brandon pointed out. "You hooked up with your ex boyfriend, and there has to be a reason for that,"

"Well I was drinking," Musa said hoping that excuse might fly, knowing it wouldn't.

"Musa…" Brandon said in a lecturing tone.

"Fine, I dunno," Musa said. "I mean with Daniel it was always so easy, I always knew where I stood and I knew how he felt about me. But now, I dunno. I guess it felt nice to feel wanted; a part of me kind hopes that I'll fall for him again just because it would be so much easier if he and I were back together,"

"But do you want to get back together with him?" Brandon asked. Sure it would have been easier for Musa to be with Daniel; anyone could see that. The guy was a modern prince charming, he flew out to see her when he heard the slightest hitch in her voice, and he was always debonair and knew what to say and when to say it. A relationship with Daniel had to be easier than one with Riven. He never toyed with Musa's emotions was always supportive of her; and the fact that he was her best friend only made him more appealing. Except for the whole cheating thing, he was like the model boyfriend. But the fact was if Musa didn't feel anything for him anymore made none of that stuff matter. And Brandon had a suspicion that Musa was just so frustrated with her semi-relationship with Riven that she was just sabotaging it so she could just go back to when things were perfect with Daniel. Not that he could really blame her, Riven was simply difficult but anyone could see there was something special between them. "Do you?" he asked once again, trying to figure out if there was going to be hell in store for him when Riven found out.

"No, I guess not," Musa said in a low voice. She knew Daniel was no longer a viable choice for a boyfriend since their relationship had been broken beyond repair the year before. They were so much better off as friends, but Musa knew she needed to stop relying on him so much for support when she was down. "But I would love to just parade him around to stick it to Riven,"

"Yeah well I'm pretty sure after you did that, you wouldn't have a boyfriend to parade around," Brandon told her with a laugh. It was so obvious the two liked each other and he wanted to slap Riven upside the head sometimes for being so stupid when it came to Musa. She was a real catch and many guys at Red Fountain had seen that, but Riven failed to even acknowledge it and Brandon knew that if Riven did wait too long to finally get over himself and his ego, than he might lose her.

Musa laughed and took another bite of her ice cream feeling a little better about the situation until Brandon asked his next question. "So have you talked to Daniel about it,"

"I was going to, but I have been so busy with all this work and Avalon's new class,"

"Musa, you need to talk to him," Brandon advised. "I mean it; remember how upset you were after you two stopped talking after the break up," He recalled, Musa had been in a mood for almost a month after the break up and Brandon knew it was because she missed him but was too angry to give in and just talk to you. "You need to at least call him, you owe him that,"

"Fine," Musa said with a huff. "I will," She looked to Brandon with a skeptical look on his face like he didn't believe that she would. "I will," she repeated.

Musa smiled as the two continued along the park, getting off the subject and moving on to other things, Brandon had become one of Musa's closest friends and she was so glad she had someone outside of Alfea and her circle of friends from home to talk to, since both groups had severely biased opinions; not to mention she knew Brandon was doing everything he could to make Riven stop being so damn stubborn.

* * *

Musa walked got back to Alfea feeling a little more at ease after having talked to Brandon. She had resolved to call Daniel the next day and finally put all of the awkwardness behind them, but she knew she was completely overlooking a few important things, but she would deal with that later.

As Musa walked though the school she noticed her friends were all in a group. "Hey girls," Musa said as she walked through the corridor and spotted her friends, all in deep conversation. "What's up,"

"The fashion potion he showed me was a complete dud, it matched plaid wit stripes," Stella said disappointedly as she leaned against the wall of the hallway.

"Maybe you just mixed it wrong," Flora said, Musa quickly realized that they were talking about Avalon. She had yet to go to her meeting with him since it was scheduled for the next morning. "I'm sure there is a logical explanation,"

"Are we on this evil Avalon thing again?" Musa asked. How could someone so good looking be evil? Besides he had done nothing wrong, in fact he was helping a lot. "Come on there are like a million different reasons that spells don't work. Maybe it's a temperature dependent kind of spell,"

"I dunno it just didn't work," Stella said. "But I'm still not buying into this evil thing, I mean he's so sweet, there is no way he can be evil,"

"Yeah he's been really helpful, I think maybe you're just overreacting," Bloom told Techna as she and the rest of the girls began on their way into Palladium's class. Musa sat and looked at the their new and improved professor with surprise.

Professor Palladium had told the girls that he spent the whole summer in the realm of Buff, which was not what Musa had originally thought it to be. Palladium had come back still looking rather feminine and acting it too but at least now he could take command of a classroom better. The year before, his class served as a time to catch up on gossip or finish homework for another class.

After a horribly long lecture on spells and different types of energy potions, the girls were told to go to the lab auditorium for a demonstration of some of the new spells they were going to learn that year. "This spell is known widely as," Palladium said from the middle of the auditorium floor as the girls watched from the bleachers, he then conjured up a small glowing green orb. "Sphere of truth. This sphere had the ability to show the true nature of your opponent. Who would like to go first?"

Stella quickly shot up from her seat next to Musa and volunteered. "I'll do it,"

"Okay, I must applaud you're energy but you must be careful, if miss used this sphere could reveal all of your secrets," Palladium warned.

"Oh well never mind, I like to keep all my secrets to myself," Stella excused sitting back down in her seat and then turning to Amaryl. "Amaryl honey, you don't have anything to hide,"

"Thanks a lot Stella," Amaryl said in a low voice as she stood up and headed down to the floor of the auditorium.

"Was that necessary?" Musa asked Stella quietly as the two watched Amaryl stomp up towards the center of the auditorium floor where she met Professor Palladium where he coached her through making the sphere.

"It was for the weight comment earlier," Stella said throwing some of her golden hair behind her shoulder. "She is so annoying,"

Musa rolled her eyes and watched a little impressed as Amaryl created a sphere of her own. As well as being a rude gossip, Amaryl was known to not pay attention in class and even though a lot of people did that, she was one of the people that couldn't simply breeze by and because of such behavior; she was never any good at spells. "The sphere of truth is in your hands, now ready aim and fire, but be careful we wouldn't want a misfire to cause a scandal," Palladium warned her as he tried to make her turn to aim at one of the targets that

"Yeah well one day she is going to retaliate," Musa said not knowing if Stella had ever really been in a situation where someone was out to get her, socially that is. "Trust me, one of your little pushes will be the breaking point and she'll come at you with, I dunno, like an iron or something,"

"Amaryl may be a kook, but she's not homicidal maniac crazy," Stella told her just as the two of them looked forward to see the sphere of truth hurtling straight at Stella.

"Freezus," (**3**) Palladium yelled and stopped the sphere right before it hit Stella dead on in the face.

"Phew," Stella said quietly to herself.

"Next time, I'd watch out for a iron," Musa whispered to her with a laugh as Professor Palladium continued to lecture on and this time included the importance of safety since the girls would be using more lethal spells in the future.

* * *

Later that day Musa flipped through a few more books on dark magic and mind control spells, still unable to find something that matched Riven's symptoms and behavior the year before. After her talk with Brandon she felt sure of her feelings, but there was a horrible feeling pulling her down and she knew she wouldn't feel better until she knew that Riven hadn't actually chosen to betray her.

Maybe she should have asked Brandon his opinion on the subject whiel she was with him earlier that day. There was no need to act like she was covering something with him since he knew about how much she liked Riven; but she really didn't want to tell him about her borderline obsessive need to find proof of Riven's innocence.

"Ugh," Musa said closing another large spell book and then grabbing another book, this time it was on the theory of mind control spells. The musical princess was rather surprised with the large collection of dark magic books in the Alfea library.

"Whatcha looking at," Musa heard Stella's voice say loudly, getting a loud 'shush' from other girls in the library, as she skipped over behind Musa's chair and looked over Musa's shoulder just as Musa slammed the door shut.

"I'm doing a paper on dark magic spells," Musa said putting the book and the pile of the rest. "What are you doing here? You know this is the library right?"

"Haha," Stella said drolly with a roll of her eyes. "Yes I know where I am, Techna texted us to get over here, she wanted to talk to all of us about something,"

"Oh," Musa said standing up and reaching into her bag, finding that she had indeed received the same text about meeting her in the library. "What do you think is so urgent?"

"What else?"

Musa and the rest of the girls, minus Bloom, gathered at one of the private tables and discussed Techna's theory. "All of this evidence coupled with his interest in Bloom leads us to believe that Avalon is the angel of doom," Techna said, she believed that Avalon would unmask himself as the Angel of Doom when there was an alignment in the planets. The evidence against Avalon was piling up and Musa was beginning to believe Techna's accusation against the so-called teacher. Besides, Techna was the most rational of the group, so if she was suspicious of someone, than maybe she had valid reasoning behind it.

After Avalon's class the girls had jumped into action and literally chased Avalon around the school, believing that he was the angel of Doom, only to find that after using the sphere of truth that Avalon was the real deal. (**4**)

* * *

"I can't believe you guys thought he was evil," Bloom said with a laugh as she took a bit of her pizza later that night. The entire winx club sat in the common room with pizza on the coffee table. "He was just helping me remember my dreams about my birth parents,"

"Well we were a bit skeptical," Musa began. She felt like such a fool for being duped into thinking Avalon was evil, he was obviously not, but she just couldn't help but fall for that damn mob mentality. "But we were convinced with some overwhelming evidence, even thought it totally was about the wrong angel of doom,"

"Yes, Yes," Techna said with a roll of her eyes and a scowl painting on her face. She had apologized so many times about everything that had happened; of course that didn't stop the girls from teasing her. "I know I messed up,"

"Oh Techna it's okay," Bloom cooed. "You were just looking out for everyone,"

"Besides someone so obviously perfect had to have a flaw," Stella reasoned.

"Even though we didn't exactly find one," Layla reminded. Avalon turned out to be everything that they had thought he was in the beginning, which was nice since the girls seemed to look up to him already, not to mention the monster crush that every girl harbored for him as well.

"At least that's over," Musa said. "Now the only people who have to worry about Avalon are the boys at Red Fountain,"

"Yeah about that," Bloom said. "Do you think Sky is a little upset with me because I spend so much time with Avalon,"

"Duh!" Musa and Stella said almost at the same time. It was so freaking obvious, of course Musa hadn't told Bloom about the spying, but at the after party the night before, Sky was obviously upset when Bloom gushed over Avalon in front of him.

"Maybe you could tone down how much you love our sexy new professor," Stella advised.

"She's right, I mean it's fine to have a crush on him, who doesn't," Musa added. "But I wouldn't rub it in Sky's face, he really likes you,"

"Yeah tone it down," Stella said.

The girls continued to talk awhile longer until eventually they all headed off the bed. Later that night as Musa slept quietly in her bed she was awoken abruptly as ice water fell on her entire body. "What the –," she began trying to get control of her heart that was ready to stop from the shock. She looked over and saw that Techna was in a sound proof sphere and before she could yell both her eyes and mouth were covered.

The princess was then shoved out of her door, by what she could only tell to be three kidnappers, and dragged down the hallway as she fought desperately to get away from her captors but she couldn't manage to transform, no matter how hard she tried.

Finally she was allowed to stop and when the blindfold was taken off she was standing in front of a wall. She looked to her sides and saw Stella on one side of her with Tessa on the next. Looking up she saw the president of Kai Fli, along with the entirety of the sorority standing in front of them. Suddenly it all hit Musa, this was some type of hazing for the sorority, now if only they would take off the cloth covering her mouth so she could tell them that she didn't want to be a part of Kai Fli that bad.

"Pledge class," Kate Carmichael said as she stepped in front of the pack of girls. "Welcome to hell week; this is the official start to pledging season and as such you will all be assigned big sisters, to help, well…carry out your duties,"

Kate then went down the line and a girl from the sorority volunteered to become a big sister to a pledge, not that it was much of a sacrifice since Musa could tell they were all in for hell. Each girls, one by one, got a 'big sis' they then got over to Stella, and one of the seniors, Jessica picked her.

"Now who will be Princess Musa's big sis for these festivities?" Kate said cheerfully as if she hadn't just kidnapped all the pledges and poured ice water on them before lining them up against a cold wall, while they were still half asleep.

"I will," A familiar voice volunteered, Musa looked up knowing exactly who it was. The fairy stood in front of her, her brunette hair falling just above her waist with her side sweep bangs falling gently across her face. Karen looked at Musa as if she was about to burst out with laughter, but she continued with a wicked smile. "This is going to be so much fun,"

* * *

_1. Actually, most people don't stop growing until they are 25 (the frontal cortex of the brain isn't fully developed till then)_

_2. My little variation on pink berry, probably the best frozen yogurt I've had. Love it. _

_3. Freezus? Really? I hated how they made up their own little bit of Latin. I can speak Latin since I took a lot of classes for it in high school since it helps to know Latin for the SAT's. _

_4. As I said before, I really didn't like this episode so I summarized that bit – sorry! But I'm sure you don't miss it. _

_So that's it – I plan on carrying out this sorority thing because as you can probably tell, I've added a bit of fun to that as well. _

_xoxo,  
__princessm_


	10. Reaching for the Sky

_So this chapter is a little pointless, it does have some stuff in it, but nothing of too much importance. When I had started this chapter, I was so excited because I love it when there is side by side fighting with the boys but it turns out that Stella, Musa and Layla aren't even a part of the action when the Trix go to take the Codex from Red Fountain. Anyway, I thought that would rob me of a Musa/Riven scene that you were all waiting so patiently for, but don't worry, I still managed to find a way to fit one in; but it's not exactly love dovey - sorry_

_And this is another short chapter so enjoy!_

**Reaching for the Sky**

Musa and Stella walked back to their dorm room soaking wet with dirt on every inch of their bodies early in the morning after a hellish night with the sisters of Kai Fli. "I cannot believe that we have to suffer an entire week of this crap," Musa complained, she had been up the half the night running around Magix, doing some of the most insane pledge activities. First she and the rest of the pledges had to participate in what the sisters liked to call the 'date dash' where every pledge had to meet the Kai Fli sisters at some diner in the middle of Magix, but they needed to bring a date and they only ten minutes to do so. Musa and Stella were lucky to run into a few guys that went to Magix University that were happy to accompany them, they were actually pretty nice; but Ali hadn't faired as well. She had forgotten about the time limit so she went back to her room to straighten up and arrived almost an hour later; lucky for her she found a very hot guy to accompany her so the sisters forgave her tardiness. "It's so not worth it,"

"Yeah well at least you didn't have to be a moving target for them," Stella said with a groan. After the date dash, the girls split up into groups with their 'big sis' and Stella's big sis seemed nice until she decided that she needed some work on her aim with some of her spells and made Stella her moving target. They were around Black Mud Swamp for hours. "Why she wanted to do target practice at 3 am in the morning is beyond me,"

"She probably did it to piss you off," Musa pointed out, Musa was ready to go home after the date dash and officially decline the chance to become a sister, but Ali and Stella practically begged her to stay and when that didn't work they threatened to make every waking second a living hell if she didn't stay. And these were two girls Musa knew were not bluffing, so she decided to hang on the entire night and participate in the ritual of hazing. "This is hell week after all. And you have no reason to complain, Karen is my big sis, she's probably going to have me killed,"

"Oh calm down she didn't even make you do much," Stella said. It was kind of weird; Karen hadn't asked Musa to do anything particularly humiliating. Musa had to go to the Omega Chi house in Magix and clean the floors as a chore, but that was about it. "Besides after you were done you got to hang out at the Omega Chi house while I was still dodging orbs of mud and sand being hurled at me by a senior,"

"Yeah but I think I'm done with this whole sorority thing," Musa said sure that this was no longer what she wanted to be a Kai Fli sister. Sure it was fun to hang out with some of the girls, but she could do that any time she wanted and the public humiliation was something she was not exactly willing to go through. A part of her wanted to hang in there because her mom was a sister and from what Musa could tell from her old photo albums, she loved it. But things had changed and there was other ways Musa would follow in her mother's footsteps without having to run to a diner with some random guy from off the street. "This has been…interesting, but honestly I am really not that big a fan of being a sister and I think I'll live if I don't become one,"

"No! Come on you promised you would stay if you got the bid to be a pledge and you did!" Stella said recalling Musa's promise when they were walking over to the first Kai Fli meeting. She had promised Ali and Stella she would stick it out with them until the sisters picked the next class of girls to be in the sorority. "You can't back out now,"

"I think I can," Musa informed her. "Kai Fli is nice, don't get me wrong, but I am not about become Karen's bitch and basically beg at her knees to become a sister. I do not want it that bad,"

"So this is about your pride," Stella asked disappointedly. "Musa look at me! I have mud on my one of a kind Iwink Wizrahi heels and my designer outfit," Musa knew how much Stella's clothes meant to her, and she was a mess; her clothes were definitely headed for the trash, but still, Stella actually wanted this and Musa was very much on the fence. "I let go of mine and besides this can be a lot of fun; sisters meet the biggest names in everything,"

"So do royals," Musa pointed out. Kai Fli was known to introduce it's sisters to the most influencing people, but Musa and Stella were both royalty, which meant they had that privilege as a birth right. "And this way, I don't have to be kidnapped in the middle of the night,"

"It's one week!" Stella nearly shouted as the two continued to bicker as they stood in the common room. They had actually been there awhile, and Musa was rather surprised that they hadn't woken up any of the girls, especially Flora who was a very light sleeper. "I don't want to do this alone, and we have been having a lot of fun" Stella said looking down to the floor and seeing that they had tracked half of Magix back into their dorm room.

It was then Musa realized why Stella had been so avid about Musa being a part of Kai Fli, even though she had a hard time believing it. Musa and Stella hadn't really started off as great friends since the two of them clashed immediately, but their arguments formed some type of strange friendship between them but they hardly ever had any time to hang out since Bloom was so clingy and Stella had Brandon as well; while Musa was dealing with Daniel, the dance team and Riven. When they were at Kai Fli they had time to hang out and have fun like they did the year before, before all the crap started to rain down. When she thought about it, all the times she and Stella hung out at Kai Fli events, they had a lot of fun together and now that Musa was so close to Brandon, it served to bring her closer to Stella as well. And the Solarian princess didn't want to lose that since there would be very little time to hang out if she added 'Kai Fli sister' to her life and Musa didn't. "Fine," Musa said finally as she turned around and began towards her room. If she was going to deal with this for the next few months than she was going to have to get used to being humiliated, but of course she was used to that since last year was just a continuous stream of it. "I guess one week won't kill me,"

"Good!" Stella said happily as she headed back to her room as well. They were in desperate need of a shower and some sleep.

* * *

Musa woke later that that morning for her only class of the day, it was some cooking class that Stella had basically forced the girls to sign up for. According to Stella it was going to be the greatest classes ever because the teacher was amazing; Musa simply agreed and signed on since asking Stella a question about it would probably confuse her more.

The princess lay on her bed, still trying to work up the energy and will power to actually get out of her bed and start to get ready. She had arrived back in her room early that morning and after a shower she collapsed into bed and stayed there as long as she could; cooking was late in the afternoon and it was her only class so she could catch up on her sleep that she had missed when she was kidnapped from her room and forced to run around Magix like a chicken with it's head cut off.

"Where were you this morning?" Techna asked Musa as the princess finally sat up in bed and the digital fairy walked into the room. "I didn't see you in bed; did you have practice in the morning,"

"Nah, I was kidnapped," Musa said nonchalantly with a yawn and stood up and walked over to her closet. "Long story,"

"I'm sure," Techna said picking up a few books. "Tell me on the way, we're going to be late to our cooking class,"

Musa nodded and quickly threw on some new clothes and fixed her hair and walked over to the old wing with Techna. She explained the Kai Fli hazing briefly before realizing that those types of things were usually secret, especially since she was pretty sure hazing was a big no-no. Musa finished telling her about all the crazy night she had and then told her to keep it to herself since Musa really didn't need to be taking heat from the sorority for something as stupid as telling someone about hazing.

"Do you think this class is going to be difficult?" Techna asked scanning through her perfectly planned schedule on her PDA, as if looking for sometime that she could study. "Because I only have an hour free between class later and I'd like to read ahead on the material,"

"It's a cooking class Tech," Musa told her. "We probably won't have to do much besides mix some stuff in a bowl and throw it in the oven,"

"Yeah but at least that's better than the classes we're stuck with this year," Bloom said as she, Flora and Layla joined the two of them right as they stood in front of the classroom.

"Who's teaching our new class, anyway" Musa asked as she and Bloom walked over to one of the lecture rooms in the old wing. She rubbed her neck, it was still really sore from the night before. She was hoping the rest of the week wouldn't be as bad but she knew better than to hope for something that was very unlikely to happen.

"A famous chef," Bloom told Musa, being one of the most prestigious schools in the universe gave Alfea it's pick for teachers, which meant only the best taught these fairies. That did have it's pitfalls, however, Griselda happened to be one of the best teachers for combat and potions. "Stella is obsessed with his new cooking show,"

"Yet the girl can't make toast without starting a fire," Musa pointed out.

"To be fair that was only one time," Techna said.

"And she put it right out," Flora added recalling the day Stella decided she was going to cook breakfast for the girls before they woke up. She had printed out recipes and everything, but in a matter of minutes the entire dorm filled with smoke and they found Stella in their small kitchenette wielding a spatula and fire extinguisher. It was the last time the Solarian princess tempted fate with kitchen appliances.

"Nothing was worse than her yoga phase," Bloom said. Stella tended to throw herself into random things on a whim and for an entire month in their freshman year, she forced all the girls to do yoga with her, going so far as to turn the common room into a yoga studio.

"Hey girls wait for me!" Stella said running up to her friends, frantic to not be late for the new class and what looked like would be her new passion. "I'm so excited for this new class, aren't you excited," She said looking to the girls who all had the same glazed, uninterested look in their eyes; they would have rather been doing something else; or in Musa's case sleeping, but Stella had forced their hand for this one. "Come on, chef Rocco diSpello is so cute!" She continued at the door. "I want a front row seat,"

"Another hot new teacher?" Techna asked with a roll of her eyes; Alfea was still very much a buzz with Avalon and adding a new teacher to this place full of hormone driven teenage girls would surely cause a frenzy.

"This is a lot more interesting than I thought it would be," Musa said. Stella then turned around from looking into the classroom with a horrified look on her face.

"Ewww," The Solarian princess said loudly.

"What?" Techna asked. "Is he not as cute in person,"

Then, as if answering Techna's question, Griselda walked out of the classroom with her hands on the waist and the usual disappointed look on her face. "Griselda?" The group said in weird unison once again. What was with that anyway? They were clearly spending way too much time together if they were now saying the same things at the same time.

"Well are you girls just going to stand there and gawk?" Griselda said sternly. "Get in here,"

"Isn't this supposed to be a magical cuisine seminar," Stella said nervously as she walked over to her seat with a disappointed look painted all over her face. The girls took any of the remaining seats and saw the disappointed looks on the other girls' faces as well, any class with Griselda was sure to suck.

"Cooking class has been replaced with my master combat class," Griselda told her, putting her hands on her hips. Musa was less than excited about the change in her schedule, she was so careful to pick classes that Griselda wasn't teaching and now she was stuck with what was sure to be a brutal class. Griselda was known for having no patience with students that were not up to par with her skills and she was brutal if anyone was disobedient in her class, which was why Stella found herself in detention all the time. "So go find your assigned seat and let's get started,"

"I can't believe we have another combat class," Musa complained quietly. After the invasion of the witches the yer before, the school for fairies became very serious about teaching the girls defense with both spells and in combat. "They got rid of my favorite music class for master's potion theory,"

"I know, I hardly have any time to do anything because of all the mandatory training sessions with the teachers," Techna said lowly to Musa.

"The focus of this master class will be magical martial arts," Griselda told the girls, giving Musa and Techna a stern look. "I'm sure many of you don't know this, but I competed in the all realm magical games, in fact I was the first female black belt gold metal,"

"And what year was that?" Musa asked with a small laugh, not realizing how loud she actually was when she made the comment.

"It was twenty years ago," Griselda snapped with some offence staring down at the musical princess with her signature look of judgment mixed with hate. "But I can still fight like a champion. Young ladies deserve to learn from the best and there will be a mandatory combat practice along with this class. It is scheduled for later this afternoon near the west entrance and everyone must attend,"

A loud groan from the class, the girls began to gather their books, not looking forward to the class they would have to attend later. "Class dismissed," Griselda said loudly as she took a seat behind her desk and all the girls quickly filed out of the room.

"Just when I thought I was going to have an easy 'A'," Musa said, picking up her things and walking out of the classroom next to Stella. At least the class itself didn't last long since it was simply an introduction; they were probably going to get into the real material of the class and all the theory the next day.

* * *

Musa walked onto the west field of the school, ready for whatever Griselda planned for the class. She walked onto the grass and saw that Griselda had already begun to tell the girls the plan for the lesson. And to Musa's surprise, they were going to be allowed to attack Griselda, although the point of the lesson was deflection techniques; so Musa wasn't exactly quick to volunteer.

"Would anyone like to volunteer?" Griselda asked looking over to the crowd of girls surrounding her, each with the same 'please don't call on me' face on her face. And of course she landed on one of her least favorite students. "Very well, I'll have to pick someone. What we want to do is to use the attacker's force against them. Why don't we start with you Stella?"

"I just wanna say that this year's schedule is a disgrace! I mean, like enough battle classes already! I thought the school mission was to give us a well rounded education!" Stella complained as she stepped up towards Griselda and prepared herself to be made a fool of, why else would Griselda pick her, Stella had a theory that Griselda was simply jealous of her 'youth and beauty' as she put it; which was why she always picked on her. Musa figured it had something to do with the fact that she had blown up the potions lab the year before.

**"**At the moment, our mission is to help you survive." Griselda told the fairy with a cross look in her eye. "Go ahead! Show me your best attack!"

"Fine!" Stella said with a small smile on her face, even though it was apparent this attack wouldn't pan out, the fact that she got to throw an attack at Griselda without getting in trouble. "Sunburst!"

"Sun block!" Griselda said calmly, not looking even looking over to where the attack was coming from. However it did not stop Stella from trying once again.

"Solar Lava Blast! "

"Deflector" Griselda said putting up what looked like a spell shield, but the attack bounced off the wall of it instead of simply disintegrating, and it went straight back at Stella, even when she tried to dodge it, and hit her straight on.

"See how I used her power against her?" Griselda said proudly looking down at Stella, who was sitting on the ground in confusion and frustration, with a smug smile. "Everyone attack now,"

"Right, let's go," Musa said being aware of the fact that Griselda would probably use another similar move, she would have to move out of the way a little quicker this time. "Sonic Blast,"

Musa fired a rather powerful blast at Griselda, however she simply absorbed the attack and continued to do so for the rest of the class and then dismissed the girls, telling them to read up on the material to prepare for next week's session.

* * *

After a grueling dance practice and dinner Musa began walking back up to her room after a few hours of spell searching in the library. Musa knew she was probably not going to find the spell since she knew very well that there was not something to find. She knew from the second Layla brought up the fact that complete mind control was nearly impossible.

"Hey Musa," Musa turned as Ali caught up to her in the hallway as she walked back to her dorm.

"What happened to you last night?" Musa asked, she hadn't seen Ali all night, she did see Tessa and Stella but Ali was not present.

"I was actually going to ask you about that," Ali said. "I was actually over at Red Fountain last night so I missed everything, Tessa filled me in,"

"And why were you at Red Fountain?" Musa said with a sly smile.

"We both know why I was there," Ali told her. "But I just wanted to know what exactly we're in for this week,"

"No idea," Musa told her plainly, she was a little apprehensive about what was going to happen since Karen basically owned her for the week. "I have to do whatever Karen wants me to do,"

"Yeah I heard about that too, but I don't think there is anything to worry about," Ali said with some confidence. "But what is she going to do to you in one week?"

"That's what Stella said,"

"I actually wanted to ask if you were going to go to the gala event at the museum next week," Ali asked. The event was the charity event of the year where a bunch of rich people donated a lot of money to poor people that weren't invited to the party. It was basically an excuse to get together and drink and bask in their power and affluence. But it was usually a lot of fun when the older crowd was drunk and the younger rich kids got to play. It was the type of event that Ali loved and Musa really wasn't a fan of.

"No, I didn't even hear about it,"

"Really cause I saw the guest list and 'Princess of Harmonic Nebula' is on there," Ali said. "I saw it and knew you wouldn't go willingly so I just thought maybe it was a mistake,"

"Oh it's a mistake," Musa said gritting her teeth. This definitely had Galatea, with the help of Karen, written all over it. "Galatea is after my throne,"

"Seriously?" Ali said a little shell shocked, she couldn't stand it if someone had even tried to take her noble status. "Well we need to stop her and teach the bitch a lesson,"

"Don't get too riled up yet," Musa advised. "I think I need to go get some sleep but I'll talk to you about it tomorrow, I don't think she is very serious about it so we'll see,"

Ali nodded and the two fairies went on their way to get some sleep.

* * *

The next day started pretty early since Stella and Musa were both called to the greens of the back grounds of Alfea to be the gardeners for the morning. One of the things that Kai Fli prided itself on was bettering Alfea, at least that is what they told alumni when it came to getting grants and other financial aid, so during hell week all the pledges were required to get up at the crack of dawn and do the gardening.

Musa was stuck with planting flowers, which wasn't too bad, she could have gotten Stella's job which happened to be trimming the shrubs on the edge of campus that were infested with bugs and other gross woodland creatures.

"So is the point of hell week to ruin all my one of a kind shoes?" Stella said angrily walking back into the dorm with Musa, covered in dirt, much like the morning before.

"Well why do you wear them if you know they are going to get ruined?" Musa asked, she had just shoved her feet into a pair of random shoes she had found on her floor. She needed to run into Magix and pick up a new pair now since her's were caked in everything from the dirt from the garden to whatever she had stepped in on the way up. She shook both feet over the trash can so she didn't have to touch the slippers and looked back to Stella.

"Because what if we have another diner date dash thing?" Stella whined. "I mean I might not be so lucky to run into some nice boys from Magix U, by the way did you give your guy your number?" Stella asked, she recalled that the boy Musa had taken was pretty cute and she definitely approved. "What was his name,"

"Jake," Musa said. "And no I didn't, I really didn't like him that much,"

"Why? He was cute and nice and he was well dressed," Stella whined.

"I dunno, I just didn't,"

"Ugh you are far too picky,"

"Coming from the girl who won't wear shoes unless they match her everything down to her skirt hem," Musa said with a roll of her eyes, she looked into her room and saw that Techna wasn't there and she looked into Bloom's room to see that she and Flora were gone as well. "Hey where are the girls?"

"I dunno," Stella said. "Oh I know, Red fountain!"

* * *

Immediately after Musa's shower she was pulled out of her room and dragged off the campus in the direction of Red Fountain. "What are we doing?" Musa said as she fixed her shirt that happened to be inside out since Stella had basically pushed her out of her room as she was getting dressed.

"Bloom told me she wanted to talk to Sky and I think Flora went along as moral support," Stella said still kicking the same twig she had been messing with the last fifteen minutes. "Although I think she had a bit of an ulterior motive,"

"She was pretty taken with Helia," Musa said. Flora was not as talkative about her love life, or at all for that matter, but she seemed to be on cloud nine for the past couple of days, ever since they had run into the pacifist at the reopening of Red Fountain. "But again, why are _we_ going?"

"Because I'm bored and I didn't want to walk over alone," Stella said plainly and saw the distasteful look on Musa's face. Last year after she and Daniel were over, Musa at least had Flora to hang out with but now with Helia in the picture it looked like she was the only one in the group without a guy, except for Layla, but she wasn't exactly a part of the group yet. "Hey you might see Riven,"

"Maybe he's grown that personality you thought he needed," Musa joked, she was looking forward to seeing him but she knew that not much would happen.

"Hey do you hear that?" Musa said stopping abruptly on their way through the enchanted forest, on the well traveled path to Red Fountain. She heard a faint siren in the distance, at first she had thought it was coming from Magix, but now she was sure that it was coming from Red Fountain. "It sounds like it's coming from Red Fountain,"

"I don't hear anything," Stella said as she ran ahead forward until the school came within eye sight and she gazed up and saw the red light flashing from the school. "But I can see something going on," She yelled back to Musa and motioned for her to hurry.

"Something's going on," Musa said. She and Stella quickly transformed and flew up to the campus and saw the students in a massive scramble.

"Oh hey there's Helia," Musa said not sure if she should call him over or not, he looked like he was a little stressed out, judging by the howling sirens, she was right.

"Helia!" Stella called as she waved her hand over her head at him. "Yoohoo!" She yelled out again, almost making Musa feel a little embarrassed for being there next to her.

"Hello girls," Helia said walking over to the girls, panting as if he had just been running. But he managed to keep a very calm demeanor in spite of the fact there was chaos erupting around him.

"What's going on?" Musa asked, still looking at all the guys scrambling around the campus.

"The school was just under attack," He said with some surprise that they didn't know. "Isn't that why you're here?"

"What! Again?" Musa spat. The trix were really bent on destroying the new school weren't they. "The witches?"

"Yeah and they escaped with something called the Codex," Helia told them. "Brandon, Sky and Riven are all in the infirmary with a bunch of the other guys,"

"Schnookums! Is he okay!" Stella nearly yelled as the blood drained out of her face. She then began walking in towards the school and motioned for Helia and Musa to follow since she had no idea where the infirmary was in the first place.

"He fell pretty hard on his leg, but I think he's gonna be fine," Helia told the girls as they began to walk towards the infirmary, the hallways were filled with confusion as to what had happened; the attack must have just occurred if the siren had just shut off and the guys were still getting information as to what happened to their school, again. "Sky is the only one that was in actual trouble, Icy put a sleep spell on him or something,"

"Is he okay?" Musa said although her mind was still heavily fixated on if Riven were okay or not. Helia didn't seem too worried so it did help to ease her mind but of course he was the guy that restrained the lio-dragouraus to save Flora but let it loose when she was out of harms way. Musa couldn't help but worry, no matter how much she doubted him sometimes, Riven had found a place in her heart and she couldn't deny her feelings to herself anymore.

"He's fine now, but some of medics are still checking him to make sure he doesn't have a concussion," Helia told the two as they finally made their way to the infirmary. "Here we are,"

Musa walked in and saw Sky laying on one of the bed with Bloom sitting at his side; Brandon was two beds over next to Riven. Both of them were sitting up on the sides of their beds talking, obviously fine, not that it stopped Stella from making a scene in front of all the other guys that were in there as well. "Schnookums!" Stella yelled as she ran up to Brandon threw her arms around him. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Stella," Brandon said with an embarrassed laugh since everyone was now staring at him. Stella however didn't believe him and stayed at his side making sure he was all right, Flora was standing next to Brandon as well, feeling a little awkward so she moved over to Musa who just happened to be standing next to Helia. "What happened?"

"And why did nobody call us!" Stella added.

"It all happened pretty fast," Bloom said. "We got here and the witches sent out some crazy orb that started to tear up the campus,"

"It was a distraction to get into the Varatox chamber," Sky continued. "They stole the Codex,"

"Are you okay?" Musa asked while wondering what exactly this 'Codex' was.

"Yeah," Sky said with a warm smile and looked over to Bloom with a loving look; making Musa want to gag a little. She couldn't help but feel a stab of jealousy though, a year ago she had a handsome prince looking at her that way too and now her handsome prince wasn't even speaking to her and the guy she wished would look at her like that barely spoke two words to her. "Thanks to Bloom,"

"And what about you," Musa said walking over to Brandon, seeing that he had hurt his leg.

"I'm fine," Brandon said giving her a smile. "Helia here was actually a big help today,"

"You sound surprised," Stella said. "He did restrain the lio-dragouarus that day,"

"And then let it go," Musa said under her breath, again loud enough for Helia to hear.

"Sorry about that," Helia said finally looking down. Musa hadn't really realized that Helia was trying his best to fit in and it was a little intimidating when people in the group were resistant to that. "I just don't think it's right to restrain an animal, no matter what it's doing, it was obviously under some type of spell,"

"Yeah and he is the newest student here at Red Fountain," Brandon added.

"Really?" Stella said excitedly looking to Flora who stood there silently, but he face had just lit up. "Ooh this will be so much fun,"

An hour passed and Musa found herself walking along the campus with everyone except Sky and Bloom, who decided to stay in the infirmary, she hadn't even realized the time passing by but she had noticed that she and Riven really hadn't said anything to the other. God, she just wished that they could be comfortable enough to just talk to each other.

"Are you okay?" Musa asked looking down as she played with her fingers, feeling increidably nervous. She had just then realized that she and Riven had seemed to walk off into a rather secluded part of the campus in between the shooting ranges and the stadium doors. Musa could slightly hear the roar of the dragons that were in the stables not to far away.

"Yeah I'm fine," Riven said feeling a little self conscious since Musa was obviously feeling a little awkward around him. "I'm surprised that there wasn't more damage to the school though,"

"Me too," Musa said with a small laugh. "I didn't even know they were after something,"

"Why else would they be here?" Riven asked confused, not realizing that his voice pick up with some defense sneaking in.

"Reek havoc, they're the trix sisters," Musa said, feeling a little defensive. She could here a defensive tone picking up in his voice. Was he defending them? They were the witches that nearly took over the universe, nearly had him killed and he was still defending them? Musa could feel herself about to overreact, but everything was just piling up and she could not keep dealing with it. Why did she have to go through all this crap for this guy, she wished it could have been as easy as it was with Daniel.

"I dunno I think they would have some type of plan behind their mayhem," He continued not seeing the anger beginning to well inside the fairy he adored so much. Riven really hadn't meant anything by it, it just seemed silly to him to attack a place where there was no benefit; it made no sense. Of course he failed to realize that it didn't exactly sound good, a flaw he seemed to keep on repeating, especially to Musa who was feeling particular insecure about the situation.

"Well you would know," Musa said snidely, knowing that it would hurt Riven when she said it. And promptly walked away, feeling sick. She hated how much she liked him and how much he was proving to her that he was not the guy she thought he was. She had just spent the entire week looking for some spell, which probably didn't exisit, that explained his actions the year before. She was so positive that a spell had to be out there since she was not ready to face the truth; but it was so bleeding obvious Riven joined the witches on his own accord; just the thought was making Musa dizzy.

Musa left Red Fountain a few minutes later, not saying another word to Riven, while the rest of her friends hung around for awhile after words, angry beyond words with a certain specialist. Although she didn't know how crushed she had left him, feeling both shock and surprise since he had no idea what he had done but now was feeling like he would never have a chance with her since she was obviously not over the entire mistake he had made the year before.

* * *

_I was going to have a cute little scene between the two of them at the end of the chapter, but I was reading some fanfiction stories and got a little pissy with Riven's character so I figured I would have Musa lash out at him because of her insecurities, besides that is something you see in a lot of real relationships. Plus Musa's anger towards Riven is going to help when Jared comes along. _

_I also happen to love the little love triangle between Darcy, Riven and Musa, I even have about half a story written about it, I just can't seem to get it right; I don't know if I ever will, I've been __working on it for over a year now and I just keep chopping it up and redoing it. Hopefully it will be ready soon._

_wow no notes this time - it was a short chapter after all _

_My favorite part of the story is coming up in a few chapters! _

_xoxo,  
__princessm_


	11. Homesick

_This chapter has a bit of everything; Galatea makes another appearance, as well as Karen. We have some talk about Riven and our favorite prince is making his first appearance in awhile. It's another shortie, which is okay since the next one is pretty damn long - So let's go!_

**Homesick**

Musa was not exactly sure how Layla fit into their group, but she was really beginning to trust her. Layla had dropped into their lives so suddenly and in a bizarre fashion that the girls really hadn't had much of a chance to get to know her. Musa had only spent a few hours with her when she was learning the dance routine for what was supposed to be a dance performance at Red Fountain. But Musa found herself opening up to Layla a lot more than she thought she would in such a sort amount of time; hell it took her nearly half of freshman year to tell the girls that she had a boyfriend, and the only reason that actually came out was because Daniel had shown up at Alfea with Nate after a panicked phone call from her. Of course, she hadn't really opened up about him for other reasons.

Her comfort with the princess of Tides led her to finally admitting the truth as to why she had been rummaging through dark spell books for the past couple of weeks. "It's kind of a long story," Musa said answering Layla's previous question about the books.

"Well I've got nothing but time," Layla said sitting down on Musa's bed as she continued to flip through some of the spell books that were laying around the floor. She already had an inkling about what it was about since Musa had all of a sudden become very interested in dark magic after the attack on Red Fountain a couple of weeks ago. She and Musa had just finished a dance practice and Layla had talked to the girls about joining the team and most of them were pretty much on board. There were a few that were not exactly happy with the idea since they were against anything Musa wanted; they were the girls that had their loyalty with Karen. "My potions class was cancelled because Ms. Falla is sick, so go on with the story,"

"It's kinda stupid," Musa said from her place at her desk, looking up at the wall in front of her as she fidgeted with her fingers. She glanced out her window and saw that the sun was beginning to set; Ali would be here soon to get ready for the museum event that they were going to. Musa was not going to go originally but ever since she found out that Galatea was going to attend the event as well, she figured she should make an appearance as well. "You're gonna think I –,"

"No judgment," Layla interrupted. "Trust me, I've grown up with the entire royal court judging me until I came here; I am not a fan of it,"

"You know when we were at Red Fountain for the opening?" Musa said swiveling around in her chair, looking over to the fairy on her bed. "I've been thinking about the thing about the stuff you said about the spell that," Musa stopped for a second feeling a little embarrassed about her obsession with finding out the spell Riven was under. "That Darcy put on Riven. I've been trying to find a spell that Riven would have been under,"

"How's it going?" Layla asked. "Find anything?"

"No…" Musa said looking down at the ground disappointedly. "You know when you want something to be true, so you continue to tell yourself it is until you actually believe it?"

"Yeah," Layla said. "I didn't know him before, but he seems to be a pretty good guy know. Mind you he's pretty much a prick and a complete ass who doesn't know the first thing about –," Layla began to rant. Riven seemed to piss her off as well, he was a chauvinist for sure and while most of the Winx Club let it go and looked past it, Layla was not about to le some guy act like he was curing cancer by waving around a sword. But Musa was her friend and she didn't need to hear that right now. "He might not be perfect, by any means, but he doesn't seem like the kind of guy to betray everyone he cares about willingly,"

"That's what I thought," Musa said looking back up with an unsure look on her face. "But I dunno, I thought I was past it but it's really bothering me now. I don't know why, but I feel like nothing has changed from last year,"

"Well what did you expect?" Layla asked honesty not really knowing what Musa wanted from Riven. Sure Layla didn't know him well but she could tell he wasn't the type of guy to show up at the door with flowers and candy, but again maybe he had changed from last year, although she couldn't see how anyone could be _more_ of an ass.

"I dunno," Musa sighed, getting up from her desk and piling all the spell books on the desk. "I was hoping that he might make an effort to be nicer or show that he cares a little; and he sort of has, but I feel like I'm pulling teeth,"

"If it were me, I'd forget about him," Layla said, she didn't like the idea of having to wait for some guy to come around and admit his feelings. She would never let some guy have that advantage over her, especially not someone like Riven. "It's his lose really,"

"Yeah, I'm beginning to think that too," Musa said quietly walking over to her closet and pulling out the dress that she and Ali had decided on for the event tonight. She had never felt so confused about her feelings before. When she started dating Daniel she was sure she wanted it and when they broke up she was sure she wanted that too; and even after her lapse in judgment that night in his dorm, she was sure she didn't want to start anything up with him again. But with Riven she wanted to just walk away, and move onto a relationship that was healthy and normal, but she just couldn't.

"Hellllooooo," Ali said in a sing song voice as she burst through the door, breaking the tension in the room. She was hanging onto the door frame and the door knob, hanging there with a dress bag over her shoulder.

"Hey Ali," Musa said laying her dress on the bed and looking back up at Ali as Layla gathered her things and began on her way out of the room.

"Hey girls, what's going on?"

"Nothing, I should probably get back to my room and do some of the work I've been putting off," Layla said as she walked out of the room and over to her own. (**1**) Her room was not technically connected to the girls dorm, it was the single right next to their, but they shared a balcony so it wasn't like she was very far away. Miss Faragonda put her their intentionally so that she would be close to the friends that she had made, besides when the school was remodeled, new dorm rooms were created to accommodate the growing population of students that were applying to and getting into Alfea.

"Does she hate me?" Ali said when Layla was out of ear shot, putting her things down on Musa's bed and walking over to the mirror. "She seems to hate me,"

"She does not hate you," Musa said walking over to her bathroom and putting on her dress. "We were just talking about random junk and she knew we needed to get ready,"

* * *

The museum benefit was much like any other, royal and other well-to-do families filed up the marble museum steps and past the grand marble columns onto the large entrance of the massive building. Musa and Ali got out of the car that brought them to the work of architectural art that had been standing in the metropolis for hundreds of years.

"A bouncer at an event like this," Ali said with distaste as she and Musa approached the top of the steps, hearing the clack of their heels as they went. Musa looked up and saw a rather intimidating looking man standing by the place cards. "That's a bit tacky for these people don't you think?"

"You realize that _we_ are these people right?" Musa said. She had spent a lot of time hating the way the people she grew up around acted. They spent too much time with their noses in the air to realize that they were acting like complete asses, and one of the things she absolutely hated was when they got together at event like this. They would come together and chat about how good it felt to 'give back' when they were simply writing a check and drinking the night away. But in reality, she was born into this world and that made her a part of it, although she chose to try to be different than them; to be more normal and less snobby.

"Says the girl who never lets anyone address her as 'princess'," Ali pointed out, in almost every class the professors usually chose to address the girls with their last names or even their official titles, but Musa made it known that she was not too keen to being called 'princess' every time someone addressed her.

"Anyway," Musa said as the two got to the card table. Ali was quick to find her place card, however Musa was having a bit of trouble with hers. "I can't find mine,"

"Well you're at my table so your card should be here somewhere," Ali said bending down and giving the table a more careful inspection. She scanned through the rows of white place cards, all written on in black ink and a fancy style of calligraphy. "That's odd, I know I saw you on the guest list,"

"Excuse me," Musa said to the large gentlemen dressed in a tuxedo standing next to the table with the place cards, he was the one Ali compared to a bouncer on the way in and up close he looked even scarier. "I can't seem to find my place card,"

"Well were you invited?" He said in a low voice and rather rudely.

"Of course she was you imbecile," Ali said walking in front of Musa, obviously taking offense to the comment. "Why else would she be here? Her name is Musa Dannington, princess of the Harmonic Nebula, why don't you check the guest list. That is if you can read,"

"Yes I'm sorry your highness, please go right ahead in." The man said apologetically looking to the floor.

"Could you have been a little meaner," Musa said sarcastically as the two walked over to their table. "I don't think he was quite ready to cry,"

"Serves him right for asking a stupid question," Ali said. "I mean what kind of person would crash a museum event? It's not like this is the part of the year or something,"

"Please, I'm sure it's not the party of the night,"

"Exactly, so what kind of loser would come to it uninvited?"

"I can think of two," Musa answered, stopping her stride when she saw two people standing in front of the table she and Ali were supposed to be sitting at. Karen and Galatea stood there in gowns talking to each other, acting as if they had been invited.

"Seriously?" Ali said with a laugh. "Do they have nothing better to do than to crash this party?"

"Explains where my place card went,"

"What exactly do you think your doing here?" Ali said as she and Musa confronted the two. "I'm pretty sure the help doesn't need to be dressed so formally,"

"Hello pledge," Karen greeted and took another sip of her drink, staring hatefully at Musa.

"Well the princess of the Harmonic Nebula was invited," Galatea said feigning innocence with a helpless look in her eye.

"Yeah, the real one," Musa tossed cruelly. Galatea was no longer considered the princess to her realm, after many years of family drama; Musa was accepted as the _only_ heir to the throne even though there was still another legitimate one.

"Funny how you think you're the real heir when you are not even a real princess," Galatea spat knowing exactly how Musa would react to it. Even the slightest mention of her mother was enough to upset her; the princess was fiercely protective of her mother's memory; so naturally it was the best button to press.

"And you are?" Musa seethed as anger coursed through her veins. How dare she bring up her mother like that, especially since Galatea had been around during the time her mother had passed; they may have been kids at the time but she had to remember the pain Musa and her father went through. And now she was throwing it in her face, again? The first time Galatea said it, Musa had hit her but she felt bad since she figured she was sorry about it, but now all bets were off. If she wanted to make it personal then Musa would make it personal. "Last time I checked, your loon of a mother was exiled,"

"And yet I'll still have the crown that rightfully belongs to me," Galatea said, obviously taken aback by Musa's response. Their family was filled with enough drama and problems to make this little battle go on for hours, but neither wanted all of their dirty laundry aired in front of some of Magix's most influential. "And everyone will see that I'm the better choice for the throne,"

"That's why you're here?" Musa asked. It was pretty obvious Galatea had gotten her hands on the guest list and it wasn't too hard to figure out that Musa wouldn't be to apt to go to an event like this. Galatea was here to trash Musa's reputation and get high society on her side so she could have a chance at taking Musa's throne. It was a pretty good plan, now if only it had worked. This little harebrained scheme had Karen written all over it, but Musa was not going down without a fight, not just yet. "It's going to look pretty bad when you get dragged outta here,"

"By who?" Galatea challenged. "I would love to see you try,"

"Okay girls we're making a bit of a scene," Ali said through her teeth as a cross expression painted her face.

"Don't worry this will be over quickly," Musa said feeling herself ball her fist.

"What Musa? Are you going to hit me in front of all these people?" Galatea baited her, bringing herself close to Musa's face with a smirk on her face. "Go ahead, it's just going to prove that I am the far better choice to rule over a kingdom; I know how to keep my cool,"

"Oh don't you worry about that," Musa said sweetly, trying to control the anger that was coursing through her. "I'll handle this like a royal should," Musa then called over the two large men standing by the door and put on her best face of innocence; the one she used on her father when she told him she was going to Crescendo for the weekend when she was actually going to a music festival with a bunch of rock stars

"Is there a problem here your highness?" The large man asked as she looked to Musa and then over to Ali.

"Actually there is," Musa said looking up to him with her large azure eyes. "This girl is impersonating me, I am the princess of the Harmonic Nebula and she, well she's just someone else." Musa said then grabbing her small clutch purse and pulling out her ID. "See Princess Musa Dannington of the Harmonic Nebula,"

"Miss you are going to have to come with us," The other security guard said to Galatea grabbing her arm.

"Get your hands off of me," Galatea snapped loudly in disgust pulling back her arm away from her. "Do you know who I am,"

"Well he certainly knows who you're not," Ali said quietly as she and Musa watched, stifling a laugh. If the entire room wasn't watching before, they were sure as hell watching now.

"I hope you're carrying some type of weaponry," Musa said smartly. "She may not leave peacefully, it's rude I know, but I'd just blame her upbringing," She said hoping her words would sting. She knew what Galatea thought of her without Galatea having to make some smart remark; it was the same thing a lot of people thought. She was a half bred princess, as many would say, and as such she didn't always command a lot of respect; she knew when she became queen things would change, but for now she knew where she stood and it killed her. Not because what they thought of her but of how they thought of her mother, she couldn't stand to hear something bad said about her mother and it drove her crazy that she couldn't just hit Galatea for what she had just said.

"I'm leaving," Galatea said angrily, snapping her arms away from the guards once again and then grabbing her small purse and leaving with Karen not too far behind.

"Nice work," Ali said stepping closer to Musa, who had unconsciously moved forward with every word she had said to Galatea, the two watched with some pleasure as the princess was escorted out of the museum, in front of everyone. Her plan to faze Musa out of the picture had obviously backfired.

"I thought so," Musa said a little proudly with her arms crossed.

"But now you realize we have a lot of work to do here tonight," Ali told her. Musa turned and looked at the fairy confused, they got her kicked out, what else was left to do?

"Like…"

"Well you just got someone kicked out of here in front of everyone," Ali recapped. "We need to take Galatea's little plan and use it for ourselves. We have to make sure you look like the victim here; make it look like Galatea is some evil little girl who does things like this on a normal basis,"

"I can't trash her like that," Musa said. Getting her kicked out was one thing, she deserved it; but she was still family and Musa couldn't just go around spreading lies about her just because she had pissed her off; not that Galatea didn't deserve it, but Musa was just not that kind of person. Musa thought that this had finally sent the message to Galatea to leave her alone, it was public humiliation, it should have been pretty clear.

"Musa she is trying to push you out of your throne, your birth right," Ali reminded. "She is willing to do anything to take away what's rightfully yours and you are just going to sit back and let it happen?"

"Fine I'll play up the victim angle," Musa said. Ali was right, she couldn't just sit by and let Galatea take advantage of her normally kind nature, she had to fight back. Besides she was sick and tired of sitting back and simply taking everything people said about her; it was time to make an example out of Galatea.

"And I'll do the trashing," Ali said with a sly smile. "And you thought tonight was going to be boring,"

* * *

Musa sat on a bench outside of Alfea the morning after the museum fund raiser, seething in fury. She was still furious about what Galatea said about her, but she had managed to get her revenge when she got her kicked out and then ruined her reputation; well that was more Ali's area, but still. After a night that she had spent with the kind of people that she wanted to slap really hard in the face, she was now sitting on the bench in front of Alfea, at the crack of dawn she had left her room and was sent all over Magix to retrieve random things that Karen had 'hidden' for her.

After nearly five hours of wandering around the city, Musa found the ear muffs, suit case, travel sized lipstick and packing peanuts Karen supposedly 'needed'. Luckily her antic hadn't woken Techna since she had spent the night in her friend's dorm as the two were up all night doing some project for Wizgiz's class. Musa thought of her empty room and her warm bed and how she had given that up to be Karen's whipping boy or in this case, girl.

Now the musical princess sat out in the cold waiting for Karen to wake up and let her go back inside since she was instructed to wait at the stupid bench until she was told she could leave. Musa had thought about getting up and leaving so many times, but she figured if she was going to let Karen get under her skin so easily than that would let Karen win and it was something she did not want. Besides, if she was rejected from Kai Fli than it would also be like Karen had won, and again Musa was not about to let that happen.

About an hour later, Musa got a call on her phone from Karen, telling her that she could keep the things she sent her searching around Magix for and go back to her room if she wanted to. Infuriated with Karen because she simply did that to piss Musa off, even angrier because it did get under her skin, Musa stormed up to her room to get some sleep she should have gotten the night before.

At least hell week was going to end soon and Karen really hadn't done anything too bad to her. Musa was actually pretty surprised that something big hadn't happened; Karen's specialty was getting Musa into some type of trouble, which usually involved her family. This time all she had really done was made Galatea into a bitch, which wasn't very hard since she was only a hop skip and jump away from that when she got to Alfea. Musa had let go of the idea of having some type of relationship with her at this point, now she just wanted the girl to keep her distance.

With an exhausted sigh, Musa collapsed onto her bed without looking on what she was landing on, only to spring back up a second later in pain. She looked down and realized that she had lain down on a book, Musa flipped it open and inside the cover page, a note slipped out.

_Ali showed this to me, thought you might like it – Stella_

Musa smiled and opened the book, it was an old yearbook from years ago and as Musa flipped through the pages she realized that it was the year that her mother was a senior at the school. Musa remembered that she had one of these at home, but it was a different year and she hardly got to see it since it was packed away in storage with the rest of her mother's things. Forgetting all of her fatigue and the fact that it was still early in the morning and she had been up almost the entire night, Musa sat down at her desk and began flipping through the large yearbook, seeing her mother's pictures fill the pages.

It was almost weird seeing her mother's face, Musa had it permanently locked in her memory, but she was not used to actually having a picture. She had albums of pictures in her room, but she was always careful when looking through them. Her father only never looked at their old pictures, the ones when Musa was young and her mother was still alive; he never really recovered from losing her.

Running her fingers over the pictures, Musa felt tears form in her eyes, she wished so much that she could talk to her mother one more time. But seeing her pictures were enough to make Musa feel better about everything going on. She continued to look through the pages when she saw one picture with her mother and her grandparents. Musa had only met them once when she was younger and once again at her mother's funeral, but after that they had faded out of the picture.

She had asked her father a few times to go and see them, but her father never really gave her an answer and now that she was old enough to understand why he was so resistant to see them; she simply felt guilty about wanting to see them because she knew how much it hurt her father to think about her mother.

As she looked through the year book she began to get the inkling that her mother was pretty popular, her face was on almost every page. Musa felt some pride for being her mother's daughter, and it made her want to be more like her.

Hours later, Musa was still looking through the same yearbook when Ali, Techna and Stella came in the door. "Hey guys," Musa said with a smile, feeling happier than she had in a long time. She really loved this yearbook. "Thanks for showing me this," Musa said immediately when she saw Ali and Stella.

"We thought you'd like it," Ali said. "It was in the pile of spell books we were usuing to try to find a communication spell and I figured you might like it. Your mom was super popular,"

"And the president of Kai Fli," Stella added. "No wonder she was so famous,"

"Yeah," Musa said smiling down at the yearbook. "You mind if I keep this for a little while longer?"

"Nope it's all yours," Ali said. "I just came in to congratulate us, Hell week is officially over!"

"Seriously?" Musa asked. How was that possible, she was expecting Karen to come at her and do something crazy or aty least really try to humiliate her? A couple of sleepless nights and a pair of ruined slippers seemed a little too easy. "So what does this mean? Are we in now?"

"Nah, this was supposed to weed out the weak," Stella told her.

"Really? This week wasn't so bad," Musa said. "I don't know what the big fuss about hell week was about,"

"Speak for yourself," Ali said. "I had to endure things that a person should not even have to speak of,"

"Yeah you got lucky, which is a little ironic since you had the meanest sister as your guardian," Stella pointed out and then turned on her heels. "Well I've got a lunch date with Brandon in an hour and I need to get ready,"

"I should probably go too," Ali said. "I haven't seen the inside of my room in a week,"

Musa smiled and sat back down at her desk and noticed she had a new message on her phone. _– Meet me in Magix Central Park now; west entrance, it's an emergency – Brandon –_ Musa shut her phone with some worry wondering what exactly the problem was since Stella seemed fine when she was in here and since she was still under the impression that they were having a date later.

Without asking any questions Musa simply shut her phone and grabbed her bag. "I gotta run into Magix to get a new pair of slippers, I'll be back for class later," Musa told Techna as she ran out of the room.

"Alright," Techna said as the door shut in confusion. Who was in that big of a rush to get slippers?

* * *

Musa walked over to the west entrance of Magix Central park and saw Brandon standing by the large entrance gate with his back turned. The park was alive with kids running around the small hills, they were probably from some of the private charter schools from the city, Magix had some of the most exclusive prep schools even for toddlers. And then there were even smaller children running around with women that Musa could only assume were their nannies, chasing them around. Musa turned her attention back to Brandon as she got closer to him, he appeared to be talking to be talking to someone, but Musa couldn't quite see who it was, all she could really see was that he had dark brown hair. "Brandon what's the big emergency," Musa said walking up to the specialist and then seeing who it was he had been talking to.

She walked to the gate and stood in shock as the two boys turned to her, both looking a little nervous to see what her reaction would be. "Brandon," Musa said a couple seconds later, not turning to the squire but instead looking Daniel right in the eye with shock. The wind pushed his dark brown hair in his face and he looked so cute. Since when did Daniel and Brandon talk? She was the only way that they knew about each other. And how was this an emergency? Musa had run over to Magix in a near panic thinking something horrible happened since Brandon didn't give much detail in his cryptic little text. "What is this? What's going on,"

"We need to talk," Daniel said finally and walked towards Musa who did nothing to stop him. They did need to talk and she had been very hesitant to call him since Leslie and the twins were right, she fell into his arms when she was feeling vulnerable or upset; and she had been feeling that a lot lately. The last thing Musa wanted right now was to be stupid and fall under his charm once again, but sometimes it was so goddamn hard to not feel swept away by him.

"I can see you lovebirds need to talk," Brandon said sarcastically with a sly smile. "I should get over to Alfea and pick up Stella for our date anyway,"

Before Musa could say anything to stop him or say something remotely threatening to him, he was gone; leaving Musa and Daniel standing next to each other in an awkward stare. Musa looked down at her feet and began to play with her nails nervously. What was she supposed to say to him? She still wondered if he felt anything that night and hoped to god that he didn't so they could just move on. But if he did, she didn't know what she was going to do. "So how's school?" Musa said trying to find something she could open with, feeling so horrible about the way she left things.

"Really? Haven't talked to me in weeks and that's how you plan to open," Daniel criticized playfully giving her a small nudge on her shoulder as he and Musa began to walk along the cobblestone path of the large park. Musa wanted to say something clever back but she really could not think of a thing. So she smiled and laughed a small laugh with her head still looking down at her feet. "Come on Musa, you can laugh, it's me,"

"I know," Musa said softly. "Look about what happened after the ball at your place,"

"When you jumped on me?" Daniel quipped, once again trying to break the tension

"I believe it was you who was on top," Musa said not realizing how that sounded until she said it. But her slip served to finally break the ice and the two managed to have laugh and light up a bit. "I didn't mean it like it sounded," Musa then corrected feeling a little less tense. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad.

"About that night," Daniel said becoming more serious as the two continued down the cobblestone path. He looked down to Musa, the sun shining a little in his eyes. Musa looked up and forgot how good looking he was, there may have been no romantic feelings left for him in her heart, but the princess could not deny that he was enough to make her melt.

"I'm sorry," Musa cut in before Daniel could go on. She wasn't sure if she was ready to hear what he was about to say so she simply cut in hoping his feelings matched hers. "I was feeling, I dunno, I just got caught up in all of it. It felt so nice to be…,"

"Us again," Daniel finished for her with a comforting smile. "Yeah I know what you mean. I'm sorry too, I mean I didn't have to kiss you back, but I did."

Musa smiled up at Daniel and wrapped her slender arms around Daniel's waist to give him a hug. "So we're good?"

"We're good," Daniel told her. "Just no more kissing me, kay? I know I'm so damn hard to resist but-,"

"Shut up," Musa said pushing Daniel away with a hard shove as they walked. He laughed and threw his arm back around her shoulder. "It's not my fault, I was drinking. I mean seriously, I would need to be drunk to even go three with you," She said sarcastically.

"Yeah okay," He said with a roll of his eyes. "But we are okay right? This weird thing is over now right?"

"Yes, we're good," Musa assured him.

"So just out of curiosity," Daniel began. "Why was it that you kissed me? Besides my obvious raw sexual magnetism,"

"Like I said, I had been drinking," Musa repeated, she felt so relived to finally be able to joke around with him again. Finally after a summer that seemed a little suspect when she gave it some close thought, she and Daniel had finally moved past the romantic phase of their relationship and now they wouldn't have to worry about something coming between them and ruining their friendship. That was as long as either of them didn't do anything stupid like they had after the ball.

"Please that's not the reason," Daniel said refusing to take that as a reason. He knew something had to have been wrong for her to do that, he hadn't asked then but now that it was clear that they were on good terms, it was time he knew. He wanted to feel like he was her best friend again. "Seriously though, I feel like I know nothing about you,"

"Come on that's not true," Musa said realizing that it was. Ever since they broke up, Musa and Daniel had kept their conversations pretty light and airy. They acted like they were back to being as thick as thieves, but the fact was that she had been a little resistant to tell him about the things going on with her and she had a feeling he did the same. "Not entirely true,"

"It is," Daniel snapped back a little frustrated. "Why don't you tell me anything anymore?"

"I dunno," Musa said suddenly feeling like she had when she first saw Daniel standing with Brandon at the entrance of the park. "I guess it's just a little weird now,"

"It shouldn't be," Daniel told her.

"You're right," Musa said smiling as she looked up at him with her large sapphire eyes. She was never one to really tell anyone how she was feeling, the fact was she had her guard up a lot, she did have every right since she'd been burned enough. But Daniel was one of the few people she managed to open up to, so if she could do that before, she could do it now. "That night was just nice to have, it was an awful week at Alfea and I dunno it felt like I was wanted when we were out. It's stupid I know, but that's what I felt,"

"Yeah, I missed you," Daniel told her. "And it's not stupid, a little desperate maybe, but I won't tell anyone,"

"Why do I put up with you," Musa asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Because you love me," Daniel told her pulling her back under his arm with a laugh.

"Yeah I guess I do," Musa admitted. She needed to start including Daniel in her life again, it had been a long time since she had really filled him in on what was going on with her and it was a while since he had done the same. "So I'm a part of a sorority,"

Daniel let out a loud scoff with surprise. "Seriously? You?" He said with disbelief.

"Yeas me, why is that so surprising," The two contined on talking for the next few hours. They grabbed dinner at one of their favorite restaurants in Magix. Musa hadn't even realized that the sun was setting outside.

"Wow I just missed all my classes for the day," Musa laughed when she looked at her watch and then back at Daniel.

"You say it like you have never done it before," Daniel laughed. He and Musa and their little group had skipped a lot when she went to Devon and the managed to get away with it since they came from such influential families. Unfortunately staff at Alfea was not as easily swayed by the power of it's student body.

"Yeah but you guys have Headmaster Charleston to bail you out of ever mess," Musa commented. It was the job of Headmaster Charleston to make sure that all of his students were accepted into the best universities and made great leaders one day.

"A reason you need to get back to Devon as soon as possible," Daniel joked as the two walked out of the restaurants and the limo that Daniel had called for a few minutes before pulled up in front of the curb on the street as the two stopped, getting ready to say goodbye. "So, you're going to start calling me again,"

"Yes," Musa assured and jumped into Daniel's arms giving him a tight hug. "Call me when you land,"

* * *

Musa walked back onto the Alfea campus as the sun completely set over the horizon. She had told Techna that she was going into Magix for a quick visit to pick up a new pair of slippers and not only did her 'short' trip turn into a whole afternoon of catching up with Daniel but she didn't even have a pair of slippers to show for it.

"You missed class today," Techna said as Musa walked in and threw her bag on her bed. Techna sat on her bed working on her homework and she looked up at Musa with a skeptical look in hey eye with her eyebrow raised. "And you don't have slippers,"

"Yeah, I guess I forgot," Musa said nervously and spat a laugh out of her mouth.

"You forgot to pick up what you went out for," Techna asked. "And it took you over six hours to do so,"

"I'll explain later," Musa said. "It's just long and complicated,"

"Does it have something to do with Daniel," Techna said not looking up from her book, as if she had been expecting something like this to happen. "I haven't seen to talk to him in weeks, ever since you got back from the ball. So I figured…"

"Yeah, it's nothing though," Musa assured. She knew Techna would not tell anyone about what happened with Daniel, but the less that people knew about that, the less she would have to relive it and she had decided with Daniel today that they needed to move on. "It's all fixed now so no harm no foul,"

"If you say so,"

"Hey have you seen Tune?" Musa asked looking around the room. She hadn't seen her around the room or even around the school all day. Usually Tune was the first one to come back to the dorm since she always went to sleep early, 'early to bed, early to rise' she was always saying, hoping Musa might catch on. "She's usually back in the room getting ready for bed now,"

"I don't know, come to think of it, I haven't seen Digit all day either," Techna said as her brow crinkled in thought.

"I'm sure they're together somewhere," Musa assured beginning to feel a little worried when she thought about what trouble they may have gotten into. "Weren't they playing bumble ball or something?"

"Bumbaleanie ball," Techna corrected. "And they should be back in by now, it was hours ago,"

"Do you guys know where Amore is?" Stella said bursting into the room a second later. "We are supposed to be watching movies tonight and she isn't anywhere,"

"No, we can't find Tune or Digit either," Musa told her.

"Maybe Bloom knows," Stella said hurrying out of the room and over to Bloom and Flora's room. A few minutes later Stella ran back into the room and grabbed Techna and Musa.

"Bloom can't find Lockette, we need to go out and look for them," Stella said. "Chances are they are together so if we find one we'll probably find the rest of them,"

* * *

Ten minutes later the girls had assembled outside on the back grounds of Alfea. They first checked the gardens and the other usual spots where they could find the pixies; unfortunately they didn't have too much luck with finding them there so they kept searching. "This doesn't make any sense," Musa said as she looked around. "They are usually so responsible about telling us where they are,"

"It's romantic comedy night on the wishing star network, there is no way Amore would miss that," Stella said. They were all thinking the same thing, there was something wrong and it had to do with whatever Miss Faragonda was not telling them. "Something has to be wrong,"

"Yeah and Digit hasn't even texted me back," Techna added as she checked her phone once again. "I've been testing her for over twenty minutes and she never takes this long to respond, maybe something's happened to them,"

"Don't think like that," Bloom said. "I'm sure they are fine,"

"There they are!" Musa said just as she spotted the group of pixies, all walking off the campus through the back gate. They didn't look like they were even awar that they were doing it, but they continued to walk like zombies in the night.

"Alright, tell us what's going on you guys," Bloom said as the girls ran ahead of the pixies and stopped them from exiting the maze –like garden that they were standing in front of. All of the pixies had the same glazed expression on their faces, like they were sleep walking or something.

"We must get back to Pixie Village," Chatta said in a drone like tone.

"What are you talking about?" Bloom questioned, leaning over and examining them closer as her voice began to get a little sterner. "You know you can't go back there, Darkar will follow you and find out where that is and that can't happen,"

"Bloom wait, why do you guys want to go home?" Layla said stopping Bloom from yelling at the pixies.

"Because," Digit said disobediently, sounding like a child. "Just because,"

"Just because is not a good reason," Techna punished. "What's gotten into you,"

"We were supposed to watch a movie tonight, Amore, what's up," Stella added. "I got popcorn and everything,"

"I don't wanna do that," Amore said sadly holding her hands together tightly. "I wanna go home,"

"Come on scatter anybody!" Chatta called loudly. In the blink of an eye all the pixies flew in different directions, running away from the fairies they were bonded to.

"Wait!" Flora called desperately.

"We can't let them get away!"

"We won't," Bloom said and all the girls understood.

After transforming into their Winx the girls began to scan the entire area for the pixies. It didn't take long to get them all corralled into a spell proof box and once they were in there and safe, the girls put them back and their room and went straight to Miss Faragonda to find out what was going on.

Miss Faragonda told them to relax for now and wait until she could find a way to remove the spell from the pixies. Unfortunately the next night the pixies escaped and after hours of searching they found them and returned them safely to Alfea.

At least things were safe again.

For now.

* * *

_1. Anyone else wonder where Layla slept when she was at Alfea because Techna was still Musa's roomie at the time. (season three is when Layla moves in with her) So that's where I put her sicne she came in after school started. _

_I know the end was sort of rushed, but honestly this was another one of those episodes that was really dry so I added my plot lines and sped through the actual ones. _

_Bright side – the next chapter is one of my faves! _

_xoxo,  
__princessm_


	12. Truth or Dare

_Okay so the chapter that many of you were either waiting for or dreading is here! 'Truth or Dare' revolves mostly around Musa and Layla becoming friends and of course Jared becoming a part of Musa's life. This is one of my favorite chapters of the story simply because it's when Jared enters the mix and I, of course, concocted a fun story line for him and Musa. . I know many of you want to see more of Riven, and you will, but for this chapter (and a few more) Jared is taking the lead. But just because he's in Musa's life doesn't mean he's in her heart. _

_Also, this chapter is one of my longer ones, the longest so far. Take that as fair warning – enjoy!_

**Truth or Dare**

Musa didn't know why she always found herself confiding in Brandon, but she found him one of the most trustworthy people she had known and for most of her life she had been more apt to confine in guys ever since she was little. She had been raised by her father up until she was about five, when he officially took over as king and she was put in the care of nannies and her aunt. It made a lot of sense that it happened that way, because then she became so close to Daniel and Nate and years after she met them did she finally become close with Leslie and the twins, which helped to explain her tom-boy tendencies, although she had outgrown many of them.

Now she and Brandon had become great friends and the two sat together in Magix on Sunday morning enjoying some ice cream.

"So how exactly did you set up the clandestine meeting?" Musa asked as she took a spoonful of her ice cream. She and Brandon sat inside purple berry, Musa's favorite ice cream shop, at their usual table. Their meetings had become more and more frequent as the two became closer, Musa was beginning to see him as the older brother she never had, or wanted for that matter. She had been wondering how exactly Brandon managed to get a hold of Daniel when they had never really spoken two words to each other before that. And it wasn't like a prince's number was listed in a directory.

"Guess you'll never know," Brandon teased. "I'm just really awesome,"

"Did Leslie call you?" Musa asked. Someone had to have set up the meeting and it didn't seem like Brandon would have the right connections to the people Musa knew to make it happen.

"Actually, I had a double agent on the job," Brandon explained. He had told Musa of his childhood dream to be a spy when he was growing up, Brandon had grown up with Sky his entire life, since his father was a part of the King's secret service; and Brandon admitted that he loved the idea of secret missions. But three years at Red Fountain had cured him of the childish notion. "Ali swiped your phone during dance practice and texted me his number, from there I just called him,"

"Why Ali?" Musa asked thinking about how much easier it would have been if her asked someone from the Winx Club since the girls all lived with each other, it would have been very easy to get a hold of her phone that way.

"Well you gave me the impression that your _situation_ with Daniel was secret and I figured you wouldn't want the girls hassling you so I asked Ali to do it," Brandon explained. He really had thought this through, all to make Musa face someone she wasn't ready to face. "Ali didn't even ask any questions, so win-win,"

"Nice work Brandon," Musa said impressed. He had really thought his little plan through, more than Musa would have given him credit for.

"I thought so,"

"So the reason I needed to talk to you," Musa said looking down at her ice cream and swirling it around inside the cup it was in.

"Yeah," Brandon said. He and Musa usually talked about random happenings in their lives, but Musa had something eating away at her for awhile and the only person she could really talk to him about this since he would know about it.

"Okay so remember last year when Riven was under the spell by Darcy," Musa said and looking at Brandon's face as he realized that they were finally going to have this conversation. He had always known that Musa wasn't really past the whole Darcy incident and she probably wouldn't really recover from it for awhile, but now she was willing to talk about it, so this was a step for her.

"Vividly," Brandon said dryly. Riven was a huge pain the year before, he had become someone that they could hardly recognize; he knew Riven was trying his best at redemption for his mistakes.

"But there aren't any spells that can do that," Musa said making her way to her point. "No dark magic, no matter how powerful can put someone under complete mind control."

"Yeah that sounds about right," Brandon said in confusion. He didn't really understand why Musa was simply rehashing past events, especially ones that she hated to think about. "So what does this have to do with anything?"

"He had to be willing to do it," Musa pointed out. She could feel her heart ache as she said it, she didn't want to believe it but it was true. And if he didn't care enough to be loyal to his friends what made him care for her? She just could not get past the fact that Riven had some part in the spell. It was like he had chosen to side with Darcy and hurt his friends, hurt her; he had chosen Darcy over her. And that was something she couldn't seem to get past. "He made the choice to betray everyone,"

"Yeah, maybe but it's not like everything he did was him," Brandon defended seeing what Musa was getting at. "Look I know that day in Magix is hard for you to think about but it wasn't Riven attacking you, it was the witches,"

"With the help of Riven," Musa added.

"Who was spelled," Brandon shot back a little louder, then looking around and toning it down a bit when he realized that he and Musa had become the center of attention at the ice cream shop.

"Because he allowed himself to be," Musa reminded.

"They guy can't be perfect," Brandon defended, for the first time really surprised by the princess. Sure it was a mistake, but he apologized and was making strides to make up for it. Riven was a good guy who made a mistake. He couldn't believe that Musa was simply turning her back on him now, now that he was actually changing; for her. "Not everyone is prince charming,"

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing,"

"I'm not expecting someone to be a prince charming," Musa spat knowing exactly what Brandon meant. He was so obviously making a reference to Daniel and the fact that he was the perfect boyfriend, most of the time. But it wasn't like Musa wanted that again, she just wanted to be appreciated or for Riven to show some type of care for her. But he wasn't really doing that and with this added on top of it made Musa begin to believe that he never would. "I would like someone who doesn't, I dunno, fall under temptation so easily,"

"Trust me Musa, the guy has impressive tenacity," Brandon told her. Sure he had bent easily to Darcy's will, but now he was trying his best to never be so stupid again and it was very apparent for the guys that lived with him. Also, Brandon could tell how much Riven wanted Musa; it was pretty undeniable if someone took a look at Riven when Musa walked into a room. And he had managed to keep his hands off Musa, of course Brandon couldn't understand why since Musa was the one that everyone did approve of.

"Which is why he allowed himself to –," Musa began before being cut off.

"What do you want me to say? He made a mistake and we forgave him because it was a mistake," Brandon told her still surprised that he was defending Riven to the one person he had thought he would never have to. Sure the events of the year before hurt her, but he had thought she had moved on from it, but it was more than evident that it was still bugging her. "Everyone makes them, come on Musa, you forgive him,"

"Yeah, I just don't know if I can get past it," Musa said. "Maybe this is just what I needed,"

"I can't really blame you for feeling this way," Brandon told her. He understood her resistance when he though about it, it couldn't be easy for her to think of the guy she really liked with someone like Darcy and then knowing that it was partially his choice to be there had to hurt her and her pride. And one thing he had learned was Musa was just as proud as Riven was, except she was a little better at hiding it. "But he made a mistake," Brandon repeated hoping Musa wouldn't take this development too seriously.

"Yeah I guess," Musa said pushing her spoon into her cup, realizing that all of her ice cream was gone.

* * *

Musa rushed back to Alfea after her conversation with Brandon when she realized that she was going to be late to her Sunday afternoon masters class with Faragonda. It was just added to her schedule, all eighteen sophomores that made honors the semester before were now required to take the class to help improve their powers. That included the entire Winx Club, except for Stella and Bloom who really weren't the best students but since they were both such big help in the witch invasion and a part of the Winx Club, they were required to attend as well.

"Young ladies, welcome to the advanced placement seminar on power convergence," Miss Faragonda said as Musa rushed in and grabbed the empty seat next to Bloom. Miss Faragonda gave Musa a knowing smile after turning around from the board after writing 'power convergence' on it, to she hadn't missed the musical princess's stealthy late entry. "Convergence occurs when two or more fairies converge their powers; I know that we don't normally hold classes on Sunday's but you girls really need to develop this skill,"

"But we combine powers all the time," Bloom called out as she raised her hand, ignoring the fact that you were supposed to raise your hand first and then you say what you want to after being acknowledged by the professor. (**1**)

"There is combining and there is converging," Faragonda explained. "Only convergence allows you to multiply your powers,"

"Cool!" Stella said excitedly. "Maybe now I can knock Griselda down a peg," She said quietly under her breath to Musa.

"Say it louder," Musa said sarcastically, Stella was not good with being subtle. "I don't think she heard you,"

"Let me point out that convergence depends on one essential element," Miss Faragonda told the fairies, seeing that she really only had the attention of the first two rows of the room. "It can only take place when there is a true connection with the fairies involved; it requires a bond, the closer you are to someone, the stronger the convergence. It's proportional,"

"So it's based on friendship," Flora concluded.

"That is exactly right,"

"So if you converged with your BFF's than you could get the most powerful magic!" Stella said excitedly, dreaming up how she could use this information to get Griselda. Miss Faragonda nodded and the Solarian princess squealed again. "We can kick converged booty! (**2**)

"Yes well I want you girls to pair up and work on converging your powers to amplify the effects of both," Miss Faragonda told them. "I expect that you will work very hard and the assignment will be to open this magically sealed chest, using your converged powers,"

Miss Faragonda handed out the chests that held a 'surprise' inside and the girls were charged with the task to use convergence to open it. Musa stood up and looked to Ali to be her partner since Ali's powers were based in similar roots but just as she began to stand to walk towards Ali she noticed that Layla had turned away from everyone, standing by herself, and quietly left the room to join Stella and Flora outside, looking as if she were about to cry. "So are we supposed to bond and talk about our feelings to get this thing to open?" Ali said pointing to the chest that Musa had picked up.

"Actually I think I'm gonna pair up with Layla," Musa said watching as Layla stood quietly listening to everyone around her talk but not actually participating in the conversations herself. She felt a strange kinship towards her, Musa had always felt a little out of place in her royal setting even though she had grown up a princess. She had a group of close friends since she was about five but sometimes she felt alone a lot of the time when they weren't around because she wasn't very good at making friends for herself. If it weren't for her friends coming into her life when she was a young girl than she probably wouldn't have any of the friends or connections that she had now. "She looks a little alone, besides you can work with Jackie. She's nice and she'll probably do all the work for you,"

"That's fine," Ali said not at all offended. She turned back and noticed that Layla looked a little upset too. "She looks like a lost puppy,"

"I think she feels left out," Musa said knowing how bad it felt when you felt out of place and she didn't want Layla to feel that way, especially when she really did have some good friends here at Alfea. "I just want her to know she has friends here,"

"You're a sweetheart," Ali said grabbing her chest. "I should go and give Jackie a list of orders. I'll see you at dance,"

"Bye," Musa said she and Ali walked out of the room and Musa joined the rest of the Winx Club, which included Layla. "Hey girls,"

"We're heading outside to hang out for a bit since this Sunday is shot with this new assignment," Stella said. "I still can't believe we have to have class on Sunday's now,"

"I'm gonna go see Palladium and check on the pixies," Bloom said as she began down the corridor on the opposite side. "I'll catch up to you guys outside,"

* * *

"So how are we supposed to get this stupid thing open," Stella complained as she sat down on the bench as she pulled at the opening of the chest.

"The point of the assignment is to open it with power convergence," Musa pointed out, walking over to a large tree and leaning back in it's shade against the truck.

"It's time for a power convergence nap," Stella said with a yawn just as she laid back on the bench. She closed her eyes and bathed in the sun and Bloom walked onto the green and sat next to Flora down next to the tree.

"So what did Palladium tell you?" Flora asked.

"He said he permanently removed the homesickness spell on the pixies and as soon as they sleep for four hours they'll be cured for good," Bloom told them excitedly.

Musa looked over to Layla when the girls began to talk about the class assignment for Faragonda's master's class, she noticed that Layla had isolated herself again. She couldn't really figure out why since she had gone down to Shadowhaunt with them and spent a lot of time with them. Musa figured that by now she had to be at least a little used to them and feeling less anxious about being around the group of girls. "Hey Layla, do you wanna team up with me for Faragonda's class?" Musa asked as she approached her. Layla had her arms crossed and she was looking out at the other side of the campus.

"Thanks for asking," Layla said looking down at the ground sadly, Musa couldn't understand why all of a sudden she was mopey, she seemed fine the day before when she had talked to her last. "But you should pick another partner; I won't be very good,"

"Why not?"

"I'm not good with connecting and friendship and stuff," Layla said looking back down.

Just as Musa opened her mouth to try to comfort the fairy, someone she was sure she didn't know called for her. "Hey Musa," Musa looked up and saw a guy with dark hair and golden eyes, that reminded her of Stella's, walked up to her with a nervous smile. He didn't look like most of the cocky guys from Red Fountain; he didn't act it for sure. "Hi, uhh am I early? I'm Jared from Red Fountain," He continued "I just want you to know that you don't have to worry, you can trust me I am a very safe driver,"

Now she was confused. Who was this guy, she searched her mind trying to think of plans she may have made with someone at Red Fountain, he did look familiar, but that was probably because she saw him before at the school. "So I was thinking we could do like lunch and a movie, that is unless you think that's too much for our first date,"

"Hold on," Musa said putting her hand on her hip and leaning in to talk to him softly, becoming very aware of the fact that the entire Winx Club was practically climbing on top each other to listen into the conversation. Taking in all the information she was given, Musa tried to think of when she had agreed to go out with this guy. She was sure she had never even met him before. "What exactly are you talking about?"

"Okay…" Layla said nervously sensing the tension in the air and getting the hell outta there before Musa blew a gasket. "Well I got to go," She waved nervously and walked off.

"Did I get the day wrong or were you not expecting to have a date today?" Jared asked drawing a little closer to her. Up close he was actually pretty cute, but what was all of this about a date?

"A date?" Musa repeated still trying to figure out what the hell was going on. She could hear her friends behind her making smart comments that were making her feel flustered. Musa felt her face heat up at the fact she had suddenly become the center of attention, she was really only okay with that when she was on stage. "No," Musa said plainly.

"Oh well how embarrassing," Jared said as he backed away from her, being the second person in the conversation to feel extremely embarrassed. "But we could still go out,"

"Who set this up?" Musa said knowing what the answer was but giving Stella the benefit of the doubt.

"Stella," Jared said wondering why she was acting so surprised, not realizing that Stella had set up this date without really asking for Musa's permission to market her at Red Fountain. Musa felt herself fuming at the thought, god she had told Stella a million times that she didn't want to be set up on a date with anyone and then she just went behind her back and did something like this. She was a second away from ringing the solar fairy's neck. "Oh gosh, well…I can't believe she didn't tell you about this," Jared said in his same nervous tone he had been speaking in as if he had never talked to a girl before, it kind of reminded Musa of Timmy.

Musa began to walk off angrily, not wanting to go back for two reasons; if she got close enough to Stella than she was scared she may actually hit her, and this time she wasn't simply thinking about doing it. And second, she didn't want to face Jared, he seemed really sweet and she wasn't exactly nice to him, Tune would have had a heart attack if she had seen the way Musa had treated him. Suddenly she felt some strong feel of loyalty to Riven, not that he had really done anything to earn it. But she needed to apologize to Jared, it wasn't his fault that Stella was so inconsiderate and he seemed like he was looking forward to going out with her, which was faltering.

Just as Musa was ready to turn around she felt a strong gust as a leva bike sped past her and swerved around to a stop. Jared leaned one foot on the ground with one foot still on the leva bike. "Hey there," Jared said pulling his helmet off. "That was lame, I just wanted to apologize to you before I left,"

"It's not your fault," Musa said feeling a little ashamed with herself, she was treating this perfectly nice guy the way Riven treated her and she knew how awful that could feel. "I'm sort of dating someone right now but Stella doesn't approve," Just as the words left her mouth, Musa realized how much she was lying to herself and to Jared. Sort of dating was way more that what was going on with Riven, she was closer to that with Daniel than she was with Riven.

"Hey forgot about the date, okay?" Jared told her. "I'm the editor of the Red Fountain school paper,"

"Uh yeah and…"

"Come for a ride with me and I'll interview you for an article that I'm writing," Jared said with an adorable smile. Musa wanted to say 'no' simply to spite Stella, but she hadn't been out with a guy other than Brandon or Daniel in such a long time so it was time that she got back in the game, since she was beginning to think that it was the best thing for her.

His face made her heart melt, she was touched by how sweet he was by apologizing to her for something he hadn't even done. "Sure, why not," Musa said grabbing the helmet he had offered her and then got onto the leva bike and wrapped her arms around Jared's waist. She could feel abs underneath his shirt, something she hadn't really expect with him, but hey she was going for a ride, might as well have some fun.

* * *

Jared took Musa to the lake in the middle of enchanted forest and the two sat down on a nice little picnic blanket. "I thought you said lunch and then a movie," Musa said wondering why he had a picnic planned if they were going out to lunch.

"This is what I meant by lunch," Jared said sitting down on the blanket and gesturing for her to join him. "Hope that's okay,"

"It's really sweet actually," Musa smiled feeling her heart jump when he looked at her. "This place is really nice," She said walking over to the flowers growing by the trees and smelling them. "Lilies are my favorite," she said quietly not knowing that Jared had heard her and taken mental note. "So how did you meet Stella,"

"Acutely I was talking to her at the Kai Fli mixer with the Omega Chi's," Jared explained. "She knows my friend Pete,"

"Oh you're the one she was talking about," Musa said finally putting things together, realizing that Stella had been planning this little get together for a while. "I guess she really didn't spring this whole thing on me,"

"Yeah sorry about that," Jared apologized again. Musa couldn't help but love how sweet he was, he was caring and made her feel more important than Riven ever had. He was pretty cute, Riven was rugged and chiseled and just really sexy and while Jared was none of that he was handsome in his own right. He may not have given Musa a bolt of desire that passed through her like Riven had but he was something she feared Riven could never be.

"Don't worry about it," Musa said once again. "Seriously, this will be fun. So no offence but you don't exactly come off as a guy I would expect to be in a fraternity,"

"Yeah I'm really not into that whole thing, but every guy in my family since my great-great grandfather have been to Red Fountain," Jared explained. "And every single one of them was a brother in the Omega Chi frat. I couldn't very well tell my father that I didn't want to join and since I'm a legacy I'm pretty much in,"

"I know a thing or two about family obligation," Musa said briefly recalling that Stella had said something about Jared being nobility, and by the way he had just described his father and his family, she could guess that he was.

"Yeah, but I guess you get used to it," Jared said with a laugh. "My parents aren't really expecting too much from me except to make them look good, my older brother is the one who is gonna be taking over their estate,"

"That's good I guess," Musa said wondering what it would be like if she had an older sibling, she had always wanted one but her friends had become so close to her friends that they were now like family. "I mean it's less pressure on you,"

"True and my brother loves the idea of taking over so it's a pretty good deal,"

"What realm are you from?" Musa said realizing that she really didn't know too much about him other than that he was the editor of the paper at Red Fountain and that he was nobility.

"Callisto," Jared answered. Callisto (**3**) was the sister planet of Vallisto which happened to be the planet that Bloom pretended to be the princess of the year before to secure a place at Alfea. Callisto was pretty famous for artwork and literature which explained why Jared was into writing.

"I've been there," Musa said excitedly as if it was something strange that she had been able to travel the universe, she was a princess after all and that wasn't exactly a forgien idea. But she had only been to Callisto a few times, it was a beautiful place, she had goen to the famous beaches on the Paradisus (**4**), Daniel had actually bought a beach house there. "One of my best friends has a house on the Paradisian shore; it's such a pretty place,"

"My family used to summer there when I was younger," Jared said. "Have you ever been down to the part of the shore with all the dunes and rocks?"

"Yeah why?" Musa asked she remembered that was not too far from the beach house and she and her friends had a huge bon fire around there until they got in trouble since bon fires were strictly prohibited on the beach.

"The dunes are there because the water gets really bad there," Jared explained. "And they were added because when I was five, I jumped off one of the rocks on a dare and nearly drowned when I hit my head on the rocks," He finished with a laugh. "I wasn't the brightest kid,"

Musa laughed, a genuine laugh, she was actually having a lot of fun right now and it was kind of exciting to be out with him and he was so cute. "Aww, well I'm glad your okay,"

"You're really pretty when you laugh," Jared said softly to Musa as he drew closer and pushed the bangs out of her face gently. Musa smiled bashfully, feeling her face heat up and her heart race at his touch. She felt herself move closer to him until she realized what she was doing and backed away a little.

Sensing her resistance, Jared backed off a little and looked down to the ground feeling a little embarrassed. He couldn't help it though, she was so beautiful and sweet, the fact that she had told him that she was 'involved' slipped his mind. "So have you ever gone to boarding school before or is Alfea your first time away from home?" Jared asked picking up the conversation after an awkward moment of eye contact.

Musa couldn't remember the last time she had smiled so much; he was actually interested in what she had to say. Not like the guys at home that only pretended to be interested so that they could have a chance of getting into her pants and not like Riven who simply wasn't interested. He was a really nice chance of pace. "I went to Devon prep before Alfea, I lived in a dorm but I was only an hour out from the palace so my dad was able to keep tabs on me. Or so he thought anyway,"

Jared looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "You don't strike me as the type to sneak out of bedroom windows and shimmy down a rail gutter,"

"Well I didn't do _that_," Musa giggled. "I did once but that was just cause one of my friends dared me to and I was not about to let her win truth or dare. But my dad was a little ridiculous with his demands on how I should act. I wasn't allowed out of my dorm after dark. Not that we really listened to that,"

"My parents really weren't too worried about that whole bit," Jared admitted leaning back on her palms and looking up at the sky and then over to Musa. "But once I was a little hung over at a state brunch and my dad was pissed,"

"I can imagine," Musa laughed. "My best friend showed up to some ally prince's coronation absolutely smashed," Musa recalled the day that Nate and Leslie had broken up and he was not handling it well, he had shown up to the prince of Apollo's coronation completely drunk and Musa and Daniel tried their best the entire day to keep him from making a fool of himself.

"Did he make a scene?"

"No, well not at first," Musa explained. "At first he was just sitting there drinking more and more, no matter how hard we tried to get him to sober up but by the end of the night he was walking in the garden and fell into the fountain in the center in front of the entire royal family,"

"No way," Jared said with a fit of laughter.

"Yeah but we convinced everyone that he was really sick and dizzy," Musa said and then realized that the original reason she had gone out with him was for the Red Fountain paper. "Oh my god you cannot write about that,"

"Are you kidding? Cordatorta would kill me," Jared told her. "So onto things I could write about in the paper, what you like about Alfea,"

Musa began to explain all the things she loved about the school, sliding in a few flirty giggles, since apparently she was pretty when she laughed. The hours passed quickly and Musa didn't realize that the afternoon had turned into early evening. "You think this stuff is interesting," Musa said leaning back on her hands and watching him write down what she was saying on his notepad.

"Yeah it's going to make a great article," Jared said looking over to her and smiling. Musa smiled and laid back on the blanket and looked up at the sky, not seeing Jared pick some lilies that were growing not too far from them. "But I think I've bored you enough with all of this,"

"Oh I'm not bored," Musa insisted, she really didn't want to end the day just yet. "How about we go to that movie?"

"Really? It's not too much for a 'non date'," He teased having to remind himself that this wasn't a real date no matter how much it felt like it.

"Well if you don't wanna go…"

"I'm definitely not saying that," Jared said rather confidently showing a side of him that looked a little more assertive, making Musa feel even more giddy about him. He stood up and offered her his hand to help her up. "So how about we get going before you change your mind,"

"Well I hope you know I plan on dragging you into a chick flick," Musa joked, she actually did want to see a movie that was coming out about a guy falling for his best friend who then got engaged to someone else while she went on a business trip to some other realm (**5**) but she would rather see something they would both enjoy, however she had a feeling Jared really wouldn't care if she dragged him in there.

"Fine, but you'll have to do something to entertain me," He said with a sly smile, surprising Musa even more. He may not have been super confident when she first saw him but she could see that he took a little time to open up and that he was actually really sexy when he smiled like that.

"Action movie it is," Musa said with a malicious smiled, hoping on the back of Jared's leva bike and holding on tight to his muscular body as he sped away from the lake and over to Magix.

A couple hours later Musa and Jared emerged from the theater after watching Mission Improbably 6 as the sun still sat high in the sky. In Magix during the late winter, it didn't get dark until later in the night so it was still pretty bright even though it was pretty late in the evening. "That wasn't as bad as the critics said it would be," Jared laughed. Usually when a movie went into it's sixth installment, it was pretty horrible and this movie was no different.

"Yes it was," Musa said with a laugh. "But I had a lot of fun," she told him, they had spent a lot of the movie making fun of the actors or simply talking straight through it; it wasn't like they were disturbing anyone since not many people came out to see the movie.

"Yeah me too," Jared said as the two walked together along the sidewalk, his fingers slowly laced between hers until the two were holding hands and walking along the street with many of the other couples out and about. Musa took notice to the fact that he had managed to get a hold of her hand and she couldn't help but love the attention she was getting and the feeling he was giving her. She had forgotten how good it felt to have a boyfriend, not that Jared was her boyfriend, she had to remind herself of that fact.

"Oh man I need to get back for curfew," Jared said when they passed by the large clock tower in Magix square that was located right in the center of the city.

"That's kind of early," Musa said, her face crestfallen. She didn't want this to end just yet.

"The pledges of Omega Chi got in a little trouble during hell week last week," Jared explained looking down to the ground. "We had to break into Cordatorta's place in Magix and steal a jock strap,"

"That's vile," Musa cringed. "We didn't have to do anything nearly as bad,"

"Yeah and we got caught so not only did we have to do fifteen laps around the school in our boxers at 4 a.m., courtesy of Omega Chi," Jared explained feeling a little embarrassed but still at ease with Musa. "But we're in some trouble with Saladin as well,"

"Well I don't want you to get in trouble because of me,"

"It would be worth it though," Jared said as he helped her onto his bike, making her blush for the hundredth time that day.

* * *

"I wish I didn't have to get back for curfew," Jared said lifting the visor to his helmet, holding Musa's hand to help her off the leva bike, then letting his hand linger there for a second, not wanting to let her go. They had arrived back to Alfea to drop Musa off, to both of their dissatisfaction, it was pretty clear the two wanted the non -date to go on for a little longer. "I had a really good time,"

"Me too," Musa said. She actually felt herself aching a bit to go with him, she had almost forgotten the feeling you got when you made a connection with someone knew. Musa got similar feeling when she and Riven were together, but she hadn't really thought of him while she was with Jared, well only when she was pointing out to herself bitterly how much different Riven would have been, not that she would ever get the chance to find out.

"Oh I almost forgot, you said you liked lilies didn't you?" Jared said reaching into the compartment in the front of his bike and pulling out a bouquet of lilies. He could not stop smiling as he gave them to her, hoping she would like them. Musa dropped the helmet she was holding and took the flowers feeling like she was walking on air. Musa's heart melted when she saw him pull out the flowers, why did he have to be so perfect? He was making it so hard for her to not like him. She wasn't used to getting this type of attention, well she was when it came to Daniel, but she wasn't used to it by someone she didn't even know. "We should go on a real date sometime,"

"I think you're a really great guy Jared," Musa said smelling the lilies, trying to fight the urge to jump into his arms like a love sick puppy. He was saying the right things and acting so sweet, she didn't even know why she found herself saying what she said next. She couldn't even face him when she said it, fearing he would see right through her façade that she didn't feel anything for him. "I just wanna be friends okay? I told you, I'm involved,"

Jared looked down disappointedly as the visor of his helmet closed. "I hope your boyfriend knows how lucky he is," He said as the engine of the bike roared as he got ready to leave the Alfea quad. "And if you ever find yourself without a boyfriend and in the need of another non-date, give me a call,"

Musa nodded and watched as he pulled out of the school and rode back to Red Fountain, wishing that she had told him to stay a little longer, or that she had told him that she wanted to see him again because she really did. Damn that Riven, all of a sudden she was feeling loyal to him even though he had done nothing to earn that type of loyalty. He couldn't manage to be nice to her most of the time and when he was civil, he ended up bailing just as they got a little closer. He wasn't her boyfriend, not even a little, yet she still felt like she had betrayed him.

"Stella we need to talk," She said as she walked back towards the middle of the quad and saw Stella and Bloom running towards her excitedly, probably hoping that she was now officially with Jared.

"How did it go?" Stella said excitedly.

"You were gone for a really long time," Bloom pointed out, it had been hours since they left earlier that afternoon.

"Are you glad I set it up," Stella said smugly looking very proud of herself. The truth was Musa really did have a great time today and she wanted to do it again, but she was still angry with Stella about setting up the date without even informing Musa of it. She didn't want her to have the satisfaction of knowing that her actions went unnoticed and she could just get away with them thinking everything would turn out fine.

"You really should have asked me first," Musa snapped feeling more angry at herself than she did with Stella. She hated herself for feeling guilty since she didn't owe Riven a damn thing and she hated herself for sending Jared away like that when she knew that wasn't what she really wanted.

"If I had asked you would have said no," Stella defended. "Please don't be mad at me Musa, didn't you like Jared?"

_Yes. _

"Come on," Musa said looking to the ground, avoiding the question and turning around. "That is not the point!"

"I knew it!" Stella said with a giddy laugh. "You two are a perfect match!"

"But I've got Riven," Musa said loudly reminding herself not to do the same thing she had done the year before. She was not the kind of person that could juggle two guys at once, and it was not a good idea. It nearly killed her relationship with Daniel when she wasn't honest with him and since then they had been in a weird place, and it was just recently that they got to a good place in their relationship.

"Why would you want to be with Riven when you could be with Jared," Stella teased a little seeing the look on Musa's face, it looked like she had succeeded in showing Musa that she could meet a great guy that treated her well.

"Just stay out of it," Musa snapped angrily and stomped off. She was not really ready to face the truth just yet, why couldn't her life just be simple like her friends'? They had guys that weren't so damn difficult and they were happy; now Musa was faced with a decision she really didn't want to make.

"I am never wrong about this stuff!" Stella shouted loudly as Musa left the quad and began on her way inside. "My matchmaking record is impeccable,"

* * *

Musa walked into the school unable to stay angry at Stella, she was a little too busy trying to keep herself from busting out in a giddy fit, so she walked into the school so Stella could not see that she really was not too angry anymore, she wanted Stella top squirm a little first. She hadn't felt so happy and nervous and excited in such a long time. Jared had been so perfect and sweet and he liked her and was trying to impress her. This was how relationships were supposed to be. Nobody was hiding their feelings or dating psycho witches bent on destroying the universe. It was normal, and something Musa had been yearning for.

"Guess who got out of the exam tomorrow," Musa felt Ali tap her shoulder as she joined her as the musical princess made her way up to her room. "Since Jackie and I got that stupid spell to work,"

"What exam?" Musa asked.

"Oh right, you're not supposed to know about it," Ali said. "Oops, oh well. You know how you guys have to go back to class later tonight,"

"Yeah," Musa said dejectedly. She only had about an hour to plan how she and Layla were going to open that stupid chest, and things didn't look too good since she had spent most of the day with Jared instead of really getting to know Layla

"Well you're gonna have an exam tomorrow," Ali said cheerfully not meaning to rub it in, but doing so by her exuberance. But Musa really didn't care; her mind was on other matters. "And what has you so dazed,"

"Dazed? I'm fine," Musa said with a silly smile, realizing that she had been staring out in front of her while Ali was talking, she had been thinking about the 'non-date' she was on and replaying it over and over in her head.

"No you look..." Ali began stopping to look at Musa for a second, examining her face as if looking for something. Musa quickly tried her best to suppress the waves of happiness that were just radiating from her, she tried to make a more serious face but she couldn't help but smile. She was having a lot of fun thinking about Jared, and ignoring the guilt she was feeling, and she was really hoping she would see him again. She really didn't think too much of her feelings since she figured she was just excited with the change of pace and the fact that someone was so sweet and charming to her. A knowing smile grew across Ali's face and her eyes went wide when she figured what had caused Musa's sunny disposition. "What has gotten into you?" She asked provocatively. "Or should I say who?"

"Do you need to be so blunt all the time?" Musa reprimanded.

"Don't think your squealing out of this, what's up," Ali asked her refusing to move out of her way until she spilled what it was that was making her so happy.

"It's nothing, really," Musa said still unable to pull off a straight face, seeing that she wasn't fooling Ali for even a second she decided to go on. "Okay, I kinda had a date today,"

"Riven finally asked you out!" Ali said excitedly. "Well it's about time, although I was kind hoping you would find someone el-,"

"It wasn't Riven," Musa corrected. "And I don't think I'm going out with him again so don't make a big to-to about this, okay," Musa said quickly before Ali could respond.

"Wait, what?" She said in confusion. "Who was it?"

"It was a date that Stella set up with out telling me," Musa explained. "His name is Jared,"

"Didn't you like him?" Ali asked trying to think if she had met him before. "I think he's a friend of James' because I have definitely heard that name before,"

"I dunno, I think maybe I'm just excited because it's been awhile since I've been out on a first date," Musa admitted. "You know, it's probably nothing,"

"Or it could be something," Ali pointed out as they reached her room door. Ali had a habit of running into Musa when she was on her way back to her room, probably because they lived in the same wing, but she always ended up walking Musa to her door. "But you'll never know unless you go out with him again,"

"You know I'm right," Musa heard as she walked into her room and shut the door.

"Right about what?" Techna asked looking over to Musa as she entered the room. The remainder of the Winx Club was in Musa's room. Techna was working on the assignment with Flora and Musa had a feeling that Flora invited Layla over wit them so she wouldn't be alone since the girls had picked up on her behavior lately and were trying to make an effort to welcome her to their group a little more.

"Oh nothing," Musa said with a roll of her eyes. "Just Ali being Ali,"

"So how was the date?" Flora ventured after a couple moments of awkward silence. Musa had gone on to getting her books out and hoped nobody would bring it up because she did not want to talk to her friends about it. She had told Ali because she knew Ali would first of all keep her mouth shut about it and because Ali was not the kind of person that would ask too many questions if she sensed the person was not in the mood to talk about it. When it came to her close friends she was not one to pry; besides she was not as close to the issue as the girls were. If Musa did tell them about how great Jared was, they might get the wrong idea and it would affect the guys since it would inevitably become a little awkward with Riven.

But Musa was trying her best not to base her decision of what she was going to do about Jared with her feelings for Riven, because those feelings were on shaky ground. Over the past few weeks she had begun to doubt her feelings for him and if she could really get past his betrayal from the year before. And now with Jared showing her how great a relationship could be, she was more confused than ever.

"It wasn't really a date," Musa answered without really answering the question. "He was just asking me a few things about Alfea for his article,"

"Oh how fun," Flora said. Luckily for Musa, Stella wasn't in the room and Flora, Techna and Layla really didn't ask questions when it was obvious she didn't want to answer them so the room feel quiet again.

"So Layla," Musa said turning to Layla as she pulled the chest out of her drawer and sat down next to Layla. "How about we get started on the assignment, sorry I was gone all day."

"Don't worry about it," Layla said a little surprised, she hadn't really agreed to be Musa's partner, but Musa wasn't going to take 'no' for an answer so she was stuck. Besides Musa wanted to make sure Layla was okay.

"So what should we do," Musa asked examining the chest and then looking up to see Techna and Flora had some crazy contraption made out of twigs that was moving mechanically.

"I don't really know," Layla said looking perplexed as she examining the chest. "I have power over water so we send a stream of water through the seal, "

"And use sound waves to pry it open," Musa finished for her. The idea seemed pretty perfect in it's simplicity.

"Oh this was on the common room table for you," Layla said as Techna and Flora went off to get something to eat, leaving Musa and Layla alone in the room. She handed over a very formal looking envelope over to Musa, she gave it a quick once over and saw the Kai Fli seal on it.

"It's from Kai Fli," Musa explained as she opened it and read it quickly. "There is going to be a charity carnival in Magix Central Park in a couple weeks and Kai Fli is hosting it,"

"Sounds fun," Layla said as Musa handed her the letter for her to see for herself. "And it's for a good cause,"

"Yeah you guys should come by, it will be fun," Musa said and then put the envelope and the letter in her nightstand drawer. She then looked back over to the desk and saw that they hadn't really 'bonded' too much and they needed that to make the convergence more powerful. "So I really don't know too much about you besides the fact that your from Tides,"

"Honestly, there isn't much more to know," Layla confessed sitting down on Musa's bed and picking up the chest that sat between her and the musical princess. "I grew up under my parent's watch and they were really strict about royal rules. What about you?"

"Same thing really," Musa said, she had a feeling Layla wasn't exactly the social butterfly that someone like Stella was and from the looks of it she didn't do a lot of rebelling against royal protocol like Musa had. "I wasn't really officially a princess until I was four, but after that I was put into charm school and all that other fun stuff,"

"Yeah same," Layla complained. "I hated it so much,"

"One time and my friend Daniel were supposed to demonstrate appropriate conversation for a garden tea and we ended up slipping laxatives into the teacher's tea," Musa recalled. "The rest of the day we were sent back to the castle to 'practice' while our teacher was out for weeks,"

"I was a little too scared to do that to my etiquette teacher," Layla admitted with a laugh.

"Well I don't think I would have done it if Daniel wasn't there," Musa explained. "We grew up together and he was always a bit of a trouble maker,"

Musa and Layla spent the next hour talking about their lives before Alfea and it seemed like Layla was finally opening up to her, which was nice since she seemed really resistant to becoming her partner for this project for some reason.

* * *

"Now let's review your elementary convergence spell exercises," Miss Faragonda said. The girls all had their assignments out on their desks and were then told to present their spells to Miss Faragonda. Everyone looked a little nervous since most of them didn't have time to try out their plans for opening the chest.

First off were Flora and Techna, who had tried to open the chest with a technologically controlled piece of wood shaped as a hand. But it failed to even get to the chest without falling apart. "I told you technology will never be able to control nature,"

She and Layla were up next, they began to send sound waves through a stream of water. "Hmm… water molecules and sound waves," Miss Faragonda said a little impressed with the idea, however when Musa sent the sound waves through the water, a high pitched screech was sent out throughout the room and Musa immediately stopped.

"This can't be because Layla and I aren't connecting because I know that we are," Musa said in confusion, she and Layla were actually becoming really good friends and she didn't know why it wasn't working. She felt a little bad for Layla though, hoping she wouldn't taking it too personally.

But it did make them feel better than only a few people managed to make the convergence work, Ali and Jackie being two of them,

"You will have an exam on this tomorrow so I expect you girls to try your best to make this work," Faragonda told the girls. "I will give you the rest of today to work on your convergence and I expect all of you to do well, you are after all some of the best students here,"

The girls gathered their things and began on their way out when Miss Faragonda stopped the six of them as they were about to leave the room. "Girls, can I speak with you for a moment,"

"Sure," Musa said for the group as they turned around and walked over to their head mistress.

"I am a little concerned about your performance today," she began standing up from the desk she was seated at and leaning against the front of it. "I expected you six to breeze through this assignment,"

"I guess we should have worked a little harder," Bloom said looking down at the floor feeling a little ashamed. They were the great 'Winx Club' after all, the driving force in the defeat of the witches the year before, the go-to girls when there was a issue of particular importance and they couldn't manage to do and elementary convergence.

"I want to show you where your exam will be held," Miss Faragonda said walking out of the room and motioning for the girls to follow her.

"We're going to take the exam here!" Techna exclaimed when she looked at the place that their head mistress had led them to. Miss Faragonda nodded and opened the security door to the magical reality chamber and led the girls in.

"Indeed, tomorrow you girls will take the exam on the magical reality chamber," Miss Faragonda said as walked into the chamber and turned around to face the girls. Musa didn't even know that this place was fixed, the last time that she was in here was when it went haywire. She didn't exactly trust their piece of technology but at least this time she knew that the witches would not be messing with it again.

"You mean together as one team?"

"Exactly, you six will be faced with a task in here; I suggest you spend the rest of the day really getting to know each other, working on your connection. Bond as much as you can," She advised. "I expect a lot out of you girls and I know that you will be able to pull through the task at hand," She then excused herself, to head back to her office and let the girls reacquaint themselves with what they were expected to do.

"Jared is here," Stella said making Musa turn around she look over to the control room glass where the teachers usually stood to observe the students as they took their exams in the magical reality chamber. "I didn't know you two made plans,"

"We didn't," Musa snapped looking over to him through the chamber, he smiled a small smile but when she looked into his honey eyes they looked like they were in a dead stare. She could have sworn she had seen that look before. Jared had said something about coming over today to check out the school and do some research for his article, the fact had completely slipped her mind and Musa felt her heart skip a beat when she saw him through the glass. "He's just here doing research for his article," Musa said remaining calm and collected, she did not like the idea of telling Stella she may have been right about Jared.

"Don't tell me two are going to start fighting again," Bloom complained. A week wasn't complete unless the two had it out at least once about the most ridiculous things, but this disagreement seemed to run deep since everyone knew how touchy Musa got about her relationship with Riven, and with Jared in the picture, that relationship was on rocky ground.

"Yeah we need harmony to make this work," Flora insisted.

"Fine let's have a sleepover!" Stella suggested happily, moving on from the subject. Musa turned around and looked over to the glass and saw that Jared was now gone, she was a little disappointed that she didn't at least have the chance to talk to him. "We can tell our best friendship stories," (**6**)

Musa nodded reluctantly knowing she would forgive Stella, especially since she was starting to fall into a crush with Jared and if something did happen with them she knew she was going to have to swallow her pride and tell thank her for setting up the date in the first place; even though Stella shouldn't have done it without her permission. Musa could be as pissy as she wanted but the fact was she had already forgiven Stella, she usually had her friends' interest at heart in the first place anyway.

All of a sudden Layla turned around and ran out in tears and everyone looked to Stella, seeing as she was the one who seemed to have caused the outburst. "Hey what happened?" Bloom looked back in confusion seeing Layla run out of the chamber.

"I don't know what you said but you always manage to hurt people's feelings," Musa snapped at Stella and then began to walk out of the chamber after Layla.

"Sensitive," Stella pointed out. "I didn't mean to hurt her feelings,"

* * *

Musa found Layla sitting out by the west wing of the school at the foot of a tree, with her arms wrapped around her bent knees and crying heavily. Musa had been wondering a lot about Layla and why she was so hesitant to talk about her life before she got to Alfea. But everyone had secrets and Musa wasn't the type to pry. "Are you okay Layla," Musa said softly as she approached the princess.

"It's nothing, I'll be fine," Layla said looking up at Musa, wiping the tears from her eyes. Musa felt awful for the poor girl, she didn't want Layla to feel left out even though the girls really did think of her as a friend.

"You know you can talk to me right? We're friends," Musa reminded the crying fairy.

"Thanks,"

"So is this about the party?" Musa asked taking a seat next to Layla at the foot of the tree.

"I can't go,"

"Why not?"

"I haven't had a best friend in a really long time," Layla said sadly looking to the sky.

"Okay but now you have five," Musa encouraged. "And back when I was at home, I wasn't exactly a social butterfly, the only reason I had friends was because I met them when I was like four,"

"Yeah well I've been kind alone most of my life," Layla said.

"Don't worry about it, now your not," Musa encouraged. "The sleepover will be a lot of fun,"

"Yeah, I guess so,"

* * *

Musa walked into the common room, dressed in her pajama's, with her ipod. She plugged it into the main stereo system for the room and sat down with the rest of the girls, ready for their little sleepover to commence. It was actually a little weird to have an official night planned for this sort of thing since they were best friends and the all night events happened all the time and usually materialized all on their own. This seemed a little forced, but it was all the same for the other girls so she just embraced it. (**7**)

"How was dance?" Stella asked as she took a seat with the rest of her friends. There was a bunch of food in the center of their little circle and enough of sugar to keep them awake for the next two weeks. Leave it to Stella to make sure nobody was getting any sleep that night.

"Tiring," Musa said looking around at the Winx Club. "So what do you guys wanna talk about?"

"So I was thinking and I realized that we really don't know too much about our pasts before Alfea," Stella said. She had a point, she knew where most of her friends grew up, but when they talked they hardly ever talked about their childhood and what it was like growing up where they did. Most of the conversation was about the day-to-day happenings at Alfea. "I mean we know the basics but we're best friends, we should know everything so spill, and no holding back,"

"Sounds good," Musa agreed. "I think you should start. Well, we now know thanks to Brandon that you made major hair issues when you were younger, let's start with that," Musa teased.

"Fine, I'll tell you one of my most embarrassing stories ever," Stella said. "I was in the fifth grade and I had the biggest crush on Robbie of Antheleon, all I wanted was Robbie to ask me to the spring dance. But like all the boys in our class, Robbie had a crush on Kimberly of Olympus and he was the only one who worked up the nerve to ask her out. And she said yes,"

"Aww you must have been heartbroken." Bloom said.

"SO I used a breakout spell, but I messed it up and she broke her leg," Stella told them. "I felt bad but I thought that Robbie would finally be mine,"

"So did he ask you to the dance," Bloom asked.

"No, not only did she make it to the dance but Robbie spent the entire night by her side taking care of her," Stella said with a laugh. "But then a month later I got contacts and finally worked out my frizzy hair issues and started to date Pete, my first ever boyfriend; Robbie was so jealous,"

"Serves him right, but no offence but that is hardly an embarrassing story," Musa told her. "That was more pathetic than anything else,"

"Well I was rejected," Stella pointed out. "Anyway, I've been on the hot seat long enough, it's time we talk about someone else," Stella said swinging her head around and looking at Bloom. "So Bloom darling, what about you? Any fun boy stories you wanna share with us?"

"Not really," Bloom said a little bashfully looking down at her fingernails.

"Come on there was nobody before Sky?" Stella asked skeptically not believing her for a second. "Don't worry we won't tell him,"

"Well there was this boy, Andy," Bloom explained. (**8**) "We sort of dated before I left Gardenia, he was really sweet and he lived a few houses down from me. We kind of broke it off before I left for Alfea,"

"Kind of broke up?" Techna questioned. "Does that mean the two of you are technically still together," She teased.

"He's probably back on Earth pining away wonder why your not calling," Musa teased.

"No it's not like that," Bloom defended as her face began to turn red. "I meant we weren't officially dating or anything. But he was my first kiss so he did mean something to me,"

"Aww that's adorable," Stella squealed. "Moving on, how about you Flora,"

"I've never really had a boyfriend before," She said shyly.

"Neither have I," Techna said when Stella turned to her.

"I did when I was like six," Layla explained. "But we held hands one day and then I go mad at him and kicked him right between the leg. I'm pretty sure it was over after that,"

The room burst out in laughter at Layla's confession and then Stella moved onto Musa. "Oh come on," Musa groaned. "We already know about Daniel,"

"Layla doesn't," Stella defended.

"Daniel was my boyfriend last year until we broke up during spring break," Musa explained to Layla. "We're still friends though, and he actually wasn't my first boyfriend,"

"Really?" Stella said excitedly, of their group, most of the girls had very little experience with boys and it was nice to know that she wasn't the only one who had a colorful past. "Who was it then?"

"It was this guy from Devon prep," Musa explained. "His name was William Asher and we had that typical school romance. We sat together at lunch, held hands in the hallway and then a couple days after our first really awkward kiss, we broke up,"

"Oh you must have been devastated," Stella said sarcastically picking up on the casual way Musa told the story.

"Oh yeah it took me a whole two hours to get over it," Musa continued with a laugh. "But when it comes to an actual relationship, Daniel was my first ever boyfriend,"

"So now you guys are friends?" Layla asked skeptically. "Isn't that a little awkward?"

"It used to be but I've known him since I was like four," Musa explained as she took another handful of popcorn. "I couldn't just stop talking to him and have him leave my life completely,"

"I dunno I don't think it's natural to be friends with an ex," Stella said, ignoring the fact that she was friends with Pete.

"What are you talking about?" Musa spat. "You spent the entire Kai Fli mixer talking to Pete,"

"We only dated like a month in the fifth grade," Stella pointed out. "It was hardly serious; you were in love with Daniel,"

"Really?" Bloom asked with the same surprised expression that Flora and Techna had as well. "I didn't know it got that serious,"

"I loved him and I still do," Musa defended. "But I don't think I was ever _in love_ with him, and there is a huge difference. There isn't anything left between us besides friendship anyway so it's not weird, not for us,"

Musa then heard a knock at the door and realized it must have been the extra pizza they had ordered, for such petite girls, they managed to scarf down a lot of food. "I'll get it," Musa said a little relived that the conversation would now hopefully let up and focus on someone else.

"I don't know what I'd do if that happened to me," Bloom said as Musa walked back to the group with the pizza's in hand. "I don't really wanna think about it though, I would probably just end up crying. Well I mean you remember last year, even though he was technically cheating on Diaspro,"

"I know what I'd do," Stella said. "I'd do the same thing he did with whoever, but I'd tape it and make him watch. And then we would be even, we would break up though,"

"That's mean," Flora scolded.

"Yeah so is cheating," Stella pointed out.

"What are we talking about?" Musa said sitting back down on the floor next to the girls.

"What would you do if your boyfriend cheated on you…" Stella said until she realized that she was talking to the one person that had already been through that. "Oh, I…sorry we totally forgot about…"

"Well speaking from experience," Musa interrupted, Daniel's cheating had killed Musa when she first found out but now she was past it and was actually a little thankful that it happened. She and Daniel were finally able to move on from it and it didn't even hurt anymore when she thought of it. "I would break up with him and forget him completely,"

The girls continued to talk for the rest of the night and into the wee hours of the morning. Somehow they had gotten from a debate about heels and flats to Stella's insistence that she did a perfect impression of Griselda. "Alfea teach us well…" She sang out in a horrible low voice. After Stella's impression of Griselda singing the Alfea alma mater. Stella sat up and looked at Musa. "Okay Musa truth or dare?"

"We're playing truth or dare?" Musa said in a bored tone, it seemed little too childish. She had played it before but it was made into a drinking game which was always fun when everyone was smashed. "Really?"

"It will be fun!" Stella complained. "Now come on and pick, truth or dare?"

"I would say dare, but with you I think I'm gonna have to go with truth," Musa said remembering the last time Stella had dared her to do something, they weren't playing truth dare but they were in Magix and Stella was dying to get her to jump into the fountain in Magix square.

"Darn, I was going to have you kiss the ogre," Stella said and then thought about what she was going to ask Musa. "Alright I have a truth question for you," Stella said with a sly smile. "Do you have a crush on Jared?"

"Stella…" Musa said in a hushed tone feeling her heart race at the mention of his voice.

"Come on Musa, it's a valid question," Techna defended.

"Yeah well I don't have an answer to it,"

"But you must know," Flora said. "You spent the whole day with him,"

"I really thought I knew how I felt about Riven until I met Jared," Musa admitted. "Now I don't know what to think, Jared is a really great guy,"

"I just wanna say that I set you up with Jared because he would make such a better boyfriend than Riven," Stella defended. "And you deserve the best,"

"But do you still like Riven?" Flora asked. Musa knew that Flora had hoped that Musa and Riven would get together, for some reason she had taken a particular liking to him, she knew he only acted the way he did because he had been hurt before.

"I dunno if I want to wait for him," Musa admitted. "In one date I got further with Jared than I have with Riven and it's been a year and a half,"

"Hold the phone!" Stella squealed excitedly. "How far are we talking?"

"I mean we connected and he's sweet and caring," Musa gushed a little as she re-ran the date in her head once again. "It is so nice to be treated well,"

"Exactly," Stella said. "Jared is a sweet heart and he's cute. I knew you would like him! Besides do you really want some witch's left over?"

"That's not fair he was under a spell," Flora defended.

"Yeah but Stella has a point," Musa said. "He was with Darcy for an entire year, that's a lot to get past and I don't know if I want all the drama. I went through enough of that with Daniel,"

"So does this mean you are done with Riven?" Techna asked. Musa seemed pretty happy all day and it was pretty easily seen that the relationship between her and Riven was rocky, she would be better off in a more stable relationship.

"Of course she is," Stella said just as Musa opened her mouth to answer the question for herself. "Every girl has to fall for a bad boy, it's like a rule of nature or something. The important thing is that Musa has a nice guy now,"

"I honestly don't know how I feel, okay?" Musa said speaking up as she played with her fingernails. As much as she liked Jared, she didn't want to let go of Riven. She had to admit that she still felt something for him, but the evidence piling up against him was something she wasn't sure she could surmount. "I just need some time to think about all of this,"

"In the meantime the good news is you have two guys who want you," Bloom told her.

"I wouldn't count on the two of them fighting over me just yet," Musa laughed unable to picture Riven fighting for her, it was a far fetched idea and she was sure that if it actually happened than she wouldn't be too happy, but she could still fantasize about it in her head. But if they ever did, Musa would be stuck with Riven since Jared didn't look like much of a match for the moody specialist. "Or ever for that matter,"

"Riven likes you," Flora reminded Musa in the hopes that she might change her mind about him.

"Well he has an interesting way of showing it," Stella jumped in. Flora and Stella never really disagreed on anything since Flora usually never really apt to make a fuss if she disagreed with Stella on some small matter, but she didn't want Musa making a decision just because Stella wanted her to. And she kind of felt like a one day crush shouldn't wipe out an entire year. "And by interesting, I mean crappy. Jared on the other hand, well they would just be so happy together"

"Before you start planning a wedding, how about we give it some time," Musa begged. "We only went out once and I dunno if we should do it again,"

"How else will you know if you really like him?" Stella said. "Come on you know you wanna see him again,"

"I don't know what I want!" Musa complained loudly. She was a little afraid she might actually really start liking Jared if she saw him again, a part of her felt really guilty about what she was doing, like she was cheating on Riven or something. "Can we please just drop this for a little bit,"

"Sure," Bloom said looking up at the clock mounted on the wall. "Besides we have like two hours before we need to get to the magical reality chamber and I don't think we are going to do very well if we are falling asleep during the exam,"

"No, no, no!" Stella complained. "You are so not supposed to sleep at a sleep over, we are supposed to stay up all night and eat way too much,"

"Well we were up most of the night," Musa pointed out. "And you already eat way too much so how about we call it a night,"

"Sounds like a plan," Layla said with a long yawn.

The girls headed back to their rooms to get some sleep before their exam the next morning and even though she was dead tired, Musa couldn't seem to get any sleep. She had a million feelings running around and she could not for the life of her get them under control. There was a mixture of excitement and anxiety when she thought about Jared. And then there was the guilt she felt about hiding all this from Riven, even though she had every right to do what she wanted.

Turning over to face her window, Musa stared out at the moon for a few more minutes until her fatigue finally caught up with her and she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

"Now Layla you have never been in the Magical Reality Chamber before, I want to make sure you know that Magical reality it real," Palladium warned.

"I do," Layla assured. "Bloom told me all about it,"

"Alright then," Palladium said cheerfully. Musa looked over to Jared, and smiled at him and noticed he had the same dead stare he had before. She didn't know why but she felt like she had seen that stare before but she was sure that she didn't know Jared before this, maybe he wasn't taking her rejection too well.

"Hey what's up?" Musa said walking over to him a little nervously since she was still in front of all her friends and hated the fact that she was going to be teased about this later. "How's the article going?"

Jared simply looked down and followed Palladium back to the control room without saying a word to Musa, making her heart sink. She hated what was going on; maybe she should have just been honest with him.

"I am going to send you to a harsh environment, an uninhabitable desert realm," Faragonda said over the intercom from the control room. "You will have to power converge to survive the environment and make it out. And you cannot use any other spells now is everyone ready?"

With a nod of approval all the girls, Miss Faragonda continued. "Good luck girls," The chamber then lit up, Musa remembered this from the year before and then a bright light filled the room.

When the light dissipated they found themselves in a fog filled forest "Is this the right place guys?" Musa asked looking around the area wondering why they were in this creepy forest when they were supposed to be in a desert.

"It sure doesn't look like a desert to me," Stella pointed out, crossing her arms and shivering. It was freezing here.

"Why would Miss Faragonda send us here in there outfits?" Flora asked.

"Hey look up," Layla said pointing to the sky as the fog began to clear a bit.

"Why does the sky look like it has a forest in it?" Stella asked. "What is going on!"

Suddenly the girls fell from their spots in the air and landed on the ground, Musa looked around in confusion trying to figure out which way was up. This couldn't be the realm that they were mean to be at. "What's going on here?"

"I think there must be a problem in the program," Techna said as the ground began to rumble beneath them .

"Girls can you hear us?" Palladiums voice came through the chamber. The girls looked up hoping to see the normal inside of the chamber, but there was no such luck.

"Yeah, where did you send us?" Layla called out.

"There is some type of technical problem," He explained with obvious distress in his voice. "I'm afraid you were sent to the realm of grim,"

"I thought the realm of grim had been erased from the programs," They heard Faragonda say to Palladium.

"You do realize you're still holding the intercom down," Musa said to herself with a roll of her eyes.

"That realm was permanently deleted, that means someone hacked into the system and then reprogrammed it," Palladium explained. "I know how we can get them out of there, girls I am going to send an exit code into the software, if you can get a hold of it, you can use it to escape, okay?"

"Okay ready when you are," Stella said.

"Ahh," Musa said nearly jumping out of her skin when she turned her head and saw a purple wolf like creature coming at her. She then looked around and saw that they were now being surrounded by them. "You might wanna hurry with that exit code,"

"Oh look!" Techna said pointing to a sparkly little orb that was zooming around the environment they were in.

"That's the exit code!" They heard Palladium shout.

"Okay so what do we do now?" Bloom yelled.

"Get a hold of it and then say a spell," He ordered.

"Okay let's surround it," They tried to surround it but the monsters that had been in front of them began to attack. After almost an hour of being chased around the realm of the grim the girls managed to finally use their convergence to defeat the wolves and catch the exit code.

* * *

"Excellent girls! That was convergence!" Miss Faragonda said over the intercom. The scene in front of them began to fade and Musa looked around and realized that they were back in the magical reality chamber. It has taken a little longer to get back than it did to get there, but they were definitely back in Alfea.

Miss Faragonda opened the door to the chamber and ran to the girls. "Are you six alright?" She looked at the girls and saw that there were no major injuries on them, just a few cut and bruises. "It would seem that we have to work on the security of ther chamber once again, I am so sorry you girls had to go through this,"

"I cannot believe she hack the system once again, I thought I had the improvements perfected after the last time this happened," Palladium said walking through the doors to see if the girls were alright, he looked just as concerned as Miss Faragonda was, this realm of grim had to be worse than they thought. "You girls are alright aren't you?"

"Yeah we're fine," Bloom assured. "Who hacked the system?"

"This was defiantly the work of Darcy," Miss Faragonda told the girls. "I am afraid she managed to put Jared under a complete mind control spell, he had no idea what he was doing for the past 12 hours,"

Musa felt her heart drop, was Jared alright? And what had she ever done to Darcy? Why was it that the witch had to go after every guy she liked. "Is he okay?" Musa asked unable to keep the worry out of her voice, not that she cared, the girls knew how she felt about him. "Where is he?" Musa asked looking around and seeing that he wasn't there, the only thing that calmed her was that she knew he was completely controlled, none of this was his doing.

"He feel out of the spell while you were in the chamber and he came to a couple minutes later," Miss Faragonda explained. "Darcy used shadow magic to control him completely, he was in essence her puppet, she then used him to get into the chamber and hack it so it would malfunction while you girls were stuck inside,"

"Wow, she has it out for you," Stella spat angrily looking at Musa. "First Riven now Jar-,"

"Yeah Stel," Musa snapped. "I know,"

"He's in the infirmary now, the spell was completely lifted," The head mistress continued. "Spells with complete mind control don't last long; I'm surprised she had enough power to hold him for an entire twelve hours. I fear the shadow powers they have developed are far more destructive than we previously thought,"

"What does that mean?" Layla asked, she wasn't very used to the idea of her school being under attack like the rest of the girls were so the fact that they had come to Alfea and done such a thing was a lot for her to process. "Are they going to attack us again?"

"For now I suggest you girls get some rest, after everything that has happened I think you girls need some time to unwind," Faragonda advised. "But soon I fear we will have to face them head on; but don't worry about that just yet. We need to gather more information about their powers first,"

The girls left the chamber and decided to relax out by the quad after the intense exam, as they were leaving Miss Faragonda told them that the other girls' exam would be taking place in the classroom, but sicen they had to endure the realm of grim, the girls also got extra credit. While her friends headed over to the quad, Musa walked over to the infirmary to see how Jared was doing.

One thing that really pissed her off was the fact that Jared had to be dragged into all of this. Darcy could have just as easily spelled someone else from Red Fountain, even a freshman fairy that wasn't used to sensing dark magic. But no, Darcy had to go after the only other guy that Musa happened to be interested in. It wasn't enough that she had ruined her relationship with Riven, now she wanted to do that with Jared. Musa wanted nothing more than to just strangle the witch.

Musa opened the door to the infirmary to see Ophelia checking Jared to see that the spell had been completely lifted. The process consisted of a few healing potions and a check for mental consciousness. "Alright young man you seem to be just fine," Ophelia said putting away her stethoscope. "You may have a headache for awhile, some over the counter pain killers will take care of that,"

Jared looked up to Musa and smiled shyly, obviously feeling a little embarrassed at what happened. "Hey, how are you feeling?" Musa asked as she walked over to the bed where Jared sat. Ophelia promptly excused herself, saying something under her breath about behaving.

"Okay I guess," Jared said nervously scratching his head and looking to the floor. "I am so sorry about what happened, I-,"

"It wasn't your fault," Musa assured him. "The trix have it out for us every since last year, you just got caught in the middle of the cross fire,"

"Yeah well I wish I wasn't on the wrong side of the fighting,"

"Hey don't beat yourself up," Musa cooed softly taking his hand, feeling her heart race at the contact. "It's not like you could have seen it coming or prevented it,"

"I guess," Jared said as he stood up and Musa stayed by his side to make sure he was okay. "I'm okay," He assured her. "I should probably get back to school before I miss any more classes,"

"I'll walk you out," Musa said as the two began on their way out of the school. "So do you remember anything that happened?"

"The last thing I remember before coming to is pulling up to Red Fountain after our…" Jared paused not sure what to call it. Musa was definitely sending him mixed messages, at first she seemed like she hated him and then they had such a great time but then cut things off because she was 'involved'. And now she was back at his side.

"Our date," Musa finished for him, feeling a little closer to him as the two walked side by side with virtually no space between them.

"Yeah," Jared continued with a smile forming on his lips. "And the next thing I knew I was here; it's the weirdest feeling not knowing what you did for a whole day,"

"Is there any way to restore your memory?"

"I dunno, but I don't think I wanna know what I did if I was controlled by a witch," Jared admitted, Musa spotted his leva bike parked out by the quad and it was conveniently ten feet from where the Winx club had decided to sit. Musa knew she was going to get a few remarks about this later, but she really didn't care too much about it. "You must think that I am-,"

"Really sweet," Musa interrupted. "That's what I think,"

"Really? Cause I set out to impress you and all I did was mess up," Jared said as he got onto his bike and grabbed his helmet, putting it under his arm. "I'm sorry about everything that happened, I feel like such a moron,"

"You wanted to impress me?" Musa said astonished that someone had set out to impress her. She could not believe how great he was, maybe it was just the fact that in comparison to Riven, most guys acted like prince charmings but he was just so damn sweet and caring, it was nice to feel taken care of and important.

"Yeah, guess this is pretty hopeless," Jared spat a little disappointed.

"Nah, you did okay," Musa assured with a small smile growing on her face.

"So you still wanna be friends?" Jared asked.

"Of course I still wanna be frien-," Musa began before Jared put one foot down on the ground and gave her a quick kiss on the check. The musical fairy felt her face heat up instantly and vaguely heard her friends in the back ground making a fuss at what had just happened, but for a second she simply stood there shocked and delighted.

"For now," He said with a small smile. Jared began his engine and turned around on his bike, getting ready to go when he felt Musa grab his hand.

"Hey, Kai Fli is having a fundraiser carnival in the park," Musa said shyly, lacing her fingers into his flirtatiously. "It's in a couple of weeks, you should come by; it should be a lot of fun,"

"I'll be there," Jared said not moving his eyes from hers. He then flipped the visor of his helmet down and drove off to Red Fountain with a large roar of the engine.

"hmmm," Stella hummed as she walked up next to Musa with a large grin. "This looks very promising,"

"He said friends," Musa reminded.

"Oh we all heard," Stella informed her cheekily. "You guys are friends, for now,"

* * *

_**1**__. I don't know why but every thing she does seems to piss me off. _

_**2.**__ Seriously? Booty? Sometimes I wonder who it was that dubbed the cartoons because they have a very bad understanding of normal dialogue in America._

_**3.**__ Callisto is actually one of the moons that orbit Jupiter and it was once believed to have life on it, but now scientists believe that they is a better chance at life on the other moon 'Europa' or 'Io', I believe. Anyway, for our purposes, Callisto is where Jared is from and it just happens to rhyme with Vallisto. _

_**4.**__ Means paradise in Latin, I figured I would add some correct Latin in the show since the writers believe that adding 'us' to the end of the word makes it Latin. Ugh, if they had my Latin teacher in high school they would have been failing miserably. _

_**5. **__I just finished watching the Patrick Dempsey flick 'Maid of honor' and that's how I thought of that, since it's about the same plot line._

_**6. **__Again, seriously? Who does that at a sleep over? Sometimes I actually feel a little embarrassed for the voices of the characters in the show for having to say such lame dialogue. _

_**7.**__ I find that most of the best sleepovers happen spontaneously without very much planning. _

_So before writing this chapter, I didn't realize how taken Musa was by Jared. I hadn't seen the episode in awhile and it really looks like she had taken a liking to the guy. She was even talking about how she had begun to reconsider her feelings for Riven so obviously this boy made an impact. _

_Wow, I am ready for a nap after that one – next up is 'gangs in gardenia' _

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


	13. Gangs of Gardenia

_Okay I know this is pretty late considering my other updates have been pretty well timed, but I have a good reason. I couldn't get the episodes on the website for a few days and then I just got a little busy. I just got back from my vacation in Miami and I've been packing for my next excursion. Sorry guys! This one is a little short but we have some long ones coming up so take this as a nice little break. _

**Gangs of Gardenia **

Musa sat at her desk looking over the paper she needed to finish for WizGiz's class one last time. She glanced out the window and saw that the second sun was beginning to rise and thought that maybe it was time to get out of her pajamas and shower to begin the day, but she couldn't bring herself to move, her seat was far to comfy. Plus she wanted to make sure the paper was perfect before she handed it in later. It was a pretty important paper since it was worth about half of her semester grade. She sat back with the finished paper in front of her and smiled, the year was already half way over and it had gone pretty well, it wasn't without it's hitches, the witches stealing the Red Fountain Codex being the perfect example. But nothing was perfect.

She had been in an exceptional mood all week, ever since her 'non-date' or whatever she wanted to call it with Jared. The two had been texting each other all week with the occasional phone calls, although they hadn't really seen each other since the date, other than the one visit he made to get some 'finishing touches' for his article, not that Musa bought that. They weren't dating just yet, but they were in that exciting, flirty phase right before and it felt so good to be there. However she did find herself thinking about Riven also. There was a certain amount of guilt she was feeling about simply walking away to whatever they had going on, but she couldn't be expected to wait forever for him to finally decide he wanted her and it wasn't like he was very good at showing his affection for her. At this point she was beginning to doubt it was even there, and with her recent realization that he was not as innocent as she once thought, Musa found herself drifting to Jared. He was sweet and caring and made an effort to make her feel special and no matter what they said, ever teenage girl wanted that so badly.

"Do you ever check your mail?" Ali said walking in the room unannounced with a package under one arm and a large bouquet of flowers in the other. "This stuff was at your door,"

"Ooh," Musa said grabbing the package out of Ali's hand and putting it on the bed as Ali carefully put the flowers down on Musa's desk. "Let me see if Flora has a vase for those,"

"Don't you want to know who they are from?" Ali asked the already opened card in her hand. "Okay, they are from Jared! How sweet is that?" She squealed happily. "He is such a sweet kid, a little dorky but hey he's sweet,"

"Be nice," Musa defended, finding a vase in her room and placing the flowers inside as she took in the scent of the lilies, they were her favorite flowers after all. "My favorite, well it's a tie with roses," She noted staring at the lilies, softly brushing her fingers across the soft velvety petals. "You opened the note?"

"It fell and on the way to the ground it may have torn open," Ali said brushing off the accusation and jumping onto Musa's bed and grabbing the package and slowly peeling the tape off of it. Ali really did whatever she pleased until someone stopped her. "What does it matter anyway, this guy obviously likes you. Why don't you cut the crap and go out with him already?"

"Because," Musa said grabbing the package out of Ali's hand. She took a seat and then began to open it on her own. "I dunno, I just don't know if it would be a good idea right now,"

"Meaning what?" Ali asked until she figured it out on her own. "Does Musa want to have her cake and eat it too?" She asked with a sly smile spreading across her face.

"What does even that mean?" Musa spat as she finally pried the box open. Inside she found three stacks of invitations for the show at Red Fountain that was coming up. The dance team was going to a huge performance there and Musa was going to do a solo one as well. The event was supposed to be a big deal and Musa had been preparing for it for awhile, ever since Miss Faragonda had approached her about singing there a few weeks ago.

"You want the sweet guy who's showering you with attention and nice gifts," Ali said pointing to the flowers. "But me thinks you also want the guy that we both know you still like a lot. I mean who can blame you though, he is one nice looking piece of flesh and he looks like he could do a lot of things with that… sword," Ali said with a smirk obviously using sword as a euphemism for something else.

"The invitations are in," Musa said swiftly changing the subject as she felt her face heat up at the thought of Riven and everything he could do to her, something that had crossed her mind a few times before. But it wasn't exactly something she discussed and especially not with someone as blunt as Ali, she looked into the box and pulled out a stack of the invitation to the show at Red Fountain, they were simple invitation lined with scarlet ribbon.

"For what?" Ali said taking the bait and changing the subject, although the look on her face suggested that she was not about to give up on the subject just yet, she and Stella were very similar in that way.

"The big show at Red Fountain in a couple weeks," She reminded, hopefully this event would go off without a hitch since the last few major ones came with huge interruptions.

"So anyway, that's the reason I'm here, we kind of have an issue" Ali said standing back up.

"What kind of issue?"

"We have a couple weeks till then and we wanted to do back hand springs for the finale dance and Tessa broke her wrist in practice," Ali told her. "Like an idiot, I told her that she couldn't do that kind of flip with her stubbly little legs and she took it offensively,"

"Crazy huh?" Musa spat with sarcasm that was simply a perfectly example of how blunt Ali was. "Is she okay now?"

"Yeah but her wrist is definitely broken, we need a new girl for the show at Red Fountain," Ali told her. "The routine is too intense for her to be in it, she could mess her arm up even more, or worse, she could mess up the routine,"

"So we need a replacement," Musa concluded.

"Basically," Ali said. "I was thinking Layla, she was really good at practice when she was going to be in the show for the opening of Red fountain, so we know she's good, as long as she doesn't have stage fright I think we're okay,"

"Layla would be perfect," Musa agreed. "Well it looks liked you handled everything perfectly, I don't know why you came to me,"

"You are captain so I wasn't about to do something without your permission," Ali pointed out. "Besides, Layla is kinda skiddish around us, like she isn't a big fan of us for some reason,"

"She's just a little shy," Musa defended now knowing that Layla wasn't exactly the most open person in the universe. "But I'll talk to her about it, I'm sure she would love to be a part of the team for the show at Red Fountain,"

"Great," Ali said picking her small tote bag full of books up off the floor and standing up. "I should probably head down to class, I'll see you later,"

"Bye Ali," Musa said grabbing some of there things, deciding to finally to take a shower and get her day to begin.

"Oh and take it from someone who has been there a million times," Ali advised at the door, standing in the doorway before she left to go to class. "Juggling guys is not easy and they will find out about each other eventually, so you should probably chose, and soon,"

"I'm not juggling guys," Musa reminded. "I'm not dating either of them; hell Riven hardly even –,"

"Believe what you want," Ali interrupted. "But we both know you could have started dating Jared but you haven't and there has to be a reason for that,"

Musa rolled her eyes as the door shut knowing that Ali had a point. She couldn't just pull the trigger and end the little cat and mouse game that she and Riven had going on. It was all a lot to think about and she really hadn't decided on anything just yet, the truth was that she really couldn't decide so she wasn't going to. Not yet anyway.

* * *

Musa felt her stomach begin to rumble as she walked into the dining hall just as lunch was beginning to be served for those girls that decided to eat it early or the ones that were like Musa and missed breakfast altogether. She spotted her friends sitting at the table by the large windows that overlooked the quad and walked over to them with inviations in hand.

"And I hear you guys have the best music," Musa heard as she walked towards the girls hearing the conversation the girls were having about Earth.

"Second best," Musa corrected, feeling a strong connection to her heritage, there was no way there was any realm more musically inclined than her's and after her's Crescendo and Apollo (**1**) came close after. "And it's not exactly a close second, actually it's not even second, don't get it twisted,"

"I was kidding," Layla said with a nervous laugh.

"So where you been?" Bloom asked looking at her watch. It was now time for lunch and the princess had just decided to make her appearance.

"Just crawled out of bed," Musa admitted.

"You shouldn't sleep so late Musa," Tune began sounding eerily like her aunt Galiena, without the resounding judgmental undertones and martini in hand. "A true lady rises with the sun,"

"Yeah well we have two suns on this planet," Musa reminded as she took a seat on the lunch room table between Stella and Layla and passing the Red Fountain invitations to the girls, even though she was sure that the guys would give them the same invitations at some point. "And I chose to rise with the second one,"

"What are these?" Flora asked as she tore her envelope open and began to read the black embossed letters.

"Invitations to the concert at Red Fountain next week," Musa explained beginning to feel a bit anxious when she realized that she had agreed to perform with Stella as well. "Stella don't forget we're doing a song together there so please don't mess up,"

"I'm not a complete clutz," Stella told her. "And we're ditching today and going to earth,"

"Sounds good I'm in," Musa said deciding to ditch her classes. She had never really skipped class here, which was a little odd since she had spent a lot of time vacationing and running off to some of the most exclusive places instead of going to class. Of course that was mostly because Daniel and her friends loved to live the life they were born into and that didn't really include studying to them.

"Just like that?" Bloom asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Musa shrugged. She was actually looking for a bit of an escape for all the things she had going on here. There was school that was beginning to get a little less crazy since midterms were now over, but she still had a lot of work she was looking to put off, not to mention the decision regarding Jared that she had yet to make. She didn't want to string him along since she knew how annoying that was but at the same time she couldn't seem to let go of the one thing holding her back. A trip to earth seemed like just the thing to get her mind off of things. "It's getting a little boring here,"

"Alright then!" Stella squalled happily. "Let's call the boys to make them take us,"

"That would take days," Bloom pointed out.

"I see no problem with that,"

"How about we transport?" Bloom suggested seeing as how the other options didn't seem very feasible and it was how Bloom normally got home for visits.

"We can use a transport spell, it won't be hard to activate," Stella informed them. "It's how I got to earth in the first place,"

"Yeah but transporting all four of us plus the pixies will take a lot out of you for one spell," Musa reminded her. "We could all transport separately but since Layla ad I haven't seen Gardenia, there is a good chance we could end up on the other side of the planet,"

"We could power converge," Bloom suggested.

"And if that goes awry we are gonna end up in the realm of grim or something," Layla added.

"Screw it I'm gonna transport us all," Stella decided. "I'll just take a power nap when I get back,"

"Fine but if we end up in some weird realm again," Musa began.

"We won't now let's go!" Stella exclaimed loudly, her impatience rising through her as she threw up her scepter and called out a spell to transport all four of them plus the pixies.

* * *

Gardenia wasn't really how Musa had imagined it to be, Bloom always talked about as being some mythical place that was so tragically un cool because it was no longer home to magical beings and while Gardenia looked really retro, it had a certain charm about it. The building looked to be very old but as the girls ventured through the streets, Musa could see that this place wasn't so bad. "So where's your house?" Musa asked as the girls hopped onto a bus, following Bloom's lead since they really had no idea where they were going.

"It's actually across town, I thought I would show you guys around a little before I got back home," Bloom told them. "We're actually not too far from the park that I used to play at a lot when I was younger,"

"All I need to know is the direction of the closest mall," Stella told her.

"I hope it's okay that you are missing school," Bloom said as they rode along, occasionally hitting a few bumps in the road.

"I'm not exactly missing it," Stella laughed. "If you know what I mean,"

"Seriously, I just want to dance and forgot about school," Layla added.

"So what's the big visit with your mom all about," Musa asked as she gripped the rail above her head a bit tighter as the bus jostled due to the bumpy road.

"I want to talk to her about my search for my birth parents," Bloom said. "Because I'm kind of worried that it's gong to upset her,"

"Why don't we give Bloom some alone with mom time and then find a club," Layla suggested, Musa smiled at the prospect of dancing her worries away at a club and simply behaving badly, it was time she let loose a little.

"Good luck, only the sketchy clubs are open in the day time,"

"The bus is stuck! Let's fly," Stella said with a chipper smile as she lifted a few inches off the floor of the bus only to be wrestled down by Bloom.

"Stella no!" She gasped noticing that she had knocked Stella into a grumpy looking man who was seated on the bus along with the girls. "Sorry sir," Bloom sad nervously getting herself off the floor and looked at Stella sternly. "Stella, no magic in front of the NMB's,"

"I suggest we get off at the next stop," Musa said quietly as she looked around and noticed that she had attracted a lot of unwanted attention.

"I second that," Layla said.

* * *

"So what's an 'NMB'," Layla asked as the girls stood in front of the park in Gardenia.

"It stands for non-magical being," Musa explained to her. Bloom had decided to get herself home to see her mom while she left the girls to explore the city on their own and see how the non-magical world worked.

"So it's against the rule to use magic on them?" Layla asked sounding a little disappointed.

"Yeah well that and if we use magic here than Miss Faragonda will totally know where we are," Stella added.

"So how about we get something to eat and then hit the mall!" Stella said excitedly hopping in front of the girls and skipping on the sidewalk.

"Sound fine with me," Musa said feeling in the mood to go shopping, she figured she would explore earth as much as she could, maybe it would be fun. "But I wanna go to a club afterwards,"

"Deal," Stella said jumping up and dragging the two to the mall. "Now let's get some cute new outfits,"

* * *

"Hey check it out a dance club," Layla said after the girls got out of the mall in their new outfits and walked through the streets of Gardenia.

"Bloom said only the sketcky clubs were open during the day," Stella reminded. "I mean, it isn't even a weekend, whose gonna be in there besides losers, dropouts and rejects,"

"Who cares as well as they are dropping some hot beats," Layla pressed.

"Come on what do you say Stella," Musa asked as they walked up the steps to the entrance of the club.

"I say you have fun girls," Stella said taking a step back from the club.

"Back to the mall?" Musa asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh darling how did you ever know?"

"Fine have fun," Musa said with a long sigh. She took a step forward. "You coming Layla?"

Layla nodded and followed Musa into the club as Stella waved goodbye to the two and went back off to the mall.

"This is what I needed," Musa said as she and Layla danced in the middle of the dance floor.

"Yeah but this same beat has been going on forever, is that on purpose?" Layla asked.

"I think so," Musa admitted with a laugh.

"Why don't you sneak a little magic in and play 'DJ Musa'?" Layla suggested knowing full well they weren't allowed to use magic when they were on earth.

"As long as we are not using the magic on people," Musa agreed, she then sent out a spell and skillfully shot it at the stereo and instantly the music changed to something a little more suitable for the girls to dance to.

Just as Musa began to dance to the beat she had conjured up she felt someone grab her forcefully and but their hand over her mouth. "Stay cool and you won't get hurt," A low voice told her sternly in her ear.

"Hands off," Musa commanded before firing a sonic blast at either side of the man's head, knowing just how painful it had to be since her attack amipfied sound waves and at the close of a proximity, the guy wasn't going to be getting up anytime soon.

"Musa?" Layla turned hearing the attack and seeing with surprise that Musa had just broke the one rule for the trip and used her magic on a human.

"I think I may have blown our cover as far as no magic on people goes," Musa explained nervously, looking around and seeing that maybe Bloom was right about going to a club in the middle of the day.

"Alright this just became a private party for the suits and everyone can beat it," Another gang member that just happened to look exactly like the one that had his filthy hands on the musical princess, the one that had actually done that was still passed out on the floor. The club emptied quickly and the only people left were the people that were a part of this gang and the two faries.

"So what's with the drama?" Musa spat, she knew she had a problem with keeping her mouth shut, especially in situations that would benefit from some silence, but Musa was the kind of person who didn't shut up just because she was supposed to.

"Our rival gang has challenged us to a brawl tonight," One of the members explained. "And you're gonna help us with your magic tonight,"

"Seriously? Brawl?" Musa taunted with a roll of her eyes, feeling like she walked into a bad gangster movie. "Careful not to stain you spiffy suits," She added sarcastically.

"I don't think that's helping," Layla whispered seeing that they were not only outnumbered but now there was very little chance that there was going to be no way to charm their way out of there.

"You wanna zap'em?" Musa asked feeling a bit ansy, feeling the magic running through her veins and all she really wanted to do was teach these boy bands looking thugs not to mess with her.

"If we do than Faragonda will know that we're here," Layla reminded.

"Chances are she already knows," Musa reminded.

"True," Layla said and quickly fired an attack with all her might.

Musa and Layla finally unleashed their attacks on the gangs and were unexpectedly joined by the pixies for help and managed to escape the club and the gang only to face Griselda and Faragonda, saving them from the trouble they were in.

* * *

"You broke not one but two rules," Griselda yelled as she paced behind Faragonda's desk in the head mistress's office. "You skipped class without prior notification and you left the realm without permission, it's completely unacceptable,"

Musa looked down at the ground wondering why she always seemed to get caught when she was at Alfea. Back home she had skipped all the time and nobody batted an eyelash about it, and if there was a problem, a quick check was written and the whole incident was forgotten. Unfortunately the princess didn't have that power here so she had to deal with the consequences of her bad decision making.

"I'm afraid that you girls are going to have to clean the entire school," Miss Faragonda told them, going back to the punishment she had used the year before when the girls had broke curfew.

"Aww no way!" Stella whined.

"But we're going to the potions fair in Magix this weekend," Musa told them hoping they might lighten their sentence.

"Not anymore,"

"And I'm assuming we can't use magic," Bloom added.

"Only the magic of good hard work," Miss Faragonda told them and then dismissed them from her office.

* * *

_1. Apollo is the Greek god of music, figured it would be fitting for a planet in the musical realm. _

_That was another short one. I want to update as soon as possible but I have a trip to Aruba coming up and I've been packing again since I just got back from another trip. So I'll hopefully have the next chapter up soon before I leave. _

_xoxo,  
__princessm_


	14. The Wrong Righters

**

* * *

**

The Wrong Righters

Musa collapsed in a heap onto her bed after almost twelve hours of non-stop cleaning. Unlike the last time she and her friends were put on cleaning duty as punishment at Alfea, this time they didn't get any other help and they had actually cleaned the entire school instead of doing half the job and then following Stella's advice and employing a cleaning service to finish all the work for them. This time, however, Musa and the girls were under close supervision by Professor Enchantra and she had become rather strict with them and that mean that the girls had to finish all their work. They were given the whole weekend, but the girls opted to miss the potions carnival so that Musa and Stella wouldn't miss the Kai Fli carnival and so the other girls could attend it as well.

"I don't think I will ever get the smell of cleaner out of my clothes," Techna complained as she walked into the room and slammed the door behind her.

"Yeah well try twelve hours of it," Musa complained loudly from her bed, her head in the pillow, feeling herself drift off to sleep. "You only had to do the grande entrance, I had the entire bell tower and the west wing,"

"How exactly did I get roped into cleaning anyway?" Techna said walking into the bathroom and changing out of the dirt soaked clothing. Stella had managed to get Flora and Techna to help them with all their cleaning even though they weren't punished since they hadn't skipped school to go to Gardenia. Flora agreed without question and she was actually happy to do it, Techna on the other hand needed a little convincing since she was not exactly too keen on the idea of cleaning when she could have been updating computer software or something like that.

"Stella can be very convincing," Musa grumbled from her pillow as she began to fall asleep. A couple minutes later she had fallen asleep and only woke the next morning when she heard her door fly open.

"You will never guess what I just did," Stella said in her normal high pitched squeal letting the light into the room, making her nearly jump out of her skin when she heard her heels at the door.

"Besides waking me up," Musa grumbled as she winced at the light and then closed her eyes once again, sticking her head beneath her pillow and hoping Stella would simply give up and leave.

"You need to wake up anyway," Stella said grabbing a pillow that had fallen on the floor and threw it at the princess that still laid in her bed, beneath her sheets, refusing to get up. "The fundraiser at the park is in like four hours and you will never believe what we are going to be doing,"

"I am not sitting in a dunk tank Stella," Musa muttered as she sat up in her bed and looked at the time through her sleepy eyes. She then looked over to Stella who was already dressed and ready to go in what she assumed was her mandatory Kai Fli outfit. The girls got outfits according to the booth they signed up to work at, Stella and Musa had partnered up and Musa let Stella pick the booth as long as she wasn't stuck somewhere ridiculous like the dunk tank since Musa knew what task Stella would make her assume. "What are you wearing?"

"Isn't it adorable?" Stella said looking herself over in the mirror. She wore extremely short red shorts with a white tank top over it that had hearts all over it and a pair of lips in the middle.

"You look like peppermint candy," Musa said wondering what the hell Stella signed them up for. Were they going to be making candy or something? The princess stood up from the bed and walked over to her desk where she saw the identical outfit that she had to wear sitting there folded nicely. Musa grabbed the clothing and her toothbrush and prepared to go into the shower but not before finding out what exactly she had to do today. "So what exactly are we going to do in these things," Musa said looking at clothing with disdainful stare, the worst part about today was definitely going to be wearing this out in public.

"You know what I'll have to tell you later because I need to go change and we need to help Bloom out before we leave," Stella said looking at her watch.

"Help Bloom with what?" Musa asked as Stella walked out of the room. "And why did you change only to have to change again?"

"Because I look adorable," Stella answered. "Get in the shower and meet us in the common room when your out, we're gonna need you,"

"Fine," Musa said throwing the outfit on her bed and opting to wear something a little more normal.

* * *

"How exactly is it that you are allowed to go to Eraklyon this weekend?" Musa asked as she sat down on the couch in the common room. Bloom had just finished explaining that she needed help learning royal etiquette since she was going to be meeting Sky's parents. "And why didn't you tell us before that you were meeting his parents, that's kind of a big deal,"

"I know it is," Bloom began as she paced the floor. "That's why I need your help, you guys have been to royal events and stuff and I want to know how to act so they don't completely hate me, and Sky kind of asked me to go along spur of the moment,"

"If I was meeting his parents I would be nervous too, his mom seems like she has a major stick up her butt," Stella agreed. "But I don't know how much help I will be, my parents never made me go to etiquette or anything like that; they were pretty cool about that kind of stuff. Sorry Bloom,"

"What about you guys?" Bloom said turning to Layla and Musa. "Is there anything I need to know before I go and see them?"

"Don't speak unless spoken to," Musa said first and foremost. It was probably the one thing she always did wrong and it was the one thing Galiena always corrected her on, she had a strict 'women should be seen not heard' policy, but Musa never followed that since it was far too archaic for her, not that all the rules of etiquette weren't archaic. (**1**)

"Curtsy to only those who out rank you," Layla added. "Everyone else bows to you,"

"So basically curtsy to everyone that isn't the help," Musa advised. "If you don't they might take it the wrong way and his parents seem like the kind of people that would take it offensively,"

"She's the princess of Sparx, that should totally count," Stella cut in. "It's still a planet,"

"It doesn't really count," Layla said. "Royalty only really counts when you can rule over people and don't take this the wrong way but all of your people are…dead,"

"No I get it," Bloom said looking to the ground trying not to be bummed. "I just know they already hate me since I didn't let their son marry the girl they had picked; I just don't want them to hate me for anything else,"

"Look Bloom, honestly it doesn't matter what they think okay?" Musa cooed feeling bad for Bloom, she knew how horrible the scrutiny of uptight royals was and she didn't want Bloom to go through it, but she was dating a prince and that meant she would have to deal with some uptight parents. Musa felt a little lucky at the same time, when she dated Daniel his parents loved her, making their relationship so easy. Of course that was probably because everyone was hoping for Musa and Daniel to work out and get married. "Royals have a way of looking down at people that aren't like them, just try not to pay too much attention to them, Sky likes you and that's all that really matters,"

"I know," Bloom said. "But I'll take any advice you can give me,"

"Don't look at the floor when speaking, look at them," Layla said seeing that Bloom was pretty intent on making a good impression. And it was a good thing that Layla and Musa were there since both of them were put through grueling etiquette classes.

"Never say 'yeah' say 'yes'," Musa added on trying to remember the most important things Bloom would need to know. She was going to have to go through meeting them and having what was sure to be an awkward conversation and then a dinner and then leaving, it wasn't going to be too long of a visit so she could get through it without too many problems. "It's a sign of poor education if you say 'yeah',"

"There are too many utensils to memorize so just work your way in from the outside," Layla said looking at Musa who then nodded in agreement with her order.

"That covers conversation and dinner," Musa said recapping in her head. "Other than that I think you'll be fine as long as you don't drink too much wine and just stick by Sky as much as possible, he will help you out no doubt,"

"Okay good," Bloom said nervously still playing with her fingers.

"We should probably head down to the front gate soon, the guys will be here soon to pick us up," Flora said. She was also going along too so she could see the gardens and Bloom refused to go alone since she was so nervous about being there alone.

"I still need to change," Bloom said looking at her clothes with a sense of disappointment; she was feeling very much like she wasn't good enough to be dating Sky especially now that she had to go and face his parents, which scared the living daylights out of her.

"You can wear my couture gown, even I haven't worn it yet," Stella assured her walking in her room and going to her closet and pulling out a gown. "And Sky will love you in this, and it's couture, the Queen won't have a dress better than this in her closet,"

"Is it a formal dinner?" Musa asked.

"It's at a castle, aren't' they all formal?" Bloom asked naively.

"No, but just take the gown in case," Musa advised as the girls headed down to the front gate of the school.

The girls stood at the front gate with a nervous Bloom trying to keep her from getting too worried. "What should I talk about? Is the weather okay?"

"Tell them they have a lovely castle," Layla told Bloom before heading off to the library to study for an exam that she had the upcoming week.

"Now trust me Sky's parent's will love you," Stella said playing with the pixies very quickly before running off to get changed. "I gotta go," She said running off. "Remember Musa you need to get changed before you leave and don't take too long, the carnival is starting in half an hour,"

"See ya Stella," Bloom called.

"I should go before I'm late," Musa said waving goodbye to the girls and walking up to her room to change and head over to the carnival. "Good luck Bloom, you'll be fine," Musa assured. The princess then quickly walked off and looked back as she reached the stairwell and saw Brandon and Sky pull up to the front gate of Alfea. She would not want to be in Bloom's shoes right now, she remembered when Sky's mother saw Bloom attack Diaspro, it was like the skin was going to melt off her face. (**2**) She seemed like the kind of person that would shun her own family if they didn't do as she wished, she was a lot like Musa's grandparents when Musa thought about it.

But now was no time to think about the awful family drama she had at home, she had to get changed and over to the carnival before Stella threw a fit.

* * *

"So what exactly are we doing at the carnival today," Musa asked as she and Stella walked to the central Magix park. The city was alive in the spring time air, the prep schools in the city were getting back after spring break and as they turned the corner to head into the park, Musa saw that there were a lot of people there, it looked like the fundraiser was going to be a huge success.

"The kissing booth!" Stella said cheerfully hoping some of her excitement would rub onto Musa.

"What?" Musa said stopping her gait and looking at the Solarian princess with her teeth sitting on edge as if she was going to slap her. "Is that why I'm dressed like I work at a candy store?"

"Musa, iits for a good cause," Stella reminded. "Remember this is for the kids, or the whales or…what is this thing for again?"

"The hospital's neo-natal intensive care unit," Musa told her seeing the booth that they were going to be working at. It was festive to say the least, the Kai Fli girls had set up a large booth with a cut out of giant lips sitting at the top. "What is wrong with you? How could you possibly think that I would be okay with having to whore myself out –,"

"Hold on this is hardly whoring," Stella defended. "It's a quick kiss, I'm not asking you to stick your tongue down some guys throat, I mean not unless you wanted to," Stella finished with a sly smile. "You did invite Jared here so if you two need a little privacy…"

"Stella," Musa said with evident irritation in her voice; though the thought of seeing Jared here today did make her heart race a little bit. She hadn't seen him in a week although she did talk to him a few times on the phone.

"It was the only booth left!" Stella lied trying to get herself out of the trouble she was obviously in. "It was either this or cleaning duty," she lied once again.

"Fine whatever," Musa said walking over to the booth and cleaning it up a little bit.

"I can't believe that this was the only booth left," Musa said a few minutes later walking behind the booth and opening the fire engine red curtains behind it.

"Okay well maybe it wasn't the _only_ booth left," Stella said walking in front of the booth and smiling slyly. She couldn't lie on this one since she had seen a few empty booths when she looked around and she knew Musa was going to notice soon enough. The truth was that she tried really hard to get the booth for Musa, she figured that it might prompt Jared to be a little more proactive about pursuing Musa when she was kissing half the guys in Red Fountain, plus the thought of Musa having to work a kissing booth was too funny to pass up, which was why the Solarian princess brought her camera as well.

"Stella," Musa said through gritted teeth. "What did you do?"

"Just hear me out okay?" Stella said nervously backing up a few steps. "Look you invited Jared here and when he gets here and sees you with a bunch of guys, he'll have no choice but to finally make a move,"

"That is beyond twisted logic," Musa said sitting down behind the booth and leaning her head on her hand, there was no point to yell at her now since there was nothing that could be done and she planned on making sure Stella knew not to do it again. "And come on, I am not that –,"

"Please don't even try to cover this up like you did with Riven," Stella interrupted. "At least this time the guy is actually worth your attention,"

"Be nice," Musa said in an almost warning tone feeling a strong sense of loyalty for Riven for the second. She had told herself over the past few weeks that she was moving on and that he wasn't worth her time anymore, but she didn't want their feelings to get in the way of her group's dynamic. There was no need for drama with this, she didn't want to alienate him from the group and she sure as hell didn't want to be alienated from the group either rand that tended to happen when people dated and then broke up. Not that Musa and Riven had even gotten that far. Plus, she had the hope that maybe she would get over him and then be friends since the romantic notion of them dating was not going to happen and she wasn't going to sit around like a pathetic fool and hope for it. She had decided that she was moving on and if it took a little longer for her heart to catch up with her head than so be it.

"Come on," Stella complained. "Now is the time when I can finally trash him without feeling bad about it, please let me have this,"

"Stella, you need to be nice," Musa warned. "It would be easier for everyone if," Musa trailed off not really knowing where she was going with this, she just hated it when Stella would dig into Riven, she knew the two didn't get along, that was easy for anyone with eyes or ears to see but she still hated it when she ranted about how annoying she thought he was. Musa knew that Stella just wasn't used to someone that let her act the way she did but she didn't seem to care, she just disliked him.

"Crap," Stella said seeing Musa's face change slightly. "You aren't over him,"

"What?" Musa said almost as if she had just been slapped. The girls knew not to bring up the fact that Musa liked, or still likes, Riven and Stella knew that too, but she still had to ask. "I am, so let's just not bring it up okay?" Musa said with a stern face and flipped the small open sign over for the kissing booth. "Now can we just move on from this?"

"Fine," Stella said curtly before stepping behind the booth and putting on some lipstick. "We have to kiss some boys now anyway,"

"Does Brandon know about this?" Musa asked cheekily seeing the fair slowly beginning to fill with people, mostly teenagers from the neighboring prep schools and some familiar faces from Alfea and Red Fountain.

"I'll tell him when he gets back from Eraklyon," Stella said with a wave of her hand as if dismissing the issue. "He has bigger things to worry about, he has to fave Sky's parents too and I think we all know how they feel about anyone that isn't of royal blood,"

"True," Musa said feeling pity well up inside her for Brandon. He had told her about how much he hated it when he and Sky were stuck inside the castle walls during summer vacation, his parents were very good at making sure that Brandon knew his place even when Sky tried to make them be a little nicer, but there was no changing his parents. "At least now Bloom will be there to take some of the heat off of him," Musa said realizing how bad that sounded.

"I guess," Stella said. "But my schnookums can handle it, and he won't care about this its just a peck on the cheek,"

"Actually a peck on the cheek is one ticket," Musa said looking at the sign that was nailed to the side of the booth. Kai Fli had certain rules for these kinds of events and not following them was a big no-no. "It's two tickets for a peck on the lips,"

"Yes but you will be doing that," Stella said sitting down with a sly smile on her face, she looked up at Musa and saw her face did not look like it was in agreement with Stella's idea. "You have to, Brandon will not be happy with me if I'm kissing all these guys on the lips, I mean the cheek is one thing, but Brandon can get jealous and besides you don't want you hurt your friend do you?"

"Who are we talking about you or Brandon?"

"Does it matter," Stella asked.

"Oh yeah," Musa said with a half smile.

"Brandon,"

"Fine," Musa said crossing her arms like an angry child. "But if even one guy pulls a fast one, I'm kneeing him in the groin. And you owe me for this,"

"Deal, and you realize I only did this because it will help you,"

"How?" Musa asked skeptically, she wasn't exactly a big believer in mind games, they tended to complicate things and in the end they just made things worse. The only thing she was going to play was her myriad of instruments.

"I already told you," Stella explained.

"A kissing booth?" A familiar voice, that belonged to the princess of Tides, said as it approached the booth. She and Techna had taken some time out from studying to check out the carnival for a couple of hours. "That is so degrading, why is it that at one of these things there is always something that has to knock us back a hundred years?"

"It was Stella's idea," Musa said pointing to the Solarian princess, earning the blonde fairy a stern look from Layla. "I wanted to do something else, but she picked this for the two of us, and by the two of us, I mean me,"

"You cannot seriously think this is okay," Layla lectured on as Stella put her elbow down on the booth and leaned her head into her hand. Everyone knew that Layla was an out and out feminist, she was just shy of having a picket line and a large sign outside of Red Fountain, protesting the fact that women weren't allowed to attend the school. But Stella was pretty okay with being girlie and playing into the stereotypical role of a woman, as long as there was no cooking involved. "For centuries women have been taking a back seat to men and now that we are finally getting a say in things, you willingly –,"

"Layla, shut up," (**3**) Stella said lifting her head from her arm with a look of irritation on her face, interrupting the ranting fairy mid sentence. "We get it,"

Layla simply crossed her arms and closed her mouth tightly, obviously not to happy with Stella's outburst. "Why don't you guys check out the rest of the carnival," Musa suggested quickly trying to keep Stella and Layla from going at it, she found that Stella bothered Layla just as much as herself but Musa knew that there was hardly anything genuinely mean inside the Solarian princess, she was just bad at sugarcoating how she felt.

"Great idea," Tehcna jumped in and grabbed Layla by the elbow and looked over in the opposite direction. "Oh look an ice cream stand," She said as the two walked off into the distance.

Musa looked over to Stella a little disappointed with the way she acted towards Layla, she of all people should appreciate it when someone was holding back their annoyance and humoring her. "What?" Stella asked loudly. "Don't you want to slap her every now and then? I mean how is wearing a dress bringing women back a century, she is one pair of lumber boots away from moving to the mountains with some chick named James,"

"Stella,"

"I'll apologize for being rude later, but I'm not saying sorry for how I dress," Stella promised. "But even you have to admit that she is a little annoying sometimes,"

"Yes but so can you but we all deal," Musa reminded. "Be nicer,"

"Fine," Stella said sitting down then looking forward, seeing that boys were already lined up to get their kisses.

* * *

"That guy smelled," Musa complained, cringing as a guy that she assumed was from one of the prep schools in the city, walked away he was actually pretty cute but he smelled like he had just eaten a million onions.

"Well I think the next guy will be a little bit better," Stella said motioning up the next boy in Musa's line, which suspiciously happened to be substantially longer than Stella, to come forward and received his kiss.

"Yeah? How exactly do you know that?" Musa moaned miserably, she had probably kissed half of Magix by now. She had recognized a few guys from Red Fountain but found that many of the guys from the school for heroics opted not to go to the booth, probably because it was a little pathetic when guys had to pay for a kiss, although it was for a good cause.

"Oh call it a hunch," Stella said giving a random guy a kiss on the cheek and sending him on his way.

Musa groaned and looked up to see Jared walk up to the booth and smiled sweetly. The way he looked at her, as if she was the only one around him, made her heart skip a beat. Musa didn't really know exactly how to explain how she felt when he around or even on the phone but she suddenly became very nervous and excited all at the same time. "Is this why you invited me to the carnival?" Jared asked leaning over to booth, pulling close to Musa's face. Musa tried desperately to think of something witty or cute to quip back but for the second she just stood there smiling, unable to think of anything.

"Well is it why you came to the booth?" Musa shot back thanking god that she finally managed to find her voice and saying something that she wouldn't kick her self for saying later.

"I came here to see what the fuss was," Jared explained. "There was a huge line so naturally I wanted to see what was up. Imagine my surprise when I saw you painstakingly standing here, kissing guys for charity,"

"Well I guess I'm just a martyr," Musa said softly looking up into Jared's honey eyes as she let out a small giggle once again.

"Hey you don't need to flirt with her first," A guy said from the line, obviously getting a little impatient with the hold up. "You're paying for it," he said waving a ticket in the air. (**4**)

"I guess I should kiss you now," Jared said nervously looking down at the ground and then back up at her. Musa couldn't help but giggling at the way he was acting, he was confident just a second ago when they were flirting but there was something so endearing about him when he was like that. "I mean…I gave that girl my ticket and I,"

Without thinking Musa simply pressed her lips against his and held them there for only a second before slowly pulling her face away from his, feeling her heart bangs against her chest as her face heated up madly. "You weren't shutting up," Musa explained with another flirtatious giggle, she really couldn't help it.

Jared didn't say anything for a second, his face glazed over with pleasure for a second, he then placed his hand on the side of her face and pulled her lips back to his for another kiss. Except this time the two were interrupted by a certain princess that dreaded pulling them apart, especially when things were getting interesting. "Ahhhem," Stella said loudly clearing her throat. Musa hesitantly pulled away from Jared right before the kiss got intense and looked at Stella feeling unbelievably embarrassed, not for kissing Jared in front of everyone, but for being stopped. "How about you take a break, I called Tessa over to fill in for an hour if you want a break,"

"I think that's a good idea," Musa said standing up along with Jared.

"Yeah, I don't think I like the idea of you kissing any other guys anyway," Jared said walking behind the booth and putting his arm around Musa and pulling her away from the booth. "Let's go see what's going on around the carnival,"

"You two have fun," Stella said so excitedly that she nearly began jumping up and down. "And don't do anything I wouldn't do," She said as the two of them walked off and explored the carnival, not seeing how excited Stella was as they walked off together.

* * *

"I can't believe I have to walk around wearing this," Musa said looking down at her outfit and feeling unbelievably embarrassed that Jared was seeing her in this.

"I think you look nice," Jared said putting his arm around her waist and puller her to his side, closing the small gap of space between the two of them.

"Thanks," Musa said not knowing what else to say, she found herself being more nervous than she thought she would be. She had such an easy time talking to him on the phone but when they were together she felt like she had to be adorable and flirtatious all the time.

"So why were you at the kissing booth," Jared asked. "I didn't really pin you as the kissing booth kind of girl,"

"And what kind of girl am I?" Musa asked seeing how well Jared could handle her twisting around what was supposed to be meant as a compliment.

"I didn't mean it like that," He explained. "I just meant that you don't seem like you're very much into the idea, even though you look great in the outfit,"

Musa smiled warmly taking note of the compliment as the two of them walked through the carnival. The two spent what was supposed to be Musa's one hour break, but turned into about a four hour break, enjoying the carnival and eventually settling at a picnic table in a rather secluded part of the park.

"I can't believe you got into a fight with gang members," Jared laughed after Musa told him the story of how she and her friends had gotten into trouble when they went to earth. "I'm glad you're okay,"

"Thanks," Musa said softly. "But it was hardly my fault, we were just minding our own business…"

"In a club in the middle of the day, using magic when you shouldn't have been," Jared pointed out. "You were kind of asking for it don't you think?"

"Anyway, my show at Red Fountain is next week," Musa said changing the subject.

"Are you talking about the anniversary party thing?" Jared asked. "For the school?"

"Yeah, I'm performing, so I guess it's not _my_ show," Musa corrected herself.

"I'm actually not gonna be here that weekend," Jared said regretfully. "I have to go home, my brother got engaged and now our families have to meet and everything,"

"Oh how exciting,"

"Hardly," Jared said obviously not too excited with the news. "I have to be on my best behavior, which means all those annoying rules of etiquette that nobody really remembers,"

"Ahh yes, family gatherings," Musa laughed.

"I wish I could be here for your show though," Jared told her.

"Me too, but next time I guess,"

"Yeah," Jared agreed. The two continued on talking for the next hour or so until Musa realized that she had to be heading back to Alfea if she wanted to make the stricter curfew that Griselda had given her, Stella, Bloom and Layla since they were still not off the hook for skipping class and heading over to earth days before.

"I should probably get going," Musa said standing up from the table. "I really don't need to get into anymore trouble,"

"Can I give you a ride," Jared said standing up just as Musa did.

"That's sweet but no," Musa said mentally kicking herself for not accepting, but she was in the mood to walk back on her own, it was such a nice day and it would be nice to walk back and clear her head. "I think I'll just walk back on my own,"

"Okay, can I call you later?" Jared said obviously not ready to part with Musa just yet.

"Yes," Musa smiled and moved closer to him, feeling him draw closer as well.

"I guess I'll see you later," Jared said pulling her close and before Musa knew he lips were pressed against his. Just as he wraps his arms around her Musa pulled away, once again just before the kiss got interesting. This time it wasn't because Stella had interrupted but for some reason she felt weird kissing him.

"I'll see you later," Musa said quietly, pulling away from him and smiling.

"Yeah okay," Jared said as the princess made her way out of the park.

* * *

Musa walked out of the park feeling as if she was walking on air. She still couldn't figure out why she pulled away from Jared so quickly since she was now regretting her action, but she didn't worry too much about it. Judging by the way things were going, she would definitely have an opportunity to make up for it.

Not really paying attention to what was going on around her, Musa managed to run headlong into someone that was already in the park. "Oh sorry," Musa said unable to stop smiling as she walked towards the exit of the park. She turned to see who exactly she had run into

"You look ridiculous," Riven said stifling a laugh when he looked at her, although she did look sort of adorable, the outfit didn't look like something the princess would pick out for herself. But Riven was keen on noticing the way the tight clothing clung to the subtle curves of her body. He had been dragged to the carnival by Helia since Sky and Brandon had gone to Eraklyon and when Helia had casually mentioned that Musa would be there, he was a lot more apt to going. Not that he was going to admit it.

"Oh its you," Musa said a little crestfallen, she didn't know who she was expecting but Riven wasn't it. "And I happen to think I look adorable," She told him

"Have you looked in a mirror?" Riven shot back, lacking his usual coldness, this time he sounded like he was simply teasing her playfully.

Musa hadn't even picked up on the fact that he was acting softer towards her since she had Jared on the brain so she simply laughed and nodded. "No but no one at the carnival was complaining,"

"Your leaving?" Riven asked changing the subject to avoid accidentally telling Musa something he was not ready to admit to anyone just yet. He saw that she was heading for the park gate when they bumped into each other and hoped that she wasn't leaving, not that he could do anything that would maker her want to stay.

"Yup," Musa said not noticing the crestfallen look that began to grow on Riven's face. "I'll see you later," The princess then turned on her heels and began to walk into the city on her way back to Alfea. She would admit to herself that seeing Riven did make her feel a little on edge but she was bent on getting over him, it was clear they were supposed to be just friends and that he was what he clearly wanted.

Musa continued along the streets of Magix and walked back to Alfea.

* * *

_**1. **__I had to go to charm school when I was younger so I used some of the knowledge from there to write that part of the chapter, and yes the rules suck and nobody ever uses them except at fancy parties. _

_**2. **__Got that from 'Devil Wears Prada' the movie_

_**3. **__Layla annoys me so much sometimes. _

_**4. **__Got that from she's the man_

_This is gonna be the last update for a few weeks. I leave for Aruba in a couple days and then I have to go back to school. But it wont be too long! Promise!_

xoxo,  
princessm


	15. Magic In My Heart

_Wow it's been awhile! Sorry but I have been crazy busy with school and trying to keep a good GPA. Ugh! Finally I have some time to finish this chapter, since I know a few of you guys were really looking forward to it. (Thanks for the PM's btw, it helped light a fire under my ass)_

_So one of the major problems with making this seires was whether or not Musa was really a princess since her father was disowned and then Galatea but she is still referred to as a princess at points in the story - so this chapter will sort all of that out. _

_I don't really understand the continuity of this episode because Musa says her father wont let her perform tomorrow but then they make it seem like her performance is the same day. Even though it's not. Anyway, I decided to fix that little mishap on my own. As for Jared, I am sure some of you aren't liking how close he's getting to Musa, but luckily for you…he won't be in this chapter…. but someone else will! ------ ( I wasn't going to make it that easy ;)_

_This is also kind of an important chapter – a lot happens – so try to keep up!_

**Magic in My Heart**

"Musa don't you think you should be going to sleep soon?" Tune said as she sleepily flew out from Musa's room into the common room where the musical princess was busily typing away on her computer. Musa had decided to work in the common room since she didn't want to disturb Techna, who had gone to sleep early that night, while she finished her paper for her potions class.

"Dance practices have been pretty intense these last couple of days," Musa told Tune not looking up from her work. "Not to mention long, and I really haven't had much time to finish this paper, so I'm gonna try to get some work done now,"

"Well I have to say I'm proud of you for not procrastinating like you normally do," Tune said flying down and sitting on the laptop, partially blocking the bottom of the screen. "But you need to get some rest before the your big performance at Red Fountain,"

"That isn't for another couple of days," Musa excused, feeling a mixture and nerves and excitement when she thought about it. "I'll be fine, besides after I finish this paper I will have so much extra time to have fun after the show without worrying about finishing, besides I am almost done,"

"Fine, but I don't like the idea of you staying up into the wee hours of the morning, even if it is for homework," Tune said sounding a lot like Musa's aunt, with her accent and such. Musa rolled her eyes and nodded as Tune began to fly back into Musa's room.

Musa suddenly looked up at the balcony door that happened to be open thinking she had heard something. "Tune," She said all of a sudden, stopping the pixie as she flew back to her bed. "Did you hear that?"

"I didn't hear anything." Tune said. "Then again I am not the one with impeccable hearing,"

Musa listened closely again and she could hear something that vaguely sounded like heels clacking against the ceramic ceiling tiles of the school. "Sounds like someone is one the roof," Musa said setting her laptop aside on the couch and stood. She walked over to the balcony and listened carefully again, this time to hear the noise had stopped but there was someone muttering something. "I think it's one of the witches," Musa whispered calmly to Tune.

Without waiting to hear what Tune had to say, Musa stood up on the railing of the balcony and grabbed onto the rain gutter and then used the impressive strength in the dainty arms to pull herself up onto the roof. There Musa saw very clearly that Stormy was on the roof saying a spell that vaguely sounded like a navigation spell, she quickly came to the conclusion that the witch was looking for Alfea's part of the codex.

"Hey witch," Musa said carefully walking along the roof not wanting to fall off as she mustered up some courage. "It's 2 a.m. shouldn't you be hanging upside down in a cave somewhere," she spat putting her hands on her hips.

"You should have checked the weather before coming outside Musa," Stormy said standing up confidently as if she would have ease dealing with the princess. "Don't you know that there is a big storm coming," She said manically, storm clouds gathering in the calm night sky.

Musa heard the sound of thunder and saw flashes of lighting begin to fill the sky as Stormy approached her slowly. Feeling a little nervous with herself, doubting that she could take the witch on by herself, Musa took a step back but the brief moment of doubt faded and the musical princess felt a surge of confidence run through her. "I hate to break it to you but the wind is about to change,"

Musa quickly transformed into her winx form and looked at the witch fiercely. "Be careful," Musa heard from Tune that floated cautiously behind her, giving Musa a little comfort to know that if things did get out of hand that she would have back up to help out if she needed it.

"Bring the thunder," Musa challenged confidently.

"Oh I'm gonna bring more than that, see this" Stormy said lightly brushing her fingertip against the glowing jewelry on her neck and wrists. "I'm wearing Darkar's gloomix, check it," she yelled throwing a powerful attack that threw the princess off her feet and against the roof of the west wing computer lab.

Musa had never felt something that powerful hit her before, it was not like the powers that the witches had before. She had been slammed against the roof and felt a strong sting of pain coming from her lower back, but it was not about to keep her down. She was not about to lose a brawl with this witch. Bloom had told her that there was something different with the witches but she had figured they had just found some new spells, not that they were basically given steroids for their magic. "Storm clouds, give me your power," Stormy yelled loudly into the sky laughing with her normal insanity. "Nighty night Musa,"

Lifting her head, Musa refused to give up, not just yet. "Bass boost," Musa said quickly jumping to her feet, ignoring the pain she felt from the sudden movement, Musa threw a powerful sound attack at Stormy, knocking the witch off her feet and giving the princess back her upper hand. "Heed to dani feta tini don kay," (**1**) Musa screamed loudly as she concentrated the best she could. If she wanted to defeat the insane witch, she needed to cut off Stormy's power supply which meant breaking up the storm she had conjured.

Musa began to feeling power surge through her when she opened her eyes she began seeing the storm clouds breaking up.

"Are you trying to break up my storm?" Stormy said with a laugh as she stood up, her Gloomix beginning to glow again and the claps of thunder growing louder. The storm was starting to regain power. The witch continued to rant about something about something or the other.

Musa paid no attention to her however, she continued to stay focused. She tried to remember the weather spell that Palladium had taught them and concentrated on the spell she was chanting at the time. All she really needed was the storm to clear and then she would have effectively rendered the witch powerless. Just as the musical princess opened her eyes she saw that the sky was beginning to clear, her spell had worked. "Your little storm blew over," Musa said confidently looking at the panic fill Stormy's face when she realized that Musa had just defeated her. Now all that was left was to deliver the final blow. The princess raised her arm and conjured a powerful sound orb.

Stormy was sent flying off the side of the roof due to the sheer magnitude of Musa's attack and due to the fact that Musa had destroyed her storm, Stormy couldn't find the power to recover in time before hitting the ground, hard.

"Very nice," Tune said flying up to Musa as the two of them looked down at the quad, seeing Stormy slowly get up. Musa kept her guard up seeing that it was going to take a lot more than one attack to really beat the crap out of her.

"Oh you are so gonna pay for that, Musa" Stormy yelled pulling herself up off the ground of the quad. Musa then heard the rest of the school become aware of the witch's presence on the campus. There was no way that she would be able to stand up to the entire school, even though Musa would have loved to see her get ambushed. "This isn't over yet," Stormy warned before flying off.

Musa would have been a little concerned with the fact that Stormy left on her own, she knew that this wasn't over and she was going to have to deal with her later, but she was on a high. She had just forced one of the Trix sisters into giving up and leaving a fight. Now only that but she managed to knock her off feet and fall hard.

"Bravo!" Tune said excitedly as Musa smiled and laid back on the roof, gazing up at the stars. "Musa I am most impressed,"

"Thanks Tune," Musa sighed happily looking up at the calm night sky and letting out a small laugh. With all the adrenaline running through her veins there was no way she was going to get any sleep now, but the princess suddenly felt very awake.

* * *

Musa woke the next morning with excitement rushing through her, there was only one more day until her performance at Red Fountain and the nerves she was feeling the night before had all seemed to vanish and she was feeling more prepared now more than ever. The princess rushed out from the field back to the school after class to hopefully get a little sleep before all the rehearsals for the show began.

Musa rushed past the main entrance of the school not noticing that a large limo had pulled up to the front gate, she had grown used to the sight of them from simply growing up in lavish palaces and princesses were always coming and going from campus so limos were pretty common. The princess then continued forward until a familiar voice stopped her. "Musa," Daniel's voice called. Musa swirled around to see the Daniel, Nate, Duke along with the twins, Leslie and Penelope were all standing in front of the limo in a group, looking at her. "Too big a star to say hello?"

"W-What are you guys doing here!" Musa squealed running across the lawn of the school and right into Daniel's arms. She then prompted hugged the rest of the group in disbelief, although she should have been getting used to the visits since they were becoming so frequent, not that she would ever tire of them.

"We got the invitations," Nate said just as he hugged the princess and pulled away pulling one of the ornately decorated invitations out of his pocket and handed it to Musa. The princess looked down in confusion and promptly unfolded it to see that it was indeed the invitation for the Red Fountain show.

"You could have just called you know," Leslie said leaning against Nate and smiling. "No need to be so formal with us,"

"Oh well I…to be honest I didn't send these," Musa said in confusion wondering how they managed to get these, she was sure she hadn't sent them and it's not like anyone could get them, there were only a certain amount to begin with. She however had noticed the pile of them she was given had diminished slightly, maybe Ali had invited them? She then looked up at the group seeing the slightly offended looks on heir faces. "Not that I don't want you here, it's just I didn't think you guys would want to pick up and fly all the way here for a little show,"

"Luckily for you, we love skipping school," Daniel said with a charming smile as he looped had arm over her shoulder and turned to face the group.

"And we're pretty fond of you," Duke said running his hand through his dark locks and scanning the campus, enjoying the view of the girls in skimpy clothing. While it was never cold at Alfea, Devon Prep was in an environment that experienced all four seasons and the campus was currently defrosting from winter and short skirts were hard to come by for the next few weeks.

"Aw you sure know how to make a girl feel special," Musa said cheekily laying her head on Daniel's shoulder mockingly then immediately looking up and realizing she had a lot to do before the show the following night. "

"Yeah we figured as much," Leslie said. "Some of us are a little more studious than others," She began with a laugh. "We were planning on getting lost in Magix for the day and going out tonight, I assume you're in,"

"Of course," Musa nodded happily. "Well I guess I'll see you guys tonight then,"

The group nodded and with a wave they were off to luxurious metropolis, and looking forward to seeing Musa later that night. With a delighted smile, Musa shrugged her shoulder happily and walked into the school, she had to grab a few things before heading off to Red Fountain for practice. This was shaping up to be a great day and the excitement for the show was starting to really excite Musa.

* * *

After the few classes she had that day finished, Musa headed off to the sound stage that had been set up at Alfea for her to practice on. The dance team girls had set up a final practice session that day, since the show was the following night.

After a few grueling hours of dance practice Musa, Layla and Ali all walked out of the gym feeling exhausted. "We are definitely ready for the big show tomorrow," Ali said with a yawn.

"Hey thanks for inviting my friends," Musa said looking over to Ali as the three walked out of the gym and onto the campus and took a seat on the grass along the quad.

"Oh I wanted it to be a surprise!" Ali complained.

"Well they came by earlier and I just figured it was you when they showed me the invitations," Musa told her.

"What are we talking about?" Layla asked in confusion.

"Ali sent invitation to my friends from back home," Musa explained. "You can meet them all tomorrow at the concert,"

"Cool," Layla said standing up and dusting herself off and looking down at the two fairies still sitting on the ground. "We should probably head off to Red Fountain soon, Stella will be there waiting for us soon and the song list isn't finalized just yet,"

"Very true," Musa said with a small sigh, wishing she had some time to nap or take a break, but she could do that after the show. Besides she was running on too much excitement to sleep anyway. "I wanna get some stuff done here first and then I will catch up to you there,"

"Sounds good,"

Musa walked onto the Red Fountain campus an hour later and still felt a little weird walking along the new campus. It was suspending in mid air and it was something she simply couldn't wrap her head around why they put a campus full of boys without the ability to fly in the middle of the sky. She could only imagine what might happen if one of the boys had gone out partying and come back a little less then sober.

She smiled as a strong breeze whipped across the campus, pushing her pigtails back along with her shirt that began to slightly lift. Musa crossed her arms to prevent any unfortunate events on a campus full of boys and continued on towards the sound stage where she had been practicing for the last few days.

"So are you excited about our big show tomorrow night?" Layla said after Musa sang a few potential songs. Musa walked off the stage for a second to grab some water and sit for a second.

"I guess," Musa said with an exasperated sigh.

"I guess?" Layla repeated surprised. "It's gonna be awesome Musa, you're gonna rock red fountain,"

"I think maybe I'm nervous,"

"You have no reason to be nervous," Layla told her. "Hey let me show you my dance,"

"You do realize that the dance will be with you _and_ the rest of the dance team," Musa reminded, Layla was a pretty good dancer herself but she did have a bit of a problem sharing the spotlight with the rest of the team, something that surprised the princess since that meant Layla and Stella were more alike than she thought.

"Nice moves Layla," Musa applauded.

"I used to sneak out of my castle and learn them from street dancers,"

"I'm sure you're prim and proper rents loved that," Musa said with evident sarcasm

"Like I told them," Layla laughed as she finished her performance. Musa then continued trying out songs for the show while Stella arrived and made herself rather comfortable.

"Amazing Musa, that's the one you should do," Stella said clapping for the fifteenth time that day as she attempted to hurry the princess along in her selection of songs. "And now let's move along and practice our little number,"

"Wait, I wanna try this number that has a sax solo," Musa said "That might be better," She continued as she flinched and quickly caught the saxophone that Stella carelessly hurled at her, clearly feeling a bit impatient with the circumstance. Musa shot an angry look over to the princess who simply stuck her tongue out like a child and then crossed her arms.

"Be a little more careful Stella, this is my dad's saxophone!" Musa shouted sternly, feeling a little fed up with the Solarian princess's lack of respect for everything that wasn't hers, of course it wasn't Stella trying to be rude; she just had a knack for being a little self centered.

"Aww I don't care what happens to that old thing," Musa heard behind her, making her heart drop when she realized it was her father's voice. The last time she had even mentioned music or instruments in front of her father was when she was six and he caught her playing the piano with Daniel. He had told her time and time again he didn't want her playing music and she had time and time again disobeyed, but she was usually good at making sure that he was not in the vicinity and would never find out.

But the panic quickly melted over when she looked up and saw her father and screamed "Daddy!" like that same six year old girl playing the piano in secret. While she kept a lot of her life secret from him, Musa was rather close with there father and the fact that he was a busy king meant they didn't have too much time to spend together.

"Musa! Surprised?" He exclaimed happily as he walked over to his daughter, arms outstretched. "How's my little angel been?"

"I was in the realm on business when I thought that I would swing by," He explained when Musa began to question his disposition. He didn't seem at all upset with her even though she was welding his saxophone, the one that her mother had bought him, and he didn't even look upset. Not to mention her father never just 'swang by' he was a planner and he hardly acted spontaneously anymore. If he was here then he was here for a reason and worry suddenly began to sink in again. "But I have to say I thought I would find you in a library, not a sound stage,"

_Crap._ Musa thought knowing that look on her father's face. She was not going to get out of this too easily but hopefully she could minimize the damage by ending the conversation now and making up a whole new string of lies. "There is a concert tomorrow night at Red Fountain and Musa will be performing a song or two as well as a performance with the dance team. Your daughter is quite talented you know, one of the most gifted musicians we've ever had at this school," Miss Faragonda said, making Musa want to cringe. This was not going to help.

"Thanks Miss F," Musa said trying her best to smile and act cool even though her heart was ready to fly right out of her chest at the moment. But, maybe he wasn't upset; it had been years since he had forbidden her from playing music, maybe he had lightened up by now. "You gonna be able to stay and watch the performance tomorrow night dad?" She said with some false hope that filled her head.

He simply looked away with immense disappointment, which was more then enough punishment or Musa. She hated the thought of her father being upset with her, which was why she was always so careful with all of the antics, even if she did things she knew he wouldn't approve of she was sure to cover her tracks and that was usually very possible with the help of Daniel and her friends. "I would like to have a word with you outside young lady, in private,"

Musa simply nodded knowing there was no way she was going to win this argument, maybe if she just apologized over and over again and promised not to play music ever again he would drop it.

Musa followed her father silently out of the school, suddenly feeling like she was a child once again getting in trouble for breaking an ancient vase or, in her case, hijacking a few horses from the stable with Daniel and then taking them for a joy ride and ending up in the emergency room. But this time the anxiety before the showdown was much worse, she had never in her life seen her father this angry, they had their share of disagreements but Musa knew she blatantly disobeyed hi "It's on thing to lie about me, it's quite another to lie to me," Musa's father nearly yelled when the two of them had stepped outside of the school.

"I didn't lie!" Musa defended. "I just… I knew what you would say,"

"I sent you to Alfea so you could learn to apply your magic and knowledge to some legitimate profession; not to play around and to waste your time with music,"

"I can't stand hearing that," Musa shouted back. "Music was your life and there isn't 'some' profession you want for me there is just one that you want me to do and believe me I want it to but I want to do what I want too,"

"We are not talking about my life, we are talking about your life, don't you understand that,"

"Okay look dad, I'm sorry if you can't get over losing mom but I don't think –,"

"I don't want to hear another word about your mother Musa," Her father said sternly, his facing becoming stone cold. Musa had argued with her father before but she never brought up her mom because she knew how much it hurt her dad to even think about her. Her mother's death was something that her father had never recovered from and it seemed like he may never recover.

"Oh right I forgot we aren't even allowed to talk about her, she never existed and our lives together never even happened," Musa said feeling tears begin to well in her eyes.

"Maybe some day you will understand, if you perform in that concert tomorrow night, I am withdrawing you from Alfea, now this discussion is over,"

"Daddy…" Musa said pleadingly unable to say anything else.

"No Musa, I consider myself a reasonable man, I set certain rules and I expect those rules to be obeyed. Is it true that you went on tour with musicians," He said angrily, his voice nearly shaking with rage.

Musa felt her heart drop when she heard the words leave her father's mouth. She didn't know how she could possibly explain any other this. Musa knew there had be a something that brought him here and this was it; she should have had some flag of suspicion raised when her friends just showed up with the invitations. But her father couldn't have gotten an invitation, she would have known. "Daddy, I…please you have to understand," Musa began trying to reason with him, she knew how much he missed her mother but could she really be asked to give up her heritage and her god given talents? "I – I – ,"

"You have been lying to be for years," He finished for her. "I have turned a blind eye when you would fly off with Daniel and your friends for weeks at a time, I never said a word. I don't think I am asking too much that you follow my rules; I have been very lenient with you; since you were young you could have whatever you wanted and this is how you show your appreciation,"

"I never meant this to be something you would be disappointed in!" Musa defended. "You can't honestly tell me that you're upset with me for this, daddy; I love to sing," Musa said a little softer. "And I am really good, why can't you understand –,"

"So help me Musa I am going to get through to you and if pulling you out of Alfea and keeping you in the castle under my watch, is the only way then so be it," (**2**) He continued ignoring his daughter, there were a few things he couldn't tolerate and Musa lying about something like this was too much.

"Daddy," Musa said feeling tears begin to well in her eyes. "Please –,"

"No Musa my decision is final, continue to disobey me and see what happens," He said sternly before leaving the campus and the princess in tears.

* * *

Musa found herself sitting alone along the edge of the Red Fountain campus. She had seen her father get into the car and head back to the hotel when she got up there. The campus was actually pretty quiet, on a normal day she would have definitely heard a few elicit remarks from some of the students at the school, but today was actually pretty docile; probably because most of them were exhausted from preparing the school for the show the next day.

She kept replaying the argument in her head, she knew she was sure that things weren't good when her father had made a visit unannounced, but this was worse than she could have ever imagined. She had never seen her father so upset, well she had once, but that was a long time ago. The hours passed rather quickly and Musa realized that the day was slowly becoming evening. "Hey, are you okay?" Musa heard behind her, she turned to see the princess of Tides, standing a few feet away nervously, probably wondering if she should get involved in what was obviously a family matter.

Musa simply nodded, giving Layla the okay to approach, and Layla stood there for a couple minutes in silence before finally asking, "What happened, you went on the tour, I thought your dad was okay with all of this,"

"It's kind of a long story," The princess said looking down at the stone balcony she was leaning against. She had never actually told anyone the truth about her past, she never lied to her friends, but she conveniently forgot to mention the painful parts. The only people that knew were her close friends from back home, mostly because they grew up with and were there for some of it, or in Daniel's case, all of it.

"I've got time,"

"My mom started out as a classically trained opera singer with a fancy touring company," Musa explained, looking out at the horizon with a small smile at the memory of her late mother. "That's when my dad first saw her. "My father was a prince, and he was kind of the black sheep of the family, my aunt Galiena was the oldest of my dad's siblings, my dad was the middle child and my other aunt, Serena, was the youngest. Galiena was being groomed to take over as queen since my dad never showed much interest and when he chose to be a musician my grandparents disowned him, they aren't the most accepting of people. I think his lack of enthusiasm for his position as a prince made them angry,"

"But you –,"

"I'll get to it," Musa assured with a small laugh, she knew what Layla was confused about, her being a princess, and it was a little complicated to put it lightly. "He left the palace and didn't speak to my grandparents for months, but any doubts he had about leaving vanished when he first saw my mother perform,"

"That's sweet,"

"Yeah," Musa laughed, she had only really heard this story twice, once from her mother and once from her father a few years after her mother's death when she had been crying for days. She remembered that night perfectly, it was when she realized how much it hurt her dad to relive the memories so she never asked him about her mother again. She instead relied on Daniel's parents to fill her in since they knew her parents well. "He told my mom that he had the perfect melody for her to sing, when she agreed to sing it, he rushed back to finish the melody and stayed up all night working on it. It was called Magic in my Heart. Mom came over the next day and fell in love with the melody and my dad,"

"So there they were, a couple of rebels, she rejected her classical training she he rejected his call to the throne and all the royals he had grown up to know. All of this was for each other and for the music they love, they got married a couple months later and then That's when I came in into the picture. They had a hit single burning up the charts and so they took out some time to spend with me. Those two years were great, and even though I was so young I remember a lot of it. At the same time, on the Harmonic Nebula, it was getting close to the time when my Aunt Galiena was supposed to take the throne,"

"A few months later my grandfather got really sick," Musa explained. "He was afraid he would never see his first grandchild so he begged my father to visit for a few months, so we went back to the palace and my Aunt Galiena was ready to be coroneted as queen and my other aunt Serena had just gotten married as well," Musa continued. "After a few months my parents left to get back to their lives, my dad days it was because they missed the way things were away from the castle, but I know it was because not everyone was exactly accepting of my mother," Musa told her. She knew very well that he mother wasn't treated too well; she had only met her grandmother once before she passed away, but from what she had heard, her grandmother wasn't the nicest person ever.

Layla nodded silently and motioned for the princess to continue. "Daniel's father tried to convince him to stay, but my father was bent on leaving. They had been best friends growing up and went to prep school together their entire lives, but Daniel's father was not as rebellious and he was pretty ready to take his place as king. That was actually when I first met Daniel; of course we were only about 1 so I really don't remember,"

"A couple of years later they put together a really strict, nearly classical record," Musa explained further. "But during the tour, my mom got sick. They cancelled the tour and worse spread all over that she was sick, I remember my grandfather who was still sick called a lot trying to talk to my dad, but my dad didn't want to speak to the family that didn't accept of his life with my mom. I remember my dad tried really hard to be the calm guy that could keep it together, the guy you could count on. But, on my mom's last morning, he lost it,"

That morning was permanently engraved in Musa's head and sometimes it took all she had to not think about the morning that he mother passed away. "After my mom died he broke all the instruments in the house, threw away all the records, burned all the song books it was like no more music ever,"

"Sounds like it was still to painful for him to be around music and judging by what he said this afternoon, it sounds like he still is," Layla said.

"A few weeks after my mother passed away my grandfather called my father back to the castle for something important," Musa said. "And normally I don't think he would have gone but my dad wanted to get us away from everything that held my mother's memory, it was too hard for him to deal with. When we arrived in the Harmonic Nebula my grandfather wasn't well, it was time to a new ruler to ascend and throne and my grandfather told my father he wanted him to rule instead of my aunt,"

"Why?"

"I'm not really sure of all the details, nobody really told me," Musa admitted. "But it has something to do with inheritance, I was the oldest heir, Galatea, my cousin, was born a year after me, so technically I would be the next one to take over if my father took the throne. My grandfather wanted to make sure that our family continued it's rule, to protect our precious blood line,"

"That couldn't have gone over well,"

"Galiena was furious, she had been preparing all her life and my father honestly didn't want to be king, but he didn't want anything to do with music either so he took it. Besides, he wanted to keep me away from all of that too, I think he blames everything that happened on his choosing music instead of settling down like Daniel's father did," Musa explained.

"Anyway a few months later he was officially King and I was coroneted as the princess and the next in line for the throne, ever since then my dad took his role very seriously, I think he is trying to make it up to everyone and prove that he's worthy of the title, and so he's been away working and being King for most of my life. That's how I became so close with Daniel, King Alexander, Daniel's dad and my dad's best friend, would come over a lot when we first moved back. Daniel was the only companion I had till we started school a year later and met Nate and everyone else. He and I would stay at the other's palace for months at a time since our parents were such good friends they were fine with it and we always had so much fun together, actually he was the person who taught me how to play most of my instruments since we had to do that in secret,"

"That explains why you are so close with him," Layla pointed out.

"Yeah, from then on a lot of what I did I had to hid from my dad," Musa admitted. "He wanted me to become the perfect princess, I dunno so maybe I wouldn't go through what he did. So then my aunt Galiena finally got over being passed over for the throne and began to teach me what it was to be a proper princess,"

"Sounds awful,"

"It wasn't so bad," Musa admitted. "Daniel and I managed to break every rule she set out for us and we had a great time doing it. I dunno, I guess since then we did what we wanted, which usually involved music, I mean it's in my blood, but we hid it from my dad. Maybe it's all finally caught up to me,"

"We can fix the show so that you don't perform," Layla offered.

"Thanks," Musa said giving her a hug and then walking out of the school, they had a lot of work to do.

* * *

"Layla told us what happened," Flora explained sitting down on Musa's bed with the rest of the girls filing in.

"Yeah," Musa said putting her hand on her necklace and carefully running her finger along it.

"Are you alright?"

"Are you sure you want to be going out right now," Bloom said standing up and putting a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"I think this is just what I need," Musa said turning away from the mirror and finally facing her friends. "They flew all the way out here to see me and besides I just want to get away from everything right now,"

"Okay," Techna said with a nod, no longer wanting to push the subject since it was still pretty clear that she was still pretty upset and there was no need to make her feel worse especially when she was already on edge.

"So onto more fun topics," Stella said cheerfully. Leave it to the Solarian princess to lighten the mood. "You look amazing, and that color is amazing on you,"

"Thanks Stel," Musa laughed and walked over to her nightstand to see if she got anymore texts or calls about where she was going tonight.

"Where are you guys going tonight?" Bloom asked looking through the box that Musa had pulled out from under her bed earlier that night. She smiled as she looked through some old pictures she had and some more recent ones of her when she was on tour.

"Dinner first, somewhere exclusive sure, and then a club," Musa said putting on a pair of earrings and then sitting next to Bloom. "You guys can come along if you'd like, I'm sure nobody would mind,"

"No it's your night out," Flora said with a smile. "But you should have some fun,"

"That was a fun night," Musa said with half a smile looking at the same picture Bloom was looking at. It was a picture of Musa, Daniel and Nate, all looking like they had just walked through a wind storm in front of a huge sound stage. "I had just preformed the closing number and Daniel and Nate ran up on stage right after and carried me off, this was taken right as we came down the steps,"

"Sounds amazing," Bloom smiled.

"It was," Musa said a little bitterly. "But all of that is over now," She huffed sadly.

"I'm sure he will lighten up," Stella told her trying to make the princess feel better. "My father once told me I wasn't allowed to go -,"

"Stella, I think this might be a little different," Techna pointed our before the princess could continue and say something offensive by accident, she did have a propensity of doing that.

"Look guys, I'll be fine," Musa assured them. "I don't want to leave Alfea so I am definitely not going to perform tomorrow night and hopefully he will lighten up later. If not then I…I dunno," Musa said trying her best not to get upset again.

"Hey, it'll be okay," Flora said lending a supportive hand to her; Musa simply stood up and gained her composure, she didn't want to get upset before she went out. Tonight was about having some fun.

"We'll be outside if you need us okay?" Bloom said as the girls filed back out of the room leaving Musa alone. The princess sat down on her bed and looked out the window and watched as the sun began to set, sitting amongst the clouds as the sky turned a shade of orange, prink and purple.

Everything was coming undone. A week ago everything was perfect, she was excited about Jared and the show and everything was great at home. Now she felt like she didn't even know which way was up. Her father was dead serious about pulling her out of school and she knew that one more slip up her at Alfea would do it. While going back to Devon wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, she did love her friends there; she didn't want to leave Magix. She finally felt comfortable here and now she was really feeling like she had a hold on what was going on.

But now, everything could change once again.

Musa looked at the box of photos that sat on her bed and began to flip through them herself, forgetting the reason she pulled the box out in the first place. She looked through some of the pictures she hadn't looked at in a while. She looked past the stack with the tour and got to the whole stack of pictures from her freshman year and smiled. Musa had been regretting not performing and standing up for herself all day, but she knew how much she loved it here and she could not just leave now.

So she missed out on one concert, and has basically agreed to stop playing music and singing for good, she would be fine. Right? She tried her best to convince herself she was fine but she could feel herself beginning to cry once again. How could all of this be happening? She was the princess of the Harmonic Realm for Magix's sake! Her people were some of the most talented around and she was certainly no exception, how could she be expected to give up what made her, her?

The princess then looked back in the box, putting the photos back and pulling out the invitations for the show at Red Fountain, finally remembering why she pulled the box out in the first place. She hastily grabbed the stack and counted them, not counting the ones Ali sent to her friends and the ones she gave to Bloom and everyone at Alfea; she was still missing three.

"Son of a…," Musa muttered to herself as she counted the invitations. Someone had sent her father an invitation, she had assumed something of the sort had happened but now she pretty much had proof that it did.

"Musa!" The musical princess heard shout from the common room. Assuming that Daniel had come to pick her up for their night out, Musa grabbed her small bag and opened her door to see a different boy standing at the door.

"Duke," Musa said surprised when she walked out of her room, thinking she was going to be picked up by Daniel like she always was. But maybe it was best that he hadn't come to pick her up, the girls weren't exactly fans of him and she didn't need to give them any more reason to believe there was still something going on with the two of them.

"Wow can you sound a little less disappointed," Duke quipped, flicking back his dark hair with a smile, as he walked over to Musa, not realizing that the girls were currently watching the two like hawks.

"I'm just surprised is all," Musa said shaking off the surprise and walking over to hug him cordially. "It's usually the other one that comes to get me," Musa said referring to Daniel.

"Yeah they are all the hotel, we're meeting there before we go out tonight," He informed her as he handed her the purse she put on the table. He then proceeded to look over at the girls, who were currently watching the two closely, and flashed a charming smile and wink. "Hello ladies," eliciting a few giggles from the girls. "If I knew you had such pretty friends, I would have been the one picking you up months ago,"

"You can stop the prince charming act," Musa said putting her finger on his cheek and pulling his attention back to her. "They're all taken."

"Too bad," He said looking back at the girls and giving them a sexy wink that even made Stella's cheeks heat up. He then walked behind the princess and shut the door behind them, vaguely hearing giggling erupt as he walked through the hallway.

"You look very nice tonight," Duke said as he caught up to Musa.

"As do you," Musa said with a small laugh.

"So anyone giving you trouble here?" Duke asked extending his arm out so Musa could link her arm in his. "I can take care of them for you if you need me to," he offered with a playful push in her direction. Duke had always been the charmer of the group and he knew exactly what to say and when to say it, and he could tell something was bothering Musa and was hoping he could cheer her up or at least take her mind off of it.

"While the idea of you beating the daylights out of someone else is almost too good to pass up," Musa joked as he escorted out of the school and across the quad to the limousine that was waiting for them. "Your smooth moves don't really work on guys and your more of a lover not a fighter,"

"Hey I can kick ass if I needed to," Duke smirked. "Are you sure there isn't anyone?"

"What exactly are you getting at, Duke?" Musa said as she scooted into the limo as he followed. The door slammed behind him and she looked at him with faux sternness. Was it in everyone's nature to pry? She knew exactly what he was getting at and she really couldn't blame her friends' fascination or curiosity with the mystery guy in Magix since she hadn't really given them too much information and he did happen to play an integral role in the reason Daniel and Musa weren't together anymore. Curiosity was bound to happen and she was only fanning the flames by avoiding the questions.

When Duke didn't answer, instead he sat back with a raised eyebrow and knowing smile, Musa continued. "Daniel put you up to this, is his ego so important he can't live without knowing that he's better then someone else,"

"So you admit Daniel's better then him," Duke concluded playfully

"I never said that!" Musa retorted.

"Sounded like you did," Duke said as he felt the conversation was taking a bad turn. He didn't want this to turn into something that would cause a problem, Musa was right he really wasn't a fan of confrontation.

"Do we have to talk about this?" Musa said with a frustrated sigh giving him a hard and slightly irritated look. The truth was that Musa really didn't want to think about it, she was just starting something with Jared that could be leading to something and the last thing she wanted to do was to jinx it. Besides she really didn't want to think about Riven, probably because that led to her to questioning her feelings for Jared and, once again, she didn't want to jinx it.

"No," Duke assured as they pulled up to the hotel where everyone was staying. "Let's go have some fun,"

* * *

"You should have seen it Musa," Leslie smiled. "It was priceless; the seniors really went out of their way this year," The group sat around a large table at one of the chic restaurants in the heart of Magix, Musa had refrained from telling them about the fact that they came to Magix for no reason really, she wouldn't be performing now.

"Speaking of pranks," Isabelle said. "Remember last year when we bet that Nate wouldn't notice that we dyed his hair in his sleep?"

"Thanks by the way," Nate said feigning bitterness at the recollection of his friends dyeing his hair after he had a little too much drink at a royal event and passed out a bit later that night, it was the last night before they went out on the tour. They had made a bet that he would notice immediately but Musa was confident her friend wasn't that vein and bet against them. Unfortunately she had lost, but couldn't really remember the terms of the bet now.

"Don't be bitter," Isabelle said playfully. "And you thought he wouldn't notice, but we knew better and you lost the bet and if you remember the rules; we get to pick your outfit for a performance," (**3**)

"Yeah but the tour is over," Duke pointed out and then continued to eat the food on his plate. The bet was made a while ago but never the less they never chickened out on bets.

"And the show at Red Fountain is tomorrow!" Isabelle squealed happily, getting a few looks from the rest of the table, making the fairy feel a little bad about imposing the wager on her friend. "You guys made me run around Devon's main campus in my bra, in the dead of winter through a foot of snow, let me have this,"

"Well I'm sorry buy you won't get the chance to see me in whatever you pick out," Musa said looking down at her food as she moved the same small carrot around her plate over and over again with her fork. She looked up to see the group quietly waiting for her answer. "My dad is here and he knows about the concert, the tour over the summer, he knows everything and he's threatening to pull me out of Alfea,"

"What?" Annabelle said, her eyes wide with disbelief, something that seemed to be present on all of the faces of the people sitting at the table. "Why is he here?"

"He didn't follow us did he?" Nate questioned. It was very out of their parents' nature to pry, they parented on the 'don't ask, don't tell' philosophy. As long as their kids were not getting into trouble or making the family look bad in the public eye, they had free reign to do whatever they wanted.

"That not really his style," Daniel pointed out.

"I went through my things looking for the portfolio of the pictures from the tour and they're gone," Musa began. "Then I looked at my box of invitations and noticed that there were an extra two missing after the ones Ali sent to you guys. One went to my Aunt Galiena and the other to my father,"

"Who," Leslie said sitting back in her seat, already scheming as to how they were going to make her pay. Someone had obviously tampered with Musa's life and in their group nobody got away with that kind offense. Musa had realized a long time ago that what she lacked in family she made up for with friends that had now basically become her family after all the years they had spent together,

"Who else?" Musa said. While she had no proof that it was the person she had in mind. Musa had been thinking about it and the only vengeful person she could think was Karen, she was definitely out to get Musa and this was the perfect way.

"I knew you should have killed her when you had the chance," Isabelle groaned. "Socially of course, but the latter can be arranged as well," she continued earning herself a hard look from Musa. "Just saying, it is always an option,"

"Wait, hold on," Daniel said sitting forward and turning slightly to look at the princess who looked as if she wasn't going to hold it together for very much long. "We don't have to worry just yet, all he asked is that you not perform," Daniel began reaching for Musa's hand and held it supportively. "I know this concert means a lot but just skip it, I mean what's more important to you Alfea or one concert,"

"It's not just that now," Musa began. "He is going to have eyes on me now and you know it. That means dance team is out and everything else I do here aside from learning. I might as well come back to Devon, at least there we were able to hide it better,"

"What are you saying," Nate said a little confused.

"I'm just so sick of dealing with her," Musa said feeling frustrated. She had enough of the plotting and sabotage the year before and she had honestly thought it was over. "I just want things to go back to the way they were, but that's not happening. So what am I supposed to do, but I am not letting her get away with this,"

"Fine, all you need to do is get her out of here and send her back home," Leslie said sitting forward once again. "We'll take care of her and this time she will learn her lesson, promise,"

Musa nodded bitterly thinking about how dumb she had been, putting her elbows on the table and burying her face in her hands. She really didn't know what to do know. "Don't worry we will take of this," Daniel whispered quietly moving his mouth to her ear putting his arm around her shoulder supportively.

"Anyway!" Annabelle said loudly as she made an attempt to change the subject and lighten the mood. "We can all take care of this, but tonight we should have some fun,"

"I agree," Musa said perking up a bit as she raised her glass of champagne and then proceeded to down the entire thing.

* * *

Musa walked into her room a little passed midnight, to see that Techna was fast asleep, not that Musa was at all surprised; Techna usually went to bed rather early. She put down her things and walked next door to Layla's room, first changing out of her dress. The two, along with help of Layla's roommate Francis (**4**) The girls worked for hours but managed to perfect the time slot and make it so that Musa wouldn't have to perform the next day; although the princess wasn't okay with just giving in, she knew it was what she had to do.

The next morning, Musa walked onto the Red Fountain campus in a casual summer dress, there were certain dress codes for these events, while not as strict as other parties she had encountered, Cordatorta was in a suit meaning she needed at least a dress or something of that nature to wear today. Musa looked around the campus and it was light up with lanterns leading over to wear the stage was. She walked over to the side of campus and looked out to see that the grounds under the campus were decorated. (**5**)

She felt a pull at her heart when she realized she wouldn't e performing even though she had worked so hard and practiced so much. She had luckily found a replacement for her in the dance team's opening and closing number, and Layla filled her time slot so that there wouldn't be a gap in the show, but Musa loved being on stage. She was normally a little more reserved than her friends, both at Alfea and Devon, but when she got on stage it was like something came over her and she felt so much more comfortable with herself, it was like she was someone else for a little while and it felt amazing.

"Musa," The princess heard from behind her, she turned around to see Daniel and the rest of their little group standing on the lit up path into the auditorium where the stage was set up. "Come on," Daniel called over to her encouragingly.

Musa nodded and walked over to the group and greeted them. "You know you don't have to be here tonight, I'm not even performing,"

"First," Nate said throwing his arm around her shoulder and giving her a supportive hug. "We don't need some show to come and visit you,"

"And second," Daniel said. "We have a plan,"

"Guys…" Musa said nervously. She knew her friends would stop at nothing to make sure she was happy but sometimes their schemes were sometimes a little complicated and borderline criminal and usually morally bankrupt. Not that she ever really refused to go along with them, after all she usually helped them figure out ways to keep their parents from finding out and throwing a fit over the things their kids were doing.

"Trust us," Isabelle assured. "Karen's not the only one that can call in reinforcements, actually she made this whole thing a whole lot easier,"

"What are you guys talking about,"

"They are talking about me," Musa heard from behind her, she turned to see her Aunt Galiena standing in front of the group, in her normal classy attire, looking as a proper royal should.

"What?" Musa said confused turning to her friends with some fire in her eyes. What was _she_ doing here! Of all the people that wanted Musa to start acting differently, her aunt was the first person to try to change her into being someone different.

"Trust us," Leslie pushed. "We're gonna go inside," She then said quickly and hurried her friends into the auditorium. "We'll have Bloom or one of the guys help us find our seats," She assured as they all walked away.

"I need to talk to you," Aunt Galiena said as she walked towards the one of the stone fences that overlooked the valley of the three schools and the city, way in the distance.

"I can't imagine what about," Musa said rolling her eyes and following close behind.

"I guess you know why I am here," Galiena began and without waiting for Musa to answer. "But I think you might need to know a few things,"

"Fine," Musa decided that biting her tongue might be best in the situation. Her friends assured her that this was going to help her so she was just going to trust them.

"Your father was furious when he got the invitation in the mail and then the photos from the tour," Galiena began calmly. "I have to say I didn't expect to see that either, I know you enjoy rebelling against everything that's told to you but this was a new feat for you,"

"Are you here to lecture me?" Musa looked down feeling a little disappointed but mostly just annoyed with the whole situation. "Because me dad already did that,"

"I came here to make sure you know why your father is the way he is," Galiena retorted with severity growing in her voice.

"It's because mom –,"

"Yes, and you were so young when it happened you have ni idea the lengths your father went through to protect you," Galiena said.

"From what?"

"From everything he had to go through, that your mother had to go through," Galiena explained. "Your grandfather, my father, had planned for a long time for your dad to succeed him, although he didn't share that plan with many others in the family. When he first got sick he called your father back to convince him to take the throne, he would be king and your mother would be queen. But of course he had given up the royal life once before and he was not planning on coming back, especially with the way that everyone treated your mother,"

"Aunt Galiena I already know –,"

"Sweetie it's rude to interrupt," Galiena corrected immediately and continued. "But after your mother passes away, your father immediately abandoned everything that brought him to her. He didn't want you to grow up alone so he brought you back to your family. The reason he's been so strict with everything is because he doesn't want you to endure the things your mother had too. That's why I've been keeping such a close eye on you your entire life. He wanted you to become the queen your mother never got to be,"

"But still, music –,"

"Is a part of you," Galiena finished for her. "I know, why do you think I never told your father when Daniel would teach you how to play or when you would sing in secret. He just assumed it would hurt you the way it hurt him; he's never really come to terms with his grief and unfortunately I don't think he ever will. But that doesn't mean you have to suffer the way he has,"

"But -,"

"Your mother was a strong woman, something she has seemed to pass onto you, along with her extraordinary talent," Galiena encouraged. "It's something you shouldn't hide, and while the social rules of royal society say you can only do one or the other; I think you can do both. Besides when you're Queen you will make the rules won't you,"

"What are you saying," Musa asked feeling a little hope rise within her.

"I think you should perform tonight, I'll take care of my little brother," Galiena assured. Musa looked at her aunt with disbelief, was this really happening! Out of excitement she threw her arms around her aunt and squealed with happiness.

"Thank you aunt Galiena," Musa finally managed to say.

"I know I am a little critical of you," Galiena admitted as she looked at the princess, her hands on her shoulders as she looked her over. "But I am very proud of you and your mother would be too,"

"Thank you," Musa thanked once again

"You're welcome," She said as she handed a small bag to Musa. "Isabelle wanted me to give you this,"

Musa looked in the bag and laughed looking at the get-up she was going to have to be in for the performance. "Good Luck darling," Galiena said as she walked into the auditorium, probably to one of the royalty boxes that they had set aside like they always do.

Just as she was going to walk into the auditorium following her aunt, Musa heard her phone ring from her clutch and when she looked at the screen, she lit up. "Hey," Musa said happily.

"Hey, I just called to wish you luck tonight," Jared told her sweetly. "I wish I could be there,"

"Thanks," Musa said feeling unbelievable relieved for a second. Things were sort of falling apart all around her and she was about to do something that was probably going to get her pulled out of Alfea. All things she really wanted to tell him but she knew he was busy with his family tonight and that he was

"Hey look, I uh know I should probably ask you this in person," Jared began nervously. Musa could hear t clearly through his voice on the phone and smiled, it was a little adorable how he was a little tongue tied when he talked to her; it was nice to know that she had to ability to render him speechless. "But the um…the official ball between Omega Chi and the other fraternities and sororities at Alfea is next week…"

"Yeah…" Musa said feeling her heart begin to race as she anticipated the invitation. She knew about the ball and had wondered why Jared hadn't asked her sooner considered the two had gotten rather close over the past few weeks. When he hadn't asked Musa had contemplated asking Daniel to escort her since he was always a pretty good stand in, but considering what happened the last time they went to a formal affair together; she held off for a while.

"You don't have to say yes to this or anything…I mean if you want to," Jared began just as nervously as before, making Musa grin from ear to ear. "Do you want to go with me…like a date," He finally spat out, he couldn't really consider their first encounter as a date since she hadn't ever really agreed and he had thought maybe nothing would ever happen but the last few weeks showed some promise and whoever she was hung up, she was obviously over it now.

"I'd love to," Musa said after a second, letting his sweat it out for just a moment longer, she couldn't help but revel in the attention.

"Wow, great," Jared said with obvious relief in his voice. "I guess I'll see you later then,"

"mmhmm," Musa agreed gleefully and then ended the call. With a content sigh Musa shrugged her shoulders.

* * *

"You look ridiculous!" Stella nearly burst out laughing as Musa stepped out of the bathroom and walked backstage. "Please change back into the dress we were planning on you wearing,"

"Sorry," Musa looked at the small mirror and saw her reflection and she really did look ridiculous, but she was just so happy she could perform that none of this bothering her. "But I will not go back on my word, I lost a bet so I will wear this…ensemble,"

"I think you're doing the right thing by the way," Stella encouraged while Brandon and Sky finished up the traditional fire dance; Musa was on next and she was definitely going to be the highlight of the show. "You are going to tare it up,"

"I dunno what's wrong with me, I can't find the first note," Musa said feeling her hands shake slightly. She was so confident that this was the right thing to do, yet she felt a slightly foreboding feeling coming over her.

"And now, it is my pleasure to welcome to the stage our next performer. Here to sing for ya is a very special fairy from Alfea. Her charm and charisma is equaled only by her amazing musical talent. This girl is a star in the making! Put your hands together for Musa!"

"This is you!" Stella gave Musa and encouraging little push forward as the curtain opened and the crowd erupted in applause and cheer. Musa knew she was pretty well known for not just being a princess but also a very talented singer. Of course none of that really mattered unless tonight went over well with her father.

"Hey!" Musa smiled excitedly. Smiling as she looked through the crowd and saw her friends cheering her on and the when she looked up to the royalty box she saw Daniel and the rest of her other friends with her aunt…but curiously not her father, sitting there cheering her on as well. Musa scanned the crowd once again and saw her father, looking a little disapprovingly at her, but past that she could see that he was a little proud.

"Go Musa!" The princess heard as the crowd quieted down a little, coming from Bloom.

"This is the first song my dad ever wrote for my mom," Musa said hoping it would evoke something in her father…like say enough sympathy to keep her here.

_Oh . . ._

_Lonely mountains and tragic spells_

_Forbidden potions from haunted realms_

_Sea of star dust light years apart_

_Fields of dragons that will rip your heart_

_I faced them all and I survived_

_To get right here as you arrived_

_And when I heard you voice and song_

_I knew that I finally belonged_

_Now I know we'll never part_

_Cause you magic lives inside my heart oh_

_And we'll always be together_

_Cause you magic lives inside my heart _

_Forever…_

_And ever…_

Musa paused a moment before beginning the next verse to hear the crowd once again erupt in applause. It looked like the outfit really didn't matter, the crowd loved her. But just as she went to open her mouth to continue on with her song she heard a horrible crash and when she looked up she saw her father n the ground and Stormy looking over him and laughing maniacally.

"Dad! No!" Musa cried out.

"What the hell is going on," Daniel said standing up along with the entire royal box stood up to see what was going on. Without another word the group cleared from deck to try to help the King in anyway they could, along with Galiena who had promptly called the secret service for some assistance with this obviously loon.

Stormy then slowly flew off the ground and faced the entire crowd, successfully stealing the show from the musical fairy. "Nobody move of the old man loses more than his hair," She laughed maniacally once again and looked at the crowd and then straight over to Musa. "Except for you Musa, get down here," Then motioning for Musa to come in her direction.

"Let him go!" Musa demanded feeling herself visibly shake on stage. "He has nothing to do with this!"

"Sure, I'll let him go," Stormy teased maliciously with that lunatic grin spreading on her face. "As soon as you get down here and take his place! And you might want to hurry it up!" Stormy demanded and shot another bolt of lightning out, this time again at Musa's father, making the King cringe in pain

"All right! You asked for it! I took you out once and I'll take you out again!" Musa shouted, if Stormy wanted a repeat of before then she was sure as hell going to get one, nobody messed with her friends or family, especially not her father and Musa was going to make sure this witch knew that.

"Oh, we're not fighting Musa," Stormy informed her. "You're surrendering or I'm destroying your father right now."

"Just don't hurt him." Musa told her, the worry seeping into her, making her second guess any move she was going to make.

"Musa! No!" her father said meekly on the ground, the last thing he would even want was to his daughter get hurt and especially not on his account.

Musa could only think of one thing that might help was if she had more power. Luckily the musical princess remembered something from class on their lecture about power amplification. Stella's powers were strengthened by the sun, Layla's by the sea and her's by music, in particular when she was singing. So by that logic if others sang with her, she could amplify her power by 100 fold.

"Good idea," Stormy teased wickedly being pretty sure that she was going to be the winner of this one. "Get on the mic and give us some last words."

"Listen. I need each and every one of you to help me. Just sing with me, okay?" Musa begged the crowd and saw the confused looks on everyone's face.

"One last song for your farewell concert?" Stormy continued on. It seemed at the moment that the musical princess was making a complete fool out of herself, making Stormy feel even better about winning. But just when it looked like Musa's last chance was about to fail, a particular hero caught on to what Musa was trying to do.

"Sing!" Riven ordered the crowd harshly, as if what Musa was planning was laid out so obviously. "Come on everyone! Just do what Musa says! Sing along! It'll help her! She gets her powers from music! She'll be able to blow this witch away if everybody sings!"

Without another word out of the hero the entire crowd began to sing along with the musical fairy. "That's it! Yeah!" Riven almost cheered before putting a more serious look on his face, he then turned to Musa as she sang and the two locked eyes for just a second and Musa could nearly feel her heart leap out of her chest. But there was time for that later, now it was time to deal with Stormy.

"What are you trying to do Musa?" Stormy shouted trying not to sound like she was getting concerned with the way things were turning out.

Instead of answering Stormy's question with words she thought she might do it with an attack that she could amplify with the help of the whole crowd. She conjured a powerful sphere that began to glow white light and grow as it approached the witch.

"Oh come on! What's going on here?" Stormy yelled angrily as she began to realize that she was going to be defeated at the hands of the musical fairy once again. "NO! Stop it! Ahhh_"_

It didn't take long for the witch to be sent flying from the school from the intensity of the attack and with that Musa smiled with confidence. "Stormy has left the building!" Musa announced with excitement to the cheering crowd. "Alright!"

"That was awesome!" Stella said excitedly as she and Layla ran out from back stage and dropped to the ground and hugged Musa with pride. Musa breathed heavily as she tried to catch her breathe and as she gazed out at the crowd to check if her father was alright, she looked up to see that he was just fine.

"How did you do that Musa," Tune said as she and the other pixies flew up to the stage.

"Well my magic comes from music, so I just figured…more music more power," Musa said and then gazed out at the crowd. _Mom, thank you_ she said to herself.

A few minutes later the show went back to normal and Musa did her number with Stella followed by her closing performance with the dance team. As Musa walked off the stage after an amazing performance with the team she got backstage and saw Daniel and her friends waiting for her.

Musa couldn't contain her excitement and just as she walked off stage, the princess jumped into Daniel's unexpecting arms and laughed gleefully. "Oh my god!" She squealed happily, her feet landing on the ground as she pulled away from the Prince.

"You were amazing," Daniel smiled, beaming with pride. He had just witnessed something he never thought he would, and while he was now a little more worried about his best friend's safety at Alfea, he knew she was more than capable of handling herself.

"How's my dad?" Musa said breathlessly, receiving a few more congratulatory hugs from her friends.

"He's fine, your aunt is with him now," Leslie told her, making her feel better to know that he was alright. The group along with Bloom and the girls walked outside, enjoying the high Musa seemed to be on.

"We need to celebrate," Isabelle cheered.

"This means you're staying at Alfea right?" Stella said making sure she knew why everyone was so happy.

"Yeah she's staying," Nate answered.

Musa smiled, feeling the excitement leap off of her through palpable waves of sheer joy. She had never experienced a high quite like this, finally she didn't have to hid her life from her father, it was like a giant weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "That's our girl," Daniel said proudly throwing his arm over her shoulder and giving her a squeeze. Musa looked over to the prince and saw a certain specialist that she owed a great deal of thanks walking over towards the northern part of campus where the dorms were.

Freeing herself from Daniel's grasp, Musa followed Riven with the corner of her eye and promptly excused herself for a second. "Hey, I'll be right back; figure out what we're gonna do tonight," She said with a nod to the group as she quickly ran off and disappeared into the darkness of the northern part of the campus.

Riven had found himself unsure of what to do now that he had stupidly made a huge display in front of most of the students in Magix, not to mention he was now sure everyone was aware of how he felt about Musa, not that he had been doing too good a job of hiding it before hand. And to make matters worse immediately after the performance where he had basically admitted his feelings, he got to see the object of his affection jump into the arms of some guy. Riven was pretty sure that she wasn't seeing anyone, if she were he would have completely overreacted by now, but it wasn't like he talked to her very much, or at all. He tried to tell himself that there was probably nothing going on but jealously made him completely irrational.

Musa finally caught up to Riven seeing that he was walking rather quickly back to the dorms, she figured he was probably not in the mood to party after his display. While it had probably been the highlight of her night, she knew just how much Riven hated putting himself out there and even though she was reveling in the gesture, he was probably not in the mood to face everyone and what she was sure to be some smart remarks. "Riven," Musa called out finally, she had been running on a high ever since she walked off stage so she would later attribute what she did next to the fact that she was not thinking very clearly.

Riven turned around just in time to catch Musa as she literally threw her arms around him and held him tightly. "Thank you so much!" Musa squealed in excitement. She then realized what she had done and began to feel a little self conscious when she felt Riven put his arms around her and hug her back.

Maybe she was just in the mood to hug people? Riven thought to himself. From his observations girls seemed to have the need to hug at every little occasion. Not that he was questioning it, he stood there still a little shocked by the contact, but he was warming to it quickly. Just the scent of her hair was intoxicating, and having her in his arms just confirmed what he had been feeling and denying for so long. His mind cleared of whatever he was just thinking and he simply reveled in the contact with the princess.

"I don't know what I would have done without you," She squealed happily once again, still not releasing from the embrace. She slowly moved back a bit feeling Riven lower her slightly just so the tips of her toes began to slightly brush against the ground. "I mean it just happened so fast and she was there and I –," Musa said stopping when her eyes met his and she suddenly forgot when she had been going with that sentence.

"It was….umm… no big deal," Riven said slowly letting the princess down to her feet, unable to remove his eyes from hers. He wanted to pull away but he couldn't and he was beginning to realize he wasn't going to be able keep his façade up much longer considering how quickly it was crumbling.

Musa stood on her tip toes, her arms falling from his neck to around his strong chest. She wanted to say something but she couldn't think of anything, she couldn't think of anything except how much she wanted him to kiss her. She could feel his arm around her waist, keeping her close. "You know you surprised me tonight," Musa said as he drew close to her.

"Yeah?" Riven said running his hand up her back, bringing her even closer, trying to work up the nerve to just kiss her instead of the conversation that he could tell neither of them were really paying much attention to. "Is that a good thing?"

Musa nodded as she felt Riven's hand pulling her closer to him. God this was all she had wanted for so long. Musa had been trying to move on for the last few weeks, but now all she wanted to do was regress, preferably in his arms. "Very good," Musa said in almost a whisper, their lips only a couple inches apart.

* * *

Daniel and everyone else had decided to head over to a club in the heart of Magix. The prince had noticed that Musa had gone off on her own and ever since the events that had unfolded, he was a little worried about her safety here. Besides, he was rather curious as to where she had gone. Daniel headed into the campus in the direction Musa had gone off to alone to find her, but as he walked through the clearing he came upon a scene he wasn't too sure he was okay with.

It had been over a year since he and Musa had broken up and months since their incident in his house that night after the ball, and he was positive he didn't still hold something for Musa. But then when he saw Musa, standing on her tip toes, pressed against the same guy that had so clearly made a scene earlier that night; he wasn't so sure how he felt. It wasn't jealously, but Daniel had a hard time believing that Musa could go from someone like himself to some random guy here; he wanted to believe for that sake of his ego, he had hoped that there was someone he wasn't so threatened by. And then he began to piece together everything that he had gathered about the guy Musa refused to tell him about in Magix.

Daniel wanted nothing more than Musa's happiness but if this was the guy who had hurt Musa so many times, he was not about to let his best friend fall for someone that would hurt her again. And if it gave him a little more time to get used to the idea of her with someone else, then so be it.

"Musa," Daniel called as he approached out of the trees just as the pair was getting a little too close for his comfort.

Musa, still under the spell that Riven seemed to cast on her every time they were around each other, quickly snapped out of it and looked behind her to see the prince of Crescendo approaching. Musa quickly placed her hands on Riven's chest to push him away, not seeing the look on Riven's face. She quickly shook whatever was happening, regretting that they had been interrupted right when they were.

Riven didn't really now what was going on for a second, his mind still clouded, but he did know he was not exactly happy with the sudden interruption. He looked over to Musa who looked as if she had just been caught doing something she shouldn't have been. He instantly recognized the guy as he walked close to the two and had an overwhelming desire to punch him, whoever he was, for interrupting.

"Daniel," Musa finally spat out a few seconds later as the cloud of desire that fogged her mind lifted and began to think a little clearer. "What are you, why are you -," she began, obviously still a bit thrown from what just happened. The princess wasn't exactly too happy Daniel's timing either since this would be the second time she was ready to get somewhere with Riven but then didn't.

"We decided to go to the new club in Magix," Daniel explained, "And it wouldn't be any fun without the guest of honor, so I thought I might come and get you," Daniel continued as he looked over to Riven expecting some type of introduction.

"Oh," Musa said realizing the awkward situation she was in, here was her best friend turned boyfriend turned back to best friend and a guy she had no idea what to call. All she knew was that she wanted to get out of this situation, fast. "Daniel is Riven and Riven this is my – this is Daniel, he's a friend from back home," She said quickly with a courteous smile that would make Tune proud. She then moved a little closer to Daniel unconsciously not realizing that she had just done so.

"Daniel Cunningham," Daniel said politely putting out his hand. If he was going to find out what this guy was all about he would have to be nice. He couldn't exactly figure out why but he was feeling very protective of Musa.

"Nice to meet you," Riven said so obviously insincerely. He now really wanted to know who this guy was and why he was here, jealousy was running through him like poison and all he could think about was the image of Musa jumping into his arms right after the concert. Was she _that_ close to her friends? Just the chance of there being something going on between her and some other guy was enough to drive him crazy. Sure he had never really made an official move or made it known, not even to her, about his feelings. But that didn't mean he was going to be okay with her seeing some other guy. Especially not this preppy, prince looking thing that was now standing next to the object of his affection.

"Hey man thanks for looking out for her," Daniel said cordially, throwing his arm around Musa's shoulder and pulling her closer to him; further adding the wrong impression to Riven, not that Musa managed to catch on since her mind was still reeling. But judging by the look on Riven's face, he hadn't missed what Daniel said. "I don't know what I would've done if something happened to her,"

"Hey you know I can take care of myself," Musa added in, not that the two teenage boys were really paying attention to her; it was clear they were at odds. And it didn't take long for Musa to notice and pray for a quick exit from the situation. "So where are we going tonight?"

"We're going to some club your friend Ali picked out," Daniel replied only just turning back to Musa. "You're dad is gonna swing by Alfea in the morning to see you about something," Daniel said and then looked back at Riven. "Hey you should come along; it should be a good night,"

Riven wanted nothing more than to hit the guy right there, but he had a sneaky suspicion that beating up Musa's 'friend' wouldn't get him very far with Musa. So he tried his best to keep his cool while he was in front of them anyway. "I think I'll sit this one out, but thanks," He said through gritted teeth. What the hell was going on? Who was this guy! Riven tried to keep the anger welling inside him in check but he wasn't going to be able to for much longer; he didn't care that he had never really made any formal declaration to Musa, but dammit she was his and this guy needed to leave.

"Well we should probably get going," Daniel said turning around and taking Musa with him, leaving Riven standing by himself for a second, staring longingly at Musa. The two royals only got a few yards before Musa felt the overwhelming need to go back and finish what she and Riven had started.

"Hey one second, I'll catch up," Musa said slipping out from under Daniel's arm. She quickly ran back over to Riven, being sure to give Daniel a look to make sure he made himself scarce. "Riven," Musa called out as she slowed back down and caught up to him as he walked over to his dorm.

"What's up?" Riven asked in confusion, but before he could get an answer he found the princess back in his arms, where he had wanted her.

"Thank you," Musa said laying her head on his chest once again, her slender arms wrapped around him. She then, without another word, she got up on her tip toes and kissed him on the cheek before pulling away. "I'll see you later," She said softly as she pulled away, as coyly as she could, trying not to let that fact that her heart was pounding loudly in her ears, show on her face.

Her attempts weren't in vain, she left Riven standing there alone once again, completely entranced by her. Darcy may have needed a spell for a connection but Musa seemed to have a strong hold on the specialist without any magic.

Trying not to read too much into the peck on his cheek, Riven managed to crack a small smile and walked back to his room. Although he still couldn't shake the paranoia of what may be going on between Musa and Daniel from his head.

* * *

_1- no idea what she was saying, this is the best I could come up with_

_2- that little bit and the 'I consider myself a reasonable man…' part is from the little mermaid when he stumbles upon Ariel's tavern of human things. I love that movie!_

_3. there had a be some rhyme or reason as to why she wore that hideous outfit during the performance and I know Musa isn't one for fashion, but seriously? I figured this was a nice way out of that little dilemma _

_4 – thanks __macabreXpurinsesu__ for helping me out with that name_

_5- I skipped the scene when she visits her mother's grave because I just don't understand how she got there and back so quickly. (also skipped it at the end simply because I didn't really see it to be too important to my plot. _

_Yay! That was a fun chapter sorry again for the wait on this one. I know there was a long wait between the chapters but I have been rather busy!_

_In Musa's little montage thing, I decied to add some history about Daniel just to make their family history a little more solid. Also all the info about her family and the blood line will come in handy later!_

_I was originally going to have a Riven/Jared confrontation in the chapter because that would just be a lot of fun to write, but I've found another place for that. But, not to rob myself writing about a jealous Riven (frankly I never really thought he was worthy of Musa's affection in the first couple of seasons, but I still love the idea of them. But he needs to suffer a little first) I thought it might be a little fun to add the scene with Daniel to put some thoughts in his head. We'll see how that unravels later!_

_As for Musa's father and then Galiena's- you will have to wait for later and then there is Karen! _

_Ahh the snow is falling and it's Christmas time! I love the holidays! I will try to get the next chapter up soon! _

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


	16. The Fourth Witch

_This chapter is very short, especially considering the last one, it was kinda useless except for one thing. It used to be pretty long but the episode is the one where they go back to earth and I really felt it to be boring and kinda unnecessary, so I just cut it out. _

_Also, the chapter is really just in place to take care of one issue, I think you might like it._

_

* * *

_

The Luxe hotel in the heart of Magix was host to what was supposed to be the kick off to the social season, for high school student anyway. The annual induction ball, hosted by Kai Fli and Omega Chi, was that night and all of the pledges as well as veteran members began to file into the luxury hotel and to the ballroom dressed in formal gowns and debonair tux.

Musa and Jared entered threw the large ballroom doors, arm in arm, and began to walk towards their table. The two organizations seemed to have put together one hell of a party, it was one that rivaled many of the parties Musa had been to back when she was at home, although this time it was filled with a lot of people she knew rather then royals that would eventually become faceless names in her head. The sparkling chandleries left small diamond like shadows on the floor; Musa smiled and lifted her head to look up at Jared, trying to must the excitement she had for him before.

She had tried her best to push Riven out of her head, at least for the night, but ever since the incident at Red fountain, she was unable to remove the specialist from her head or the feelings from her heart. But she was wise to remind herself of all she had been put through. Musa couldn't help but be cautious with all of this unknown territory.

It had been a week and it wasn't like anything had changed between the two, he hadn't made any advance, not that Musa expected him to, but still. She could feel herself being looped back into a familiar cycle and Musa didn't want to keep wasting her time with something that wouldn't happen. She thought that if there was something between her and Jared before, that it might still be there, but so far, nothing.

"I still can't believe everything I missed when I was gone," Jared told Musa as the two walked over to their table. "I really wish I was here for you –,"

"I'm fine," Musa repeated for probably the hundredth time before Jared could even finish. Jared had found out about the incident that happened during the show at Red Fountain, although he hadn't mentioned anything about Riven's little interruption, Musa credited that to guys' ability to refrain from gossiping as wildly as women did. He had been so attentive to her ever since he found out, making sure that she was alright. Why did he have to be so damn sweet and kind and the perfect guy? He was doing everything that every girl wanted from a guy, he was attentive, charming and yet Musa found it all more annoying than anything. "I'm sure,"

Every good girl wants a bad boy. Isabelle's favorite saying rang in Musa's ear for most of that night, not that Musa was perfectly innocent herself, but in comparison to others, her behavior was pretty mild, aside from partying with rock stars. It was so true though, Jared's initial appeal was that he was safe and dependable, but that got boring quickly and simply made the idea of being swept up by Riven all the more appealing.

"Okay," Jared answered sweetly and looked up from her politely smiling face to see Brandon and Stella approaching. "There's Brandon and Stella," He told the princess just as Stella and her date reached the two.

"Hey you two," Stella exclaimed happily giving Musa a hopeful look, clearly thinking about the conversation they had while they were getting ready about who Musa was going to chose. Stella was a fan of Jared and hoped Musa might fall for him, and she had been hoping that maybe tonight would help. "Aren't you two adorable?"

"Musa," Brandon looked a little surprised to see the princess on Jared's arm, he was almost sure that this little relationship was over now. "You look nice,"

"Thanks," Musa said seeing the confusion and the vague air of disappointment in his voice.

"Hey Musa, can I talk to you," Brandon said grabbing the princess's elbow. "Excuse us,"

"I'll keep Jared here company," Stella called cheerfully as the two walked away.

* * *

"What's up," Musa asked just as the two were out of earshot.

"I didn't know you and Jared were…" Brandon said. "Whatever this is,"

"We're just…" Musa began.

"Adorable," Brandon mocked.

"Friends," Musa emphasized.

"Does he know that?"

"Brandon," Musa sighed slouching her shoulders down in an exasperated fashion. "I know what you're getting at, but," Musa said trying to find some excuse to get her out of this but really cold not find one,"

"You know, for a guy who rarely ever lets anyone see how he feels," Brandon told her. While his girlfriend was not a fan of Musa falling for Riven, Brandon was really pulling for the two. He knew Musa began dating Jared because she was sick of waiting for Riven to make a move, but primarily because her pride had been bruised the year before and she was trying to make it seem like it hadn't been; using Jared as the medium for that action. "He was a regular knight in shining armor last week,"

"I agreed to go tonight before any of that," Musa pointed out, not that it was much of an excuse.

"Of course your type is prince charming," He continued on with a smug grin, he wasn't trying to rile the princess, but there was an element of ridiculousness in his voice, he was being serious to some extent. "Come on Musa, stop being so stubborn,"

"Can you shut up," Musa commanded with a small laugh. "I'm not being stubborn, Jared and I are here cause I agreed to go before any of that happened. And honestly I really do hope this turns into something,"

"Seriously?"

"Why not?" Musa questioned him. "It's been a week and –,"

"And what," Brandon questioned. "He made a display in front of everyone, you know how he feels about you,"

"No actually I don't," Musa pointed out. "He would have to tell me for me to know,"

"Fine," Brandon gave up. "But if he finds out about you and Jared, it will never happen,"

"Are we done?" Musa said crossing her arms and realizing that Brandon was right. "I should probably get back to my date,"

"I'm just looking out for you," Brandon defended, noting the remarkable similarities between Musa and Riven; how could they not see it? Maybe they did but simple chose to be blind to it, but for the life of him, Brandon couldn't figure out why.

* * *

"Is everything okay?" Jared asked as Musa walked back over to him and began to lead him to their table.

"He was just making sure I was okay," Musa excused quickly. "For the hundredth time,"

"It's only cause we care," Jared smiled.

The rest of the night continued like a scene out of a movie, it was perfect. Dinner went over smoothly, everyone talked and enjoyed themselves and the night began to draw to a close, Musa found herself dancing with Jared, who was a surprisingly good dancer.

"Can you believe it's already the induction ball," Jared said as the tempo of the music slowed and he pulled Musa towards him, wrapping his arm around her waist and moving slowly in a more formal dance manner.

"It feels like yesterday we first met," Musa said softly, wishing she felt something.

"You mean on our non-date, date," Jared laughed, pulling his head back and looking down at Musa just as she lifted her head to met his gaze.

"That's the one," Musa said as their faces drew near. Musa could see what was going to happen as if the whole room began to move in slow motion. Jared lowered his head and gently pressed his lips on hers, after an initial spark of excitement, Musa felt the kiss fade to the point where she really felt nothing in it. She remembered kissing Daniel and almost always feeling a crazy rush of excitement and pleasure, her senses were in a frenzy that she didn't want to snap out of. In a desperate last attempt to feel something, Musa deepened the kiss to the point where the two had stopped dancing or moving all together, but as she pulled away from him, she realized this wasn't going to go anywhere.

"Wow," Musa said disappointedly looking up at Jared seeing a similar sentiment in his eyes. "Nothing,"

"Nope," Jared said curtly. "Sorry,"

"What do you have to be sorry about," Musa laughed. "Maybe it would be best if we stayed friends,"

"Yeah," Jared agreed. "That's probably best,"

* * *

_One scene. That's it for now. _

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


	17. Exchange Students

_Sorry about the wait! This chapter is the middle of the story and it's in between the event and writing it became a bore…but I did finish it and I will be starting the next few as soon as possible. _

**Exchange Students**

Musa had never really known why it was that normal people were so fascinated with the lives of royals or celebrities, this unnatural fascination led paparazzi to stalk the rich and famous like animals stalking their prey. The princess stared down at one of the gossip magazines that Stella bought, and looked through it, seeing pictures of many people she had known or at least met before. She thanked her lucky stars for growing up outside the public eye, after her mother's death her father kept her close to home and sent to Devon simply because it was a school that prided itself on nurturing the minds of future leaders, meaning it had a very good distance from the public eye. (**1**)

And when she came to Magix, she was surprised that she had never once seen her picture taken, not that she was complaining. She didn't want to live the life she had seen so many people like her lead, constantly being berated by cameras watching her go about her daily life. It made a lot of sense as to why two schools that had such a large population of royalty would chose to be in Magix since the city had an innate respect for everyone. It was nice to not have to worry about people watching, Musa had enough of that at all the royal events she went to and was bound to attend for the rest of her life.

Putting the magazine back down on the table where she had found it, Musa walked over to her room to grab her books and dance team clothes and went on her way to class.

Filing through a text book that Musa was supposed to read the night before, Musa walked through the hallway when she heard something. "Faragonda is looking for you," Ali's voice informed Musa as she walked down the hallway.

"What?" Musa asked looking up from book and walking alongside the petite fairy.

"Griselda just assumed that I would be seeing you," Ali explained without really having to be asked. "And she said that you are needed in Faragonda's office,"

"Alright," Musa said turning on her heels to skip class and instead see what was going on with their headmistress. "I don't think I did anything…" Musa said searching her memory trying to remember if she had done something wrong. It was a pretty safe bet that if she were being called to Faragonda's office, it was because she was in trouble or because she was being sent to Sparx to find some lost power. Either of the two was a pretty big possibility.

"Wait," Ali said just before Musa could walk away. "I have been meaning to ask you something since the Kai Fli ball. I saw you getting awfully cozy with Jared at the ball…" Ali began with a knowing smile, she, much like Stella, really wanted Musa to get a good guy since she had been through so much crap with her breakup last year and the whole Darcy thing. And similarly to Stella, Ali wasn't the biggest fan of Riven, although she wasn't as vocal about it. "You two got rather close while dancing,"

"It's not what you think,"

"And then the two of you ducked out rather early," Ali's smile grew while her imagination took hold. She kind of wished Musa would just move forward with someone. "Giving it up on the first date, not that I'm judging, but I just didn't think you had it in you," Ali continued one. "I have to say I'm rather proud,"

"Can I finish?"

"The important question is, did you?" Ali continued relentlessly, making the musical princess's cheeks heat up at the thought of what Ali was alluding to. She really could not think of Jared in that way, he was sweet and caring but more like a friend than anything. There was about zero chemistry between them; Riven on the other hand…

"I told him I want to just be friends," Musa stopped her before she could start getting too excited about the prospect of her with Jared. "There was nothing really between us, no spark,"

"Too bad," Ali tapped her finger on her books and looked at the princess with a little disappointment. "I liked him,"

"Sorry to disappoint," Musa laughed

"You could give it another go," Ali suggested. "Maybe he was just nervous and maybe-,"

"And maybe we didn't have chemistry,"

"Fine, I won't push the issue. I'm just saying the two of you were so perfect on paper,"

"So were Daniel and I," Musa reminded as she turned and finally began on her way to Faragonda's office. "But we all saw how that turned out,"

* * *

"What?" The girls shouted in unison. Musa had arrived to Miss Faragonda's office to find that her friends had already assembled there and only moments later, their head mistress informed them of her plan to send them to cloud tower. It was hardly a good plan, most of the fairies at Alfea didn't exactly get along with the cloud tower witches, which was why it was so good that miles of forest separated the school. So throwing six fairies, the poster kids for Alfea none the less, into the lions den with a bunch of moody witches was hardly inspired. In fact it seemed more like torture.

"You want us to take classes at cloud tower for the rest of this week?" Bloom repeated with outrage

"Could you see me in some gothy witch outfit?" Stella questioned with disdain.

"You must understand the dark arts to fight Darkar," Miss Faragonda explained

"But couldn't the witch professors come to Alfea," Techna reasoned. "It's so much more pleasant here,"

"You must immerse yourself in darkness to learn about it,"

"I can go with you guys as sort of an unofficial guide," Mirta chirped shyly. "If you study at CT you can learn stuff about witches that you couldn't learn any other way,"

"You know what a witch once wrote on my locker," Musa spat remembering the one witch that attended Devon Prep. She didn't exactly fit in and a lot of Musa's friends and they were sure to point it out, while Musa never really paid much attention to the girl, she knew very well what was happening and did nothing to stop it; similarly to had happened with Karen. Musa tried to think of herself as a nice person but she did tend to overlook some of the less savory things her friends did. But she had developed a very bad view of witches since then and wanted nothing to do with them. And after her first year at Alfea, she was absolutely not a fan.

"It will be a wonderful learning experience for you girls," Miss Faragonda continued. "You will be able to expand your knowledge base and learn more about your enemy,"

"Are you talking about the CT witches or Darkar," Musa added snidely, not really a fan of the idea of going to a school with witches. Although she wanted nothing more than to find some of the witches that had caught her when she was weak and vulnerable and took advantage of that when she was in Magix that day the year before.

"You girls are going," Miss Faragonda leaned back in her chain and folded her arms on the desk, letting the six know that she was indeed serious. "I have talked to Griffin and she had promised that the witches will be on their best behavior,"

"So they won't be setting us on fire," Stella retorted. "Lucky us, I wonder what they can think up instead,"

"Now girls have you ever considered they act the way they do because you are so quick to judge them," Miss Faragonda pointed out.

"Or maybe it's because they are evil," Musa spat back as the girls began to file out of the office. Miss Faragonda let that little remark slide by and simply reminded them that they needed to be ready by the end of the night, hoping that this visit would teach them more then just dark magic techniques.

* * *

Musa huffed loudly as she walked through the hallway, not really looking where she went, he mind too preoccupied with what was going on around her. She was also constantly looking at her phone hoping that it would flash Riven's name, although she new that was a rather self diluted fantasy. But she had hopes that after his display that maybe he would stop being so petulant and finally just ask her out.

The princess smiled at the aspect of finally hearing the words out of the specialist's mouth, and then her thoughts wandered to others things she wanted to do with his mouth, making her smile even more uncontrollably. He made her so anxious and on edge without even being there. Musa turned on a quick corner and ran right into someone else walking quickly in the opposite direction.

"You should watch where you're going, _you highness_," Karen crossed her arms and smirked maliciously. "Well I guess that title is only temporary, its only a matter of time till that is rightfully taken from you; I mean you don't exactly have the pedigree,"

"Well you would know about losing everything wouldn't you," Musa snapped in no mood to get into it with Karen, but she did need to set the injustice that she suffered when her father came and confronted her about the tour she had gone on. Someone had the pictures and someone clearly exposed her; and the whole situation had the stench of Karen all over it. "And unless you want to lose your teeth along with it, I suggest you get out of my way. I don't feel like dealing with you,"

"But why not," Karen smugly smiled and looked at the princess with look of false sadness. "We always have so much fun, remember last year? And then a few weeks ago..."

"You going to my father with those pictures was low even for you," Musa spat angrily. "But don't worry, you'll get yours,"

"First of all, I'm shaking," Karen pointed out as she glared at the princess. "And what makes you so sure I did it. I mean sure there is nothing I would rather see more than you being pulled out of here but come on, like I seriously care. If I were you I would be less concerned about getting back and me and more concerned about whoever passed those lovely snapshots onto daddy dearest,"

Musa looked at her for a second trying to the best of her ability to see if she was lieing or not and for the life of her, Musa could not tell. "You think about that," Karen patted Musa on the head as if she were a puppy that had finally been house trained and then walked off. "And sweetie, give Daniel my love, I also hear you've been good at that as well,"

Musa simply walked off, not wanting to indulge Karen in knowing that she had struck a nerve that was still a little raw. She tried to pretend like the whole incident never happened but she couldn't simply ignore it and she and Daniel had moved so far past it that it was hard to even think about his like that. And yet she still felt a little weird whenever she thought about it.

"After everything that's happened I'd hate to think we aren't friends," Karen carried on even though Musa had already begun walking away once again. "I mean friends keep secrets," She continued finally getting the princess to not only stop but turn around to face her once again. "I'm still a gold mine of information, about you none the less, your annoying little group keeps your secrets and so you think they're the only ones that know. But you know I've had my little worker bees buzzing about all semester and you'd be astonished at what they heard,"

Musa couldn't tell if she was bluffing or not or if she even had anything on her anymore. After dropping the whole music bomb on her father, there was very little else left in her life that she was hiding. Everyone had their little secrets and there wasn't anything wrong with that, so Musa wanted to simply write her off and walk away. But, Karen had a way of finding out things, things most people wouldn't even think of as bad, and twisting them into horrible things. "Karen -,"

"Think long and hard," The spiteful fairy continued. "Anything, something small and harmless for now, anything you're hiding what makes you so sure I don't know,"

"Back off," Musa warned. "You already know what happens when you tangle with me,"

"You're right I do," Karen agreed. "But you also know that I promised I would tag you back for all that fun, and I promise you I will,"

"Is that a threat," Musa laughed unable to make it sound the least bit convincing.

"Yeah, it is," Karen smiled contently, letting out a content sigh and then promptly turned on her designer heels and walked away, making a familiar clacking in the hallway as she left; getting the best of Musa as she left. "Actually its pretty much a guarantee,"

"Whatever," Musa said rolling her eyes trying to push the slight anxiety that had been shaken awake during the confrontation. She had better things to worry about, like her impending trip to Cloud Tower or what Karen had said earlier about not being the one to tell her father.

* * *

Musa sat in front of her computer trying her best to get some work done before they were sent to Cloud Tower. Her mind was completely filled with the events of the day and the impending trip to Cloud Tower, how was it at all helpful for them to go there? She really couldn't seem to see the benefit of hanging around a bunch of trashy witches that only really knew how to two things; plotting ridiculous torture methods for fairies and being far from classy with guys.

"Ugh," Musa let out a frustrated sigh and leaned over her desk. "I cannot believe we have to do this,"

"Neither do I," A voice behind the princess startled her as she shot back up to see Techna sitting down at her desk, turning on her multiple computers and beginning what Musa would only assume was homework or analysis before the trip. "Her argument makes sense, but she has to know we won't really learn anything. The witches won't allow it,"

"Because they act like petulant children," Musa spat as she typed furiously on her computer and then turned to Techna. She was chatting with Daniel online about how horribly angry she was about the situation and he seemed to be more concerned about her safety since Musa was very vocal when she didn't like something. "It's not our fault that the Magix Coucil gives our school more funding and press; maybe it's because we know how to behave in front of company. Besides, we all know how they act when they aren't happy,"

"Are you okay coming along?" Techna said looking up and interrupting the rant. She had really just put out her opinion in passing but it seemed that this trip was really bothering Musa, not that she could blame her. Musa had dealt with a lot less year and the witches really hadn't let it go. Besides, Musa, as well as every other student in Magix, knew about how often Riven visited Cloud Tower for a certain witch and his activities there were not exactly something Musa wanted to think about.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Musa turned back to her computer and saw that Daniel had typed the same question. "I just don't see the point,"

"Alright," Techna answered simply. "I'm just saying, maybe you can stay behind and I'll just catch you up when we get back,"

"No," Musa said decidedly. "I am not going to let them get to me,"

"Okay," Techna said hoping Musa would actually keep her cool.

* * *

The six approached the entrance of the school after waking the large walkway up to it, it was hardly a welcoming site, a gothic winding trail that overlooked a chiasm of spikes and then people wondered why the witches had a reputation of being unsavory. They saw two women standing on either side of the large entrance doors to the school, both with rather evil grins on their faces, something that seemed to characteristic "What do you call a fairy without wings," One of the women began in a mocking tone.

"Dragon food," The other women, with slightly longer hair and then posed the same question again. "And what do you call a fairy with wings,"

"Dragon food," The two began to laugh at their joke and obviously weren't too keen on having the six of them there; they were probably as excited as the fairies were to be there.

"Cute," Stella spat. "Tell me are you life partners because that seemed to wreck of a lover's rehearsal,"

"Maybe your wry humor will get you some more respect," Musa added. "But you're students whoring around Magix is a little counter productive, don't you think," Musa felt rather proud of herself as she and Stella exchanged looks; Bloom on the other hand wanted to bang her head against a door, they had been there for five seconds and already they had started on the wrong foot, granted the witches started it. And it was a little sad that you couldn't get maturity out of grown women, professors no less.

"We are here to escort you and to warn you," The two said, their faces becoming more serious than they were a second ago. "You better be careful where you wander little fairies,"

"We're not scared of witches, but thanks for the advice," Bloom said cordially. You could tell she was not raised royal, no matter how down to earth of a royal you were, there was never a royal that could let go of the treatment they were getting at the Cloud Tower gates. Sure Musa was hot headed to begin with, but she didn't have the superiority complex that many royals did, but growing up being served and never treated with disrespect; it was simply a matter of shock to their surroundings. Even Sky, who prided himself of being calm and rational in intense situation, had lost his cool on occasion. "We'll keep it in mind,"

"I am not talking about the witches," One of the professors, the one with the weirder name, explained. "We are talking about Cloud Tower, it is a living creature with a heart of it's own. It is alive and it doesn't take well to unwanted visitors…Now let's show you to your dorm rooms,"

* * *

After almost the whole day of back to back classes, the girls had actually excelled at a few of the classes, channeling their hatred for witches. But things began to unravel as soon as they were assigned to work with the witches. "Come on, lets all just work together and try to get this project done," Bloom said after almost an hour of bickering between the six fairies and the witches. They were paired up with them for a project and things began heading south quickly.

"Who made you the boss," A witch stepped forward, looking a lot like a transvestite, and growled at the red head.

"Somebody needs to be the boss and I don't see any of you stepping up," Bloom stepped forwards herself angrily and defended herself.

"Hey don't be dissing us," Another witch said, stepping in front of the tranny, as Musa now thought of her.

"Not on our turf,"

"Compared to us, you're weaklings," Another added.

"Are you actually calling us weak?" Layla spat back angrily. Musa also noticed that Layla had the inherent bravado that came with being a royal, of course the witches were asking for it and Layla was never one to simply sit back and take an injustice.

"Who saved your butts last semester," Musa reminded. The witches had helped in Stella and Brandon's escape from Cloud Tower but other than that, they were pretty useless. If anything, they had the perfect environment to breed the crazy trio that was now wrecking havoc on Magix.

"We wouldn't have had to it Bloom hadn't lost the Dragonfire,"

"You mean have it stolen by students from this fine institution," Stella snapped back.

"Well that doesn't change the fact that you're still an annoying, preppy, self absorbed little punk,"

"Better a prep then a slut," Musa defended. She didn't know why but she and Stella were oddly protective of each other. They weren't best friends like Stella and Bloom; Musa found herself a lot closer to Layla, but she and Stella had an unspoken agreement that they were the only one that could make fun of the other.

"Do you wanna step outside?" they screamed out in unison

"Your usual corner?" Stella snapped back.

The bickering continued for awhile until the girls were called into their next class and the arguing ceased for the time being. Their trip was only starting to become interesting. An hour later, the girls found out the witches were back. And they had come for e the codex.

* * *

_So I always wondered why it was that Stella, Sky, Musa, Layla and other royals weren't berated by camera. I mean the royals of the world here are constantly photographed, so I figured it needed to be addressed. Also, a princess partying with rock stars deserves an article or two. _

_Okay so there it is – the end may seemed rushed, simply because it was. I didn't care too much for this chapter, I just wanted some witch/fairy interaction because there isn't really too much. _

**_Also, I used to use to write this series, but the website hasn't been working with me as of late. Does anyone have any sites to watch the 4kids version of the show? _**

_Xoxo_

_princessm_


	18. The Heart Of Cloud Tower

_Sorry for the long hold up. _

_Once again, I really wasn't a fan of their two parter so I skipped by and added what I needed for my story. So here it is._

**The Heart of Cloud Tower**

Musa stood in one of the inner chambers of cloud Tower staring at the beating heart of the school glow furiously with each beat. The Trix had broken into the school and it didn't take long before they realized they were after the Codex that Cloud Tower possessed.

And all the while, even through the utter terror she was facing, she couldn't seem to figure out how it came to be that she was standing there, facing off against three crazy power hungry witches bent on taking over the universe. The musical princess had considered her predicament many times, and she always wondered about how different her life would have been if she had stayed at Devon. But she had to admit, facing off with psychotic witches was a lot more exciting then a society event. "Is that Professor Griffin?" Bloom asked, snapping Musa back into the situation, as the figure emerged through the shadows.

"I think it is," Flora answered as the head mistress of Cloud Tower made her appearance for the first time.

"Well it's about time," Stella rolled her eyes.

Musa nodded in agreement and began to wonder why exactly it was that they always found themselves in these predicaments and yet the adults were nowhere to be found.

* * *

"I know I say this to you a lot," Daniel continued with concern kicking up in his voice. "But are you sure it's safe to be there?"

Musa sat on her bed, her legs folded and her back against the wall, typing furiously on her computer as she explained the whole trip to her best friend. She had left out a few details, like being pinned to a wall for hours and nearly being killed, but Musa did tell him that the Codex was stolen and the universe may be in danger…again. She was sick of covering everything that was happening at Alfea up, Daniel was her best friend and she really didn't feel okay lying to him; she had done that before and it blew up in her face. "I'm fine Daniel,"

"Really? I mean sending you to a school where everyone wants to kill you is one thing," Daniel pointed out. "But asking you to guard some code thing that you don't even know about,"

"I didn't tell you this so you could lecture me,"

"Did you really think that telling this would elicit no response?" Daniel asked. "Seriously though, maybe you should come back home until all of this blows over,"

"I don't back away from a fight," Musa reminded the prince.

"I know, I remember visiting last year to find you with a broken ankle after a brawl with senior witches," Daniel reminded. Musa couldn't help but feel a little awful when he brought that up, she hadn't really filled Daniel in on the Riven part of that story, probably because she really didn't want to relive the humiliation. Plus, she knew Daniel was never going to like Riven and the two would eventually meet since Daniel was always stopping by Magix and Riven was the only one, aside from Helia, to not meet him. She knew it would happen and when it did she didn't want any problems, of course that was assuming Riven cared enough about her to meet Daniel.

"Well this is different,"

"How,"

"The witches are on our side now,"

"Aren't the three attacking the schools witches?"

"They're different ones," Musa explained. "_Anyway_ I just wanted to let you know what was going on and that I'm okay,"

"For now,"

"Daniel,"

"Fine, but please be careful," Genuine concern rising in his voice, losing Musa was something he couldn't even imagine and he really did feel worried when he thought about all the situations she seemed to get herself into.

"Don't worry, I'll be okay,"

"I'm holding you to that," Daniel told her. Musa smiled and the two said goodbye for the night. Musa smiled when she looked at her phone after hanging up and then looked back at her computer and sighed looking at the partially blank screen in front of her, knowing she was going to have to pull a paper out of thin air soon.

Musa continued on trying to finish her work, a little upset that they still had to get their work in on time even though they had just returned from Cloud Tower, when her roommate walked in. "You seem chipper," Musa turned to digital fairy, looking up from her computer, and smiled. "Oddly, considering we just failed epically at saving the codex and at convergence, you seem like you're on cloud nine," Musa analyzed further.

"I guess I'm just glad to be back," Techna excused quickly, sitting down at her desk and logging onto her computer as well.

"Really," Musa smiled incredulously. "This doesn't have to do with anything to do with a phone call from Timmy, making sure you were alright?" Musa couldn't help but feel a stab of jealously when she brought it up, she was happy that Techna was getting somewhere with Timmy, even though he was slightly socially retarded, she wanted her friend to be happy. But at the same time she wished the most dysfunctional of the group would just get his shit together and actually admit his feelings. Musa had been waiting so long and she was sure he felt the same way she did, why couldn't he just move forward already?

"Well maybe," Techna said with a content sigh. "But I, I dunno I wish he would just talk to me like a person and not -,"

"A fellow computer geek," Musa finished for her, earning a stern look from the fairy when she turned around from her desk to glare at the musical fairy.

"Yes," She said dejectedly.

"He might be a little socially awkward but he cares," Musa told her, she thought it was sweet that Timmy was trying his best to move forward with Techna. Sure he was not exactly smooth, but he was giving it an effort and that spoke volumes. "It's the thought that counts,"

"I guess…Have you finished your potions paper?" Techna swerved off topic and turned back around to face her computer, although Musa noticed a shade of rose tinting Techna's face.

"Almost," Musa looked back down at her screen and continued on with the paper. She never really had a problem with getting her school work done, in fact she was usually the one who did the best , grade wise. While Techna was far more organized, she dealt more in technology and statistics and it actually worked against her in her school work a lot. Musa on the other hand could grasp concepts rather quickly and if she didn't she just needed someone to explain it to her once and she was usually good. Although, she was quite good at procrastinating until the last minute, hence her current predicament.

"I think I'm gonna go down and get something to eat," Musa closed the top to her computer and got up out of her bed. Techna turned as the princess made her way to the door and looked at her sternly.

"Is that really the best idea?" Techna asked looking at the time, knowing her roommate would be out in the common room, pulling an all nighter.

"Probably not," Musa said as she grabbed her computer, in the hopes that maybe she would get some work done, and left the room.

The princess wandered about the quad and the Alfea grounds, with a bunch of snacks that would probably put her on enough of a sugar high to keep her up all night, and found a nice spot to sit and maybe get some work done. She couldn't seem to get any of her work done, her head was everywhere except her potions paper. "Hey Musa," A voice called from behind, Musa smiled to see Layla approaching, grinning at her friend and the prospect of having yet another distraction from her paper.

"I figured you'd be in bed by now," Layla said taking a seat at the trunk of the large tree where Musa had set up camp.

"Nah, I'm more of a nocturnal being," Musa said leaning back and taking a bit out of one of the many large cookies she had just gotten from the café, then looking over to the Princess of Tides and offering her one.

"Same," Layla said turning down the cookie and instead picking up one of the books Musa brought out and looked through it idly. "I'm a little wired from this whole cloud Tower witch thing, I mean I know the Codex is gone, and it's sort of our fault, but still,"

"Well we can blame the witches too," Musa reminded her.

"I know you hate the witches," Layla said noticing a pattern with Musa, sure most of the girls at Alfea weren't exactly fans of the witches, probably because they weren't exactly friendly and didn't have much of moral high ground when it came to Red Fountain boys, especially the ones with girlfriends at Alfea, but Musa was very obviously hateful towards them. Layla had heard about everything that happened last year with the witches and everything, but it wasn't like they only ever picked on Musa, although she did get a lot of crap about it still. "But…"

"I should just let it go," Musa finished for her. "I know I should, but I really can't and they are so god damned cocky as if we owe them something. They did nothing to help last year and they still try to claim credit, and it was their school that bred the Trix sisters,"

"And that's definitely the only reason,"

"Well that too," Musa admitted knowing where Layla was going with that comment. "But I dunno, I don't really care anymore," Musa said trying to convince herself that she was over everything that happened, but she wasn't even though she tried to be.

"He's kind of a pig," Layla admitted. "Not to sound critical, or agree with Stella but you have to admit he hasn't really done much to deserve –,"

"Minus the performance at Red Fountain," Musa defended immediately, she didn't know why but she never really thought too much about it when she was critical of Riven, but when someone else was, she felt some reflex to defend him. She knew if he could stop being so emotionally crippled then maybe they had an actual chance. "He cares, I know that much," Musa laughed a little.

"I guess," Layla said letting out a small laugh when she saw the musical princess laugh.

"What about you?" Musa asked. "I haven't seen Stella trying to set you up with anyone around here, by the way count yourself lucky, so what's up,"

"I dunno, I was never too social back home," Layla admitted. "My parents kept me under lock and key and the kids at my old prep school were, I dunno, the typical rich kids and I didn't fit in,"

"Sounds like my friends from home, but they're like family to me, my father had me around them since I was a kid so I wouldn't be lonely after my mom died," Musa admitted. "The spoiled rich kid thing does have its perks," Musa admitted. She was never proud to call herself one, but it was kind of true and she did indulge in the perks of having a rather large trust fund and virtually unlimited bank account. But she did like to point out that she and her friends were good people, they stuck by each other like family would. "It's got a stigma attached to it,"

"Yeah but I guess I didn't fit into their crowd and they didn't really talk to me so I guess I just blamed them for it and went on flying solo," Layla admitted, taking some of the chocolate candies Musa was munching on. "Until now,"

"Oh yes," Musa laughed. "And now that you have been induced into the Winx Club, there is absolutely no leaving. Trust me even if you do, they will find you," Musa assured her, she had to admit that the girls could get on her nerves every now and then, especially Bloom with her quazi-narcissism 'everything needs to be about me' complex, but she loved them all the same.

"So how is your paper going,"

"I still have the last page to go, but that probably won't get finished for another few hours," Musa laughed, foreseeing a few more hours of staying up and getting distracted before the paper was done.

* * *

_That's it for this chapter .Sorry there have been so few chapters and so far between, but I've been busy. Hopefully the next one will be up soon. _

_xoxo,  
__princessm_


	19. Shadows in Bloom

_This chapter had to be redone because as I read over the story I really loved the idea of interaction between Riven and Daniel. I just love the idea of the two of them butting heads and it gives you a little preview of what will be happening in the next season. I don't know what it is about Riven but I just love to piss him off, and Daniel is the perfect person for that job. Also, as you may have guessed by that, the prince in question will be returning in this chapter and he's bringing more than just some competition for Riven. _

_Enjoy - _

**Shadows in Bloom**

Galatea had grown up in a palace with all the things she could have ever wanted. She was the princess of her father's kingdom and was supposedly the first heir to the throne. But, she didn't find that to be enough, when she entered Alfea, she learned that her ascendance to queen would be challenged and so she challenged her cousin, Musa. And as the second heir to the Harmonic throne, she decided to bypass the first heir and try to claim it for herself. And that was all Musa really knew about her cousin, since she hadn't spoken to her in years. And now that she was at Alfea, Musa found herself bumping into Galatea everywhere.

Musa sat up from her place on the ground where she had been lying in the sun to get to dance practice. "I can't be late to dance again," Musa said as she got up and Stella remained on the green lawn of the school.

"Okay I'll see you later," Stella said, her books thrown to the side of her, even though she had come outside with Musa to get some work done.

Musa nodded and headed towards the dance gym when she bumped into her beloved cousin, and she wanted to ignore the sneer she heard every time they even made eye contact, but with everything going on, she wanted to punch her. "What is your problem?" Musa turned around viscously and glared at the spoiled little brat. "Things get boring in Apollo and now you want to ruin my kingdom too,"

"Let's be serious, I would be a better queen to the Harmonic people than some half bred princess," Galatea rolled her eyes and crossed her arms superiorly. It kind of hurt Musa to be treated this way, she didn't really care if someone hated her, but this was her cousin, the girl she used to make forts with. And now she had in effect stabbed her in the back for a problem that their parents had. "And I use the term princess loosely,"

"Funny you should mention the word loose," Musa said. "I've heard you get around, and around and around…,"

"I'm sure its just the smear campaign you've started against me,"

"That would be you now wouldn't it,"

"Maybe," Galatea laughed maliciously. "But I just need to show everyone what I already know. Nobody of your…history, can possibly rule as well as I could,"

"I'm sure this has nothing to do with the fact that your own kingdom may just reject you," Musa pointed out. "Must hurt that both sides of your family can't stand you," She snapped and continued on her way to dance practice. As she had said to Stella, she really didn't want to be late.

"I cannot believe that we have another assignment due for potions," Musa complained picking up her gym bag from the dance gym floor. Since Layla had joined the team, the two had gotten a lot closer. Musa found she had a lot more in common with Layla than she had thought before and along with Ali the three of them had become a close knit trio. "Why is she doing this to us,"

"My theory is that since she looks like a wildebeest, and has zero sex life, she wants us to suffer too," Ali stated plainly. "Just to spite her I wanna tell her I couldn't finish the paper because I was too busy banging my boyfriend,"

"Let us know how that goes," Layla laughed as she walked up the stairs, parting from the other two fairies. Musa and Layla continued on, trying to be focused and do the potions assignment the same night it was due.

"I think I'm gonna actually do this tonight," Musa said shoving the assignment paper in her bag and looking back at Layla. "I really wanna get my work done and just hang out tonight, everything has been so crazy lately,"

"I'm really in the mood to just watch movies all night and veg out on anything," Layla admitted, which was a little odd. Musa had learned that the princess of Tides was actually quite a stickler for healthy food. She didn't enjoy junk food as much as most high school students did.

"I'm game," Musa agreed, just as she was going to suggest some movies she heard her phone ringing in her pocket. "It's Daniel," Musa said out loud and then picking up. "Hello,"

"Guess who is going to be visiting Red Fountain today?" Daniel said without and greeting.

"I dunno," Musa said not picking up on the hinting tone in the prince's voice, she was still a little preoccupied thinking about movies to watch that night.

"Me," Daniel said plainly, waiting for a reaction out of her.

"Seriously who," Musa said as she turned the corner in the hallway and approached the corridor that led to the hallway where the suite was.

"I'm not kidding," Daniel said, making the princess look up alertly with a sense of panic striking in her for some reason. She had one reason and one reason only to keep Daniel from Red Fountain and it was Riven; she was not ready for them to meet. "Father just donated a wing and Headmaster Saladin wanted us to come to lunch and see the school,"

"What?" Musa spat sternly, Layla looked at Musa with concern when she stopped mid stride and her face froze. "Your dad went to Devon prep, why did he donate a new wing,"

"I dunno, same reason he bought three castles in the same city," Daniel explained. "Because he can, anyway I'll be there later today,"

"But what? – I….what?" Musa said finally beginning to walk again, following Layla who had decided it might be awkward if she listened in on the conversation.

"Should I say it again?" Daniel said again stifling a laugh, knowing just how confused his friend was.

"Daniel!" Musa said sternly into the phone. "When do you land? And why are you coming along? Since when do you and your father spend quality time together?"

"Why Musa? You seemed worried," Daniel said feigning ignorance. He knew very well Musa was nervous about him seeing Riven, but this was just the opportunity he wanted to check this guy out for himself, besides he knew giving Musa such short notice before he came would make it near impossible to get to Red Fountain in time, especially since he knew his best friend well and he knew that she was probably very behind in her work since she had been away the last few days, and she wasn't the kind to do anything in advance. "But why, I wonder, would you be worried about me, visiting Red Fountain, without you, all alone to do as I please…"

"Daniel," Musa said in a begging tone. She knew Daniel didn't like the fact that she had excluded him from that part of her life, since he was usually in the know about everything going on with the princess. But this was weird sharing with him, especially given their history, how was she supposed to explain how much she liked Riven to the guy that she was dating when she had met Riven. She knew Daniel was not going to like him, simple because he was stubborn, and Daniel would definitely give him a hard time. And with any normal guy it probably wouldn't be too big a deal, but she and Riven were on very fragile ground and Musa really didn't need a relapse. This process was already moving at a glacial pace it didn't need to get any more roadblocks. "Please don't say anything to -,"

"I don't know what you're so worried about this, if I happen to run into your cheerleader," Daniel continued to tease, making reference to Riven's outburst during Musa's performance. "I'll be nice, hey maybe I could show some baby pictures, guys love that," he continued on.

"Daniel I am begging you to come to Alfea first," Musa said. "I'll go to Red Fountain with you,"

"Calm down and don't flatter yourself," Daniel said finally getting serious. "I do have to talk to you about some stuff anyway so I'll swing back to Alfea anyway without my father. And I'll be stuck with my father all day so I doubt I'll get any free time, I mean all I have is the two hour lunch to roam freely,"

"Promise me you won't mess anything up, this is important to me,"

"I can't really hear you…"

"I…need to go," Musa said when she and Layla finally made it to the hallway of their suite. She looked up and heard a loud cry from a familiar voice, she looked up and saw common room door open and found Timmy floating in air out in the hallways. Musa spoke sternly into the phone when she looked at the scene in front of her. "Call me later and do not do anything –,"

"Sorry bad static – gotttagobye," Daniel said quickly and hung up, further angering the princess, but she was slightly preoccupied at the moment.

"Musa!" Timmy cried out in relief when seeing the two princesses as he levitated dangerously close to a potted plant in the hallway.

"Timmy!" Musa said shoving her cell phone in her pocket and looking up to see Timmy, upside down, floating shakily along in the air, his glasses threatening to fall off. Musa then looked over to Bloom and wondered why she looked different, her eyes lacked their normal color and instead glowed a menacing gold. "Are you levitating?"

"Are you trying to impress Techna?" Layla asked dumbly, not even considering that something else could be going on. The looked at him for a second before Bloom let out a malicious laugh and continued to bounce him about. It didn't look like anything that would happen normally.

"Yeah," Bloom smirked wickedly, her eyes growing narrow. "He's kind upset because, well, she's been treating him like dirt."

"Bloom," Lockette said in shock, floating along side the fairy, trying to get her to calm down and lower the specialist. But it didn't look like Bloom was in the mood to listen to reason.

"Oh no. Now what?" Timmy exclaimed in anguish as Bloom conjured another spell and sent the poor specialist flying into the potted plant that he was dangling close to the minute before. Musa looked at Bloom in utter disbelief, she had no idea what was going on but pity welled in Musa's heart for Timmy. She knew how sincere he was about his feelings for Techna, probably since Brandon had told her over and over about how much he tried to impress he, and this could not be helping his ego.

"Timmy!" the fairies exclaimed when the specialist was a few feet into potting soil. s what they said. He had potting mix covering his ears, and everything they said sounded distant and muffled.

"Something is wrong with Bloom," Lockette warned. "I think it has something to do with that regression therapy from earlier,"

"Keep an eye on her," Musa instructed. "And I'll find professor Avalon,"

"Somebody get me out of here!" Timmy yelled out in a muffled command from inside the pot.

"I'll get Timmy out of the plant," Layla said turning around.

* * *

Musa sat on her bed after Bloom was diagnosed with whatever was causing her crazed attempt to plant Timmy and finished her potions assignment along with Layla and cheered happily. "Thank god that's over," Musa said shutting her book and looking at her watch. "I've got a few hours," She said looking out the window with some concern, she knew Daniel wouldn't do anything to hurt her but he wasn't a fan of Riven and if the two did manage to cross paths…well she really didn't want that to happy. Thankfully, his father would be around and that would limit the prince's ability to wreck havoc.

Layla looked up at Musa with confusion, not quite sure that she was talking about. "What?"

"Oh with all the Timmy excitement, I forgot to tell you, Daniel is stopping by," Musa began.

"Oh," Layla said delighted, while most people thought she was against the entire male race, she really only disliked the heroes because they were operating on the idea that the poor fairies of the universe needed saving. It was insulting that they took such pride in a school that only admitted boys and convinced them that there were damsels in need of rescue. Daniel, being a prince and not a Red Fountain student, didn't operate under that idea, so Layla had very little bias against him. Besides the one time she had met him, he was perfectly nice, and even though Musa had told her about the messy breakup, Layla took note in the way he still cared for her and that seemed pretty genuine. Besides he was pretty funny and Layla didn't mind seeing him again, he was rather entertaining.

"Yeah but he's going to be at Red Fountain first,"

"Oh," Layla said once again without thinking, but when she looked up and saw the look on Musa's face she realized what her friend may have been thinking. "Oh…" she said with less enthusiasm. "Is that really bad?" Layla questioned. It wasn't as if Musa had some horrible secret, and even if she did it's not like her best friend was going to tell anyone. "I mean what's the worst that can happen? He is your oldest friend after all,"

"Yeah, but I dunno," Musa said standing up and putting some books away. "I know Daniel wouldn't do anything bad, it's just he's weirdly interested in my love life, or lack there of,…particularly Riven,"

"Oh," Layla repeated once again and nodded. "Maybe he just wants to make sure he's a good guy, he's being protective, it makes sense,"

"Yeah," Musa said, she had never really thought about that. Nate had usually been the protective one and as she got closer to Brandon, he was too. But Daniel wasn't really too involved in that area, he was protective but not with guys, probably because before any of this, they had been dating and before that Musa really hadn't been serious about any other boys. "I know he means well but I think he's just a little curious to meet him because –"

"He's kind of the reason the two of you broke up," Layla finished for her. It was true, while Daniel had been the one who had technically cheated, Musa wasn't so innocent in all of that either. She had bailed on the relationship just as bad or even worse for that matter.

"Not the only reason," Musa defended. "But yeah, and I think Daniel is a little bitter. Not that he still has feelings for me of anything," Musa explained, side stepping the incident that occurred when she went home earlier that year. There was no need to drudge up the past, especially when she was sure it meant nothing. "But he has a way of talking that can be a little insulting and that mixed with Riven's infallible pride,"

"Is the making of an epic explosion?"

"Exactly," Musa pointed out. "And I figure, the less drama the better,"

"Agreed," Layla said with a wide smile. "You know this is like the first time I've heard you admit how you feel about –,"

"I didn't admit anything," Musa snapped quickly

"You realize everyone already knows," Layla told her.

"Yeah…" Musa knew very well how pathetic it was that she and Riven couldn't manage to simply verbalize what they both knew, along with everyone else in Magix, but at the same time she had been hurt enough and was not going to put herself out there again. If he wanted to be with her, then he would have to work up the courage because she was sick of feeling like a complete idiot. And at the same time, she was not going to wait forever for him to get his shit together, she couldn't, if he didn't want to make a move than she would have to move on. Although that was easier said than done. "Pathetic," she said rolling her eyes at her own pathetic love life.

"You know who I feel bad for," Layla said changing the subject slightly, she knew it was a sore subject for Musa and even though Musa would have to face it eventually, she would let her do that when she wanted to. Unlike Stella, Layla really wasn't one to pry. "Timmy, I heard some bitchy juniors teasing him as he left Alfea today, as if being planted by Bloom in the middle of the hallway wasn't bad enough,"

"Techna's been ignoring him too," Musa sighed. It really wasn't her business to get involved between Techna and Timmy, but she seemed to be a go between when the boys were having problems with their respective girls, especially Brandon and Stella who had a lot more little fights than one would think. And when Sky and Bloom were in one of their nauseatingly stupid arguments, she was usually the one to be the voice of reason for the two. Musa hoped that Techna and Timmy could work this out, they were pretty adorable together. "I feel bad for him, he's trying,"

* * *

Musa sat at her bed and looked in the mirror with disdain hours later, seeing the curls that Stella had put into her hair while they were attempting to cheer up Bloom. The girls had all gotten together and put school work aside for awhile, even thought the work was beginning to pile up, and just hang out. Musa pulled down on a curl and let it go, watching it spring up and down in the mirror. Stella constantly complained about how Musa's pigtails made her look childish, but the curls were in such ringlets, she looked like a two year old.

"How is Bloom?" Musa said looking up when Techna entered the room.

"She's fine," Techna said curtly and turned away from Musa.

"What's up with you," Musa said slightly annoyed. It was pretty easy to figure out that when girls lived in such close quarters, there would be some friction and Musa was ready to ring Techna's neck for the way she had been acting lately. She was constantly moody, probably because she was frustrated with Timmy, and she took it out on her roommate.

"Excuse me," Techna said taken aback by the comment, obviously offended. She knew she had been acting a little overly emotional the past few days. Musa simply looked up at her with a knowing and unforgiving look, Techna was not a good actress and even if she was she couldn't pretend that nothing was wrong or that she was acting very pissy. "Sorry," the digital fairy apologized immediately.

"What's been going on with you lately," Musa asked getting up from her bed as she brushed out the curls from her pigtails and then sat on the side of her roommate's bed. "I hardly ever see you, you've been so erratic, this can't all be about Timmy," Musa said not believing that some guy could cause such a change in such a logical person.

"I don't know," Techna said leaning over in her chair and putting her arms on her knees and leaning on them. School had obviously been stressing her out, she was on a partial scholarship and she was trying to keep it not to mention her boy troubles and then all the lord Darkar stuff that was happening. It was driving everyone a little crazy. "Everything,"

"Hey," Musa cooed, getting on her feet and putting a supportive hand on her shoulder. "You'll be okay, you always are,"

"I guess," Techna said with a sigh.

"Guys!" Stella said bursting into the room, breaking up the bonding moment the roommates seemed to be having. "Bloom's lost it, she's destroying some library or something,"

"I thought Avalon gave her something for that virus," Musa reminded.

"Well it didn't work,"

"Let's go," Musa said turning to Techna and running out of the room. They ran down the hallway and cam across a door that Musa was sure wasn't there before. The girls quickly transformed just as Flora and Layla, who were busy in class, arrived after being excused.

"When did that get here," Stella said when the girls got to the door at the end of the hallway that just seemed to appear there. Musa really could not thing of a time when she had seen that door before.

"I had no idea this archive was here, it's not on the campus map," Techna said when they finally managed to ge through the door.

The room seemed to be an extension of the library, it was filled up to the clieing with books, which looked rather old. If this room was indeed hidden, then it probably was because of the books it held. "Look there's Bloom," Musa yelled out the obvious as Bloom materialized out of nowhere.

"That's not the Codex is it?" Stella shrieked.

"You hand that Codex over immediately young lady or else," The elderly pixie yelled to Bloom. She was most likely the keeper of this archive and now Musa understood why it was hidden, it held Alfea's part of the Codex.

"That answer your question?" Layla answered.

"Oh I'll be handing it over," Bloom taunted. "But not to you, this is going to Lord Darkar!"

"What's going on Bloom," Flora asked as the other girls stood there in shock, was she really working for him now? That wasn't possible, something was wrong with her and it went further than whatever Avalon claimed was happening.

"When did you twits get here?"

"I'll kill her," Musa challenged getting a little tired of Bloom's ego. Granted she was under a spell, but the red head did have a tendency to believe that everything going on with her was far more important than anything else.

"The virus has taken complete hold on her,"

"I think this goes beyond the virus," Musa snapped. And Stella shot her a look, everyone knew about Bloom's need to be a little self centered, but they seemed to ignore it, simply looking past it since Bloom seemed to be a pretty good person. Although it did piss off Musa a lot and she had some trouble ignoring it sometimes.

"It's not just the virus, it's something darker," Techna said after some further analysis.

"I've never heard of that virus and I've written every book every written," The elderly pixie exclaimed.

"Well someone has to stop that girl before she hands off a piece of the Codex to Darkar," Layla added.

* * *

"Is Bloom okay," Stella asked as she joined the rest of her friends in the quad, Bloom was still in the infirmary with Faragonda and Ophelia.

"She should be, she is stronger than all five of us combined," Layla mocked slightly, feeling a little angry from the days events.

"Don't be angry," Flora cooed. "It wasn't Bloom talking,"

"And I guess it wasn't Bloom handing over our piece of the codex," She snapped.

"And Red Fountain's is gone too," Flora added sadly. The circumstances didn't exactly look good and things were getting worse daily. Musa's head snapped up and immediately when she realized what time it was at the mention of the school for heroes.

"Crap," Musa turned immediately realizing that Daniel was probably at Red Fountain right now. "I'll be back later," Musa waved as she walked off trying to look as calm as she could.

* * *

Musa took a deep breath as she approached the door of the suite where Brandon, Sky and Timmy lived. She knew Riven lived somewhere else but she wasn't entirely sure where, he roomed with Helia she was sure of that, but he did spend most of his time with his other friends in their suite. Musa walked up to the open doorway and knocked on the door frame. "Hey guys,"

"Musa," Sky said first in surprise as all other boys lifted their heads. Sky was seated at the coffee table with Riven, Sky was doing what looked like homework while Riven was reading a car magazine, ignoring his studies. Brandon was simply watching TV while Helia sat by the window sketching, it was a rather adorable scene when she looked around, but there was no time for that. The princess scanned the room and noticed everything seemed to be okay, Daniel hadn't been here yet. "What's up?"

"I just came because…" Musa began, mentally kicking herself for not thinking of an excuse to go there and not calling Brandon before hand, to get him to help her out with this whole ordeal. Luckily she thought on her feet and remembered her rather eventful day. "I needed to talk to you,"

"Okay," Brandon said, his eyes narrowing, wondering why she was acting so weird and randomly dropping by Red Fountain. She definitely wasn't here to see Riven because that would basically be like admitting her feelings and that wasn't going to happen any time soon. "Are you alright," Brandon asked as he followed Musa outside the door and shut it quietly. One of the perks of being at Red Fountain, besides well built guys everywhere, was that Musa didn't have to worry about anyone listening in on her conversation. If she were at Alfea, she would have had to have this conversation outside or in a soundproof bubble. Granted Musa knew a lot of guys that were pretty close to being gossip queens but still.

"Daniel is here," Musa said as quietly as she could when she turned around and faced him. "With his father,"

"In Magix?" He asked

"No here, here," Musa emphasized, her hands flailing. "They donated a freaking wing,"

"Oh," Brandon said immediately understanding why Musa was so worried. "I'm sure it'll be fine, we have to go to class soon so we probably won't even see him, it's a big school,"

"Yeah probably," Musa said trying to convince herself it would be okay.

"Besides what's the worst that could happen," Brandon said while thinking about it and he could easily see Riven punching the prince.

"Musa!" Brandon and Musa heard from behind them, and turned to see none other than the Prince of Crescendo walking down the hall towards them. "What are you doing here?" He asked sarcastically with a knowing smile, stifling a laugh.

"Hey Daniel," Musa said dreading every step he took closer to the door. She loved him dearly, but this was not really a meeting she was ready for and she hadn't really told Daniel enough about Riven to know that his comments would make a profound difference in their pseudo-relationship.

"Miss me," He said walking over and giving her a quick hug.

"Depends,"

"Hey," Daniel said to looking over to Brandon, he was the only one of the specialists he had actually talked to and gotten to know, probably because he was so close to Musa.

"Hey man," Brandon greeted.

Daniel's loud bellow managed to catch the attention of the other specialists in the suite they were standing outside. "Who is that?" Sky said getting up from his seat and looking at the door, trying to remember who that familiar voice belonged to.

"I'm your best friend, one of the only people that deals with all your crap and remember you cheated so you owe me," Musa said quickly and quietly before turning back to the guys at the door.

"You guys remember my friend Daniel," Musa said, all the boys, minus Helia and Riven, knew who he was and this would be the third time seeing him. Sky and Helia had come to the door but Riven hung back in the room, casually leaning against the wall near the door, acting aloof. As if hearing Daniel's voice call out to Musa didn't bother the hell out of him. Riven's eyes narrowed when he realized it was indeed Daniel that had come back to Magix.

Riven didn't say anything, although he did move a little closer to the door, trying his best to get some information on this guy. Why was he constantly here? Did he have nothing better to do than stalk Musa? Riven tried his best not to read too much into the visit, but still couldn't stop jealousy from taking a firm grip on his mind.

"He's here with his –," Musa continued but was cut off for probably the millionth time that day.

"Musa!," Another loud voice bellowed from behind, the group turned to see Saladin walking down the hallway with Alexander Cunningham, the King of Crescendo, presumably giving him a tour. "Shouldn't you be in school young lady," He said walking over to the princess and embracing her warmly.

Musa smiled and hugged Daniel's father, feeling the awkwardness of the situation increase. Musa did find it interesting that Alexander Cunningham was probably one of the scariest men you would ever meet, while he didn't look particularly menacing, in reality he looked pretty good for someone his age, but he was known to be quite intimidating. But he had always had a soft spot for Musa, and he had always told her that she was like family, which made her sort of feel bad when she thought about the way he treated Daniel. Daniel was constantly berated by his father and it left him feeling like a disappointment and the only time she had ever seen his father being nice to him was when she was dating Daniel. It was the hopes of so many people to join long time allies The Harmonic Nebula and Crescendo, and their relationship gave that dream a really good chance, but when it ended King Alexander blamed his son and it further strained their already fragile relationship.

"Daniel told me you were visiting, so I came by to see you," Musa answered politely hoping the mention of his son would score Daniel some points with his dad a little later.

"Good, I'd hate to have to tell your father you've been spending all your time at the all boys school," He laughed. "Although you do seem to be rather popular," He continued, looking up at the boys that had gathered in the doorway and looked up awaiting an introduction.

"Oh these are my friends," Musa said looking over to the boys standing in the doorway and smiled nervously. "Brandon, Sky, Helia, and Riven," Musa said quickly in line and then turned back to the king.

"These boys are juniors here at Red Fountain," Saladin told the kind and then turned to the boys. "I am trying, in vein, to convince young Daniel here to enroll in Red Fountain for his last two years of schooling," Headmaster Saladin said politely. "The Cunningham wing will be done by the time you would start here next fall,"

"I would get to be closer to Musa," Daniel added throwing his arm leisurely around Musa's shoulder. Riven immediately felt the urge to punch him surge through him again. While he had initially only been very physically attracted to her, Riven's feelings had grown tremendously and he was sure that she liked him too. But this guy seemed like trouble and he wished Daniel would just stop coming around. And the fact that he was a prince didn't really help. All his life Riven had grown up being told he was less than everyone and it was just an annoying reminder to him that Musa was too good for him and everyone knew it. She was a princess and they seemed to end up with princes, or at least not street urchins like himself, how the hell could he compete with someone that could give her anything she ever wanted when he couldn't even admit his feelings for her. "Seems like a plus,"

"Not really a hero?" Riven asked.

"Oh crap…" Brandon said under his breath.

"Get your arm off of me or the Cunningham line ends with you," Musa muttered so low only Daniel could hear.

"Guess not," Daniel said politely to Riven, gritting his teeth slightly. The two looked at each other with steel in their eyes making Musa feel a little nauseous.

"Yes well anyway," The headmaster said after an awkward silence. "Would you boys like to come along as I give his Majesty and Prince Daniel a tour?"

"We've actually got to get to class," Brandon reminded, much to Musa's relief, looking at his watch and then walking back into the room. Sky and Riven also got their things and began to file out of the room, Riven walking between Musa and Daniel and his eyes managed to fall on the princess's on the way out. It was hard to deny the chemistry between the two and they both knew that, and with that thought he continued walking trying to convince himself that he hadn't missed his chance with her.

"Well Princess Musa," Saladin addressed Musa. "Would you like to come along as I give the His Majesty and his royal highness a tour?"

"No actually I wanted to go talk to Timmy," Musa said looking into the common room of the boys' suite and seeing that the door to Timmy, Brandon and Sky's room was open and she could here the faint sound of fast typing in the distance. She had become very familiar to that sound since her roommate was constantly pecking away on her many computers. "But Daniel, we can talk later," Musa said with a look that let the prince know she was not exactly pleased with him.

"Alright then," Saladin said politely and ushered the two on down the hallway. Musa then turned on her heels and invited herself into the room. She knew that Timmy was completely humiliated from what had happened earlier and from what Layla told them about what someone had teased him about. He was not the typical hero at Red Fountain, but he was a nice guy and she knew he was a little more sensitive than the other boys and she hated to think he was sulking about what happened.

* * *

"Hey Timmy," Musa said with a knock on the doorframe since the bedroom door was wide open. "How are you?"

"Huh?" Timmy said looking a little startled when he looked up at the princess. "What are you doing here?"

"Daniel came by Red Fountain," Musa said with a roll of her eyes. "Long story,"

"How did that go over?" Timmy asked wondering if Musa's ex-boyfriend met Riven, ever since he got back from the humiliation at Alfea he was in his room along trying to forget the ordeal. Of course Timmy, Sky and Brandon had agreed it was best to not tell Riven about Daniel until Musa decided it was okay, but he knew it had to be awkward if they had. "I didn't hear a brawl ensue,"

Musa laughed and took a seat at the corner of Brandon's bed and faced him. "No just some bitching,"

"I'd give you some advice, but I'm not exactly good with the subject," He said awkwardly, he wasn't used to talking to Musa; she usually came her and talked to Brandon. Actually he couldn't really think of a time where he and Musa had actually sat down and had a conversation.

"Techna wanted to call and see if you were okay but she's still ignoring you," Musa informed him.

"I don't get why she's upset,"

"Try being a little more honest with her," Musa suggested and got the same puzzled look from him. "Stop by Alfea just to see her, not because you're gonna be there anyway,"

"Oh,"

"It's a little thing but it pisses girls off when guys aren't upfront," Musa said finding that statement to resonate in her own life.

"You know guys hate that too," Timmy said with a small smile, sensing that Musa realized what she said related to her as well.

"Point taken," Musa said as she stood up and realized she still had to yell at Daniel.

"Thanks for coming by," Timmy said as the princess made her way to the door.

"Well I was gonna be here anyway," Musa teased before leaving the room.

Musa walked around Red Fountain for a few minutes trying to find wherever Daniel wandered off to but found herself walking around the quad right in front of the center stadium. And she found Daniel sitting alone on a bench, looking kind of adorable there all alone.

"What is wrong with you," Musa said smacking him on the back of the head, startling the prince and causing him to stand up, his emerald eyes falling on her.

"Ow," Daniel said rubbing the back of his head.

"Why is everything a big game to you?"

"Calm down I was just messing around," Daniel defended seeing the princess heat up even further. "We did this stuff all the time,"

"Yeah when you decided to bring princess skanky whore to a ball or something," Musa spat. Sure they had played these little practical jokes on each other but Musa really like Riven and she thought Daniel knew that. "When we weren't serious about -,"

"You really like this guy," Daniel said to Musa but more so to himself, finally coming to the realization that Musa had truly moved on and he, as her best friend, needed to be supportive of it. It wasn't that he wanted her back, that phase of their relationship had been over for awhile, but he was a little jealous that there was someone else important to her, he felt as if she was trying to find a replacement for him.

"What?" Musa said her fury still blinding her for a second, a little thrown with the change in his tone.

"Nothing," He said with a small laugh. He had every intention of trying to mess up whatever was going on but he didn't really realize what it was, but on the bright side, Riven seemed to be pretty pissed when Daniel made his display so at least he knew the guy cared for Musa as well. "I'm sorry,"

"What?" Musa said, her angry calming and she actually looked at Daniel to see his sentiments were genuine. "Really?"

"Yeah, look if you want I can go back and apol-,"

"No, you've done enough," Musa said with a small laugh and walked over to his open arms and hugged him. "Why are you such an ass,"

"Because I can be," He told her. "And you'll still be around,"

"Very true," Musa laughed as she pulled away and the two walked over to where Daniel's limo was waiting. "I can't stay mad at you," She admitted with a friendly push.

"He likes you," Daniel said a few seconds later, after a bit of silence. "A lot,"

"What?"

"He does," Daniel informed her with a knowing smile, seeing Musa's face lit up at the idea of it. Ignoring the slight stab of jealousy, Daniel continued. "When I put my arm around you, he looked like he was ready to kill me, I made him jealous…very jealous,"

"Well I doubt it will provoke any response," Musa said. "If anything this little stunt is going to work in the opposite direction,"

"Nah," Daniel assured her. He had seen Riven's reaction to him when he had shown up after the show when Musa went to thank him. It was obviously he liked her and it was even more obvious that he needed a push to get him to move their relationship along. And when he had arrived, Daniel had every intention of doing something to drive a wedge between the two, simply because he felt like he was losing Musa. But when he thought about that night of the show, he knew he couldn't do that to Musa, this guy meant too much to her. And he finally had to face the fact that she had moved on and maybe it was time for him to do the same, although it had taken so long just to get over her, the next step would take some time as well. But he had his best friend back, and that was more than enough. "He doesn't seem so quick to give up, I think this is the kick he needed. Trust me, it's not that easy to resist you,"

"Trying to get back on my good side?"

"Please, I don't have to," Daniel informed her. "Like you said, you can't stay mad at me,"

* * *

"Daniel is going to be over in a few hours," Musa informed her friends as they ate dinner, Musa had gotten back just in time for dinner, declining a hundred insisting offers from Daniel's father to join them for dinner. But Musa knew how dinner would go, Musa and Daniel would sit silently listening to the King talk about international policy and how great it would be if Crescendo and the Harmonic Nebula would join. And she was just not in the mood.

"Brandon told me about the little meeting you all had today," Stella told them.

"Is that why you ran off all of a sudden?" Flora inquired.

"Yeah, he was at Red Fountain with his father and knowing Daniel he was going to be a little less than pleasant," Musa explained. "Although not much happened,"

"I assume you mean you were attempting to keep Riven and Daniel apart?" Techna asked in a slightly irritated tone. She was being a pain that day since Timmy had come by and she ignored him and now she felt incredibly guilty that she hadn't called to talk to him after everything that happened. "You know they will eventually meet,"

"We can cross that bridge if we ever get there," Musa said thinking about the two of them meeting. The idea seemed kind of terrifying, but she really couldn't picture it because she really couldn't imagine her and Riven together. Granted she could imagine doing a lot of things _with_ Riven, but she really couldn't imagine dating him. It wasn't that she didn't want to, it was just that holding hands or just seeing a movie seemed a little weird. Hopefully it wouldn't be, hopefully he could make a move and they could even get that far.

"Fine but these things always tend to come out at the wrong moments," Stella warned. "And if that arrogant ass ever, that you refuse to give up on, decides to make things official and then he finds out,"

"We can cross that bridge when we get there," Musa repeated

"Which may be never if you continue to move at this glacial pace," Stella pointed out.

"Stella, leave her alone," Layla said coming to her friend's aid. "How many times have you guys been through this?"

"I dunno, I thought we were making headway with Jared," Stella trailed off.

"Whatever happened with him?" Bloom asked. Bloom had found herself slightly isolated from the rest of the girls because she had been so solely focused on figuring out her origin. She had really only been filled in on the major events of the day, such as Musa going out with him and then it not working out.

"It was like kissing…I dunno, Brandon," Musa said with utter disgust. She saw him as a big brother; he was the one guy in Magix she could really talk to without feeling the need to hide anything to protect his feelings. And kissing Jared was probably the equivalent, Jared was a nice guy, he was cute and sweet and treated her well but the fact was that there was much more passion in a few seconds of awkward tension with Riven than a long kiss with Jared.

"Don't knock it till you try it," Stella advised and then thought about what she had just said. "Wait…never mind,"

"So how are you feeling Bloom?" Techna asked looking to the red head knowing if Stella kept pressing the matter of Musa and Riven it would eventually end with the two at each other throats.

"Okay, I just feel bad," Bloom said, her voice becoming glum. "There's only one piece of the Codex left and there is a lot riding on not losing it,"

"Well we can protect it," Stella assured even though they had already failed three times at doing so.

"Don't worry so much," Flora cooed

"Yeah, we'll figure it out," Musa assured.

* * *

Daniel arrived later that evening, after his father left Magix and warned Daniel to behave himself. The only reason he was allowed to stay was because he was visiting Musa. "Daniel," Musa called from her balcony when she saw the prince step onto campus.

"Hey, I'll be up in a second," He said to her and walked into the school. Daniel walked into Musa's room to see Layla and Ali sitting on her bed and Musa at her desk.

"So what's up," Musa said walking over to the prince and giving him a hug, she didn't know why she did that every time she saw him; it was just a force of habit.

"Umm…," Daniel began, not sure if he should begin and looked at Layla and Ali. The news he had for Musa wasn't very good and he wasn't sure if he should just blurt it out.

"Its okay, just tell me, what's up," Musa said with worry mounting in her mind when she saw Daniel look at Layla and Ali. She began to think of all the horrible things he could tell her and she could really only think of one thing.

"We have another little problem," Daniel said pulling a newspaper page out of his pocket and unfolding it and handing over to the princess. "Someone has the pictures from the tour, some of those were your personal pictures…"

"Oh my god," Musa said as she swallowed hard realizing the mess she was in. Layla and Ali promptly stood up and stood behind Musa and looked at the paper she was holding.

"Oh," Layla and Ali said at the same time.

"If they get leaked to the rest of the press," Musa finally managed to choke out.

"I'm handling it here, the press anyway," Daniel told her and walked over to the princess and put his arm around her for support, seeing she needed it. "It's a mock up of the story, I've got an understanding with the editor so this won't go to print," Daniel explained. "But it's not like we can pay off every newspaper, magazine or tabloid,,"

"Don't worry I'm sure I can keep this from blowing up," Daniel assured her. "The worst is behind you, your father knows,"

"Parliament doesn't,"

"This can get you in a lot of trouble," Layla admitted, picking up the paper and reading through the article, she had been told so many times to behave herself when she was growing up because everything she did reflected on her family. "I have friend whose father is a magazine mogul, he owns like everything, I can just call in a favor and keep this out of magazines,"

"And anyone else we've forgotten can easily be bought," Ali assured her, and Musa smiled, it was good to have friends in high places. "Don't worry,"

Musa looked at the front of the page and in bold letters she read '**PARTY PRINCESS: Is this really our future?' **The photo next to the head line was of Musa sitting at a booth with some notorious rock stars that were sort of known for their partying. Although the princess didn't partake in any criminal behavior, she knew very well a picture was worth a thousand words and this one was filled with rumors that were sure to spread like wildfire. There she was, the future ruler of the kingdom looking like nothing more then some dimwitted partying socialite splashed all over the front page of the popular gossip paper. She had for so long rebelled against many of the royal rules because she found them so strict and un-called for, but now she was beginning to see that if she really wanted to make a change she would have to conform a little first. "It wasn't Karen," Daniel said looking at her seriously. "She was under lock and key this summer by her parents, she didn't even know about the tour,"

"Galatea," Musa said bitterly looking down at the paper and promptly crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash. She then turned to Ali and Layla who sat on her bed with concerned looks on their faces.

"We can take care of this wave of publicity," Daniel told her. "But that's only because one of the papers I have on payroll was one of the ones 1st approached with the pictures, if she keeps doing this we are bound to miss some type of press,"

"And it really only takes on picture," Layla said knowing full well how much something as innocent as a night out could be construed into something ugly in the public eye.

"Alright screw family," Musa said having just about enough of her cousin. If it was a war she wanted it was a war she would get. She had already been through this with Karen and she could very easily do it again. "Let's take the bitch down,"

"Finally," Ali smirked.

* * *

_There is very little interaction between the girls and any guy other than their love interest which is a little annoying, I guess it's a kids show and depth isn't really a big deal, so I added the bit between Timmy and Musa simply to correct that. Besides I feel like out of all the girls, Musa would most likely be the go between for the guys and the girls. _

_And aww…Riven is a little insecure. That is obviously why he overcompensates with a larger than life ego, that and his fear of abandonment. I just love messing with his character, I have to say he's the most interesting. _

_And then there was Galatea, I figured there was only so much pushing Musa could take before she pushed back. _

_Anyway, hope you like it. I'll try to get in another chapter soon!_

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


	20. The First Charmix

_Sorry for the long wait. Internships and summer classes and a bunch of other crap got in the way of this and then of course school started up again. Ugh…growing up. _

_BTW – I hate the pixies so please don't expect to see them in the story, sorry_

**The First Charmix**

Daniel had never quite understood what kept him so close to Musa, but the problems that would tear most people apart managed to pull them closer together seamlessly. The first major hiccup being an argument when they were kids to their break-up, which led to the two of them to not speaking for months, to anything else life seemed to put in front of them. He could never understand how it was that their feelings for each other managed to simply dissolve back to friendship, not that he cared, and he was actually pretty relieved for it. No matter how close they got he knew they were never going there again, which made him sure that there was nothing he could do to lose his best friend.

Even kicking her when she hogged the blanket.

The prince rolled over with a groan, kicking Musa in the shin as he did so and pulled the entirety of the blanket over himself, nearly throwing the princess off the bed. "Daniel!" Musa yelled out, her eyes flying open at the sudden movement, as she was suddenly awoken. "Why does this keep happening?" Musa said sitting up in the bed and looking over to the prince. They had gone out after they talked at Alfea to get Musa to relax and after a few drinks, they ended up going to stay at Musa's permanent suite in the Luxe Hotel.

"You want my body," Daniel groaned with a smile as he woke up a little bit. "You know you never used to wake up so damn early," He continued and threw the pillow above his head and rolled over in an attempt to fall back asleep in the enormously comfortable bed.

"Its not early," Musa said urgently looking at her watch and throwing the legs out from under the sheets and then running to the other side of the room and shoving her feet in her shoes. "It's almost noon,"

"Yeah," Daniel said groaned loudly finally throwing the pillow to the other side of the bed and sitting up, his mind still in a fog. "Early,"

Musa laughed and threw the pillow at the prince as she walked to the other side of the room and grabbed her phone, shoved it in her pocket and headed for the door. "I have to get back to school, I've already missed a couple classes,"

"Yeah and I promised father I'd be back in school by know," Daniel said looking at his watch. "I might take a pit stop at the marina, go sailing…"

Musa smiled at the prince as she got her things and headed towards the door, he was pretty much done trying to get his father's approval since it was obvious that the king was not going give it to him. "Well have fun and call me when you get back,"

"See ya," Daniel said getting out of the bed finally and giving the princess a hug before she left the hotel room. "And don't worry about Galatea, we'll take care of her," He called out as she left.

Musa simply nodded, having complete confidence in him, and left.

* * *

"Flora if you don't move this disgusting viney thing from my window, I swear the god I am going to stick a heel in it's roots, pull it out and feed it to kiko," Stella stormed out of her room and into the common room, waving a small potted plant in the air, looking slightly like she should have been in an asylum.

"Oh…its too early for this," Musa sighed with a groan as she walked into the circus tent that was her dorm room.

"Don't you dare," Flora spat back in her normal kind demeanor, walked quickly after the solarian princess before she did something to her precious flower.

"Where were you?" Stella snapped looking over to Musa, focusing on the musical fairy that had so obviously run from somewhere and was wearing the same clothes from the night before. "Walk of shame?"

"Hardly," Musa smiled as she began in towards her room, hoping to avoid a flurry of useless questions that she always got when she went out with Daniel, or spent the night with him. "Why are you two breaking the sound barrier?" Musa said posing a question to Stella's "I could hear you all the way in Magix,"

"Nothing," Flora said politely and quickly snatched the plant out of Stella's hand. "Stella was just being a spoiled brat," She said, one of the first harsh words the girls had every really heard Flora utter.

"Excuse me ladies," a voice from behind the door frame. Griselda stood there, menacing as ever, waiting until she got everyone's attention. "Miss Faragonda would like to see you girls immediately, oh and, princess Musa, don't think I didn't see you sneaking back on campus this morning,"

"Oh I just went out for a walk earlier," Musa excused.

"Really? And Prince Cunningham had nothing to do with your breaking curfew," Griselda said to everyone's surprise. "I know more than you think," She said with almost an evil smirk and then walked out of the room, leaving one last hurried reminder to get to Miss Faragonda's office.

"Griselda said that you wanted to see us," Bloom said as she opened door to the head mistresses office, the girls all filed in one by as and stood in front of her desk in an organized fashion as they normally did.

"Girls come in," Faragonda waved the girls to enter her office as she turned away from her large window and the six lined up in front of her desk. The meeting came at the perfect time since Musa seemed to walk in on an all out war when she walked into the dorm this morning. The girls had been so busy with school that they had all been staying in, around each other, making them all on edge and to add to that there was the stress of impending doom thanks to lord Darkar. "Things have been tough lately and I know you are all tired, losing the Alfea codex has been very difficult for all of us but now is the time that we must pull together. We must be fully prepared for the next battle,"

"Well I hope we can do it," Flora said in her normal sweet demeanor. And even though she was trying her best to make sure that everyone's spirits were up, Stella had been getting a little sick of it.

"Well I hope we can do it," Stella mocked "Come on Flora, with that kind of attitude we might as well give up now,"

"Girls can you please stop fighting," Miss Faragonda, "I have a surprise for you…"

The girls anxiously awaited to be picked up a few hours later after getting the news that they would be having a vacation to relax and the fact that they were going to be accompanied by the boys, even though they were on official class assignments. Even Layla was looking forward to it, more for the vacation than the boys, but still.

Musa and the girls stood in the quad as the squad car arrived to pick them up and she could feel her heart begin to race at the thought of having some real time to spend with Riven, she couldn't help but think that it would be the perfect time for them to get closer and maybe even have a real conversation instead of the awkward ones they tended to have due to the obvious sexual tension between the two.

The musical princess walked into the ship to see Riven lounging on a chair with his feet up on what looked like the control panel, not that Musa was surprised by the utter disrespect of Red Fountain's property, and yet his nonchalant attitude only made him sexier in her eyes. "Hey Riven," Musa said trying her best to keep any excitement out of his voice, sure she really liked him but she was not about to give up the little dignity she had managed to hold onto.

"Hey Musa," Riven said just as casually and then turned his attention back to the book he was flipping through. Feeling unbelievably embarrassed for even looking at him, Musa joined an equally irritated Techna and simply stood a good distance from the specialists that seemed to be so incredibly stupid.

"Boys," the two said almost in unison.

"We're here," Sky announced as the squad ship began to descend onto a helipad on the top of a large winter cottage, a rather weird place to have a landing pad, but the whole resort was themed and this was the little winter wonderland area.

"Finally," Musa huffed with an exhausted sigh, not sure if she was more fed up with the long trip or the fact that Riven had his head so far up his own ass that he couldn't see what was right in front of him, or he refused to and simply hid behind the no frat rule.

Musa walked off the ship, throwing her bag behind her assuming one of the boys would pick it up, since they made such a fuss about the rules, she would make she they knew that it was the girls' vacation and they were simply there for assistance.

The group walked onto the plowed trail on the picturesque scene and into the warm central cottage. The whole winter section of the resort was set up like a small ski town and the main ski resort was in the building they had walked into and in the distance Musa could see very familiar looking private cottage. The princess couldn't help but revel in the scene; it reminded her of all the winters she spent at home with her friends and family. And the sound of Stella's boot heels against the marble lobby was a familiar sound. "Checking in," Musa smiled at the handsome man standing behind the counter, unconsciously fixing her hair a little bit when he smiled at her.

"Ah yes the head mistress of Alfea just called us to let us know you had arrived," He informed the group as the bellman began to take the bags from the boys and put them on his cart.

"Wow, I didn't even get a chance to call in our arrival," Sky said looking down at his phone.

"Big brother is watching," Brandon said with a roll of his eyes.

"This is going to be fun," Stella groaned, leaning her elbow on the counter. This vacation was supposed to relaxing and the last thing anyone wanted was to be watched especially when they were on vacation with their boys.

"Your suite is on the fourth floor, our bellmen will show you there," He said politely to the group of teenagers.

* * *

The suite they were given was a pretty beautiful one, a fully functional pent house and the girls were all in their own rooms while the boys got share one large room, something none of them seemed to be too happy about. Although Brandon was quick to make himself at home on plush couch in the palatial living area.

"This was where the last Winter Champion Games were held two years ago," Musa said as she walked around the palatal suite, knowing it looked familiar. She knew she had been the resort realm at some time or another, every royal had been at some time in their life, and suddenly she had a good idea. "I think I stayed at the resort, this place looks very familiar,"

"Oh yeah," Stella said turning around and giving the place a good look. "I think I was here for that, you know this place has some good looking ski instructors,"

"Something to keep in mind," Musa grinned and looked over to the guys to gauge Brandon's and more importantly Riven's. Both of which had a slightly annoyed expressions, although she would keep the ski instructor advice in mind. She seemed to be getting absolutely nowhere with Riven and Musa was still after all a hormonally driven teenager.

"Well behave yourself," Brandon said walking past Musa and making a count of the rooms. "We are all being kept under teachers tabs,"

"What do you girls wanna do tonight?" Bloom asked looking around the posh room. The suite that the school booked for the girls was very nice to say the least. The resort was famous for it's upscale amenities and large accommodations, probably because the resort realm was made for the universe's rich and powerful.

"There are a few clubs at the resort and they make killer drinks," Musa said wondering what her friends would be like if they let loose. They had never really gone out together and she didn't like to think that they were stuffy but her observations said otherwise. Stella was the only one she had ever seen pick up a drink, granted she knew being a princess and having the green light to do whatever she wanted without much consequence was a reason for that, but still she had a hard time believing that the girls and guys for that matter were so straight edge. It was high school not reform school, she knew very well that going out and making some bad decisions were all a part of the experience.

"What part of 'keeping tabs' did you not get," Brandon said sarcastically as he stretched out on the couch. "Anything you do is on the account for the room so you won't be able to do much,"

"Like you boys would let us forget," Techna huffed under her breath as she grabbed her bags from the bellman and moved them into her room.

"There's no magic here, so if we can't use our powers then can they magically track us?" Layla asked, seeing where Musa was going with this and being unable to stop smiling at the thought.

"The headmaster told us to check in every hour except after 1am and then we check in at 6am," Timmy clarified.

"But there's no way to check in on us if we don't use the school account between 1 and 6," Layla asked with a smile growing.

"It can't be that easy," Riven mentioned logically. He knew a thing or two about getting around the rules and there was no way in hell that the teachers not only allowed but paid for a vacation for all them at a resort with every amenity possible. Keeping tabs on account activity was pretty stupid considering half of their group was loaded and could easy cover any trouble they wanted to get into.

"And what's life without a little excitement," Stella grinned as well.

"Or stupidity," Bloom added. "Hate to agree with Riven but there is no way that the only parameters they've set up is a simple phone call, the hotel staff must be in on it,"

"They can be bribed," Stella pointed out.

"And I'm sure the teachers already thought of that," Techna added.

"For the record, I'm all for breaking the rules," Riven corrected and went on. "Just not getting caught, they must have put some type of magical tracking on you girls when you use your powers,"

"Except we can't use our powers," Musa added

"So maybe they just trust us?" Stella said hopefully.

"Not likely,"

"Look this vacation is going to suck if we can't do anything," Musa stated. "I say we have as much fun as we can and then deal with the consequences later,"

"That sounds oddly familiar," Sky said looking over to Riven and trying his bed to contain a smile. It was insane how perfect and he and Musa were for each other.

"I like where this is going," Brandon added.

"I second that," Stella squeaked.

"That would be really...against the rules," Sky said after a momentary lapse in which he thought about just how much fun it would be to let loose, but he did have a reputation for being a buzz kill and that may have been because he was utterly terrified of ever disappointing anyone.

"Well you boys can either have your own rooms or sleep out on the couch here," Musa reminded.

"What do you suggest?" Riven said finally saying something directly to Musa, a little bit intrigued by her although he tried his best to hid it. She couldn't be too surprised that his attention turned to her when she suggested something against the rules.

"Another suite," Stella said excitedly.

"My family villa," Musa said more specifically. "We were here for the last Winter games and we have a private villa here, it has more than enough space for all of us and its beautiful,"

"And a separate villa ensures that we will not have to be under lock and key," Stella added.

"And we can do whatever we want," Brandon added as he grabbed his things. "I'm in,"

"Guys is that really the best idea?" Bloom asked nervously, walking out of her room and back into the living area. "This place has plenty of space and…"

"But how are we gonna get the keys to the villa," Layla said ignoring Bloom and turning back to Musa who had taken a seat on the dining table that faced the living room.

"We could persuade the nice front desk man that he should help us out," Stella smiled. "Quietly,"

"And who is going to do that," Brandon asked suspiciously, knowing his girlfriend wouldn't pass up the opportunity to get attention, although she knew he would not be too okay with it.

"I'll do it," Musa volunteered simply to get a reaction out of Riven, and when she volunteered, she did.

"Really?" Stella asked skeptically. "You?"

"What you don't think I can?" Musa challenged, she knew she wasn't exactly the vixen of the group but she also knew she was more than capable of bating her eyelashes and flirting. "Just because I don't wear something similar to a hooker, doesn't mean I can't charm a guy,"

"Fine you do it," Stella surrendered. "But you are not doing it in that outfit; you're more covered up than you need to be,"

"Fine I'll just grab something out of your bag," Musa smiled maliciously grabbing her bag and walking into one of the rooms to change.

"Don't touch the red one!" Stella called out.

* * *

A few minutes later Musa was dressed and just looking for a pair of shoes to put on as the rest of the group continued to debate whether switching rooms was a good idea. "Do you wanna be out from under the teachers or not?" Stella sniped quickly at Sky, who along with his girlfriend, were the main sources of opposition.

"Yeah but if they find out we're gonna be in huge trouble," He began. "Not to mention we're pimping out our friend to do it,"

"Okay all she has to do is flirt with him," Stella defended.

"And he's pretty cute so it shouldn't be a problem," Musa said as she walked out of the room in Stella's dress and her heels, noticing everyone look of surprise as she did. She also took a look at Riven who didn't seem at all happy with their plan, but refused to say anything since that would make him admit something he was too stubborn to.

"I love it," Stella beamed.

"You look…" Brandon began looking at Musa not really knowing what to say. He'd seen her dressed up before but never wearing so little, and while he loved that dress on Stella, he felt slightly uncomfortable with Musa in it. It was like watching his little sister strut around in a slinky, tight dress. "Different,"

"Well, I'll be back in a couple of minutes," Musa smiled with a wink and left the room, leaving just the sound of her heels in the marble hallway.

"That was easy," Musa smiled at the doorway smiling with the keys to her family villa in her hand.

Stella shrieked happily and hugged the musical princess. "I am so proud of you,"

Within the next hour the group managed to settle into their new accommodations. Musa's family villa was much larger than their old suite, allowing everyone to have their own rooms and still have plenty of space to hang around. "So what do you wanna do now?" Timmy asked looking up from his computer, making sure that there was no way that their head master could track them, and it seemed pretty clear that they would be fine.

"Musa and I were gonna go down to the club if anyone wants to come," Stella suggested as she walked out of her room, dressed in the red dress she told Musa not to wear. The two looked stunning.

"I'm coming," Brandon said as he got off of the couch to go get changed. Everyone needed a break and some time to let loose, not to mention he was not about to let Musa and his girlfriend go to a club, alone, dressed like they were.

"I wanna come too," Flora said. She figured she had never really been the kind of girl to go out and let loose and she didn't want to be the wet blanket that Stella always accused her of being.

"If there's dancing, I'm in," Layla said getting up to go get dressed.

And within the next ten minutes everyone had decided to come along, including Riven, who interestingly enough didn't need much convincing. They even broke into the suite's bar before they left, which was like watching a dog walk on it's hind legs for Musa.

She had never seen someone as straightedge like Flora or Techna even pick up a drink and that night they were keeping up with everyone else, which was interesting to say the least.

* * *

Once at the club, Musa, Layla and a few others decided to dance awhile while everyone else got to hang out in the VIP section which was thanks to their new accommodations since being an owner of a private villa granted you access to drink service and private access to everything the upscale resort had to offer.

After awhile of dancing and drinking, Musa plotted down on the plush couch in between Riven and Brandon. Brandon was a little preoccupied with Stella to be paying any attention so Musa turned her attention over to the specialist and smiled. "You know you don't always have to be the bruiting one in the corner,"

"I'm not in the corner," Riven corrected her with a small smile, pointing out that he was indeed not in the corner, which was actually occupied by Bloom and Sky, being nauseating as usual. She was so damn enthralling, he couldn't think straight when she was around, and her outfit and her demeanor were not making it any easier. She was normally pretty shy which made it easier for him to be around her, but she suddenly had some courage and he was not prepared for this.

Musa couldn't help but giggle when he flashed that smile, god he looked good. She took another ship of the champagne and looked at the bottle and poured the rest of it in his glass, seeing as hers was full. The group had been going through a lot of alcohol that night.

"No thanks," Riven said a little too late, He already had a few and the last thing he needed was for his inhibitions to be lower. He could just see himself saying something or doing something that he knew wasn't a good idea, and the last thing he needed was himself believing that he and Musa were a good idea. He knew very well that they weren't, he already knew how capable he was of hurting her and today of all days just showed how far above him she was.

Musa looked at him surprised, since when was Riven the goody goody? "You dated a member of the Trix, but drinking is on your 'no-no' list'," Musa joked loudly, leaning back on the plush couch and looking back up to the specialist and seeing her joke had not gone over so well. She immediately felt horrible about what she had said, she really had meant it to be funny but now she felt like a complete bitch for bringing it up.

Riven instantly looked away in shame, looking at the floor unable to look at Musa, not that he was angry with her, more that he was angry with himself and ashamed at the way he had acted just a year ago. What made it worse was that Musa was so blunt about it, which hurt even more. Did she really think that lowly of him? "I –.." Musa began but Riven stood up and began to the door.

"Sorry," Riven said so quietly it was basically inaudible because of the music playing loudly but Musa managed to catch it and the look of hurt and shame in his eyes before he turned away from her. Musa looked back to see her friends were preoccupied and that her asinine comment was really only heard by Riven. Feeling bad, the princess got on her feet and went after Riven,

"I'm sorry," Musa said running out of the club after Riven, seeing him walk toward the part of the resort that the suites were. "I was just joking, I didn't mean–," Musa said trying her best not to slur; she really should not have drank.

"Don't worry about it," Riven said looking up at the princess and wondering what exactly he had been thinking that night. He had hoped all year to get closer to her, but he couldn't seem to shake the undeserving feeling he had about her. She was perfect in his eyes and he knew he had his obvious flaws but he hated thinking about what he had done to her the year before, every time he thought about that day in Magix he realized how easily he would have let those witches kill Musa without a second look. He couldn't trust himself around her, even now that the spell was lifted he didn't trust himself, she was far too important to him. Not to mention that it seemed like she had much better options than him, he reminded himself. With her prince charming showing up all the time he was beginning to realize that there was a good chance he was going to have see her with someone else, it made more sense. He had already proven that he was incapable of making a move and it was pretty clear that someone else might and while it made him want to strangle the last breath out of any guy that got to be with her, he had to be realistic. Princesses didn't end up with guys like him.

"I didn't mean anything by it," Musa said walking over to him, knowing that he probably wasn't going to be going back in the club. She still felt so insecure about the past and the fact that she now knew that the spell wasn't completely to blame made her nervous, but the alcohol gave her a little more courage and she thought a joke might break the ice between them. They were really just one conversation from actually getting somewhere in their relationship but they never seemed to get that far. But this was probably not that conversation.

"Its fine," Riven said dodging her slightly inebriated gaze. He did however look over to the girl, standing outside the club, her heels keeping her feet just out of the snow; shivering and he couldn't help but feel even worse. "Go inside you're gonna freeze,"

"Only if you come back in," Musa protested as her teeth began to chatter, cursing Stella for forcing her into shoes that were too big and were now freezing.

"I like my chances considering how small that dress is," Riven said with a smirk, he couldn't stop himself from remembering how good she looked in that slinky dress. He couldn't figure out what to make of his relationship with her, it was obvious to everyone involved that they liked each other, and he knew she was waiting for him to make a move. But he was sure she hadn't thought about what happened after that, but he had and it made him nervous to say the least. She may have thought that she wanted something now, but her was sure her feelings would change later.

A small smile spread across Musa's face, the alcohol giving her a little more confidence. "I have impressive stamina," Musa spat snidely with a grin letting him know that she was just teasing.

"It's not really my scene,"

"Oh and what is?"

"A corner where I can brute,"

"Fine then I'll join you," Musa said inviting herself, silently thanking the alcohol because without it she would have never had the courage to do something like that by herself. "I think I've had enough anyway, unless you need to brute by yourself,"

"Fine," Riven said trying to hide his smile as he and Musa walked back to the suite. The rest of the night proceeded rather uneventfully for Musa, but in relation to her relationship with Riven, it was leap in the right direction. They spent most of the night in the movie room watching whatever was on television and talking, nothing too intense or person, since Riven really wasn't comfortable with it and Musa was not nearly drunk enough to ask. But it was nice, and for the first time she actually talked to him, which served to make her want him even more.

* * *

The next morning, everyone was a little slow to get up, considering the night they had the night before. Siting at the breakfast table with a warm cup of coffee, Musa smiled at the maid that brought her her breakfast and quietly said thank you. Then looking down at the food she could not imagine herself being able to eat anything for a while. She, Timmy and Layla had been the first ones out for breakfast and over the next few minutes everyone seemed to file out of their rooms.

"So what do you guys wanna do today," Layla asked when everyone sat down at the table and ate breakfast quietly.

"We could go shopping," Stella suggested although she was ignored by most of the table.

"Well we are at a ski resort," Sky suggested. The slopes looked pretty great when they were flying in and they were universally renowned to be some of the most beautiful scenes. Besides they were scheduled to leave for the more tropical part of the resort in a couple days so he figured getting some skiing in would be nice.

"I'm down." Layla agreed. "It'll be fun to get out on the slopes,"

"Yeah we should go," Musa agreed. "But, I'd hate to agree with Stella but we don't have gear so we will have to go shopping,"

"Ooh yay!" Stella squealed.

* * *

Musa stood in a store trying on hats for skiing even though she was more interested in the fact that Riven and the boys were now escorting the girls around the resort. The boys had basically split up according to their respective love interest, with the exception of Brandon who was stuck with Stella, who was forcing Layla and Flora watch her trying on millions of outfits.

Riven had followed Musa for 'security purposes' but she knew better. It was a little odd however, he was a little standoffish every since their chat the night before. Although, Musa wasn't exactly surprised by the development, but he was still cordial and they would talk every now and then but it was not exactly anything of substance.

"Do you wanna get dinner tonight Riven? Come on…" Musa laughed nervously, trying her best to keep her heart from jumping. It wasn't a big deal, she had asked Daniel to dinner a billion time, granted she always knew his answer would be yes. But Riven had been acting different around her all day, sure it was while they were alone. Besides it would be nice to have some more alone time with him, and they had accomplished sneaking off the watch of the teachers, so she figured maybe it would be okay.

"No," Riven said quickly, almost as if he didn't need to think about. He didn't even look at her, simply answered as if it was a reflex. It wasn't that he wouldn't completely enjoy the time with her, but he was a little freaked out at how close he could see himself getting to her. He knew very well he was terrified of anything remotely close to a commitment and the reason for that was probably because he knew on some level he was scared of losing her. He knew it was dangerous to get close to her, besides he really did need to try to not break the rules, while his friends might be able to take a smudge on their otherwise clean records, his was thoroughly marked up so he knew he couldn't keep messing up. "I can't socialize with you."

"Fine. Then why don't you go do a perimeter or something?" Musa snapped back and walked away from him, obviously a little hurt from the rejection. She didn't really know how she was going to keep trying with him if he kept dragging them back to square one. Just as she said that Riven turned and smiled, well smirked was a better word for it, and cam closer ad picked up one of the puff balls hanging from the ridiculous hat had put on. "Hey!" Musa said, in no mood for his weird bipolar relationship behavior, at the same time her mouth went dry as she wished he would just kiss her.

"Your hat looks kinda cute," Riven could see the change in her face and he used every ounce of his willpower to not just press his mouth on hers and break some more rules. But he kept his desires in check and saw that the amusement had left her face and his comment really only seemed to anger her.

"Don't socialize!" she snapped, trying her best to gather her dignity after he had basically blwn it to bits after he has in effect rejected her offer to go out to dinner. She simply grabbed her bags and headed back to the suite.

"Well we can be polite, friendly and cordial, you know," Riven added, trying to be a little nicer but his comment only came out to be insulting, as if her were teasing her for putting herself out there. The princess threw the hat at his face and slammed the boutique door as she left.

* * *

"So Musa, you and Riven snuck off early last night," Bloom said with a smile, not sure if anyone else had noticed their quick departure and by the look of shock on their faces, they hadn't noticed. In their defense, everyone did drink a lot. The girls had just finished their shopping and went back to their rooms to get dressed for the slopes and Musa couldn't seem to dodge the questions

"What!" Stella squealed and sat down on Musa's bed excitedly hoping for details. "No! what did you two do...in here…all alone, should I not sit on these sheets,"

"Nothing happened," Musa said trying not to smile too much, she didn't want to be the girl who read way too much into little things, but it was nice to have had a night where Riven's attention was focused solely on her. "Seriously," Musa insisted when she saw the look on her friends' faces. "We just watched TV and talked for a while,"

"That's sweet," Flora said.

"I dunno," Musa said as she put on her snow gear. "We'll see what happens," She knew she would be stupid to get too excited and she knew she was a little guarded, but then again she knew there was a good chance nothing would ever materialize from her relationship with Riven and she had to be okay with that, or at least prepared for it.

The best way to deal with this was to just pretend it didn't bother her that he was acting like a complete moron that could not seem to make up his mind. A part of her did want to just hook up with some random guy in front of him in the hopes to illicit some type of response, but Musa wasn't the kind to play those games.

* * *

"I'm starting to think all of us cramming into one lift was a bad idea," Musa said an hour later when they all got onto the lift to go skiing, she felt a little concerned as she felt the car rocking back and forth.

"Come on Musa," Stella said. "This is a nice resort, I doubt that their lifts wouldn't be up to date, I mean seriously even I vacation here," The princess finished as everyone else rolled their eyes.

The day proceeded rather well and it seemed that everyone was loosening up and beginning to completely ignore the no frat rule unless one of the boys did one of their check-ins and then they would be a little tense for a few minutes but all of that would wash away eventually.

"Hey guys let's take one more run before it gets dark," Flora suggested when everyone made it down the slopes a few hours later after a day of skiing.

Once on the "This cable is about to break!" Timmy reported when he managed to poke his head out of the top of the car. The car began to swing even more as he informed that the cable was deteriorating quickly.

"Oh!" everyone cried out

The car began to sway even more dangerously in the wind and a sinking feeling began to hit everyone there. "You have to transform!" Amore ordered, forgetting that the girls did not have the ability to use their powers, since the teachers bounded them.

"We can't transform," Stella reminded her.

"There's got to be a logical solution," Techna assured everyone even though it was pretty clear that there was no real easy way out of this since the girls were always used to flying out of sticky situations.

"Boys, you have to do something. This is the reason why you're here," Musa snapped earning her a venomous look from all the boys. "What? I'm sorry I thought that was why you were invited along?"

It wasn't long before the whole car broke out in argument and it was clear nothing was getting done.

* * *

I can't believe I got my charmix!" Bloom exclaimed for probably the one hundredth time

"Oh my god, we get it," Stella said and the lowered her voice as she and the rest of the group returned to the suite after giving the management an ear full. "Calm down you're still a pathetic orphan from earth," Stella snapped before heading into her room. (**1**)

The other girls simply smiled at each other and walked into their respective rooms to get ready for dinner since everyone seemed to have their fill of Bloom and her ego that she claimed not to have. There was always of those in a group so they simply accepted it.

"Dinner then the club?" Layla yelled out loud into the large villa, and then after a few minutes to think it over everyone decided it was probably the best way to shake off the day. "Should be an interesting week," Layla said looking over to Musa and grabbing her things.

"Yes it should,"

* * *

_1. Of course the annoying ginger gets the charmix first. Sorry I just cant stand bloom. _

_Okay so how could the teachers possibly keep tabs on them? I decided that they couldn't because that's just no fun, they sent a bunch of hormonally driven teens on vacation together so they should suffer the consequences of such obviously bad decision making. _

_And I know its been awhile since the last update and it will probably be a while till the next one, blame med school, I'm super busy even on Christmas break. _

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


	21. Trouble in Paradise

So_rry about the long wait, but it's been getting more difficult to finish this one. However I do have the last episode finished except for some minor tweeks so yay! Anyway the next one may take a bit but ill try to have it up ASAP. Anyway thanks to all the people who PM'ed to finish, it helped to get me going._

_Also this whole 'charmix' thing…I don't quite understand why they are flipping out like they just got their period for the first time or something, the whole this is just so awkward in my book._

* * *

**Trouble in Paradise **

"Seriously?" Stella nearly shouted as she dragged her packed her bags over to the large foyer of Musa's ski house for the bellhop to load onto the ship. "What was Faragonda thinking? In what universe is it okay to send us from this resort over to some dusty camp site,"

"She's got a point," Musa said as she rolled her bags into the foyer as well. Musa wasn't the spoiled brat that Stella happened to be, but she was still raised in a palace and was most comfortable in a city; camping was something she had never really attempted or had the slightest desire to attempt. "I don't understand how living like the pioneers is considered 'vacation,"

"We can connect with nature," Flora encouraged as the rest of the group joined them in the foyer. Even the boys, who had become rather accustom to Musa's palatial suite, were pretty reluctant to move on to their next part of their assignment. But for them this was still considered schoolwork and it was better than the alternative, training sessions at Red Fountain with Cordatorta.

"Yeah you do that," Stella spat. "We'll stay here and party,"

"Come on girls, look everyone would rather stay here," Sky reasoned. "But come on, we're already broke the rules enough, I don't think ditching the plans completely is a good idea,"

"Sky has a point," Timmy added as the group reluctantly walked through the marble lobby of the ski resort and entered the squad ship that was waiting for them. "Besides it could be fun,"

"You know there probably won't be wireless access right," Stella snapped as she pushed ahead and stomped into the ship, leaving the boy speechless at the thought.

* * *

Once at the campsite the boys immediately went on duty and decided to scout the site to make sure everything was safe. Interestingly all of them hoped on jet skis and spent hours on the water. The most interesting part being that they almost looked as if they were racing. "They claim to be patrolling the waters," Bloom said after Stella modeled her fifth bathing suit to the girls, as they took a teen fairy quiz.

"Seriously I might choke one of them if they don't get back to shore soon," Layla complained as she continued to watch enviously as the boys raced around the waters "I just wish they'd let me ride one of those babies"

"Come on Stel join the fun, we're doing a teen fairy quiz," Musa said as she laid out on her warm towel. Camping may not have been her forte but she did love the warm rays on the beach. It was interesting really she found herself slightly more stressed on vacation then she had back at Alfea. The work she could handle, but something out here felt off.

Letting the paranoia pass Musa thought about more pressing matters, like actually having fun on her vacation. Riven wasn't exactly helping, she didn't understand why he could so easily give up the no frat rule the night before and actually have a conversation with her and then wake up today and completely ignore her. She wasn't the kind of girl who worries a lot about what boys thought but this was simply getting ridiculous, she had never really needed to work this hard to get male attention before and she was getting a bit sick of the games. If she was willing to overlook his faults and transgressions, which were numerous, why couldn't he simply acknowledge that he was glad she had or even that he was interested. It was so freaking obvious and more than that it was annoying. If he had simply let her go then she could have moved on or at least tried to but every time she felt like she could simply forget about him, he wouldn't let her. He would do something that let her know he cared for her in more than just a friendly way. He refused to make a move but at the same time refused to let her go and it wasn't fair.

"Magix to Musa," Bloom said waving her hand in front of the musical fairy minutes later, snapping the fairy out of her daze. Musa looked up to see the boys had come back on shore and were setting up a volleyball game. "Wanna play some volleyball?"

"Oh," Musa stammered quickly shaking off what she had just been thinking about. "And here I thought you guys had to be on guard duty," Musa said getting up from her spot and dusting the sand off of her legs as she did. She did however notice Riven stare as she got up, undoubtedly appreciating that she had been wearing a swimsuit, normally the princess would have felt a flutter but now she was just a little annoyed. She looked up and met his dark eyes but instead of the small smile he was expecting he got a roll of her eyes instead.

And with that the smile Riven had been wearing since their talk the night before faded back into a scowl. Musa looked back over to her things and saw her phone sitting at the top of her pile of beach clothes, flashing and ringing, and she knew who it was but Daniel could wait. She was going to have some fun if it killed her.

"I think this is what Cordatorta calls Plain clothes security detail" Brandon said as he volleyed the ball over the net, not missing the exchange between his two friends that refused to actually talk to each other about what was so obvious to everyone else.

"Makes the enemy think our guard is down," Riven continued, unable to help looking over to Musa, who had been paying more attention to the phone ringing in her bag then the game itself. Confused as ever Riven tried not to overthink it but he had very little idea on what exactly he was doing, she had to know he liked her, so why was she being so pissy? He didn't understand it nor did he think he wanted to, but at the same time he really wanted to simply tell her everything he had felt for her if it meant the calls would cease from the guy he knew was on the other end of that phone. She wasn't seeing anyone, he knew that, but he couldn't silence that little voice in his head that was telling him his window was closing quickly and soon he might not be dealing with awkwardness with Musa that he was used to and instead he would be dealing with seeing her with someone else. She would date someone eventually if he didn't do something soon, but he just couldn't bring himself to be honest with her.

"Well, your guard is down," Bloom ran over to the center of her side and quickly jumped in front of the net and spiked the ball over, making it impossible to recover by the other team. "Yeah!"

"So when are we going to the hotel?" Stella complained loudly from her place lounging in the sand on her towel, working on her tan. She had been annoying all morning but as of late she was getting to be undeniably a pain and everyone was getting a little sick of it. "I'm dying the check in and take a shower and hit some boutiques."

"I don't think there is a hotel in this region." Layla said as she placed the firewood on the sand. She had gone out to get some while the rest of the group played volleyball and while most saw it as a nice gesture Musa could see that she wasn't exactly having the best time fitting in an began to feel awful that she had let her go off on her own.

"Okay if there's not a hotel where and I supposed to sleep and how am I supposed to stay warm?" Stella snapped.

"That's what firewood's for," Layla spat back. Stella and Musa had a tendency to clash but usually it was simply teasing but Layla had a fundamental problem with Stella's attitude and was beginning to get really sick of it. "Why don't you go swim or something?" Layla added half hoping the princess might drown.

"Do you know how much I paid for this swimsuit?"

"Wait a minute Stella, so does that mean you can't get it wet?"

Stella shook her head as if it was so obvious.

"…okay. You're kidding, right?"

"uh-uh."

"So you just brought a swimsuit for how it looks?" Layla spat. She was no stranger to frivolous spending, she had lived in some of the most extravagant palaces in the universe and was forced to wear gown that cost more than most people's homes. But seriously? A bathing suit you can't get wet? "What kind of sense does that make?"

."It makes more sense than going on a stupid vacation where there's no hotel and you have to sleep in the dirt!" Stella snarled before turning on her heels and stormed off, leaving behind a rather hurt looking Layla.

* * *

After a rather interesting game of volleyball in which the group learned Brandon shrieks like a small girl when he is hit between the legs with a volleyball, the girls decided to take up the sun and it left the boys feeling a bit useless. The girls has decided to send postcards to their parents since there really wasn't much else to do and even though the boys didn't really care for watching them play arts and crafts, as Riven pointed out at some point in the day , they really had no choice but to sit and watch. After it was the girls' vacation to being with.

"Do something in verse," Bloom suggested not thinking about the recent drama that surrounded that entire situation. "Your dad will get a kick out of that"

"Yeah maybe," Musa thought about it but she figured she might not want to rock the boat just yet. While her dad was all set to let her stay at Alfea and then there was Galatea that was beginning to cause problems and so she needed to be on her best behavior and that meant staying away from anything that might even slightly upset her father.

"It's been ages since I actually wrote a letter by hand," Techna confessed rather cheerfully, she seemed to enjoying the no technology thing a lot, which was not at all expected. "It's fun,"

"Do you want me to snap a picture of you?" Musa asked as she looked over to Layla. She found it rather cute that they were all sitting in a big circle doing arts and crafts for the second day in a row. It reminded her of the camp she had begged her aunt to let her go to but it was, in her Aunt Galena's words, beneath her and so instead Musa was sent to finishing school with the rest of the girls in her school that were of her rank. "I can."

"No, that's alright Musa, I'm pretty much just getting some shots of the scenery."

"Hey, I'd love it if you'd come with me later and got some photos of me with the plants and animals," Flora said being the only one who was really on board with this part of the trip from the beginning, but the outdoors seemed to be growing on everyone except for the Solarian princess who had yet to wake up, not that anyone really minded since she was kind of a pain and even Brandon had been having trouble getting her to open up or even crack a smile.

"Sure thing," Layla agreed cheerfully just as Stella walked out of the tent she had been staying in and was promptly greeted by the princess of Tides in an attempt to make amends for the little tiff they had before the volleyball game, even though that was Stella mostly being difficult, Layla knew she would have to be the bigger person. "Good morning sunshine. You get enough sleep?"

"I didn't mean to over sleep. I'm not used to this sun's patterns," Stella told her quietly not really answering the question and confirming every ones fear that she wasn't in the best mood which would make this camping trip all that much harder.

"We're going on a wild life expedition later," Flora told her with her normal cheery demeanor.

"Sounds like fun Flora," Stella said with obvious sarcasm. "Count me out of that one, okay?"

"Why don't you come make a postcard for your mom and dad?" Layla asked, trying still to get a happier mood out of the princess. "I'll take the picture for ya."

Everyone then flinched when she uttered the sentence, even Riven knew not to bring that up, although Layla was not aware of the problems that Stella's family was having because after over publicizing it last year, she had become very quiet now, probably because the princess realized that it was actually happening and she was having some trouble dealing with it. "It's postcards, Layla. My parents are separated."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know, Stella."

"It's been a tough couple of years for Stella's family," Bloom informed the fairy that looked horribly guilty after she saw the way Stella walked off sadly and sat only with her drink. "Don't worry you didn't know, just let it be for now," But that didn't seem to make Layla feel any better and she simply walked off to be alone awhile.

* * *

The group then sat in an awkward silence. And then as she thought about Galatea she wondered just what her little focus group was doing about that since she had given both Ali and Daniel free reign to do whatever they thought was necessary to put an end to her malicious cousin. The princess went into her knapsack and pulled out her phone to see that nobody had called her and her face fell slightly, while she was with some of her best friends she couldn't help but feel a little disconnected since it had been a few days since she had talked to anyone at home. And then when she looked down at her phone she noticed she had about a dozen missed calls from her best friend and was beginning to feel a bit worried.

"Why don't you just call him," Stella whined, still in the same sour mood she had been in all day, when she saw Musa look at her phone and then tuck it away as she had done a million times that day. Musa wasn't quite sure what was going on with her but she seemed to get worse after the arts and crafts hour that they had and Layla's comment couldn't have helped. "Instead of staring,"

"Stella," Musa said harshly with some exasperation, she was getting a little sick of her tude and not to mention the boys were all in ear shot and all the girls knew better then to talk about Daniel when Riven was around since he and Musa were still tip toeing around each other. Although it was getting a little old.

"What?" Stella said acting as if she hadn't done a thing wrong. "If its such a big deal that you keep looking at the missed calls why not just return them?"

"I don't get service out here," Musa snapped and then went back to what she was doing, noticing the looks the boys were exchanging in her periphery. "Besides I'm sure its something silly like he can't find his new car or something,"

"You mean car keys," Flora corrected

"No, I mean car," Musa laughed a bit. "Daniel once forgot to put the emergency brake on and his one of a kind sports car ended up at the bottom of Stiveson Lake, he didn't realize till the next week when the diving team found his stuff floating in the lake,"

"Oh my," Flora said a little surprised with how nonchalantly Musa told the story. She then took the opportunity to change the subject away from anything that anyone could get upset with. "Hey does anyone want to come on the expedition with me," Flora had seen Layla walk away and they were supposed to go a nature hike together.

The group stayed silent since everyone was not really in the mood to hike into island, but then the girls decided toward giving Techna a makeover, Musa hadn't really been paying attention, preoccupied with the idea of whatever Daniel was calling so frequently about but a little scared to call back and find out, but they had come to conclusion that it was the only option to give Techna a makeover. Musa wasn't too keen on the idea but she figured it was better than the girls doing it to her so since Techna was willing she would at least play along.

Stella, who normally found this kind of thing to be fun but instead she decided to go after Layla and apologize, making everyone feel a little at ease since it had been a little tense ever since they got to the camping site.

* * *

"I think I'm going to get that," Musa said when the girls noticed her phone was ringing once again.

"Yeah its like the hundredth time today," Bloom reminded. Musa nodded and walked a little off from the camp site to get some privacy as she spoke to the prince of Crescendo.

"Hey is everything okay?" Musa said just as she picked up her phone without even looking at her phone to see who was on the other end, it was the same person it had been all day.

"Nothing too major," Daniel answered nonchalantly even though his frequent calling implied a less then calm state of mind. "First things first, when were you going to tell me that you were on vacation, and skiing no less,"

"It was a little last minute,"

"I'm just a little hurt, that's all. You know how much I love skiing,"

"You hate skiing,"

"I love it,"

"Since when,"

"Since now, I guess you don't know me that well,"

"Guess not," Musa said with a small laugh hoping this banter was all Daniel called about. "What's up,"

"So I got some interesting news from…well sources," Daniel said. It was rather astounding how much he knew and how much he found out. It was the common assumption and practice that prince's really just studied up on ruling or partied like rockstars, or in Daniel's case, both. But Daniel was man with many talents and he also had an extensive network of friends and contacts, many being not so legal, but he found them to be useful and as he would see years later when he became king, it helped make his realm one of the safest in the universe. "Looks like Galatea is going to have her own estate a few miles outside the capital city, just off the grounds of the palace,"

"So she's moving back?"

"Look I don't want you to get upset," Daniel began in a voice that Musa hardly ever heard from her best friend. He was hardly ever serious and when he was it was he was always a little softness in his eyes and voice, but when his voice got like this it reminded Musa of his father. Strong, unwavering and frankly a little intimidating, and it only meant what he was about to say was very important and not to be taken lightly. "And I would have waited until you got back but I don't want you to feel blind sighted

"The new estate also comes with a place at the table," Daniel added referring to the parliament, a governing body in conjunction with the monarchs of the realm. "Word is her birth right is officially being recognized and she may be getting a seat,"

"Oh," Musa said dumbly, still in shock as she began to absorb and fully recognize the gravity of the situation.

"Look even if it is true having a seat in parliament is far from being recognized as a monarch and even if that day ever comes, which it won't, you still have birth order on your side," Daniel added quickly trying his best to keep his friend in good spirits. "You are the first crowned princess and nobody is taking that away, the best she can ever do is second which means nothing in the long run,"

"How?" One word was all Daniel needed to know exactly what Musa was thinking, there was after all nobody who knew her better.

"I don't know what she presented to parliament or what she has on you, assuming this is true, but it's big enough for them to want her around, " Daniel said before breathing out his next sentence, knowing it would not get a good response "Is there anything you aren't telling me?"

"What! Of course not," Musa snapped instantly, outwardly flinching at the question. They had never really kept things from each other, except for the details that led to their break up, which is probably what led to Daniel's anxiety towards the question and Musa's violent reaction to it.

"I'm just making sure," Daniel assured. "Look Isabelle and I are looking into this and Leslie is working on a smear campaign if ever you need it for Galatea. I didn't mean to lay this on you during your vacation but -,"

"No I'm glad you did, thanks,"

"Try to relax till you get back," Daniel urged. "We have this handled," And with that their conversation ended and Musa couldn't help but smile, despite the fact that her one and only cousin was trying to take her down, it was always nice to know just how far her friends were willing to go to protect her.

* * *

Hours later Musa found herself in the middle of a conversation she enjoyed less than making over Techna and yet as she laid there on the warm sand she couldn't help but listen intently as Flora and Bloom dissected Stella's actions as if they had degrees in psychology. Bloom probably couldn't even spell it for Magix's sake. And yet Musa was completely absorbed in the conversation, it was a nice escape from her current troubles.

"We've been discussing this for an hour can we please move on?" Techna begged pulling Musa out of her head and back into the conversation.

"I'm with Techna, you girls talk way too much about your little emotions," Riven snapped and then walked away. Usually Musa let this kind of thing roll off her back but she was unusually annoyed with Riven today, it seemed like camping was kind of getting to everyone and she just felt a little rejected after having had a great night with him two nights ago and feeling like she was come clingy love sick puppy today. And what gave him the right to think he was above their conversation? Sure Musa didn't care for the topic either but nobody invited him to join, hell nobody invited him on this trip, if he was so bored with everyone why did he even come?

Letting her annoyance get the best of her, Musa got up the sand, dusted herself off and stomped after the moody specialist. "Riven," Musa called out before she realized what she was doing, all she wanted to do was scream at him and she really had very little idea why, well there was her frustration with him over there relationship but she was usually so good at pushing that annoyance away. "Our little emotions,"

"You know what I mean," Riven said nonchalantly not really in the mood to get into this with Musa right now, so all of a sudden he seemed very interested in his book. Riven had begun to allow himself to think of just how nice it would be to be with Musa but a part of him kept reminding himself that they were far too different and she would never feel for him what he was realizing he felt for her.

"No I don't," Musa snapped back. "I would ask if it was that time of the month but you're always a prick," Musa snapped.

"And you're just a delight right now,"

"If this is such a horrible inconvenience then why did you agree to come on this mission?" Musa snapped rendering the specialist speechless. He could have made up some excuse or fantastic lie, since he was so good at it but for some reason it was hard to lie to her. And not only that but he had a funny feeling that she would be able to tell when he was lying.

"What's so great about sitting around and talking about your feelings?" Riven averted her question with his own, one he knew she probably couldn't flip around on him.

"Well, I – " Musa tried to explain, but Riven interrupted which was probably a good thing since Musa really didn't know how to answer, she wasn't exactly keen on it either.

"You never do."

"What does th- "

"I'll see you later," He said still keeping his cool, knowing just how much it would annoy her and he couldn't help but delight in the way he could get her so worked up, which led him to thinking about another way he'd love to get her worked up but this was hardly the time or place.

* * *

A few minutes later Musa found herself pacing back and fourth in an angry fit that was only stopped when Brandon came to find her. "Hey what's going on," He asked after he had seen Riven stomp off in the opposite direction. Brandon had really hoped that this would be the time where they would actually make some strides in their relationship but it looked like old habits were hard to change.

"Nothing," she spat, finally stopping in front of him, unable to keep up her insane pacing.

"Could have fooled me," Brandon began. "And what exactly are you doing, trying to rub Riven's face in your relationship with Daniel? Because that would be counterproductive,"

"No," Musa snapped. "If anything the jealousy route is more akin to your girlfriend,"

"Then why is he visiting so often,"

"Daniel always visits me a lot," Musa defended. "And besides it was his idea to visit red fountain that one day and even so how is it anybody's business who visits me,"

"Fine you're allowed to see whoever you want, but you are lying if you think you aren't using Daniel as a crutch," What was interesting though was that Riven pretty much hit the nail on the head when he snapped at Musa. Musa had trouble opening up to people and she used her friends back home as a way to not have to and as for Daniel, he was the ultimate protection from getting hurt. He was pretty hard to live up to as far as boyfriends go and the fact that he was still in Musa's life made it pretty evident to any suitor that they had a lot to compete with, thus deterring any advances and keeping her safely away from a relationship. Brandon laughed to himself at just how similar Musa and Riven were. "And its not anyone's business, but you know as well as I do that Riven probably got the wrong idea,"

"Which is why I tried to keep them apart,"

"You're not trying very hard but that's what you want." Brandon finally said and was rewarded with a venomous look from Musa. "You want him to feel hurt the same way you did before so what's the harm in making him a little crazy with the idea that you're with someone else,"

"First off, no. And second, I highly doubt it's making him crazy," Musa defended, however squealed a little excitedly on the inside, it was nice to know he did care however the current situation was probably back peddling their relationship.

"And come on, you use Daniel as an excuse to not get close to anyone, why worry about dating when you have a backup prince charming. Besides are you really one to talk about hiding things," Brandon began and then continued when he saw the confused look on his friends face. Musa had become a lot like a little sister to him and he kind of felt it was his job to not only protect her but also make her deal with her problems, which, like Riven, she wasn't good at confronting. "You have been a little distracted this whole trip, what's going on?"

"Galatea is making a run for my throne and according to the latest updates from Daniel it seems to be working," Musa spat angrily, "

"Come on Musa, you're –"

"A half bred princess," Musa finished for him. "And that's not helping my situation much,"

"Why don't I know about this," Brandon began slightly offended that he didn't know anything that was going with someone that he thought was a close friend. "God, you know everything that happens to you doesn't have to be a secret," he snapped with frustration, but when he saw the concerned look in here eyes he stopped. "Sorry,"

"I don't want everyone knowing that I have a crazy vindictive cousin that is after me," Musa explained. "I just want to take care of this and never think about it again,"

"So what's Daniel doing?" Brandon asked assuming that he was somehow helping resolve this whole mess.

"Taking care of it for now," Musa explained with a sigh as she walked past Brandon and sat down on a large rock, slumped over with worry. "Whatever that means, and we can take it from there I guess,"

"You know we're here for you," Brandon said as he sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders in support. "You don't always have to keep this stuff in,"

"I know," Musa said with a small smile. "Thanks,"

"And look just give him a chance okay," Brandon said as he and Musa stood and prepared to go back to the camp site. "I don't think you realize how daunting going up against Daniel seems, and Riven isn't exactly the kind to make a formal declaration, unless you consider that night at the Red Fountain show,"

Musa smiled. "I guess you're right, so what do I do?"

"Tell him how you feel," Brandon said casually as if it were that easy for either of them, earning himself a rather curious look from Musa. "Come on it's not that hard and its pretty hopelessly obvious that he feels the same and you two are stuck in a pathetic game of chicken,"

"A pathetic game of chicken I plan on winning," Musa said finally considering actually working up the courage to tell him something he already knew.

"Trust me, neither of you are really winning in this," Brandon told her as they finally arrived back at the campsite. "Besides you are probably better equipped to deal with this than he is,"

* * *

Not too long later Musa found herself seriously considering finding Riven and simply telling him the truth, but he was nowhere to be found on the campsite. Probably still off pouting Musa thought to herself as she began to make her way back on her towel and mindlessly listen to Bloom talk about the latest teen fairy article on some actor that was now single.

Then, without much thought, the princess excused herself from the group before she could really even get back to the campsite and decided instead to go and find the specialist that had been causing so many different feelings in the past two years. She had to be crazy to be going after him when he was the one to be a jerk, and yet she was really getting sick of the games and it was pretty clear that everyone else seemed to think so too. She had had enough and needed to finally get these feelings off her chest.

Unfortunately when the princess finally spotted the specialist, oddly lying on the ground over a small cliff, she lost almost all of her nerve and nearly snuck back until she noticed the intense focus in his eyes and was immediately intrigued. "Riven," she said assuming he couldn't possibly be looking at anything of major importance.

"Shhhhhh! Quiet!" Riven hissed at her without looking back, not that he needed to see her to know who it was. At that instant she was ready to give him a good hard slap for the way he greeted her but her feelings quickly changed.

"Why? What's going on?" Musa asked as she knelt down next to him, inadvertently resting her hand on his shoulder, not realizing just how uncomfortable it made him and a little less angry at his demeanor when she saw the scene in front of her. Darcy, of all people, was in the resort realm doing some type of her mind control voodoo on some of the indigenous fauna, Musa looked and saw the empty stare in the animals' eyes and recognized it almost instantly as horrible memories of the past year resurfaced.

"I'm not sure what she's up to," Riven confessed as he continued to evaluate what he had stumbled upon, although he suddenly felt very awkward having Musa and Darcy in such a close proximity, it really did not make trying to get past the guilt of the year before any easier, especially now that he was really beginning to see how much he wanted Musa. "The others are building traps."

"Icy and Stormy?"

Riven nodded in agreement and tried to stay focused on the task at hand which would require all his wits and having Musa around was becoming distracting especially when he was trying to formulate a plan. "We gotta warn everyone that they're here."

"Yeah,"

"Come on," Riven said just as he was about to get up. "Let's go."

"No Riven, wait. You should stay here," Musa suggested, her hand still on his shoulder, this time preventing him from getting up.

"So I can figure out where the traps are," Riven finished for her, unable to hid a small smile that grew on his face when he actually turned to look at her and was simply taken aback by how effortlessly beautiful she was even when she was in the middle of a forest.

"Exactly." Musa began and then made the instant decision to bite the bullet and just let her feelings be known. "Oh and also I like you. A lot."

Musa wanted to get out of there right then until she saw the look on Riven's face and she couldn't help but take a little joy in the fact that she was able to make the 'tough' one falter so easily. "Don't panic. You don't have to tell me how much you like me. You can do it later," Musa said with a flirtatious wink, having a lot more confidence after seeing the floored look on Riven's face. He was clearly not expecting her to be the one to come out and say it and now that she had it was really up to him to make the next move, leaving Musa with a wonderful feeling of relief as she left him to his work. "Good luck,"

Riven on the other hand really had no idea what to do with that information and was simply left in his spot watching Musa walk away, absolutely shocked. While he would have loved to move forward with her and finally get to be closer he never thought she'd be bold enough to break out of the cat and mouse game they had going.

But the specialist was left with a feeling of relief as well, at least now he knew there wasn't anything going on with her and that Daniel guy.

And hopefully this meant the endless stream of phone calls would stop.

* * *

Musa walked back to the camp to warn the others, unable to get her heart back to its normal rhythm when she quickly felt of jolt of power surge through her as if electrocuted. Instantly assuming she'd just been attacked she flipped around only to realize she had just gotten her charmix. "Alright!" Musa grinned, finding it a little weird that all she had to do to get it was admit her feelings to Riven, but before she could really revel in her new power upgrade she heard a very familiar sun burst explode in the air.

"Stella," Musa said as she immediately ran to the direction she heard the shot fired from. Running through the forest, relying only on her impeccable hearing to pin point exactly where Stella was Musa finally arrived to the scene just as everyone else had to see a few defeated wolves and an approaching herd of what looked like peaceful creatures although the looks of annoyance and anger on their faces said otherwise.

"We've got company!" Brandon yelled as they fast approached and everyone prepared themselves for battle.

The group decided to run instead of attempt to fight where they were so clearly outnumbered but it wasn't long until they found themselves cornered with no choice but to throw down. And as Musa turned to fight she saw some flying creature Flora had definitely told her the name to when she wasn't paying attention, swooping to attack Bloom.

"Go charmix!" Musa shouted as a bright flash filled the forest and suddenly Musa felt incrediably power surge through her. "Maximum Volume!" Musa threw her attack first at the flying beast headed for Bloom and then down at the wolf that was fast approaching, knocking it over into a full flip before it ran off in fear.

"Musa! You got a charmix!" Bloom squealed in excitement, "That's awesome!"

"Thanks," Musa grinned before continuing with she was supposed to have done before they all got attacked. "Guys listen, the creatures are being controlled by the witches!"

"They're here?" Lockette gasped in horror.

"Well that explains things," Bloom said almost not surprised, when things went bump in the night, or in this case the day, they were the likely culprits, but there was little time to think since more creatures were approaching. "Come on!"

"What do the witches want?" Flora asked as they all ran through the forest. "Is the fourth piece of the Codex here?"

"No! It's in Pixie Village!" Bloom answered trying to figure things out as well.

"Maybe they're just messing with us?" Musa suggested. It was no secret she was no fan of the witches and she had first-hand experience of the joy they took in hurting others.

"Trying to get us while we have no magic!" Stella reminded

"Stop!" They heard as Riven came out of the bushes to stop them from running into their doom.

"Riven," Musa cried out in relief, a little louder then she had planned, but still.

"The creatures are trying to force you into a trap up ahead," Riven said looking around to see if there were any traps he had missed, not realizing that the big one was the one he hadn't figured out.

"And how do you know that?" Sky asked not keeping the skepticism out of his voice, with good reason but it wasn't exactly helpful now.

"I was spying on the witches and I saw them setting it."

"Okay big monsters chasing us," Stella said urgently feeling the need to run somewhere, anywhere but there. "Talk later."

"We can avoid the trap. Just step where I step," Riven told them and began his way along the trap knowing with precision where not to step. Musa followed suit quickly, knowing she could trust him but the others seemed to need some convincing.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Bloom snapped at her friends. "Let's go!"

Unfortunately the group had failed to realize the biggest trap was the cliff behind them and as the creatures began to surround them from all directions, they began to see had all fallen into it perfectly.

* * *

_Again so sorry for waiting like so long to post! Ive been distracted from this and its been taking longer then expected to get back into the mood to write. Meanwhile I wrote this whole thing in about 2 nights, but the next update will probably not be for awhile, sorry but the next chapter is not even started and now school is in full swing. I will keep working at it though! You never know, maybe I'll have some divine inspiration and finish in another 2 days_

_xoxo,_  
_princessm_


	22. Last Resorts

_So this one is a short one because it felt a little long winded and a lot of it had very little to do with my overall plot line. We pick up where we left off but I took out a bunch of the middle because this chapter was obscenely long and in my opinion there was a lot of stuff that didn't add to my story. As my literature professor told us, a lengthy essay usually works against a solid argument and I think the same is true in creative writing. Details are great when they are going somewhere, and while this chapter is great for the boys because they are finally useful, Musa's plot mostly picks up after they return to Alfea. _

_But what do I know, I am but a simple med student…._

_Anywho – happy holidays everyone!_

* * *

**Last Resorts**

There had been many occasions in which Musa had felt as if she was going to die. There was the time where she was cornered by the witches as a freshman and then there was the time where she had found out Daniel had cheated on her and she felt like she had her heart ripped out. And then there was the predicament she had found herself in now, she didn't know why she hadn't gotten more used to this kind of thing since it was pretty much the norm in their group, especially since the witches really had no plans on leaving them alone.

And so there she was, a cliff behind her and the witches swooping above like vultures and their hypnotized monsters were closing in on land. The group slowly inched back until they could feel their heels about to fall off into the air, as the girls tried desperately to tap into their powers but couldn't. "Anyone have a plan?" Layla begged hoping someone would think of something

"By my count, we need to take on ten monster a piece," Techna added not really sure if it was helping but when it came down to it the girls had dealt with more difficult battles before, hell they dealt with the witches when they were basically on steroids with the dragon fire.

"Ten's not so bad," Bloom said remembering everything they had managed to overcome in the past. "Come on!"

"All you fairies who have your charmix you should fly out of here and save yourselves," Flora told the girls, if all was lost then there was no need for all of them to go down, it made a lot of sense but she knew the idea would be shot down immediately.

"No way!" Bloom spat, there was no chance anyone was being left behind.

"Fairies don't abandon their friends!" Stella added in support.

"We won't leave you either," Lockette cheered along with amore. While the pixies couldn't really do much, they were excellent guides since they were more in tune with the voice of nature than even Flora was and they could conjure trace amounts of magic even if there was an anti-spell barrier or something along those lines in place.

"Hold on. I've got a really good idea," Timmy suddenly said looking around almost crazed, but when they turned to the specialist they could see the wheels turning. "Riven knows the way through these invisible net traps, right?"

"Right, but the monsters don't." Bloom smiled seeing where Timmy was going, making everyone else feel a little silly since nobody else had thought of that even though Riven was their guide not 5 minutes ago.

"That could work," Techna added looking around and seeing they had a small pocket of space to run and a smaller window of time to do so before the monsters completely closed in.

"Come on, follow me" Riven ordered as he began to move, looking back and keeping a particular eye on a certain azure eyed fairy; unable to think of what he would do if something happened to her.

The group followed Riven quickly, putting some distance between them and the monsters and the Trix. "Charlie Horse to Poet Man, code nineteen" Timmy radioed over to someone, not that anyone even noticed, except Techna who immediately scolded the boy.

"Timmy! There is a time and a place for gadgets! Come on, hurry!"

"Okay, listen up!" Riven said as he came to a stop and he looked over the trap in front of him. Needing only a few seconds to figure it out Riven turned to the group and gave his orders. "If we make our way to the center areas of the traps without tripping any, the monster will chase us and get caught in the nets. So let's split up and make our stand over there, over there and over there."

Luckily, with very little detail or help, the group managed to traverse the traps without triggering a single one; and their plan seemed to fall into place perfectly as the monsters were trapped in them as they crossed over them to attack.

"Yes!" Bloom cheered as she safely crossed one of the traps and turned to watch the wolf that had been chasing her get caught up into the trap.

Musa followed the directions that Riven had given her and crossed the traps successfully and looked back gleefully to see the plan fall into place. "Got one over here, too" Musa called out to the rest of the group.

"Here come the big guys!" Layla warned, cutting their victory short as they looked back and saw the larger hypnotized monsters charging full speed ahead. It almost seemed as if they were in trouble until the traps that were still empty were tripped.

"Timmy, you are a genius," Riven shouted as the rest of the group cheered happily. It was a pretty nice feeling for the boys since they were always pretty used to being pretty secondary and for the first time in a while they had used their specific skill set to get them out of trouble.

"Trapped in their own traps." Musa cheered. " This rocks!"

"Not all of them, look out!" Sky warned in the middle of the groups celebrations when he turned to see that they had really only dodged the first wave of attacks.

"Just follow me and step where I step," Riven quickly ordered as he turned and the group immediately followed without any further instruction, since there was no time for any further explanation.

Fleeing quickly enough to lose the trolls and herbosaurs, they ran alongside a small stream and finally stopped once they thought they were safe. They managed to make it out of the range of the monsters safely only to find that they were one short. "Where's Layla," Musa asked attempting to catch her breath and just keeping the panic out of her voice, looking around and back from where they ran hoping that she was just lagging behind.

"I don't see her," Stella added with worry.

"Okay nobody start thinking the worst" Brandon stated before anyone started to panic. Layla was incredibly resourceful and not one of the fairies that he would worry about if left alone in the wilderness. "Layla can handle herself,"

"Brandon's right, we should just wait here," Musa added as she plopped down on the ground as she could feel her legs shaking with exhaustion. Trying her best to say objective as possible, Musa thought about what the best thing to do would be, she was confident in Layla's abilities since it wasn't like they had lost Stella or anything, she would be fine. "If she doesn't get here soon then we can look for her,"

Unfortunately as a bit of time passed Layla hadn't shown up and just as the group began to worry, they saw Piff floating over to them holding something in her small hand. After finding out from the small pixie had found the cloth from Layla's shirt on the edge of a cliff they went in search of the princess of tides. They came upon the cliff that Piff had found the piece of Layla's clothing.

Deciding that they had two major tasks, finding Layla and figuring out a way to disable the witches and break their hold on the indigenous fauna, Bloom went off to find Layla with the pixies while the others helped to set up a trap for the witches.

* * *

Musa sat on her bed, underneath her blanket with a cup of tea that she had made for herself and for Layla. After defeating the witches for now they managed to get out of the resort realm with the help of Helia. The other girls had gone to get dinner but Musa wasn't very hungry and Layla was still recuperating from the exhaustion of what was supposed to be a relaxing vacation. "I'm worried about the pixies," Layla said staring at her tea before she took a sip. "I've never seen them so sick before"

"Well your heading to pixie village tomorrow with Flora and the guys," Musa took a sip of tea and looked over to the princess of tides. "I'm sure they will be fine, Faragonda didn't look too worried and usually if she gets worried we can tell,"

"That's true," Layla said looking back down at her tea. "Are you okay? I mean with everything you have been dealing with - ,"

"ugh I really don't feel like talking about Riven," Musa groaned unwilling to think about how she had finally come out and told him how she felt only to be avoided by the specialist on the entire ride back and when they got back to Alfea. She could tell he wanted to say something or finally tell her how he felt but the fact is he didn't. No matter how much he wanted to or how much he liked her, he just couldn't make a move and while she told herself over and over again that she would move or forget him, she couldn't. She felt so incredibly pathetic, she really thought this time he would come out and say something instead of being a shrinking violet and just letting her twist in the wind the way she was. She needed to move on, or he needed to make a move; but being stagnant like this was just annoying and pathetic.

"Actually I wasn't taking about that," Layla said seeing that clearly there were problems on that subject, but unlike Stella, Layla didn't like to pry,

"Oh." Musa said curtly and swiftly went back to whatever Layla was talking about. "You were talking about…"

"…the Galatea stuff?"

"Yeah Daniel called about it while we were in the resort realm, but he's still just scouting for now,"

"Do you really think Galatea is going to do a big smear campaign against you?" Layla said not wanting to step on any toes but it seemed like someone's own cousin wouldn't try to take them down like this, but jealousy makes people to some crazy things. "I mean she is family,"

"Yeah I always thought we were okay," Musa stated honestly. They always had fun when they were kids, although Musa did stop seeing her abruptly when she was growing up and she never really knew why. Now she was beginning to see that the problems that her grandfather's succession put into place were still working themselves out and that meant that the other heir of the harmonic throne was attempting to claim it. "According to Daniel she is taking back some of the things her birth right entails,"

"Is that a bad thing?" Layla asked not quite sure about what Harmonic Law entailed

"No, but her mother, my dad's sister, gave up Galatea's birth rights when she became an official princess of her father's realm," Musa told her. "Why would she want anything to do with our government now, after all this time,"

"Well instead of trying to scare her off why don't we find out what's forcing her out of her spot," Layla suggested. "I mean if you can find a way to for her to keep her throne then she might stop going after yours,"

"That's true," Musa said feeling very attracted to the idea of not really taking down her cousin, she was family after all.

"Just a thought,"

"No your right, I could use a little less drama anyway,"

"Agreed," The princess of tides laughed.

* * *

_Another short one I know, but I felt like it was kinda long winded so in an attempt to cut out unnecessary stuff, I cut out around 7 pages of them building and defeating the witches in the resort realm. _

_More to come soon-ish….. I hope!_

_xoxo,_

_princessm _


	23. Darkness and Light

_So I had an extremely long plane flight back to the states after my trip to Goa and managed to type up this entire chapter in that time, making this one of my quickest updates in a while, so hopefully you guys will like this one!_

* * *

**Darkness and Light**

After a night of horrible sleep due to the worry that weighed on Musa's mind about the pixies, lord Darkar and of course her power hungry cousin, the next morning Musa walked down to the auditorium after her first class where Ms. Faragonda was holding her announcements for the day. After dropping them off the night before, the boys went to Red Fountain to fix the ship and came right back to get Flora and Layla and take the pixies to pixie village to look for a cure for their ailment. And the girls were going to stay put to let Ms. Faragonda know what happened and try to figure out how to better protect themselves and the pixies from any further attacks from this shadowy figure after the codex.

"Hey girls," Musa said taking her seat next to Stella, Bloom and Techna.

"Hey how was class," Techna asked looking over to the fairy as she finished a rather large cup of coffee, knowing that Musa was never a fan of waking up early, in fact the princess almost always tried to schedule her classes to start a little bit after noon so she could sleep in.

"Long," Musa said with a half smile, trying not to let the worry weight down on her even though there was clearly tension in the air. "But potions is never fun,"

"I dunno I actually like it this year," Stella stated boldly. "But that's probably because it's the first year that I haven't blown anything up," she laughed

"Hey Layla's back," Bloom said looking past Musa and seeing Layla quickly descend the steps and approach the girls in the first row. "Hey Layla," Bloom and the rest of the group greeted when the fairy arrived. "You're back early,"

"Yeah, Flora stayed behind to help the pixies and the flower of life," Layla explained. "But they figured it would be better if I was here to help you guys out and I think we are going to get some type of training or something,"

"Layla, you got here just in time," Techna leant over as the princess of tides took her seat next to Musa. "I think that's what Ms. Faragonda is going to talk about.

"Good Morning," Miss Faragonda greeted the whole class. "I would like to start off this morning's announcement by announcing the 1st five sophomores to receive their charmix this year. Stella, Techna, Layla, Musa and Bloom." Miss Faragonda waited for the applause to die down and then she continued. "They will begin their Charmix training today and in fact additional training will be given to all students starting today because all students must be prepared in case of an attack by lord Darkar."

"Furthermore we need to talk about the dress code violations that have been occurring in more frequency now that the year is winding down," Griselda promptly began after Miss Faragonda made her announcement. And then continued on about the need to be dignified young ladies for the next 15 minutes, luckily the girls were excused by professor WhizGiz early because Miss Faragonda wanted them to start their training early.

"Hey guys Miss Faragonda approved me to go back to pixie village do I'm gonna head back to help," Layla said as the girls were waiting for professor WhizGiz to gather his things.

"Is it serious?" Bloom asked with concern.

"We aren't sure just yet," Layla said with some hope. "Flora thinks it has something to do with the flower that gives them their life force, but if anyone can fix it then it's Flora,"

"Yeah you're right," Musa said cheerfully really hoping one of the worries weighing on her mind would be solved quickly. "Flora would be the one person to figure this out and we have to have faith in her,"

"Anyway I'm gonna go," Layla said with a wave and then left just as Professor WhizGiz came back to the girls with his papers. Layla left the group and they then began to follow the professor out of the wing.

"Since we haven't proven the safety of the magical reality chamber and we don't want to put you girls in any more unnecessary danger," He began as they walked over to one of the training rooms, formerly one of the four gymnasiums that were then turned into a training room after the great witch invasion. "You will all begin by summoning your charmix and then going through a obstacle course of sorts that we have set up for you and then you will end with an array of magically summoned opponents that will require you four to use your convergence in order to defeat them,"

"Today you will be using something called beast powder," Griselda said standing in the middle of the room with professor Avalon and a large vase full of powder. "This will be the means of creating the magical beasts you will be fighting,"

"This powder will measure your winx and create a suitable opponent for you," Avalon explained further, as he walked up to Musa to show her the powder in his hand, the musical princess couldn't help but feel a small flutter at the unbelievably hot teacher. She couldn't help but blush when he smiled at her. "It will be a monster ferocious enough to defeat you, so make sure you are at the very top of your game,"

The girls nodded, silently wishing Layla had stuck around for the ladder part of the session to make it ia little easier, but they all could agree that they needed training with their charmix since they really had no idea how to control the new power they had coursing through them.

"Great convergence!" WhizGiz congratulated after the girls practiced in the training room for almost two hours. Sweaty and exhausted the girls sat down on the floor and stared up at the professor as he gave them some pointers that he saw they would probably benefit from.

"Well done," Griselda added as she walked back into the practice room to summon the girls. She had been watching the last few minutes of the convergence and was actually quite impressed by the girls since they had just risen to their charmix and were doing quite well. She had to leave in the middle of their training to talk to Faragonda about something and then came right back to see them finishing their first round of practice and from her judgment they were ready to start a more difficult level of training.

"Faragonda wants you guys, she's magic messaging pixie village," Amara had poked into the training room just before Griselda could start their next round of training. With a relieved sign the girls got up and began quickly towards the office where they would probably be talking to Layla and Flora.

"Miss Faragonda, my powers are not that strong, I mean I haven't even gotten my charmix yet," The girls heard as they all filed into the office. They knew Flora must have felt a little insecure since she was the only one that hadn't gotten her charmix but if there was anyone who could help they knew it was Flora.

"Flora you are the fairy of nature, you are the most equipped to handle this, we all have faith in you," Miss Faragonda encouraged as the girls stood silently in front of her large mahogany desk.

"But if I make a mistake then pixie village can disappear forever,"

"Then don't make a mistake, now go on and save that flower," Miss Faragonda demanded softly, showing more support than anything. The girls then sat at the chairs in Miss Faragonda and talked to Brandon as he gave them an update about what was going on while Flora attempted to save the flower, which after a few attempts she managed to do.

With the help of Helia, of course. Which was an interesting giving Musa a pang of jealousy as she saw Helia and Flora growing into having a relationship. And it was more of a relationship than Musa or Riven had in almost 2 years.

* * *

"It feels a little weird to relax," Stella said as she, Musa and Techna all walked out of the school after their lunch and went to sit out on the Alfea grounds. Even though finals would be coming up soon, there was some time before they needed to buckle down and study so they were taking full advantage of not having to worry about something for the moment.

"I know what you mean," Musa laughed at the comment considering they had just returned from vacation. "there is no immediate fire to put out,"

"Just the slow ember of doom," Techna added grimly as the three sat down, earning herself a look from the two princesses. "Sorry, don't mind me; we should try to enjoy the moment,"

"Seriously, and come to think of it, excluding the whole Darkar situation, this is the first time in a while that there is like zero drama," Stella added, not knowing about all the trouble Musa happened to be having with her cousin, not that Musa was making any move to change that. The last thing she wanted was to make a big fuss, hopefully it would resolve quickly.

"That's true, this time last year was the whole Sky/Brandon debacle,," Techna added, once again putting a bit of a damper on the conversation, this time the fairy realized it. "Sorry I don't mean to keep doing that,"

"Aww Tech don't worry about, you can serve as our voice of reason," Musa laughed.

"And has anyone noticed Helia and Flora? The two seem rather happy with each other, it's pretty cute," Stella said gleefully. "And Techna and Timmy are finally moving forward. If only you and Layla would listen to me then we could all be coupled up,"

"Stella, not now," Musa groaned, after an unbelievably bad day, that was only just know looking up, following a kind of horrible vacation, she was in no mood to think about the latest way she had made a misstep in her not-really-a-relationship with Riven.

"Don't worry I won't start," Stella assured. "Not like its worked in the past two years, seriously though how long are you going to wait for him to get his crap together, come on there are so many nice guys that really want a piece of that,"

"Thanks….I guess," Musa said slightly offended, although Stella did have a point.

"Just saying there are plenty of guys…" Stella began and then saw the look that Musa gave her and stopped her sentence.

"Stella must you bother Musa about this daily," Techna asked with slight frustration. "We were having such a nice afternoon,"

"Sorry, sorry," Stella said putting up her hands in apology.

"Guys who is that?" Techna pointed behind them to see a man that walked out of the forest shakily as if he were about to collapse, wearing a cloak that was more frequently seen witch witches, but it was clear that it was a man underneath that cloak and from the looks of it, he wasn't in a healthy state.

"Professor Avalon!" Musa said when the man looked up just long enough for them to see his face and then fell to the ground weakly. The girls jumped to their feet and attempted to help the man, while still keeping a bit of distance, feeling a bit untrusting in light of recent events.

"So thirsty," He began as his eyes opened slowly and then closed again. "Everything is spinning,"

"I'll go get him a drink," Stella nearly yelled and then ran off in near panic.

"I wonder what happened to him," Musa asked.

"Maybe he was spelled, like a senior prank or something" Techna said confused. "Or maybe if he was in the forest he could have been hit by a poisonous flower again,"

"It almost seems like a transpider bite him," Musa said looking back over to him.

"Your right it does, the poor professor," Techna said looking at him on the ground, not sure if she should try to help him up, if it was some other injury then she could be making it worse by moving him. They needed help from an actual teacher. "You stay here with him and I will go find professor Palladium,"

"Alright," Musa said as she knelt down next to the professor who seemed to have passed out of consciousness, she knelt down to check if he was breathing when she noticed just how beat up he looked. There was no way that he was perfectly fine just earlier that day when he was summoning the beasts for their training. His clothes were clearly tattered and it looked like he'd been rolling in dirt or something but there was no way all of this happened in the last few hours. "What happened to you," Musa said as she stood back up and looked around the area in search of any type of beast that could have inflicted so much damage, even if he had been bitten by a spider it would have taken hours to cause the poison and it would not have made it seem like he was hit by a truck and then been dragged through the desert for a few hours.

"I have to see Miss Faragonda"

"Prof, take it easy there," Musa said as she ran up to the professor as he attempted to get up and faltered so she helped him up and wrapped her arms around him to help hold up his weight. "Let me help you," She insisted as he allowed her to help him. "I gottcha,"

"I'm sorry, do I know you," He said softly sounding confused, which Musa initially shook off as disorientation but then by the looks of it she was a little confused as how he could possibly not know her, she and the Winx club basically saw him daily.

"Of course you know me, I'm Musa, one of your students,"

"But I don't teach here,"

"What do you mean?" Musa said genuinely confused, she could not think of anything that would cause someone to forget a whole school year. Of course she had spent the better part of the year wondering what exact spell it was that put Riven in his trance all of the year before and came up to the heartbreaking conclusion that there were a lot of things that Riven did on his own. Although, this was not the time to be thinking about this. "Did a transpider bite you?"

"I was supposed to work here but Lord Darkar kidnapped me and I've been held prisoner ever since," He said confused as they began to walk towards the school, making Musa even more nervous as she began to wonder if he was just confused or if there was an imposter at Alfea.

"If you haven't been teaching here then who has?"

"I have to see Ms. Faragonda," He insisted and Musa nodded and helped him hobble over to her office immediately.

"And why did lord Darkar hold you prisoner," Miss Faragonda asked after Musa burst into the room with Professor Avalon during a faculty meeting. She promptly dismissed the rest of the staff when she saw the distress Professor Avalon was in and after Ophelia looked at him and gave him some water, she too left and allowed Miss Faragonda to make sense of what he had told her.

"I'm not sure," He said, clearly aware of how far-fetched his story sounded, but since she had known that the shadow fire was harnessed by a dark lord then she would have to at least entertain the idea that there may be some foul play afoot at Alfea. "But please you have to believe me,"

"You're saying there has been an imposter teaching at Alfea this whole time," Miss Faragonda asked again as she tried to comprehend the massive implications that it would cause if there truly was an imposter. Although why would this man come to Alfea in this state and try to feed her lies about an imposter, it could have been a ploy but lord Darkar, but he already had almost everything he needed. Although skeptical, the headmistress found herself believing him.

"I have proof, it's the letter you sent me offering me the teaching position at Alfea," Professor Avalon said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the letter Miss Faragonda had written him.

"That's my signature," She said as she looked over the letter and saw the Alfea crest in a water mark on the top of the page as well as her personal stationary that she went yearly to get from a small town in Limphea, he was the real deal and that meant she had made a dire mistake. All year she had subjected her students to a man who was an imposter, time would only tell what damage he had done or what he had done while under the guise of a professor. "This letter is authentic," she finished grimly,

"If he's the real professor Avalon, what's the imposter doing at Alfea," Musa asked dumbly even though she knew the answer, the girls had found it kind of odd that the witches knew exactly where to go to get the Codex and how exactly they knew how to navigate both red fountain and Alfea even after the two schools had massive renovations done to help negate those types of attacks.

"Darkar must be using him to get information, how else would he have found all of the pieces of the codex so easily," Miss Faragonda looked blankly at her desk, feeling almost sick at the thought that she had let this evil person into her school and around her students, her girls were now in the direct line of fire because she hadn't picked up that there was an imposter in her ranks. A skilled world class fairy and head mistress of the most prestigious school for fairies and she missed something right under her nose. It was hard to not feel as though she had failed.

"So this imposter was pretending to help Bloom," Techna said finally putting all the pieces together. "But he was probably the one who made her take the Codex at Alfea in the first place,"

"He did spend a lot of time with Bloom; he must have been the one who put her under that dark spell," Miss Faragonda added.

"You know something, He also must have faked being sick to get Libby to go to pixie village," Musa said remembering a bunch of little suspicious things she remembered about professor Avalon, she just passed those moments off as random awkwardness but now they made sense. And unfortunately the reasoning was far grimmer.

"It was all a plan," Faragonda nodded, ashamed of herself. "It was the only way Darkar could have found the way to pixie village,"

"I just can't believe our teacher is some sort of evil spy,"

"I believe it, I've always been suspicious of him" Techna said feeling a bit angry at herself for not questioning professor Avalon more when she had the chance. She was so quick to believe him; she felt like a fool.

"How did he fake all of that, seriously, he was a great teacher," Musa added. Sure he had played them all and they all felt like fools, but he had done a really good job, which made all of this even worse.

"Of course he is," Avalon interrupted, "Darkar's magic is so powerful it is capable of great deception."

"Why is the fake Avalon still here, why is he here when they have all the parts of the Codex," Miss Faragonda questioned, not realizing the last part of the prophecy to gain the ultimate power, he needed the dragon fire along with the shadow fire.

"Darkar must need something else," The real Avalon ventured, while he was his prisoner for the last few months, it wasn't like he had learned too much about the inter-workings of the plan.

"He wants bloom, that's why he sent the witches to the resort realm, to find Bloom and kidnap her," Techna nearly yelled when she put it together.

"Where is Bloom now?" Miss Faragonda demanded just as the princess of Solaria walked into the room in utter confusion when she saw professor Avalon sitting there. And then when she told the four that Bloom was going to Professor Avalon for help with her powers, they went from worry to panic.

"Come on we have to find her!" Musa said as the girls ran out of the room and instantly transformed into their Winx and began flying towards Avalon's classroom.

"Ahhh!" they heard in the distance, from the classroom Avalon had taken Bloom to.

"Bloom," Musa said hearing the scream and knowing, thanks to super acute hearing, exactly which room it came from. "She's in the west wing," Musa said as she and the girls flew quickly to the other side of the school, that wing was reserved for special labs meaning Avalon knew nobody would expect him to take Bloom there. It was also a rather empty part of the school in the middle of the day since the labs were either in the morning or at night. He had been playing them perfectly.

"Bloom!" Stella yelled as the three came bursting through the classroom doors the girls looked around only to realize they were too late. "Where is she," Stella asked desperately.

"Look!," Techna said pointing over to the floor. There, lying torn, was Bloom's medallion from her parents. "This is Bloom's," Techna showed the other two as if they needed some sort of proof to accept what had just happened.

Bloom was gone.

* * *

"We have a crisis ahead of us girls," Miss Faragonda said after explaining the situation to Flora and Layla and then gathering the girls in her office. Sitting calmly in her heat with her hands folded neatly on her desk, the headmistress was the picture of serenity and poise. "I will not sugar coat it because you girls have been through enough already and there is no need for you to be lied to. We are in a bad situation and the first thing to do is to find a way to get Bloom out of shadow haunt safe and sound and then a way to neutralize any power that Lord Darkar may have taken from her,"

"We need you girls to be prepared because this time you will all be making the journey into the under realm," Griselda said from her spot, standing next to Miss Faragonda as she sat at her desk with her normal calm demeanor, even though it was evident that there was worry in her eyes. "So all of you will be getting a crash course in your charmix abilities and then will be given time to rest before you leave in the morning,"

"All of you but Musa," Miss Faragonda said turning her attention over to the corner of her desk and to the confused musical princess. "The boys will be accompanying you tomorrow and Musa you will go to Red Fountain and brief the boys while I speak to headmaster Saladin. I know they will not react well to the news of Bloom's kidnapping, especially not prince Sky," Miss Faragonda explained, it was weird to think that she knew all about their dating lives but it was kind of hard not to know, and with such a small girls and the popularity that the girls had amassed since they integral parts in defeating the witches the year before, everyone knew about their personal lives, even the teachers. Miss Faragonda knew that the boys, prince Sky in particular, would not react well to the news and since she was still figuring out the details with head master Saladin. And being told the news from a friend would probably be more comforting than being told directly from the headmaster.

"Why me?" Musa asked in confusion. While she was good friends with Sky, she was by far the closest with Brandon; although she was a lot closer to the guys than any of the other girls. Although, that hardly explained why she was the one being told to be the bearer of bad news.

"Princess Musa has shown the most aptitude in using her Charmix and hence will not need as much practice, not to mention she is the most agile of you girls so she will get their the quickest," Griselda explained, taking over for Miss Faragonda. "We must do what is best for the task at hand which is to prepare the heroes and you girls for your journey into the under realm,"

"So what exactly do you want me to tell them?" Musa asked not really liking her task. How exactly was she supposed to tell Sky, the guy who was so clearly in love with Bloom, that she was now kidnapped by the professor he never trusted and there was probably a really good chance that they wouldn't be able to save her. "Are we sure that headmaster Saladin can't do this,"

"I understand this is far from ideal," Miss Faragonda began. "But headmaster Saladin is not even in Magix right now, his ship will land in about an hour and from there I will call him immediately and fill him in on the current situation but we will need to the boys preparing before that and I don't want to spring this one them. "I can tell them if you would prefer but I think it would be better for them to hear it from one of their closest friends, it will add a bit of comfort and hope in this situation,"

"I'll go," Musa agreed and decided that it probably was best this way, although she had no idea how she was going to break this news to Sky.

"Good," Miss Faragonda said as she stood up from her desk. "Now the rest of you girls prepare for your training and Musa you will come back here after getting my instructions from professor Saladin with the boys,"

Musa nodded and left the room to go be the messenger that would most likely be shot.

* * *

Musa landed on the Red fountain campus and couldn't help but envy the blissful ignorance of most of the students walking around the campus to class, their biggest worry being an exam or being late to class. How she wished to be that blissfully unaware, and not be carrying such a heavy burden.

The princess began towards the lower levels where all the dorms were when she was stopped by a familiar voice. "Musa," Musa turned to see Helia walking over to her in his Red Fountain uniform. She smiled and stopped her stride in order for the newly inducted specialist to catch up to her. "Here to see Riven?" Helia said when he finally caught up to her. He and Riven were now roommates and he had learned a thing or two about his roommate's relationship with Musa, but one thing he couldn't understand was just how neither of them could just come out with it and admit their feelings. Little did he know that the princess already had and still had heard nothing back, which probably explained why she was so hesitant to do it in the first place.

Musa laughed to herself, it was kind of pitiful that the idea that either Musa or Riven would overtly visit the other was laughable, but it was true. "'No, umm…I'm here to see everyone actually," Musa said nervously, beginning to feel really nervous about having to break the news.

"Well I think everyone is in Brandon and Sky's suite," Helia said. "I was heading over there,"

"Great." Musa huffed

"Is everything alright?" Helia asked just as they walked into the room to see the all the guys basically in the same way Musa had come upon them the last time she was at Red Fountain. At least this time she didn't have to run interference between them and a certain prince of Crescendo.

"Not really," Musa said as she walked into the room and greeted to boys. "I have some bad news,"

"What's up," Brandon said, his protective side kicking in when he saw the concerned look in her eye and got to his feet and stood next to the princess, laying a hand on her shoulder for support.

"Bloom's been kidnapped," Musa blurt out, not really sure how to begin so she just got straight to it. All the boys looked shocked but when she looked across the room and saw the blood drain out of Sky's face. "Earlier today," She continued.

"What do you mean kidnapped?" Sky said after a second of letting it sink in, blinking a few times as if to make sure that he had actually heard what he thought he heard.

"Turns out professor Avalon was an imposter and he kidnapped her earl-,"

"I knew he was up to something!" Sky nearly yelled. His anger then turned to Musa and with venom he snapped at her. "How the hell did you lose her!"

"Hey this isn't Mus-," Brandon began but was then immediately cut off by Sky, who was normally calm and level headed, but just as Musa had predicted he lost it. Not that she was surprised, but she wasn't exactly a fan of being yelled at, especially since she felt a little guilty for passing off Sky's concerns earlier in the year as paranoia, although in her defense Avalon wasn't after Bloom in a romantic sense.

"How the hell did you not see that he was after her," Sky now yelled with full fury at Musa. Musa had never actually seen him this angry before and while she didn't like this side of Sky and she especially didn't enjoy being berated like a child, she knew he didn't mean it and she wasn't about to yell back and make this whole thing worse. "Aren't you supposed to be trained to do that!"

"Sky!" Riven said, his protective side kicking in as well; while his feelings for Musa were not so well verbalized, it was clear that he wasn't okay with Sky speaking to Musa that way.

"Oh, don't act like you'd be calmer if this were Musa," Sky snapped loudly at him as he made his way through the room and towards the door. Sky wasn't used to being the irrational one but right now he wasn't thinking straight.

"Sky we have to see headmaster Saladin," Musa said quickly just as the prince slammed the door shut. She then turned back to the rest of the boys and finished her thought. "Miss Faragonda is speaking with Saladin right now and we are going to get the details of what's going on then, but we are going to the under realm,"

"Are you okay?" Brandon said giving her a supportive hug.

"Fine, worried," She admitted. "Miss Faragonda thought it would be a good idea if I broke it to him, clearly not the best idea,"

"Yeah," Riven agreed as he sat back down and thought about what a mission back to the under realm would entail. "Well in his defense, he never over reacts like that," He defended Sky uncharacteristically, usually the two butt heads but Riven, although he wouldn't verbalize this until much later, would lose his mind if something were to happen to Musa, and so he understood Sky's reaction.

"So what's the plan," Timmy asked, working under the assumption that the whole group had silently decided on, that Sky would be back once he calmed down.

"No idea," Musa admitted, feeling a little silly for even being there. Surely she could have broken the news over the phone, sure it wouldn't have had a good reaction by Sky but at least this way she wouldn't feel so useless. "Miss F and Griselda sent me here to tell you guys and then get our instructions from headmaster Saladin,"

A few minutes later the group made their way to Saladin's office minus one prince of Eraklyon, who they all assumed would calm down and join them eventually

* * *

"Hey Musa hang on," Brandon said as the boys, minus one prince, filed out of headmaster Saladin's office. Prince Sky was missing from the meeting and unfortunately time was of the essence and they needed to know their instructions for the next day so the meeting went forward without him. "Let me take you back to Alfea, its late,"

"I'll take her," Riven volunteered when he heard the offer, causing both the princess and the squire to turn to look behind at the specialist with curiosity. He never really was one to be chivalrous and definitely not so outright. But he certainly didn't want Musa flying back by herself, since his mind wouldn't rest until he knew she was back at Alfea safe and sound. And having her hold onto him tightly from the leva bike ride was an appealing idea.

"That works," Brandon agreed, not taking the opportunity that was presented to him to tease his friends lovingly, knowing how detrimental it would be to the delicate nature of Musa and Riven's relationship. "I should probably find Sky and fill him in,"

"Alright then," Riven agreed and then casually motioned for Musa to follow him as he pulled the keys to his bike out of his pocket.

Brandon then nodded said nothing but could not suppress a grin that Musa managed to catch as she followed Riven over to his bike. "See you tomorrow," Musa said trying her best to suppress the grin that also happened to be growing uncontrollably on her face.

Musa climbed off Riven's bike when they arrived at Alfea, not really wanting the ride to end, and handed him the helmet and with a small smile, said "Thanks,"

"No problem," Riven said and just as Musa turned she felt him grab her hand. Musa turned in surprise, not exactly used to any contact with Riven, especially not him grabbing her hand. While it was a small step, it was a step. "You okay?" he asked, giving her hand a small squeeze.

"Yeah," Musa said even though they both knew she was not exactly being truthful. "I'll be better once Bloom is safe and sound,"

Riven nodded then watched as Musa turned and walked into the school, enjoying the view of her walking away.

* * *

_It kind of seems like Musa would be the one out of all the girls with the best relationship with the guys so I figured it made that most sense that she go in person to tell them. I could have had the boys find out by just assuming that Saladin filled them in but I couldn't resist a Musa/Riven moment and they need a little time to transition since the show did it so abruptly. _

_Anywho, hopefully the next one will not take too long_

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


	24. Desperately Seeking Bloom

_Yes, I realize that the updates for this are few and far between but I promise I will be finishing! Thanks to all the PM's and reviews for helping to remind me to finish this. This chapter actually doesn't have too much in it since Musa wasn't a focus and I really could not care less about Bloom. So I will pick up in the next chapter with storming shadowhaunt and then the last chapter (which happens to be my favorite chapter)_

_Happy reading!_

* * *

**Desperately Seeking Bloom**

The next morning came entirely too quickly and even though the fairies and pixies had been told to get as much rest as they could, nobody was really able to sleep that night. "Would it be so terrible if she went?" Musa asked as the conversation of the pixies coming along was brought up once again. The boys had arrived over an hour ago and while they waited for the Saladin and Faragonda to get off the phone with their final plans, they sat in a neighboring classroom trying to make a plan of their own since they would be the ones doing the heavy lifting.

"Statistically, it would be," Techna told her after quickly running a few alogorithms on her netbook. "A pixie's chance for surviving two trips to the Under Realm is less than ten percent. What do you think Digit?"

"Nine point eight to be exact,"

"We're all in this together," Lockette protested. Musa thought it would be a bad idea for the pixies to come along since they had been so weak on the last trip and the last thing they needed was some dead weight. But at the same time they were pretty hell bent on going and it they were going then Musa at least wanted to know what they would be up against. "If you go, I go."

"If Lockette goes, I go" Amore added. "When do we leave?"

"You're not going!" Stella commanded, nobody wanted to see more harm come to those they cared about but it seemed the pixies had a plan of their own.

"Besides being there for Bloom I need to be there for you." Amore added again, convinced that she would be some type of help on the journey they were about to embark upon.

Piff then said something that only Chatta managed to pick but not surprisingly the baby pixie wanted to go as well. "She says she's going and if Piff's going, I'm going too."

"Well if Chatta goes, I go," Tune demanded

"Wait," Layla begged, their 1st priority was to get Bloom safe and sound and then they needed to deal with Darkar, the last thing they needed was to get another search and rescue mission.

"Uhhh…. Digit, this is completely illogical. Reason with them." Techna begged

"It is true that our chances are quite bad," Digit began, "But there are times when you can't rely on logic and this is one of those times so I say we all go together!"

"Yeah!" the other pixies cheered

"Great," Riven said drolly with a roll of his eyes, but his sentiment seemed to be shared with the rest of the specialists, the last thing they needed was to be babysitting the pixies.

"I've modified the ship so it's now darkness resistant which means we won't lose power when we land in Shadow Haunt," Timmy told the group as he opened the ship and ushered the group into the ship. "Okay everybody, it's time to get on board."

"Hold on a second," Techna said as she continued to quickly type furiously onto her hand held net book. "I've simulated our landing and we have a problem. It looks like the ship is fifty percent too big to fit inside any of the openings to the caves."

"Can't you use magic to make them bigger?" Brandon asked feeling almost silly for

"But the caves absorb magic," Riven reminded

"Magic won't work," Flora added

Everyone looked at each other with the same puzzeled look till Sky looked up with a devious smile showing that he was just a little pleased with the possible implications of his suggestion. "Hey Brandon, have you kept in touch with your friend Amentia?"

"Friend? you've got to be kidding. I never want to see her again!" Brandon nearly yelled, his voice going up an octave.

"Well, I was thinking we could use one of those giant guard worms to bust open the caves so we can fly the ship in,"

"Dude, are you saying you want me to ask her a favour?" Brandon spat appalled

"Yeah," Sky said a little more seriously, Bloom was at risk now and he was hoping Brandon would see that dealing with his aversion to Amentia was far better than losing Bloom

"You don't understand." Brandon complained "You've never had your eyebrows plucked."

"I know you're scared of her but we're trying to save the universe," Sky reminded him.

"I'm not scared."

"In that case I think that you should go to Down Land Brandon," Ms. Faragonda, agreed from outside the ship with a small grin, glad to see the teenagers handling the stress and responsibility well. "And Sky and Layla will go with you."

"I'm going too?" Sky stammered all of a sudden feeling the same anxiety that was currently plaguing the squire.

"Now Sky, you're not scared, are you?" Ms. Faragonda asked with a small smile

"Of course I'm not." Sky stammered as he heard Brandon laugh under his breath.

The three got ready to head out and much to Riven's chagrin, Layla needed to take his bike to get to the entrance of the caves. "It could be worse," Musa said walking up next to him, joining him in staring out at the three ride off and couldn't help but smile a bit at the look on his face; like a child when they lose their security blanket. "It could be Stella driving,"

Riven turned to the princess and smiled a half smile and couldn't help but laugh, but he did falter a bit, not used to seeing those amazing sapphire eyes staring up at him like that. "Or you," He teased

"You'd be surprised, how well I can handle myself…on a bike I mean," Musa said as she walked past him with a twinkle in her eye, suppressing a small smirk she walked over to the rest of the group to get their plan of action together.

* * *

"Ready guys?" Timmy said from his place at the control desk of the ship.

"Ready as we'll ever be I guess," Musa said with a small yawn and sat down at her place next to Riven. This mission was not exactly going to be easy and it was becoming increasingly evident that there was a good chance someone would get hurt or worse.

It was only about an hour or so later that they reached the rendezvous point and the boys and Layla were nowhere to be found. The group collectivity gazed in horror as they looked at the mangled leva bikes and gasped. "Okay so this isn't good," Musa speaking first trying her best not to think of what probably happened to their friends.

"I'm sure they just left the bikes and went into the caves," Helia offered as he sat up and saw the damage done to them.

"Oh, I hope they're okay," Stella said a few minutes later, breaking the silence that had fallen on the ship. Musa had been busy typing in a few last texts before she knew she would lose service. She was trying not to think negatively but she did just send a nice text over to her friends at home and to Daniel, trying her best to leave the hopelessness of the situation out of the message. If it was the last thing she ever said to them she did want them to be left with something nice. "I hope nothing happened to them."

"Of course they okay Stella, you can stop worrying because worrying is not going to help." Timmy said boldly to stella from his seat, getting a little sick of the princess bringing down the morale of the whole group. They had learned in school that time and time again battles were lost by loss of confidence of the soldiers in their cause or in their leadership.

"Heroic 101: you've gotta keep a positive attitude," Riven reminded her, however his attention had been on Musa who had been absorbed in her phone since she got on board.

"Reality 101: our friends are in danger so don't tell me to pretend everything is peachy keen, okay Riven, I'm worried."

"Aren't you guys just a little worried too?" Flora asked cautiously as if she were saying something forbidden. It was the theme of the whole year really, everyone had been on edge ever since layla had shown up bringing with her the news of Darkar rising and taking power in shadowhaunt. It was like the whole year was culminating to this and nobody seemed prepared.

"Okay, we're worried but can we not dwell on it?" Riven barked annoyed. Yes, everyone was worried. They were off to most likely get their asses kicked before making any headway and who knew if everyone would come back okay? But there was no need to sit around in sulk, life was hard but he had gotten through it by focusing on the next challenge and the task at hand. Just as he said that Musa felt her phone in her pocket and quickly stood and walked over to the other end the ship and took the call, not aware that a certain specialist was listening intently.

* * *

"What the hell is going on?" Daniel said upon receiving her text message.

What are you taking about," Musa said trying her best to keep any inkling of worry out of her voice, she always did try to keep Daniel away from this part of her life, she knew he would worry and insist on helping but she couldn't get him involved and risk his life as well. She would die if anything happened to him because of her.

"When is the last time you sent a text to me ending in 'you are my best friend and I will always love you' are you dying?" Daniel said half jokingly, while he knew Musa felt that way and his feelings were the same, they were never ones to say it unless they were making up from a fight or if something was wrong.

"Okay nothing is wrong," Musa lied

"That's a lie, tell me what's going on or so help me –,"

"Its nothing, Bloom's in a bit of a snag and so we are going to get her and it might get a bit tangled later," Musa finally admitted.

"What does that even mean?" Daniel spat. "And why is Bloom always getting herself in trouble, seriously just put her in a padded room or something,"

"Daniel I promise you this is important and I will be fine," She said trying to sound her most convincing but she could sense the worry in his voice and she knew he could do the same.

Daniel knew that Musa was in deeper than she would say and while it drove him crazy that she kept locking him out of her life, especially when it came to important things like this he could tell that now wasn't the time. He would yell at her later, because she would be fine, she had to be. "Okay, just be careful," Daniel said softly.

"I will, promise," Musa said before hanging up the phone and walking over to her seat.

* * *

"Hey guys, I'm picking up a remote message signal," Riven said trying his best not to seem like he was listening into the musical princess's phone call, even though he had managed to catch every word. But that was hardly the more important thing to be focusing on and he looked down at the control panel to see an incoming message.

"It's from Brandon," Helia said as he quickly pulled up the message. "It says that we should meet them back at rendez-vous Point C."

"Alright then, let's head back over there," Timmy redirected the ship, knowing their worry was for no reason, their friends would be fine.

And just as the group took a silent sigh of relief, they felt a strong jerk in the ship."Oh!" Techna said aloud with utter shock at what she thought was a malfunction until she looked up at the control panel and quickly made the deduction from the pattern of blinking lights that there was an outside force causing the problem and from what she could tell, it was strong. "The ship's been hit!"

Just as the words left the fairy's mouth the sensors on the panel began to flash madly as the whole ship's system began to fail and it kicked onto manual override. "It's going to get bumpy guys," Timmy warned as he sat back and took over control of the ship, shutting down all the automatic systems in place to prevent any further damage. "So everyone please stay in your seats."

"I'm way too stressed to stay in my seat!" Stella spat and stood at the window and looked out to see what was going on.

"There's major interference," Timmy yelled out over the solarian princess's insipid complaining. "Oh no. Looks like the main system is crashing.

Timmy was on the verge of a meltdown. The systems were all crashing and he was really the only one who had enough training to stop it but he was failing miserably, luckily for him someone noticed. Seeing the look of utter defeat on Timmy's face, Techna took it upon herself to help the young specialist and hopefully pull them out of the situation. With that thought she quickly transformed and merged her powers with the ship's mainframe. She had attempted this sort of thing before in class with her convergence and it didn't work out but this had to work. "Timmy, consider me your new computer," she said with some glee when the convergence was successful.

"That's awesome," Timmy grinned in disbelief and utter enchantment.

"The Trix are out there," Musa said standing up behind where Riven was seated and looking at the monitora after they came back, thanks to Techna's help.

"Of course they are," Stella snapped.

"That's a pretty big piece of ice Flora and I think it's totally going to crush us," Chatta said as the rest of the group watched helplessly as the Trix began to create a wrecking ball of sorts with ice and it was going to fall at any second.

"Don't panic Chatta. I'll handle it," Flora told her and then opened the hatch, that Helia attempted to seal before the fairy got out but was too late and the fairy was outside before he could even activate the seal.

"Don't try to stop us," Musa informed to the specialist with clear worry painted on his face, putting a supportive hand on his shoulder. "We don't listen," she said with a comforting smile. However it didn't seem to soothe the worry on Helia's face as he looked out with concern as Flora went out and took care of the ice with her powers.

"Way da go, Flora!" Musa cheered as Flora entered the ship and Musa heard Helia take a sign of relief. But the victory was short lived as the temperature dropped dramatically and the team realized they were covered in a blanket of snow in a matter of seconds.

"Icy's powers are strong, it wont be long till we are solid ice" Riven said remembering exactly how he figured that out. The team nodded and he looked over to Musa and she promptly looked away, also knowing all too well how he knew that.

"This is my favorite outfit but I wish I had worn something with shoulders," Stella shivered and looked over to the rest of the group who shared the same sentiment.

"The temperature has dropped thirty degrees in the last two minutes and the extreme cold is draining the ship's power," Techna told them.

"We don't have much time to get out," Timmy added, confirming Riven's original statement

"The ships engines are not responding," Techna told him as she and Timmy began to work on the engine.

"It's so cold even my pigtails are freezing," Musa shivered. "Any progress yet?" She said impatiently trying her best not to sound like Stella, but it was cold.

"We're close to coming up with a solution," Timmy assured her. "Techna and I have to just make a few more calculations."

"Forget it!" Stella snapped taking it upon herself to fix the problem. "No more stupid calculations! I'm going to go out there and use my charmix!"

"No Stella, we have a plan," Timmy told her again, pointing to hologram of the ship with the ice ball being supported by the vines above them. "Look, it's gonna work."

"You can plan all you want but I'm in a tube top dress and it's ridiculously cold in here so I'm gonna go fix this right now!" Stella shouted, leaving the ship without stopping to listen to reason.

"She did it! We are regaining power!" Timmy announced a little stunned that the solarian princess made a helpful contribution, usually she was a little less than helpful.

"The engine just needs a minute to warm up," Helia said happily a little in disbelief that Stella actually went out there and succeeded. Musa was right, these girls had a tendency to do what they wanted, but it seemed to have good outcomes.

The ship took off and met the other part of their team at rendez vous point C where the guard worm opened up the caves, allowing passage inside. And much to everyone's joy, the three that had left for downland were perfectly fine.

But now the real mission started.

* * *

_Promise I am gonna work on the next one soon. I am a med student and my life is hectic not to mention really hectic. Bright side is I have most of chapter 26 done so that one shouldn't take to long. _

_Xoxo,_

_princessm_


	25. Storming Shadowhaunt

_Hey guys I know the posts have been short and long to get up and what not but this one is also kind of short. I think ive lost momentum because of school but I am chugging along! The next one is going to be a long one so please give me some time to get that done! The ending is almost done but it's the meat and bones of the chapter that needs producing. _

_Anywho! This is the second to last chapter and I just realized that this story is actually as long as the last one which was interesting because I spent so much more time on this one. This chapter is shorter and really doesn't deal with too much but im not really one for the storming of shadowhaunt. _

**Storming Shadowhaunt**

Musa wasn't a stranger to fear at this point in her life. Since making friends with the Winx Club she had been thrown into a world of danger the princess was not used to. She wouldn't let everyone know she was too afraid for her life, but she knew she wasn't exactly along. She stared with amazement as the ship narrowly made it through the treacherous caves of shadowhaunt and made it to the inner cave. It was downright mortifying and knowing that there was a very real possibility of never making it out of here was not helping.

"Lord Darkar's fortress is straight ahead" Timmy said as the center of shadowhaunt came into view. The group looked out from the ships windows, from behind seeing Queen Amentia and her army fighting off all the creatures that would have been coming after them had she not been there, and looking ahead to see the fortress and their next battle approaching.

It wasn't long before the 1st wave or fortress security made it their way as the cave bats began to attack the ship. "Incoming" Layla warned. They managed to avoid the 1st swarm but there were more coming their way and any space to land the ship was quickly receding with more monsters guarding the fortress.

"I'm going to the Red wing," Sky announced as he got to his feet, feeling nothing but frustration as every attempt they made to Iand the ship was blocked and his impatience to see and save Bloom was mounting. "Riven, Helia; you guys get up to the battle bridge. We've gotta take those things out so we can land safely and get the fairies into the castle."

"ive been waiting for this" Riven grinned as he and Helia began to walk onto the platform to take them to were the smaller pods were. But just as he moved, Riven felt himself be stopped as a small hand gripped his arm, preventing him from moving. Much to his surprise it was the princess that seemed to haunt his every thought staring up at him with worry covering her flawless face.

Musa didn't really know what was coming over her but she was scared. Scared out of her mind. She would fight and give this battle her all, but that didn't change the fact that fear had taken a permanent residence inside of her. "Be careful" she said firmly looking up at Riven trying her best to keep it together.

Instead of some sarcastic mark marred with bravado, Riven simply nodded and smiled slightly, trying to ignore the warm feeling spreading all through him from the contact with the princess and the realization that her hand with still gripped around his arm. "I will," He said quietly knowing in that moment just how much he had to fight for.

With that the specialist left the fairy in the ship and went out to assist his friend. Leaving Musa behind in the ship to simply watch helplessly while the man that she felt so strongly for risked his life. "He'll be okay," Flora whispered as she rejoined the group by the control panel of the ship trying to be of some use to them. "We all will," She said convincingly but was unable to keep the worry from her face, Helia was also out there and Musa knew that it wouldn't be easy for Flora to watch either.

Wathcing the guys take out the monsters on the cliffs was truly a sight. It was easy to forget just how incrediubly skilled they were until you were actually fighting with them side by side but Musa had a new appreciation for the Red Fountain boys. Timmy was steering the giant ship with almost ease when you considered the fact that there was a new surge of power coming at them and the same could be said for Sky, Riven and Helia.

But the slight victory they had when the boys shot down some of the guarding monsters was short lived when they came back with more power, no doubt thanks to the Trix, and were taking their power out on their ships, making it very clear that they would have to land soon.

"We need to land soon guys" Timmy said through gritted teeth as the ship took more brutal hits.

"Sounds like a plan" Musa said as she braced herself against some of the chairs in the ship.

"Lockette,Can you sense which entrance to the castle has the least amount of monster guarding it?" Techna asked as the shipped rattled and although the group was too fixated on what was happening to their friends outside of the ship as Sky's ship plunged lower in the cave and began to go into full crash mode. Luckily Riven and Helia had been able to reel him in, leaving the orginial problem still open.

Where the hell could they land safely?

"The entrances are open but the monsters are too strong to take out with the blasters," Brandon said looking over to the fairies.

"Let us take care of 'em," Musa told him, she had been couped up in the ship for far too long feeling as if she had done nothing to help her friends and now was finally the chance the change that. Besides there was very little that they could do from inside the ship so there was no other option at this point.

"Yeah! We'll go out there and undo the spell that powered 'em up." Stella agreed.

"Okay," Timmy agreed reluctantly "But only if you promise not to stay out there for too long."

"And why exactly is that?" Techna said almost offended. The winx club has proven time and time again that they were more than strong enough to handle themselves. Besides its not like there was anything the boys could do to help the situation at this point, they had to at least try.

"Because Tecna, even though I know you can handle it, I'd rather you weren't out there for too long because I care so much about you, okay?" Timmy confessed in a small voice being met with small smiles from all of the girls.

"Ill let the guys know and they will cover you till you're safe," Brandon said interrupting what was sure to be an awkward moment for timmy.

"Good and then we can get into Shadowhaunt from there," Musa agreed as the ship got as close to the nearest landing space as it could and Riven cleared the way for them to get out.

"The area it clear," Riven said over the intercom and that was all the girls needed to transform and rush out of the ship, ready to take on whatever came their way.

* * *

Once outside the ship it didn't take long for the girls to realize their solitary attacked wouldn't be much use against the monsters. They really were way stronger than they looked and whatever they were powered up with would require a lot more magic to break.

It would require convergence

Which was a little scary since none of them had successfully completed convergence outside of the classroom and even then it was a bit hazy and not well done.

But if there was a time to try, it would be now. So the girls gave everything they had into the convergence and luckily it worked because in a matter of seconds the forces against them weakened significantly. "we did it!" Stella squealed. "They're losing power!"

Once the entrance was clear the boys came out of the ships, except for Timmy who had to stay behind and allow the ship to hover since there was not enough space to land it. They had decided to stay behind while the girls went into Shadowhaunt. The last thing they wanted was to leave them but the fact was that the monsters were only weakened, not defeated and there would be periodic surges coming for them and it was a better idea for them to stand guard outside.

"Once you're in, we'll guard the entrance and make sure none of the creatures come in after you," Brandon explained, noticing the disappointment in their faces. It was scary to know they would be splitting up and to not know what would be happening to them.

"You're not coming with us?" Stella asked lowly. She knew the reasoning but it didn't mean she didn't worry. While staying together didn't guarantee anyone's safety, it was always a nice feeling to have the whole group as one, even though that wasn't always a good strategy.

"No," Riven said bluntly. "We should stay out here."

"But we'll be with you in spirit," Brandon said trying his best to sound cheery.

In that moment the whole group seemed to realize the same thing, this may very well be the last time they were seeing each other and it was hard to not feel scared. Musa looked over to her friends who seemed to be sharing some kind words with their respective beaus and she realized that she was here, alone, with Riven.

She knew she'd probably get more caring words out of Sky or Brandon so instead of pretending she decided to tell the specialist just exactly what she thought. ""I'm sure you don't wanna do the whole mushy good-bye, good luck thing, right?" Musa asked. She didn't really know what she was expecting but what she got was something rather close. His eyes stayed hard and his arms didn't move from their crossed position on his chest and Musa knew then his answer. Surprisingly she wasn't at all surprised; a part of her had already begun to accept that she and Riven would never move forward and all they would ever be is awkward friends. Now if only she could move on. "Right. Just making sure."

What happened next definitely surprised the princess when she turned away from Riven she felt herself being stopped by a hand on her wrist and before she could even stop to think about what was happening, she was wrapped in the embrace of the man she never thought would speak more than 5 words to her. He held her for a second pulling her even closer until their bodies were firmly against each other's and she could feel his hot breath on her neck as he began to say something quietly in her ear.

"Promise that you'll come back to me," his voice deep and full of emotional that Musa never thought she would hear especially in regards to her. His breathe brought goose bumps to her skin and all she could think of was how amazing it felt to be wrapped in his arms, against in strong chest. She felt safe, and for a moment she forgot the predicament that she and her friends were currently in. "I don't know what I would do without you Musa, okay?"

While it was not exactly the confession she had been expecting and definitely not in the place she had expected, it was Riven revealing how he felt for her and it was the most amazing feeling spreading through her. Musa pulled back slightly, her body doing things without her minds permission, running her hand up Riven's chest to his neck and running her fingers just below his jaw line. Riven couldn't take his eyes from hers and had she not not opened her mouth to speak in the last second, he was sure he would have kissed her.

"I'll be careful," Musa whispered lightly. "And so will you?" Musa asked her words coming out almost pleading, not realizing until just then how much he meant to her.

"I'm always careful," Riven said with a small smile before pulling her close to him again and breathing in her intoxicating scent. He knew in the back of his cloudy mind that there was work to be done and that he didn't have the time to get close to her, but the feeling of her wrapped in his arms was indescribably amazing and he couldn't deny or suppress the intense wave of pleasure that shot through him when she ran her hand up his chest.

And with that Musa took a step back from him, unable to unlock his eyes from his however, when he sensed the girls grouping to go into the fortress where their best friend was being held captive. Finally looking away she carefully stepped back and smiled before turning away and joining her friends. Leaving him with a small smile.

Entering the fortress was very much like walking into a haunted house from an amusement park Musa had visited when she was a kid and she and Daniel snuck away from school and decided to cut class. Although this place was nothing like the haunted mansion amusement park attraction, no, this was very real and Musa could feel a cold chill run down her spine as she walked through the first corridor of the fortress.

* * *

"Where exactly are we going?" Stella said finally breaking the erry silence.

"From what Lockette has navigated and from what I could map from the ship it looks like the inner chamber of the fortress is where the dark magic is most concentrated and from there we should be able to find Bloom," Techna said as she tried her best to get her hand held tablet to work

"That's probably out best bet to find her," Musa agreed, it was only seconds later that she felt the ground begin to rumble beneath her feet and then small pebbles began to fall from the ceiling. "The roof is caving in!" Musa yelled as large chunks to the floor above began to fall over them.

Moments later Musa felt her eyes open back up and she looked around to see all of the girls had been taken down by the falling rubble. "That's an octoceratops!" Techna gasped, being the first once to come to, her scream bringing everyone back to consciousness. "But they're extinct!"

Staring up at the towering monster that was carrying an axe, Musa quickly scrambled to her feet not letting her fear override her fight and quickly summoned her power for an attack. That had little effect on it. "We're not even scratching this guy," Musa said forebodingly as she realized their attacks were quickly being reflected back at them with twice the force. And right as the predicament grew grim, it seemed like help came from out of nowhere.

"All right it's the teachers!" Musa cheered, finally feeling some relief.

Help was here.

And the hard part was just beginning.

_So that's that. I hope you enjoyed the little musa/riven scene _

_Xoxo_

_princessm_


	26. The Ultimate Power Couple

_Finally! The last chapter of this story has finally arrived! I'm sorry about the long wait for these last few chapters (and for all the ones in between) but here it is! I've actually had the end of this chapter done for awhile, but it took awhile for me to fill in the random blanks left, but it's finally done! the end! I can't believe that I started this around 3 years ago so on that note I would like to thank you guys for holding on because I know I've neglected the story for long periods at a time but it's really great that you stuck around till the end. _

_And I don't think I ever did this in the 1st story, but thanks to tears-in-rain for the idea for this series. It was your take on the boys' version of the series that got me thinking about what Musa's would be like. _

_This chapter kind of puts everything together and ties all the loose ends of the whole story in a nice little bow. We have romance, intrigue, money laundering (you'll see ) – _

_Hope you guys enjoy!_

* * *

**The Ultimate Power Couple**

"Leave this thing to us girls," Cordatorta said as the girls began to get up and push the rubble off of themselves. Griffin, Faragonda and Cordatorta had gotten there just in time and had managed to stun the Octoceratops for a couple of minutes while the girls got themselves together and tried to regain some energy. "We'll handle it,"

"You girls have to go find Bloom," Miss Faragonda said as Layla helped her onto her feet, she had taken a spill when the octoceratops stomped its mighty leg. The sheer size of this thing made it very clear that it was pre historic since most animals, even ogres could not possibly grow to the size it was. Its leg looked about the size of one of the columns by the grand entrance in at the Magix Museum of art.

The fairies nodded in obedience and quickly ran down the hallway that they only assumed was the correct one in the hopes it would lead them to Bloom. It wasn't more than five minutes later of going down what seemed like a never ending corridor when they ran into the next set of monstrous guardians. "We've got company," Stella yelled over to the rest of the group, unable to keep the fear out of her voice.

"I'll take care of these two," Techna told the girls as she stepped forward and readied herself for an attack. "You guys continue through this corridor,"

"I've got this so you guys don't worry okay," Techna commanded, not looking back to face them. She had realized that there was no way that all of them had the time to stop every time that there was a foe in their way. Someone would have to stay back and cover them while the rest moved forward and continued to fight. It was the only way they had a chance of getting Bloom out of here safely. "The rest of you go find Bloom before it's too late,"

"You two be careful," Stella yelled over to Techna and Digit and the girls then continued on, hoping to God Techna would join them soon enough.

As the girls skid past a corner they ran only to find themselves trapped by another set of adversaries. "I say Flora and I take care of these bad boys and you and Layla go find Bloom," Musa suggested.

"I just hope we're not too late," Stella said as she took the command and continued onward.

"As they say Musa," Tune began as Musa and Flora readied themselves for attack. "I've got your back,"

Musa smiled at the pixies attempt at comfort, which was much appreciated but Musa felt a surge of power pass through her. "Let's do it Flo!" Musa said with an aire of confidence, it was the oddest feeling she had wash over her but the fear inside of her was beginning to be replaced by determination and power of will. Turning to the foes before her she quickly mustered as powerful as an attack she could in such a short amount of time and released all hell on the monsters. "Sonic Boom!"

Within minutes the two faires had successfully defeated the cave creatures they had run into and managed to clear the way of any more just in case the boys or techna used this pathway to get to wherever the main room of this fortress was. "So I say we go that way," Musa said looking at Flora without any real idea as to where to go. They had seen Stella and Layla go that way and since lockette was with them, it was a safe bet that it was the correct direction to be going.

"Sounds good to me," Flora said with a small laugh as the two began to race down the hallway only to be stopped by the sound of Techna's voice.

Musa and Flora stopped to see Techna and the boys running up to them. Happy to see Techna and the guys unharmed, Musa smiled and unable to help it looked eyes with a certain specialist who seemed to have a wave of relief wash over him when he saw that she was unharmed. A look that was not missed by the musical princess.

But there was no time to revel in it. There was work to be done.

"Stella and Layla went ahead," Musa informed the group. "We covered them and we can only assume this is the correct way,"

"Well it's as good a plan as any," Sky said as he headed straight to down the corridor. Musa could see the pain in his eyes and she couldn't help but feel her heart sink a little. Nobody knew what they would come across when they finally found Bloom, if they finally found her.

But they continued on until they reached what looked like a creepy version of a throne room only to see the elder pixies using their magic to hold open some sort of portal. "What's going on?" Techna as she walked slowly towards the portal as if it would burn if she touched it.

"Good you're here," One of the elder fairies said when the group arrived in the throne room. "Stella and Layla opened the portal to the realm of realix and entered it to go after Bloom,"

"Stella went in there!" Brandon called with concern as he walked up to the portal ready to leap headlong into it without any consideration.

"Well if Bloom's in there, than let's go," Sky said uncharacteristically rashly and then without even consulting the rest of the group he jumped in with Brandon close behind.

"Just be careful," The pixies told them before the rest of the group entered the portal.

"Give it up Darkar," Sky yelled angrily as Musa felt her feet stabilize on the shaky ground that was the realm of realix. The realm seemed as if it were just on suspended island of rock, while there were many small realms that had similar set ups, they were mostly deserted and it didn't take venturing down to hell to get to them. "We're going to put an end to this!"

"The only thing that's going to get put to an end is you!" Darkar shoute as he flew forward while hurling a crippling spell in their direction. Luckily, Musa quickly evaded it along with Flora but the others weren't so lucky. The others were trapped in some sort of painful body lock that was brought on by an increase in pressure around them. From what Musa could tell, it was fairly painful.

"There's some kind of spell on me," Sky struggled against the. "I can't get up.

"Don't worry, I'll finish you off right where you are," Darkar said with an evil smirk. It was clear that he had power and it was even more evident that the fairies would need some sort of alternate strategy since their powers were severely attenuated in Shadowhaunt and the Realm of Realix. And with that he threw an even more powerful spell at the defenseless teens, still stuck in a horrible bind.

"_Deflectus!_" Musa shouted throwing up the most powerful shield she could muster across herself and Flora, large enough that she would be able to guard her friends as well. However, all magical shields were weakest at their flanks and Musa's began to fade in front of where Flora was standing, leaving her vulnerable.

"Ah! Flora!" Helia shouted, being the only indication Musa got that something happened. Flora had been knocked right off of her feet and thrown an impossible distance to take a horrible and hard hit on the ground. She saw the group of her friends strain against the spell in a week attempt to help her, but it was all for not. There was no way any of them could twist or move to break free.

"'I'm okay," Flora said, just barely pulling herself up, Musa hadn't looked back for more than a second before looking back at Darkar with fire in her eyes. Flora was okay but that meant she was the only one left standing, the only one to protect her friends and maybe get Bloom back. A part of her fear take a grip on her heart, her mind began to think of what would happen if she didn't make it, conjuring up the heartbreaking images of Daniel and her father receiving the news that she would never be coming home. The pain of never seeing them again.

"I'm gonna make you pay for that, Darkar," Musa snapped angrily. Channeling her anger, fear and pain into fury. But just as she was going to fire an attack, she felt her body slow down, as if someone had just increased the gravitational force on her all of a sudden. No doubt a way Darkar had to bid time and gain the upper hand, not that he didn't already have it.

"How are you going to do that when you don't exist anymore?" Lord Darkar asked menacingly and with a manical laugh sent out another attack.

Musa was paralyzed, the time that she could have used to jump out of the way she missed and now it was the choice of bearing the brunt of the attack or throwing some sort of attack back. Either way it wouldn't make much progress in the way of defeating darker. Musa realized at that second there was a chance she wasn't making it.

What she didn't expect was what happened next.

"No!" Was all Musa heard and the next thing she knew Riven was jumping in front of her and then he was on the ground. It had all happened so fast she vaguely heard Darkar say something but her attention was to the specialist that had without a doubt just saved her life.

And that was when the Trix appeared, not that Musa really cared at that point. But they served as a good distraction. "Riven," Musa said on the ground as she cradled the specialist's head on her lap, seeing the small stream of blood coming from the side of his head.

No doubt from when he hit the ground just now. He wasn't bleeding profusely but it was enough that in combination with the attack that he was rendered unconscious. Musa felt her chest constrict tightly when she tried desperately to find a pulse. "Riven," She begged with tears streaming down her face, feeling a pulse and sighing slightly in relief. "Please wake up,"

She couldn't lose him, Musa held him weakly. Trying her best not to move him, aware that if he had injuries it was best that he be on stable ground, she caressed the side of his face urgently trying to get those violet eyes to open to her. She heard the others breaking out of the bind they were in and going on the offensive, but she couldn't bring herself to care. She needed to see Riven open his eyes, to be okay.

And then as if answering her calls, Riven's eyes opened slowly, only for a brief second to lock with hers. She felt his hand reach up and slowly tighten around hers. Musa smiled and couldn't help but bring her face towards his and in a moment of joy mixed with relief that he was okay, she brought her lips to his and kissed him soundly. The feel of his lips beneath her sending enough electricity to power all of Magix, Musa slowly backed away to see his eyes slowly open once more only to close quickly.

Musa refused to leave the side of the specialist that saved her, but managed to catch something Sky had said as the Trix lost their fight to Darkar. She was pretty sure she heard him confess his love for her, which was less than surprising, but it looked like it was enough to break Darkar's spell on her. Musa smiled lightly as looked back at the specialist.

Riven slowly regained consciousness and with Musa's help sat up and smiled slightly. "Are you okay?" Musa said softly as the specialist sat up and moved his hand to his head and surveyed the damage to his bleeding head.

"Just dandy," He said sarcastically but his voice lacking its usually coldness, instead it was a warm tone that was almost a small laugh causing Musa's heart to soar. "What'd I miss,"

"Nothing major," Musa laughed but her light mood was cut short when Darkar swooped back down to the group refusing to admit defeat.

"It doesn't have to end this way!" Lord Darkar told them giving them an ultimatum, since the ultimate power was back in the realm of realix, the only bargaining chip he had was to threaten their lives. "Give me Bloom and I'll spare you!"

A swift and stern "no" was offered by Sky and Layla couldn't help but smile when she heard the powerful Lord of Darkness bargaining.

"I'm really looking forward to taking this guy down," Layla admitted.

"It's going to take all six of us giving everything we have," Stella the girls as Helia walked over to Musa to help Riven up, who now all of a sudden no longer wanted help standing up now that Helia was the one to offer it. Musa simply walked up to her friends and readied herself for one final attack on the Darkar.

"We'll use our charmix," Flora said knowing it was the only way to win.

"The power of six charmix converging at once," Bloom grinned, finally sounding like herself.

"I'm going to take Bloom!" Darkar demanded.

"Ready Faragonda?" Professor Griffin asked as the teachers stepped into the realm and offered their aid to their students.

"More than ready," Faragonda nodded as the first attack came straight at her but was easily dodged by the group.

"Bloom belongs to me!" Darkar shouted at the two heads of the famous schools of Magix. It was useless for him to even attempt to defeat the two, they had mastered magic a long time ago and their defeat was nearly impossible.

"Go-oxus!" They said together and then erected a shield to give themselves some time. "Contago!"

"Ready?" Layla asked, the teachers had provided adequate time for the girls to prepare an attack that would be strong enough to take him down.

"We have to put all our power into this so we'll only have one shot," Musa told the girls knowing they would really only get one chance to hit him hard. They had cover for now with the boys and teachers distracting him, but once they fired the attack that was the only attack they'd have.

"We're going to need complete and total synchronicity," Techna added.

"And we'll need absolute trust," Stella told them, but that was something they already known from the time they had began their convergence training.

"Let's do it!" Flora cheered almost excited. It was time they put all their learning into practice.

"Winx Club Charmix Convergence!" the girls all cried at once. The spell took a few moments to reach its full strength but once it did it was a force to be reckon with. With one swift attack the power reached Darkar and it only took a second to see that they had succeeded.

"No… This can't be happening!" Lord Darkar screamed as the attack hit him and the energy that kept him alive and powerful began to fade into the shadow. Lord Darkar attempted to his best to escape the attack, but the attack surrounded him and was impossible to miss. He had no choice but to give up. "No! No….No!" And with that the ancient magic that held him together faded along with his body, leaving nothing but dust that quickly dissipated into the air.

The group cheered happily and Musa went to Helia to check on Riven, surprisingly the only person to have been able to break free from the full force body hold that Darkar had unleashed and consequently the only person to have really suffered a major blow.

"Is he gone?" Chatta asked as she looked around the small realm as it faded back to the throne room that had been in before. With that the realm of Realix closed and the Codexes were rendered useless since they had been destroyed upon opening the realm. The ultimate power laid safely in an unreachable realm where nobody could ever come to harness its power.

"Yes. Darkar is gone and his reign over the underrealm is over," Ms. Faragonda told the pixies and the rest of the group.

"It is time for us to leave," The elder pixie spoke as the room began to shake and fall apart.

"Come on! This way!" Sky shouted, leading out of the fortress and onto the ship. It was time to go home.

* * *

When the group got back to campus, they were all taken to the infirmary to make sure the wounds that they had sustained were treated properly. Riven and Bloom were given extra care since Bloom was brainwashed and Riven was knocked unconscious for hours. He had only woken up momentarily on the ride back and everyone was worried.

Nobody more worried than Musa however who paced in front of the door to his room in the infirmary trying to make sense of the whole thing. There was a little part of her screaming that this was all her fault. The specialist had taken a nearly fatal attack for her and she felt overwhelming guilt for it. And she couldn't even think about what she would have done if something had happened to him.

A few minutes ago, Brandon had told her that Riven was okay and he was even up and talking. The doctors said that he might have some memory impairment from the time of the accident but when his friends had gone in to talk to him he was perfectly aware and didn't show any signs of memory loss.

Musa finally got up the guts to simply open the door to see the specialist sitting on the edge of the bed with a bandage adorning the top left corners of his forehead. "Hey," Musa said softly, standing in the doorway as Riven turned and looked at her, looking just as nervous as she was. "Are you okay?" She said as she stepped closer to the specialist.

"Yeah," Riven said as he looked up at the princess feeling his heart rate begin to pick up at just the site of her. He could only remember bits and pieces of the events after being hit by that dark energy blast that Darkar had originally sent for Musa, but one thing he did remember was the princess vigilantly at his side on the ship and then being in and out of consciousness when he got here. But over the last few hours he had been feeling loads better and the headache and pain meds he'd been given were definitely helping.

However none of the medications could help him with this particular situation.

"Just a little banged up,"

"Yeah," Musa said as she walked towards him, and before she could think about she was doing she was reaching up to stroke the side of his face where the bandage was placed. Taking note to the fact that he flinched outwardly to his action. "Just a bit," She laughed nervously, pulling her hand back with the speed of lightening when she felt him flinch when she came near him

"You okay?" Riven asked looking up, his eyes looking like they were begging to tell her something, but he was holding back.

Like always.

He was perfectly aware of what he had done. That part he remembered with sparkling clarity. He remembered the sinking feeling he had when Musa began to fire attacks at the dark lord and then when he saw the attack in retaliation to her's heading straight at the woman he was so infatuated with, well he had to do something. Brandon had told him he was 'quite the hero' when he had come in to see how he was but Riven didn't see it that way. He felt so guilt ridden still from that day in Magix with the trix, Musa could have been killed. The thought of it made his chest constrict and a horrible pain infect him. He had been trying to be a better guy all year to try to maybe make up for everything he'd done but nothing seemed like enough. Not even this.

He wanted nothing more than to be with her, but every time he looked at her all he could think was how much more she deserved and how horrible he had been to her.

Musa nodded and smiled. She was truly grateful for what he had done. "Thanks to you,"

"I'm glad you're okay,"

"I mean it," Musa said, her azure orbs locking into his inescapable gaze. "If it weren't for you, I would be -,"

"It's okay," Riven interrupted before she could continue, unable to take her praise. "What are friends for right,"

Musa could feel a horrible sinking when the words hit her. _Friends. _ God he was never going to take a step forward, he could take a step in front of an attack that could have killed him, but he couldn't simply move forward with her.

"Well I'm glad you're okay," Musa said in a small voice before quickly leaving the room and the specialist alone with his headache creeping back up on him.

* * *

Hours later Musa found herself on the dance floor with her friends trying to enjoy her prom now that all the drama had managed to settle itself. While there were still a few nagging details dangling in her head, she knew she'd eventually work it all out and be okay. While she was dancing however she saw an interesting smile on Layla's face and before she knew it she felt Riven come nearly crashing into her.

Much to her surprise it was Riven who ended up grabbing her hands as he looked up surprised at the princess. Thanks to Layla's intervention the two stood for a second, confused as all hell, unmoving, wondering who should speak first.

"I-I..I can't dance," Riven spat out the second his hands fell into Musa's. He hadn't spoken to her since before going into shadow haunt and since he was knocked out from the blast in the realm of Realix he was kind of fuzzy on what exactly happened to him. He was gong to ask her when she came into the infirmary to check up on him but he couldn't work up the courage. And now that the painkillers he was given to tone down his massive headache had begun working, he was maybe going to ask her if she was okay and possibly have a real conversation with her. But then his personality started kicking in and all he could get his mind to think was 'run' when he got close to her.

Musa could see the sheer panic in his eyes the second they got close and while a part of her wanted to stomp off because he was being so damn stubborn, she couldn't. He had risked his life and nearly lost it to save her and he had made his feelings pretty evident before that. She couldn't give up on him, on them, not now that they actually had taken a few steps forward. "I'll teach you," Musa smiled as she slowly led him forward and back in a smile 4 count pattern.

"Musa…I," Riven began as he failed miserably at dancing, he had probably stepped on her feet a few times as he tried to follow her lead but he sucked and it only made talking to her more difficult since he now felt horribly self conscious about his dancing.

"You're doing fine," Musa encouraged knowing that he was Riven and when he wasn't good at something he really didn't like to make it known. It was rather cute though, to see the way he shuffled and actually tried instead of running away. "Especially considering you have a considering the day we've had," She laughed referencing the act of valor he had shown, reminding herself of how truly selfless he was, for her.

Riven smiled slightly and began to open his mouth to tell her something, something he had been trying to say for awhile now. But even though he had managed to make his feelings known to her at the doorway to hell, he couldn't seem to spit it out now and he reverted to his normal state of problem solving when emotions were involved.

He got the hell out of there.

"Well thanks for the dance," Riven said quickly as he waved off and walked away. Leaving the princess standing on the dance floor alone and humiliated.

Luckily for Musa, Layla had been keeping a keen eye on her and had seen the entire interaction between the two and quickly swooped in to gleefully dance with her friend and act like nothing had happened; ignoring the overwhelming urge to find the specialist and beat some sense into him. "You okay?" she whispered to her friend

"Fine," Musa nodded trying her best to hide the fact that she was devastated. It was as if her heat had just fallen into her stomach and she was sick with anger. He had shown how much he cared for her but this was too much and if it was so hard to him to simply move forward even the smallest bit, she would have to just get over it. And this was the best way to do so. Humiliation was a powerful motivator. "That was actually just what I needed,"

"Who cares about him anyway," Layla exclaimed happily as she danced a little more upbeat to help bring the princess out of her poorly masked slump. "We just kicked Darkar's ass, we need to be celebrating!"

"Very true," Musa smiled.

* * *

"I need to speak with you," Ali said politely as the heiress made her way through the Winx club and their respective guys, all of which were sitting at a table recanting the story of how they stormed shadow haunt to rescue Bloom to their fellow classmates. She grabbed Musa's arm without waiting for an answer and slowly dragged her away to tell her something that Musa only assumed was so important that she would interrupt the telling of the epic story.

Ali walked ahead while Musa followed until they were inside the school and Ali lead the princess to her room. Once inside she locked the door and opened a locked drawer in her desk ad pulled out a stack of papers and a flash drive, Ali gave Musa a sly smile as she said "You are going to be very happy with me," in a sing song way

"Any why is that,"

"This," Ali said handing over a flash drive and stack of papers over to the princess with a grin on her face.

"Thanks, but computer stuff is really more Techna's speed," Musa said as she took the flash drive and looked it over before looking back at her friend, judging by the grin on her face she was up to something.

"Well if techna got a look at what's on this thing, let's say her circuits might fry," Aly began and then saw that the princess wasn't exactly following her train of thought so she continued. "Well when your fantastic little cousin started to become a nuisance I figured I might have her followed. I have this fantastic PI that I used last year for the Karen drama and he's been pretty useful in the past, the man's a genius he could probably dig up some dirt on squeaky clean little Flora. Seriously if you knew the lengths that this guy goe-,"

"Is there a point to this?"

"Keep your pants on, I'm getting to it," Ali snapped before she continued. "Anyway looks like you weren't the only princess that was hiding secrets from daddy. Galatea never got her father's permission to come to Alfea. I got the files from Faragonda's office and even though you only require one parent's authorization she needed both her mother's and father's signatures to stay on campus. Her mother had a forger forge her father's signature. That is why she hasn't gone to any of the big political events in the city because he father thinks his little girl is still at home,"

"Why would her father care if she came here or not," Musa asked confused. So he dad didn't like the school, Musa's father had his moments of wanting to pull her out of Alfea and bring her home. It hardly seemed like a nail in her coffin.

"Exactly what I thought when I found that out," Ali added. "But remember that night when you went to the museum benefit and she showed up as the princess of the Harmonic  
Nebula, taking your place,"

"Yeah,"

"Well when you told Daniel that I guess he found it interesting and looked into it and had a forensic accountant look into the funds and turns out the profits didn't all do to the rebuilding of the wing in the hospital or museum…or the pandas or whatever the hell that it was for,"

"So where was the money going,"

"A group called citizens united actually took the proceeds and donated most of it, but a portion went to another group that helps with scholarship money for under-privileged kids so they can go to fancy schools like Red Fountain and Alfea. That group is chaired by Galatea's father and he's been siphoning money from it for almost 20 years,"

"So if Galatea started going to Alfea instead of Winston Academy like everyone thinks than someone might look into the scholarship funds since her father is chair," Musa said as she put it together.

"Yup," Ali confirmed. "Daniel found it odd that when he talked to some mutual acquaintances of yours and Galatea's that they all thought she was a Winston Academy, he father still thinks she there since he's been paying tuition to them and she's technically enrolled,"

"I'm sure my aunt paid off an administrator to make it look that way so she would seem as if she was a Winston,"

"Instead of here, harassing you," Ali finished. "Which explains why Galatea is gone almost every weekend, she's keeping up appearances there to make sure that her dad doesn't find out she's away,"

"So there is no way my aunt or Galatea know about the money or they wouldn't risk the investigation," Musa added.

"Exactly," Ali said. "And that is so not the best part, looks like the reason the dear sweet king needs the extra cash is because all of his spending is monitored by his advisors who also report to the queen and he hasn't exactly been spending the money in a good place. The PI found out that he has a bit of girlfriend that he keeps here in Magix and the only way to pay for what is a very expensive affair," Ali continued as she paged through the massive file on her desk and showed Musa the pile of receipts for expensive things he had bought his mistress. "Probably another reason he doesn't want his daughter in the area since their love nest is here,"

"So he's stealing from a charity to pay for an affair," Musa concluded. "And Galatea has no idea,"

"Not a clue," Ali agreed, "And the political scandal it would create is enough to keep her from ever being a viable candidate to your throne since her entire smear campaign is based on how much better, more royally pure and more refined she and her family are."

"This is…perfect. But I can't use this," Musa said feeling an awful pit in her stomach. Her family had been torn apart after her father had been disowned and it was only starting to get back to normal. She had wished that the problems between the last generation wouldn't be inherited by her's but sadly that wasn't the case. But exposing Galatea's father as an adulterer and a fraud was something she couldn't do.

"Well if you don't, perfectly good students won't get a chance at a higher education because the money for their scholarships will be spent on fancy lingerie and her penthouse's rent," Ali pointed out

"There isn't anything else I can do?" Musa said staring at the papers feeling a heavy burden bearing down on her. Now that she knew about the money, it was her duty to report it. Ali had a point, the money needed to be put back in the right place but she didn't have the heart to do what was necessary. It would destroy a family, her family.

"I was afraid you might ask that," Ali said, her smile slightly fallen. "That is what the flash drive is for,"

Musa looked at the flash drive haphazardly and then back at Ali as if scared to use whatever that flash drive held. "It's a sex tape,"

Musa actually laughed out loud at the notion, not thinking she was serious but then looking at her face she realized Ali was serious. "You mean of Galatea's father and …"

"No! ew!" Ali gasped. "Although the PI does have one as proof of the affair along with pictures but I figured you've been through enough…"

"So this is…"

"Galatea and her boyfriend," Ali explained. "I didn't even know that she had one or that she was going so…far with him but she does and she is and the PI got this little nugget from the security footage at the Radian hotel where the frisky teens did it in an elevator and then paid the hotel to destroy the tapes,"

"Oh my god," Musa said releasing the flash drive not wanting to even touch it.

"The only way we beat her is to prove that there is no reason she would be better poised for the position than you," Ali stated. "this never has to get out but its enough to scare her,"

"Fine," Musa said grabbing the flash drive. "I'll figured it out," She stated as she got up from her seat at Ali's desk and then pushed the chair back in it's seat. As she made her way to the door she realized that Ali must have put a lot of effort into something that was all for Musa. She was the definition of a good friend. "Thank you by the way, I don't know what I would do if you didn't have my back the way you do,"

"You're welcome," Ali smiled, very rarely did Ali show emotion on her face, she was very much the stoic type, but Musa could see the glee in her eyes when she said that.

"I mean," Musa said as she opened the door and began her way out. "You're an amazing friend,"

"Well I'm not gonna pretend I didn't enjoy digging up dirt on her," Ali smirked as she followed Musa out of the room and down the hallway. "Now if only we could sling it at her,"

* * *

After the talk with Ali, Musa found herself trying to figure out what she was going to do about the decision she had to make. Feeling the pressure of the obligation to do the right thing bearing down on her but also the need to not hurt her cousin's entire family; Musa felt stuck. And then blackmailing Galatea seemed like the only viable option but using a sex tape to do so, that was not how she operated.

But desperate time called for desperate measures

Unsure of herself, Musa found herself wanting someone to talk this through with and that was when it dawned on her that she had yet to call Daniel to let him know she was okay.

"So you're still alive," Daniel said nonchalantly as if he hadn't been up the last night and all day today wondering if she was okay and what she had gotten herself into.

"I thought I owed you a call," Musa laughed as she sat down on her bed and gave a heavy sigh, only realizing just now how exhausted she was. They had been up for almost 24 hours and she was hoping the exhaustion wasn't heard through the phone.

"You sound tired,"

"Its been a long couple of days," Musa explained, laughing to herself. She should have known better than to think she could sneak anything past her best friend.

"Will I ever find out the truth to what happened?" Daniel asked, trying to mask the bit of hurt that was engrained in his question. There were times where he felt like Musa's life was separate from his and that while she was away she was someone else from who she was when she was at home or when she was with him. While he knew he was simply being paranoid and maybe a little clingy, it was just his fear of losing her that was overriding his more sensible nature.

"Without a doubt," Musa affirmed. "The second I get home you and I are going to sit down and catch up. I promise,"

"Good," The prince smiled and then moved onto the next subject he wanted to tell the princess about. "So your friend Ali is an interesting girl,"

"She told me that the two of you have been in cahoots with all the Galatea business," Musa smiled at the thought of the two of them conspiring together. They were actually rather similar, they were very caring people but it was often masked by apathy. "Anything going on between the two of you that I should be aware of?" She teased.

"No," Daniel said curtly. "I have no interest in dating the female version of me,"

"I was just thinking that,"

"But did she give you everything we dug up?"

"Yeah, but I don't really think I can use it,"

"I know," Daniel said knowing that when he found what he did that it wouldn't go over well with Musa. She wasn't ruthless and while she liked to act tough, at the core she was caring and could never hurt someone, even if they had hurt her before. "But the stealing needs to stop, so we can have a PI meet up with the king and strong arm him into giving back the money,"

"Which means he's gonna have to take it from his private accounts, and come clean with his family," Musa added. It was a crappy situation but Galatea and her mother deserved to know the truth and at least this way they could avoid a scandal. "It can all he handled quietly,"

"If his mistress is smart enough to keep quiet," Daniel added. He had known about these types of things happening before and it always involved the rich and high powered person getting off with maybe some humiliation to deal with but the person they brought into the scandal didn't fair so well if they didn't go along with the plan. Rich and powerful people had a way of keeping those less rich and powerful quiet and it wasn't always polite, or legal.

"If she's been around for this long, she probably knows better than to try anything," Musa added

"And the other stuff we found?"

"We can threaten her with it but if she calls my bluff than that's it," Musa told him. She would not release something so horrible and allow for the press to eat her cousin alive. She had more class than that.

"You know she probably wouldn't do the same thing for you,"

"I know,"

"You're pretty amazing," Daniel told her. "You know that,"

"Yes I do, and I have some amazing friends to thank for that,"

"Alright well before we all start crying," Daniel laughed sarcastically. "And our periods start syncing I think I'm gonna let you go, it's like 3 am here,"

"Oh god you're right!" Musa said forgetting that she was probably waking him. "Sorry Daniel,"

"Only for you," He laughed before he hung up.

* * *

Musa stood in front of the large window in her room and looked at the crowd in the quad and stared enviously at her friends. Why couldn't she just have what they did? Why was it that she had to practically pull teeth just to get a slight compliment out of Riven when she knew he felt something for her; why else would he have saved her life? _Maybe he just felt bad for me_. She thought bitterly to herself thinking maybe he just pitied her after what happened in the Resort realm. But then there was that moment before they went after Bloom in Shadow haunt, was he only going to be affectionate when her life was in danger? God she felt like an idiot, a part of her wished she had stuck around with Jared simply to save herself the humiliation.

The princess let out a frustrated sigh, crossing her arms around herself and turning away from the window and sat down on her bed with a heavy groan, running her hand through her hair she remembered the time she Daniel visited and left her a present. Musa got on the ground and reached under her bed and pulled out a small flask that sat between her box of photos and guitar case and then took a large swig of whatever her best friend had stashed for her. With a horrible grimace Musa swallowed the alcohol and sat back on her bed with about half the flask left, knowing it would be a bad idea to finish it. Besides, it was rather depressing to drink alone, but she desperately needed something to take the edge off, it wasn't as if she had a habit of it. Hell she was usually the one who protested drinking…usually. She tucked the flask back under her bed and sighed, she knew she probably had to get back down to the prom, making a mental note to stay away from the punch since she had just taken a swig from her flask.

Musa looked back out the window from her spot on the bed and looked at all the happy couples at the prom happening in the quad. Why couldn't she have that? She asked herself again, this time growing more depressed than envious. She had told herself she was content with being single, and if she hadn't met Riven she probably would have been. But, she was still stuck on him and despite the mounting evidence that nothing would happen between them she was still partly in denial about it.

Just then Musa heard steps at the door and turned immediately to see Riven walk up to the door and look up at her just as he was going to knock on the door.

"Musa –," Riven said as if surprised even though he had come up there to see her, he couldn't manage to get out what he wanted to say, standing at the door he nervously tried to work up the courage to just tell her what he had been feeling since the moment he laid eyes on her. But seeing the look on her face when her eyes fell on him wasn't the most reassuring way to start a conversation. "Um..I –,"

"Let's not and say we did," Musa simply rolled her eyes and turned her back to the specialist, she didn't want to hear some awkward speech or apology or whatever he had planned to wiggle out of the pseudo-relationship they had going. And more importantly, she didn't want him to see the disappointment painted all over her face, she had truly hoped something would happen, but he was hell bent on destroying any chance they had.

Riven wanted to simply walk away, she clearly didn't want to see him, but he had learned she was just about as stubborn as he was. Not to mention he knew his constant toying with her emotions and stringing her along had to have hurt her and her ego. He had to make his move because he knew there was only so much she was going to take before she moved on, and Riven felt a horrible tightness in his chest just thinking about it. And the thought of her with someone else was enough to make him crazy. And even though he could tell himself he would deal with all this later, he couldn't get the image of her and that Daniel guy out of his head, the idea that if he waited too long and she ended up with him made Riven insane. Feeling his heart race to near stopping in his chest, Riven made a determined stride from the doorway towards the princess even though he hadn't really been let into her room.

Musa stood, her back turned to Riven as she heard his footsteps quickly draw closer to her, she inhaled sharply as if caught off guard as he approached her, but managed to keep her careless demeanor. She was not going to let him get the best of her. But what happened next she could have never predicted, or ignored. Riven took hold of the princess's arm and turned her around, rather gruffly, and when he opened his mouth to tell her that he wanted her so badly, he found that there was so much he could say without words. And just as Musa opened her mouth to say something, the specialist took his chance and covered her mouth with his.

Taken slightly aback by the jump from zero to kissing, Musa froze for a second but quickly melted when she felt Riven's strong arms begin to wrap around her and she began to relax and simply enjoy. With a pleasure filled moan, Musa quickly warmed to kiss, tilting her head back and opening her mouth as Riven backed her up against the wall and moved his hands from her hips to her waist to her face, gently caressing her soft skin with this thumbs, as his finger weaved though the silky softness of her hair.

He could hardly contain his desire, goose bumps ran up his body just feeling her skin beneath his fingertips, it was like he would die if he broke from her contact, he continued to kiss her intently, and the kiss had escaladed from something soft and sweet to intense and passionate with each passing second. Riven continued to press hard against her small body as Musa moved her hands from his chest to his back, feeling the grooves of his perfectly sculpted body, causing Riven to further press against her and move one hand from her face to her hips , and then just underneath her shirt soft skin of her waist.

Electricity shot through the two of them, as they finally took advantage of the feelings that had been pent up for two years. Riven groaned loudly into Musa's mouth with extreme pleasure, it was so easy to kiss her, touch her and he simply pushed past his insecurity, knowing he would have to deal with it soon enough. He couldn't let himself lose her, especially now knowing how amazing it felt to have her petite body against his and her soft lips under his.

Feeling something similar to adrenaline pass through her every second that Riven's fingers pressed desperately against her skin, Musa wasn't sure the last time she had ever felt so overcome with passion, pleasure or sheer joy; just his touch was enough to give her chills and then there was the kiss. It had become much more than a simple kiss, it was as if every part of her was screaming for contact with him, which he gladly obliged to, and as he continued to take control of the heated encounter, Musa simply complied with his command, basking in the overwhelming pleasure. The kiss intensified rather quickly, not surprising since the two had been holding back for so long, the release was bound to be pretty epic, Musa felt Riven's hand run across her thigh and encourage her leg up around his waist, and before she knew it she was against the wall with both her legs wrapped around his waist, pulling him even closer to her if that were even possible.

The heated kiss, if you could still call it that, continued on until the two of them had realized they could no longer keep going without taking a breathe. Musa pulled away, as she desperately gasped for air, her body still completely surrounded by his, and let out a small content sigh. She tried her best to look away from Riven to keep herself from pressing her lips back against his. The princess still straddled against him, off the ground, she leaned her head against his as he tried his best to tame the uncontrollable smile growing on his face.

"Have you been drinking?" Riven pulled away hesitantly, breathing heavily, for just a second and looked at the princess with immense surprise, a little turned on by the fact that she might not be as innocent as she seemed. He kept her close, unwilling to not feel her in his arms, god he wanted nothing more than to press his lips back against hers; his mind still in a frenzy about finally having the princess with him.

A smile ran across Musa's face as she looked down and then back up at the specialist who still had her pinned to the wall and was still pressed up against her. "You drive me to drink," Musa ran her hand down from his hair to his neck, prompting him to bring his face just centimeters from hers.

"And you're just so easy to deal with," He whispered, moving his face to her neck and dropping a few kisses there.

"How would you know," Musa smirked back, feeling even more excitement running through her. "You've never dealt with me,"

"Maybe we can change that," Riven told her, covering her mouth with his, running her hands up her waist, his fingers pressing into her skin, and pulling her into yet another passionate kiss.

This time Musa took control, something that only served to entice Riven further, and un hooked her legs from his hips and pushed him back until he sat down on her chair so she could straddle over him and take a seat on his lap, allowing him to explore her in a whole different way. Riven took complete advantage of his new position and moved his mouth from the princess's soft lips, dragging and biting her lower lip and then moving to her chin and then her neck; eliciting a few pleasure filled moans from the princess.

The two seemed to be just fine in their seclusion, they were perfectly fine with their current activities, which was why they were both so distraught when the princess of Tides walked through the door and got a look at the scene in front of her. Her best friend was straddling a guy, who she wasn't really the biggest fan of and who happened to have his one hand up her shirt and the other a lot lower.

Musa and Riven pulled apart, much to both of their discontent and looked at Layla with disappointment. "So everyone was wondering where you guys went," Layla spat out a few seconds later, as the awkwardness in the room mounted. Musa and Riven both couldn't seem to look at Layla and the princess of tides had decided to talk to a particular place on the wall. "Yeah…I'm just going to go," She said rather quickly and then promptly left the room.

Musa looked over to Riven and smiled shyly as she pushed off of him and began to straighten out her clothing. The last thing she wanted right now was to stop kissing Riven, she had waited long enough and it turned out to be even better than she had imagined. But, at the same time, it was the day before the last day of school and she wouldn't see her friends or Riven for that matter, for the rest of the summer. "Hey, wait," Riven sat on the chair, unwilling to end their make-out session, as Musa took a step away from him. He put his hands back on either side of her waist and tried to get her back on his lap where the two had been having such a good time.

"We should go before they all come up here looking," Musa turned to face him, his hand moving up from her waist as he still tried to get back to where they were before their interruption. Riven sighed, it was true but he was not in the mood to share her, not now after he finally got some time alone with her the way he had wanted.

* * *

After having dinner with her friends and discussing everyone's potential summer plans, Musa found herself walking along the outsides of the campus border. She didn't really know how or when she ended up by the clearing in front of the small lake that sat on Alfea's campus but she slowly walked up to the water's edge and smiled and simply let everything sink in. She had ventured to shadowhaunt in the last day and over the last year she had managed to stop living a double life with her father and she'd even made peace with her aunt. There was the slight hiccup with Galatea but she didn't really want to think about it.

And then there was Riven. Musa smiled as she thought about the kiss they had shared in her room, if you could call everything they had done in her room a kiss, and she felt her cheeks heat up slightly. She'd even gotten a decent conversation out of Riven during dinner. It was as if everything was falling into place and Musa couldn't help but feel content. After the year she had she was more than welcoming to a good turn around.

Musa stood in front of the clearing and smiled as she felt Riven walk up behind her. "Hey," Riven drew closer, stepping up behind her. Musa smiled feeling him draw even closer until he had his arms wrapped his arms around her waist and smiled. While he was pretty bad at expressing his feelings, he was beginning to learn that he was going to eventually have to put that aside so he could move forward with Musa; which he had learned earlier that day, could have immense benefits. Just having her small body pressed against his, filled him with a feeling of utter joy he had never felt before with anyone.

"Hi." Musa almost whispered, but due to his close proximity, Riven heard. She smiled warmly and leaned back onto his strong chest and enjoyed the jolt of pleasure running through her body from the feeling of his strong arms running across her body and pulling her close.

He stood there for a second, enjoying the feeling of being alone with her again. After their little make out session earlier, he had been dying to just be close to her, and the idea of putting his arms around her again and the promise of being able to kiss her lips again was driving him crazy. He had seen her walk off on her own and didn't know if he should just leave her be or not but then after a few minutes he couldn't help but go after her, he just wanted to be around her. God he felt like a sap.

"So….I'm not good at this stuff," Riven admitted with a sigh, looking straight forward at the scene in front of the two instead of the fairy in his arms.

"I've gathered,"

Riven was not really the one to initiate conversations, especially none of the sort that he was about to, but he really needed to make a few things known and it was clear that Musa was not going to be letting him off easy . "So I was thinking, I..I don't want to see anyone else and I really don't want you to –,"

"Is this your half ass attempt to ask me to be your girlfriend?" Musa smiled wildly, hearing his heart racing in his chest, the princess turned to face him and leisurely threw her arms around her arms around his neck and leaned closer as she stood up on her toes, so her lips could almost match his. She knew just how on edge she made him and while toying with him was a little cruel, it was somewhat satisfying; she did have to wait almost two years for this after all. "Because I might need a more formal declaration," she told him with a sly smile, her lips just brushing against his.

"Is that your way of saying yes," Riven breathed, running his hands up from her waist, to her delicate neck, brushing his fingers up against her hair. Unable to keep his small distance from her, Riven leaned his head down and began to kiss her.

"Well this is all so sudden," Musa quipped sarcastically as she pulled away for a second and looked into his eyes reveling in the idea of actually getting to be closer to him.

"Funny." Riven said dryly, unable to contain a small laugh and the smile that seemed perfectly fixed on his face since their make out session in her room earlier that night.

"I was beginning to wonder if you even had a soft side," Musa whispered in his ear before pulling away.

"Tell anyone and I'll deny it," He told jestingly. And then pulled back to look at her and despite himself, he had to ask her something. It had been bothering him for months, ever since her performance at Red Fountain that one night. After a few blissful moments of kissing, the two parted and Riven could not stop that question that had been gnawing at him. "So….you and that – uhh…Dan guy," Riven began unable to look at Musa and instead stared down at the ground.

"Yeah," Musa asked not really wanting to get into the complexities of her relationship with Daniel right at this moment but judging by the look on Riven's face, it had been bothering him. It wasn't that she wanted to lie to him, but their relationship was just now beginning to take shape and she couldn't just destroy it with telling him about how unnaturally close she was to her ex. Later, when he got to know Daniel, much later, he would see there was nothing to worry about, but for now she wanted to give their budding relationship a chance.

"You two, you guys didn't…you guys aren't…" Riven began nervously and looked at her for a second before immediately averting her gaze, fearing he would get the answer he was expecting. It's not like he expected her to have never dated other guys before, he just didn't like to think about it and he especially didn't like to think about an ex of hers that just happened to be around all the time. "…are you?"

"Riven? Are you jealous" Musa said coyly unable to contain a jubilant smile from taking over her face, knowing full well that Daniel's presence really had bothered him.

"No," He answered. Musa looked as the specialist, who had other wise been so well at hiding his feelings, failed to keep his façade up in front of her. It was a feather in her cap to know that she could read him so well, or that he was simply not as good at keeping things from her as he was with the others.

"Yes," He admitted a few seconds later through gritted teeth pressing his fingers against her a little tighter. He knew that she was absolutely free to have done whatever she wanted with whoever she wanted, but it didn't mean he liked the idea of it, especially since he was beginning to realize he could have stopped any of that by simply moving their relationship further a long time ago.

"Don't be, he's one of my oldest friends" She told him. "Trust me, its not like that, he's just a bit protective"

Riven said nothing, instead he smiled, in a way that made Musa weak at the knees, and looked at her. God she was perfect. And now she was his. While the idea of Daniel was still nagging in the back of his mind, he just took Musa for her word and figured that he was a big brother of sorts to her, much like Brandon. He couldn't help but feel a little territorial, he had wanted her for so long and to now know just how good it felt to be with her, he didn't want to let her go for anything. Gently running his fingers through her hair, causing her to lift her chin and gaze up at him, their met her lips once again.

* * *

The rest of the night continued as a fairy tale, it was funny how well everything had fallen into place. Just a week ago their entire lives were up in the air and now everything was settled, everything was safe. Musa smiled as she took her seat at the table that their little group had laid claim to, with Riven who just happened to leave his hand on her knee for the rest of the night. Not that she minded, any contact with him was always welcomed.

"So how about next year we just study, takes exams, and you know, not fight crazy psychopaths trying to claim control over the universe," Brandon said as he and Stella joined the group at their table.

"Really?" Musa laughed. "Because I loved the little vacation,"

"It's true," Riven added with a light hearted laugh, surprising everyone with his lighter attitude. "how many people can say they've been to Shadowhaunt,"

"Not exactly a vacation spot to brag about at the club," Stella added and took another sip of the punch that was mostly just vodka at that point in the night.

Musa smiled and gently leaned into Riven as the punch she had began to take it's effect. He was the only one who hadn't been able to be as carefree as his friends since he was currently nursing his concussion and had to take it easy in all aspects of his life for the next bit. Although he couldn't deny he liked watching his normally rather stuffy friends cut loose just a bit.

The night carried on relaxed and vibrant. All eleven friends finally relexed, finally able to sigh a sigh of relief and contentment. The party continued into the wee hours of the morning and at some point in the night Musa remembered that the eleven of them had taken a picture and a copy would remain in the princess's possession for years to come.

It was perfect.

* * *

Prince Cunningham had every intention of continuing tradition of going to Magix and picking up his best friend to begin their summer together, like he had done the year before. So when he landed in Magix and noticed that his best friend had yet to return any of this calls or his text messages he felt a small bolt of worry run through him as he stepped of the private jet and into the car that was waiting for him on the landing hanger.

"Where to?" A familiar voice asked as he sat down in the car, still fixated on his phone, awaiting a reply from Musa.

"Nowhere," Daniel said as a small smile crept up on his face when he recognized the face that was looking at him through the rear view mirror. "If you're driving I might as well kill myself now," Daniel snapped snidely

Musa said nothing, she simply got out of the front seat and jumped in the back to give Daniel a hefty hug and smile up at him, rather proud of herself for surprising him before he could surprise her. She knew Daniel just as well as he knew her and she knew that he would be there, like clockwork, to pick her up and take her home. While she had been rather distracted since she and Riven had not stopped texting each other since the prom, she didn't want to ignore Daniel either. So she comprised and she'd actually stopped off at Red Fountain to see Riven off as he left for a pretty impressive summer program that only he and three other students from the school were accepted to. And from there she came to greet another very important person to her.

The princess had been distracted by her budding romance but she would never be too distracted to see one of the most important men in her life. "I'm all packed and everything is being sent back to the castle as we speak," She informed the prince as the actual driver to the car sat in the front seat.

"So we have the whole summer," Daniel concluded. "What to do?"

"Well actually my surprises aren't quite finished," Musa told him and then looked over to the driver and gave him a destination. "To the marina,"

Daniel looked at her in surprise but simply nodded trusting his best friend and her plans for them. After having a rather eventful night, Musa woke up late in the morning and stopped at Red Fountain to say good bye to the boys, especially Riven, only to find that all of them would be back in Magix at some point in the summer so they had arranged to all meet up in Magix in about a month. That left a month for Musa to be left to her own devices which meant she could do something like plan a cruise on one of the private yachts her family owned and arrange for it to dock in a port not too far to pick up Nate and the rest of her little group and then to Tides to hang out with Layla. Musa figured that her friends would have a blast with Layla and as she would figure out in a few days, she was right.

And so began another unforgettable summer, after a rather unforgettable year.

* * *

_1. if anyone noticed, I just happened to cut out the part where Musa backs away nervously after kissing Riven. Why you may ask? Artistic license I suppose, I just didn't find it fitting with the way I set it up for later; it worked better that he simply slipped out of consciousness again. If you don't like it…looks like you SOL (Sorry)_

_DONE! Wow that one took a while. _

_Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed and PM'ed and all those other nice things for the story. Its always nice to open my inbox and see that someone appreciates something I've done and thanks for sticking with the story for so long (I know I haven't made it easy) _

_I hope you guys liked it and as I have told a few people that PM'ed me, I have every intention of continuing this to finish the third season with the next story. With that said, it took me over 2 years to finish this so please give me some time with the next one! I promise I will give it the ole' med school try. I also have one plot line in my mind that I want to do but I need to forge another story around it in order to do it._

_Until next time_

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


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