Well, here we are, Part Five of the Musa & Teggy series. As always, for bios on any of my characters, please check out my forum bit. And yes, today (the 27th October) is Anyuna's birthday - Happy B-Day Yuni!!
Thanks go to: Spongey, for being the best little sister I never had. Liz (babywhale) for her helpful nuggets of WITCHy knowledge. Meg (Chibi Horsewoman) for writing some damn funny fanfics. Gabby, who always wants MORA! And last but not least, Tune, for being the best damn pixie ever.
Standard Disclaimer Type Thing: I don't own Winx. I don't own WITCH. But I do own Tegryn, the Starz and the good people of An-Chuan. So there.
Random Quote: Hey, this is mine. That's mine. All this is mine. I'm claiming all this as mine. Except that bit. I don't want that bit. But all the rest of this is mine. Hey, this has been a really good day. I've eaten five times, I've slept six times, and I've made a lot of things mine. Tomorrow, I'm gonna see if I can't have sex with something. (The Cat, from Red Dwarf)
Alfea - it's a place that can't help but look beautiful. Even on the most dank and miserable days, it shines out like a magnificent beacon. Even if it was blanketed in a heavy, thick pea-souper of a fog, it would still look stunning. But when bathed in sunlight, the castle seems to take on an extra spark of energy - and today was no exception.
It was early September, and the Alfea School for Fairies was bustling with activity as pupils old and new arrived to begin a new school year. Friends were excitedly chattering away, catching up on all the latest gossip and recounting what they got up to during the summer break. Freshers were being given grand tours of the school grounds as part of their induction. Mr Knut was hard at work putting the finishing touches to the flowerbeds in the still battle-scarred central courtyard, and Professors Du Four, Wizgiz and Palladium were looking on from the staffroom window as they often did at induction day, but this time hoping for a little less school-threatening drama than the last couple of years.
Away from all the hubbub, the number 35 leva-bus from Majix Central Levabus Station pulled up outside the main gates and, in amongst the fresh batch of new girls, a happy couple stepped off. Tegryn and Musa stood arm-in-arm and surveyed the castle, looking every inch the still-madly-in-love types, as though they had just arrived back from a magical honeymoon. Of course, being the newly-engaged fiancé and fiancée that they were, this was almost true.
"Well here we are Musie," Tegryn said, "Back to work!"
"As long as we don't have to work so hard this year. You know what they say - all work and no play..." she said, fixing Tegryn with a mischievous grin.
Tegryn smiled as he planted a soft, tender kiss on her lips. "Come on - the others will be wondering where we've been!"
And so they walked in through the gates, and as they approached the main door into the castle itself, they were greeted by the stern figure of Ms Griselda as she led a party of new pupils outside.
"Good morning Ms Griselda." Tegryn and Musa greeted politely in unison.
"And good morning to you too." she replied stiffly.
"And how is my all-time favourite vice-principal today?" Tegryn asked cheekily.
"Hmmph! In case you've forgotten Mr Devanallt, I'm the only vice-principal you've EVER had!"
"Well there you go then - no contest!"
The group of girls gathered behind her sniggered quietly at this cheeky banter. Ms Griselda shot them one of her 'shut up' looks before turning back to Tegryn.
"I trust you've spent the summer in a productive manner."
"Oh most certainly. We've been to Melody and..."
"That's not what I'm talking about. I mean, I hope you've been practising your magic skills, especially those spells which I taught you."
Tegryn chuckled. "Actually I have - I think I've pretty much got the hang of them now, and I've even come up with one or two myself."
"Good, I'll look forward to reading about it. I expect to see an essay on my desk first thing Friday morning!"
"What?!" Musa said in astonishment. "Homework? Already!?"
"Yes, no less than 2000 words. He still has a lot of catching up to do." Griselda explained. "Don't forget, he barely made it through last year - I'll expect a lot better from now on!"
Tegryn groaned as Griselda's tour resumed. Luckily for him, a much more pleasant sight quickly showed up - it was Flora, who was accompanied by a younger girl with the same tanned skin, deep green eyes and sweet look in her face. The girl's light brown hair was fairly short, tousled like Tegryn's and slightly scruffy, and she was dressed in a pair of blue denim dungarees with a cartoony flower on the chest.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Flora said in her familiar honeyed voice.
"Well, apart from Grizzly hitting Teggy with an assignment before we've got in the front door, we're ultra-cool!" Musa replied, hugging her flower fairy pal for all she was worth.
"So who's your friend?" Tegryn asked.
"Guys, this is my little sister Delphinia..."
"Delphi" the girl interrupted.
"Ahem. Delphinia is starting at Alfea this year."
"Delphi!"
"Oh, that's so cool!" Tegryn said as he stuck out his hand in greeting. "We're very pleased to meet you, Delphinia!"
"Thanks. And... I really do prefer Delphi." she said as she started to whisper in his ear. "It's only Flora and my mom who call me Delphinia. Honestly, they're so stuck up about it! Anyways, I'd better go - wouldn't want to miss out on Grizzly's tour, now would I?"
Tegryn couldn't help smiling as they waved her off - sure, Delphi had the same eyes and looks as Flora, but he could tell already that was where the similarity ended. It was easy to see she was more bubbly and boisterous than her more mild-mannered big sister.
"Have the others arrived yet?" Musa asked as they walked together to the girl's dorm.
"Oh, they're all here already - you're the last ones to get here. Why ARE you so late anyway?"
Musa chuckled. "When we arrived back in Majix, Teggy wanted to prove that his sense of direction wasn't as lousy as it used to be so I let him lead the way... big mistake, HUGE!"
Tegryn blushed slightly.
"Huge? How come?" Flora asked, "Or don't I need to ask?"
"Well, it took us an hour to find the bus station, even though it's just around the corner from the teleport station, and when we did find it he got us on the wrong bus! Before we knew it, we were in Aquisates!"
"Oh dear," Flora said whilst trying to stifle a laugh. "It seems his bad sense of direction is starting to rub off on you! Perhaps I should lead the way from here - the others are all there waiting for you, and boy do they have some stories to tell!"