Summary: Everyone knows the story of how Bloom was brought to Alfea by Stella and eventually led the Winx Club into many battles against the Trix and their allies, saving the Magical Universe. In another world, what if Stella had not been accepted back into Alfea? What if, instead of going to another fairy school, she decided to go to Cloud Tower to prove that good witches existed? What happens when she meets Bloom?

Warning the characters may be a bit OC but all ships will happen. Another thing is that this is going to be based off of the Nick specials since I never watched the other versions. I don't own Winx Club.

Another warning: This chapter will contain some kissing scenes (I didn't want to spoil that detail, but I do want people to be warned if they get uncomfortable) and cursing.

The Battle for Magix

Chapter 11

Night approached far too quickly for Stella's liking, she had opted-knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep-to watch out from the roofs of Alfea, her arms resting on the balcony and her gaze assessing and reassessing the edge of the forest. It was too dark and freezing, the icy wind biting against any skin that was even slightly exposed, the moon blotted out by dark-thundering-clouds and the only light seemed to emit from the school itself. The forest was also silent, no chirping crickets or hooting owls or even the rustling of other animals dashing from branch to branch or tree to tree.

"Can't sleep?" Flora. Stella fought down her disappointment that it wasn't Brandon checking up on her, why would he? She had made things infinitely more awkward and complex. Besides, Riven needed his friends there with him, now, especially after the dark spell on him being revealed, even if the idiot didn't want to admit that and instead wanted to distance himself from everyone. Flora leaned against the balcony, settling right next to her, with her fingers flexing in the wind. "I can't either. I'm worried about Bloom, I know that she can handle herself without powers, but I'm still worried."

Stella picked at her fingernails, contemplating biting one before pressing them firmly against the pink stone, she couldn't go back to middle school habits or bad habits. "It should have been me." She whispered, more so to herself, tears making her voice catch.

Flora turned to look at her, looking appalled. "Stella-"

"I failed!" Stella cut her off, gripping the stone like it was a tether to keep her grounded, to keep her one the roof and not combing the forest looking for the girl who used to be her best friend, could still be. "I brought Bloom here, if it wasn't for me, none of this would've been happening. If I wasn't so stupidly selfish, Bloom would have been safe and on Earth, not caught up in this horrible mess with her powers stolen and lost somewhere with Sky." Stella pushed away from the balcony, she couldn't stand too close to the edge, her thoughts would turn to a dark place and she couldn't handle it.

"Did you steal Bloom's powers? Did you order the Trix to go power-hungry? Are you in any way responsible for what the Trix do?" Flora held her shoulders, trying to keep her still, Stella hadn't even realized she was shaking so badly. Flora smiled sadly, "Bloom would have found her way to the Magic Dimension somehow, I think fate played a huge hand in it, fate made it, so she was there when you were attacked by Knut. And, it was you she came with, not the Trix."

"But I-"

Flora shook her head. "You can't blame yourself, Stella. I know how you feel, I know that your demons are picking on that feeling, but you're not at fault for any of this. If anything, you saved Bloom. You saved her, because the Trix were searching for her power and they would have stopped at nothing to find it and take it, so you saved her because you found her instead and you brought her here, rather than her coming as an aftermath of the Trix." She pulled Stella into a hug, and Stella squeezed her eyes shut, tears slipping out. It felt good, to be held, to be pieced back together when she was falling apart at the seams.

"Even so-" Stella pulled away from the motherly embrace, taking a few steps back. "-I should have stayed behind. I have magic, Bloom doesn't, and she's needed here if we have any hope of finding the Dragon Flame. I'm not that important in comparison. The fact that she's not back yet, is my fault." She returned her attention to the forest, so dark and looming and creepy. Plastering a smile on her face, she turned briefly to Flora, who looked helpless. "Thanks for trying to help, Flo, I just need to be on my own, right now."

A hand on her shoulder nearly made her flinch, but Stella pinched the skin of one hand in response and turned her head slightly to look at Flora. "Whenever you need me, I'll be here." The hand slid away and seconds later Stella heard the door back inside open and close, she wiped at her tears, but they kept coming. It should have been her, she should have stayed behind, not been swept up in Brandon's arms like a useless child. Now, Bloom was missing, and she was still here, useless.

She peered over the balcony, surveying the ground beneath her. It was a far drop and a small, dark and hopeless part of her wondered if this would be a better end than to be ripped to shreds by creatures of darkness. Stella gripped the stone even harder, digger her nails into it and trying to think of a million reasons not to be stupid. Her parents would be horrified, even if they were fighting her. Her friends-were they even her friends?-would share that sentiment. Why was she fighting? What was the point of fighting, when all she did was lose?

Liar.

She had lied to Bloom, had pretended that she was full of hope, when she could only feel dread. Her eyes burned, and she squeezed them shut, trying to think past the next few minutes. She just had to keep surviving, keep trying to make it, there had to be a future. But what if that future didn't involve her? What if she didn't deserve to have a future? Resting her head against her arms, she could feel the teardrops against her bare fingers.

"Sunshine?" The voice made every muscle inside her tense, and she lifted her head from her arms. She wiped desperately at her eyes, but she was sure that the tears had left red trails down her face, before turning around. The door shut behind Brandon, the light from the hallway gone, he was standing in front of the door, dressed in his Red fountain suit, prepared for battle. Stella had expected him to be with Riven or Timmy or someone else, because she wasn't sure what to say to him.

She was scared. She was scared that he would break her heart and that she would never recover. She was scared that he would die tomorrow, that he would leave her, and she would never get to tell him how she feels. She didn't know which option terrified her more.

He crossed the rooftop to her in a few, long strides. Up close, she could see the shadows in his eyes, the shadows she was sure her own eyes reflected. "Sunshine. I'm here." Brandon wrapped his arms around her, pressing them closely together. Stella tried to remain in one piece, tried not to break into tears, and her entire body shook with the effort of trying to keep it inside. "Let it out, sunshine, it's just me. Let it all out." He whispered in her ear, his chin resting on her shoulder as he leaned down.

Stella stood on her tip toes, her chin on his shoulder and brought her arms-that had been hanging limp at her sides-up to wrap around him. She gripped the muscles in his back tightly, a sob breaking out of her throat as she fell apart. "This is all my fault! I don't know how to make it better! I don't know how to fix anything! What am I supposed to do? I feel like I failed everyone! I'm a failure and no matter how hard I try or what I do to make up for it, I keep screwing everything up. No wonder my parents don't care. No wonder Bloom left, because who wants to be around a screw up?"

Brandon pulled back and she was left standing there, her entire body shaking violently. His hands were on her shoulders and his eyes searched hers, face level with hers as he leaned over, one hand lifted to her face, cupping her cheek while his thumb wiped away the tears that escaped. "Listen to me, sunshine. You're not useless. You are worth so much more than you know, you are the light of my life. It doesn't matter to me what anyone else thinks, because I think that you are beautiful and incredible and you're still-" He trailed off, jaw clenching as he searched for words. "-still the girl that I…that I started falling for, that I'm still falling for."

Stella felt dizzy, like the world was spinning and any thread of reality she tried to grasp onto slipped from her fingers. Brandon, he liked her, his eyes burned with sincerity, even though she kept making stupid mistakes and that the entire reason they were in this mess was because of her own selfish heart. Because she had selfishly taken Bloom with her to Magix in desperate need of a friend, forgetting that actions have consequences. "Brandon, please, I don't-" She could hardly breathe, let alone formulate her own thoughts.

His eyes shuttered, and he took a step back, looking like he had been slapped and all the emotion that had taken over his face in those precious seconds was gone, dissipating between one blink and the next. "I understand, Stella. You don't have to say anything, I was completely out of line for doing that to you, especially when at a time like this." He took a step back, and Stella felt like her heart was being cleaved open, immediately wishing she could formulate the words she needed to say.

"No…please…I-" There was nothing in his eyes, no encouragement, no concern and Stella felt even more tears slip out, a sob building in her throat. She had to do it, take the final leap, admit what she had realized a long time ago, but had been too stubborn to admit aloud. If she didn't. she could lose him forever and he wouldn't know that she loved him. She loved him, more than anything. Stella took a step closer, then another, until they were toe to toe and she lifted on her tip toes and pressed her lips to his.

It took a minute for him to respond, but then one hand was in her hair and another tugged her closer. Stella gasped, before his lips were on hers again, desperate and moving fiercely against her own. He turned them and lead her backwards until she was caged between the wall and him. Her hands were on his shoulders, feeling the muscles beneath the armor and then roaming his back underneath the cape. Stella pressed against him, feeling a spark touch every nerve ending where they met, where he pressed against her and she against him. His hands were on either side of her head, his lips pressing against hers and her mouth opened underneath his, their tongues meeting.

She tore her mouth away from his, so she could breathe, her breaths escaping her in little gasps and she bit her lip when he continued pressing kisses against her neck, going to the juncture where her neck met her shoulder. Stella let out a noise she didn't know she could make when his teeth rubbed against the sensitive spot, his tongue soothing the mark as he sucked against her skin. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she felt her entire body collapse against the wall, every part of her felt alive.

She tugged his face back to hers after a minute of him leaving hickeys on her neck, her tongue licking the seam of his lips and he groaned, their tongues meeting again in an open-mouthed kiss. Stella ran her fingers through his hair, feeling the soft, silk-like strands of chestnut between her fingers and tugged him impossibly closer. He pressed against her, his hands dropping from beside her head and running up and down her sides, Stella felt a breathy sound escape her, she was burning and burning and burning against him. She didn't want to stop, she didn't want to, but she knew that this couldn't last forever, even if it put so many pieces of her back together.

She pressed one last, lingering kiss to his lips, before pulling away, putting her hands on his chest and pushing him back slightly when he moved to follow her. His eyes opened, and she stared into the dark chocolate depths of them for a minute, catching her breath. "I love you." Stella blurted out, the words leaving her in a whisper. "That…that's what I was trying to say. I love you and it scares me…I'm so scared of what tomorrow might bring. I can't keep breaking, and if something happens to you…I'm scared that loving you is going to kill me because I can't lose you."

She forced herself to admit those words staring into his eyes, trying to read him, trying to see if it was too much, if she was being too much. If she was too late and she had broken him, and the timing wasn't right. Stella felt the tears start falling and pressed another kiss against his lips, he cupped her face in both hands as if she was something precious and he pressed his lips to her forehead. "You won't lose me, sunshine. We're survivors. We'll make it past tomorrow and the next day and everyday after that, and we'll do it, together." He kissed her again, his lips moving gently and sweetly against hers, unlike the desperation behind their kisses a few seconds ago. He pulled back, a smile on his lips and the mental wall that he had lifted completely down.

"I love you." Stella said again, grateful for the wall there because she could hardly support herself anymore.

"I know. I'm highly lovable." He gestured jokingly to himself, before his eyes softened and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her. "I love you too, sunshine." He whispered in her ear.

Stella tightened her hold around him, closing her eyes, he had chased away the demons that had circled her head for hours since she had come up her. His words, the conviction in them, he truly believed in her, he truly saw her as a ray of sunlight. "You know, you called me the light of your life. Sounds a little cheesy." She teased, pulling back a little, but they were still wrapped around each other, her back still against the wall-which was starting to become a little bit uncomfortable.

Brandon rolled his eyes. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you, sunshine?" He asked dryly.

"Now, where would the fun be in that?" Stella responded cheekily, and he pressed a kiss against her neck. She batted him away, heat rushing to her face, and he smirked a little at her, leaning back to survey her face. "Hey, you can't just do that. It's not fair." She stomped her foot, aware of how childish and immature she was being.

He chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you did the same thing to me, sunshine." He interlaced their fingers and lead her into the building, it was just a stairway that led up to the roof, to which a green-glass door lead to the hallway of the senior dormitory. Stella frowned a little as he tugged her into the direction of the room she had claimed. He pressed a finger on the blue scanner beside the door before pushing the door open.

Timmy was passed out on the couch, glasses askew on his face and little snores escaping him. A few open laptops were in front of him and a green screw floated above a circular orb at the center of the table. Brandon chuckled a little, taking the glasses off his friends face while Stella grabbed a blanket from the linen closet and handed it to Brandon as he unfolded it and laid it over Timmy. "Poor guy." Stella eyed the technological devices warily. She had no idea how to shut them down or even operate them and she didn't want to wake him up, he probably hadn't slept too well last night. "How's he handling everything?" She whispered.

Brandon sighed. "Not so good. But he's working on getting the technology back up and running with Tecna, which has taken them both almost all day and they're nowhere near close to it." He made a face, "I'm not sure how to explain it."

Stella nodded in understanding. "I get it. I'm not entirely good with the tecno-mumbo-jumbo." She smiled a little, before glancing down the hallway to the rooms. "I could move him to a bed, if you think it would be good for him. It would probably be infinitely more comfortable than the couch." She jabbed a finger towards the rooms.

"Nah." Brandon dismissed. "I think Timmy would probably want to be near his devices when he wakes up, so he can immediately get back to it. It's not entirely healthy, but if one of them goes off or alerts him to something, he might want to be near it, so he can alert us." He explained, opening one of the doors of the room he had probably claimed as his. Stella had no idea how she had been able to keep the room she had settled in originally, seeing as more rooms had been needed for the heroes to come stay. But somehow, they had worked around that, possibly due to some students high tailing it out of Magix the minute bad news came.

Stella sat down at the bed, stifling a yawn. "How's Riven doing? I wish I could have done more for him, rather than blurt it out in front of Codatorta and Saladin." Brandon walked over and laid down on the small bed, tugging her down with him. Stella complied, laying down with her head resting on his chest, right over his heartbeat. She was faintly aware that he was still wearing the suit, but she was tired and didn't know if she could muster up the energy to switch out his clothes for him, if he would want that with how everything was happening.

Brandon stroked her arm. "He'll be ok. We didn't get to chat much tonight, but he did eat dinner with us, even if it was in silence, and he doesn't seem to carry any resentment for us because of everything. Besides, he's got Musa to help him out with everything, seeing as they definitely talked for a little bit." A chuckle escaped his mouth and Stella smiled a little at that, Musa had seemed alright in all of their interactions and as long as she had a hint of patience, she was sure that Musa and Riven would work out alright.

Stella nodded, closing her eyes, his heartbeat was soothing, lulling her into a safe and secure rest, not haunted by nightmares and worries and self-loathing.

Morning came with loud knocking on the apartment door, Stella groaned a little, not wanting to let go of her pillow and closing her eyes a little tighter. She was just about to fall back asleep when whoever knocked decided to knock again, somehow even louder. A chuckle followed that, and Stella jumped when her pillow vibrated, her eyes shooting open as she sat up. Brandon smirked at her a little, folding his arms across his chest and Stella felt heat rise to her face, she had used him as a human pillow, how lovely.

"Morning, sunshine." Totally unfair, why did he have to have a husky morning voice? Stella rolled her eyes, turning her head to get her wits about her, before she frowned, heading to the door. Brandon followed silently after her, the common room was empty, Timmy must have woken up early and opted to go to Tecna's dorm or retreat to the cafeteria. Brandon stepped around her, pulling the door open to reveal Lucy.

Lucy elbowed past him. "Out of the way, hero." A smirk crossed her face and she moved with the grace of a serpent. "Morning Stel. Took you long enough to respond." She eyed Stella's outfit before turning back to Brandon with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, was I interrupting something, you both look a little ruffled." Her smirk widened, black-painted lips pulling back to reveal white teeth.

"Oh, shut up Lu-Lu." Stella rolled her eyes, glancing over at the clock. "I thought you weren't a morning person. To what do we owe the pleasure of a visit before nine am?" She used the word pleasure loosely. She would rather go back to sleep and not deal with reality for a little bit longer, because the reality was that they were probably going to have to face a huge battle today against a large army that they had very little chance of beating.

Lucy crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. "The jinx club or whatever they call themselves-" She waved a hand dismissively. "-believe they have found a way to return Mirta to her less-orange self." Lucy said, and Stella felt her eyes widen.

Mirta, she felt like such a bad friend for nearly forgetting Mirta and the horrible thing had happened to her. All this time, Mirta had been stuck as pumpkin as a result of Icy and here Stella was, being selfish, once more. Brandon, seeming to know where her thoughts had headed, put a hand on the small of her back, pulling her back down to the ground and causing her to inhale and exhale. She closed and reopened her eyes, aware of the way Lucy's gaze had zeroed in on the contact. "And, you came to get me after they told you?" Stella lifted an eyebrow, "I would think you'd want to be there every step of the way."

Lucy glanced away, eyes lighting up once they saw Riven emerge from his room at the end of the hallway. He was running a hand through his hair and grimacing a little as he shifted his weight from foot to foot. "Ah. Hello. Riven, I see you're feeling a bit better." Lucy commented wryly, shrugging her shoulders carelessly. "Sorry about the evil spell Darcy did, us more morally-bound witches know better than to cross the line of someone's free will."

Riven glowered. "It seems, I was the last to know of the predicament." He muttered.

Lucy blinked. "Wow, sorry, that sucks." She shifted her weight from foot to foot, looking a little uncomfortable before turning back to Stella. "Anyways, aren't you going to go see Mirta, seeing as she might not be a pumpkin soon?"

"Right." Riven muttered, glancing in between them. "Is she going to be ok? I can't imagine being stuck as a pumpkin is any better than my issue." Concern flittered across his features, lingering in his violet eyes.

Stella sighed through her nose. "I'm not sure. I'm sure if we form a punching line for the Trix, though, she might feel a bit better."

Lucy snorted, a wicked smirk appearing on her lips. "I don't know about that one, Mirta abhors violence." Although, she seemed more than keen on the idea of the three brats getting punched multiple times, a delighted little glint sparked in her eyes, full of malice for the Trix for everything they had done to Mirta.

"Can't she make an exception for the Trix?" Stella said, "A pacifist would probably want to punch the Trix, even just a little for everything they've done."

Lucy nodded solemnly. "I think we might have to conduct this line and whoever hits the hardest gets the grand prize of a second hit. Or should we have it be like a bracket? We could make bets on it and whoever gets the most points get to chuck a Trix member." She suggested, her smirk suggesting that she might actually get everyone together to do it.

"I don't think that would be wise." Brandon said.

"Whoever told you we were smart and without a death wish was a liar." Stella replied, smirking a little. She glanced at the clock again, "We'll continue planning this later, Lu-lu. I'm going to go check on the progress of our pixie friends." She made a face at the last word, although it was playful. She gave one last look to Brandon, committing every detail of him to memory in case they wouldn't be able to see each other before the Trix arrived with their army of red bugs.

A corner of Brandon's mouth lifted. "See you later, sunshine." He slid one eye closed into a wink and Stella nodded back before she left, making sure to cast a quick refresher charm that tied her hair up into a messy bun and brushed her teeth. The hallways were barren, most students ensconced in their rooms or at the cafeteria or even taking watch for when the first signs of attack arrived. Glancing down the hallway, Stella tried to force down the familiarity of being here, before she had been expelled from Alfea, the walls had been like a second home to her. Even though, she had very little friends outside of the guys that weren't superficial-friends with her because of her influence-Alfea had been homier than Solaria sometimes.

Especially considering her parents had some vendetta against each other and couldn't stand to be in the same wing as one another. Stella batted the thoughts away, she would be fine, even if she didn't have the support of her parents, she had Brandon and Bloom and Flora on her side. They would support her and be the people who lifted her up when she felt down. Especially, Mirta, who had also been a dear friend, even if she had been missing for so long, stuck in that pumpkin form with no way of communicating to anyone but Flora.

"I heard that Riven was spelled by Darcy." A voice interrupted her inner musings and she glanced up from the ground, eyes momentarily going wide as she recognized the slim figure in front of her. Mrs. Griselda towered over her, as always, imposing with a stern set to her expression and her hair kept in a neat bob to her shoulders. She had a clipboard at her chest, as always, although the infuriated expression Stella had seen last year after she had blown up the science lab was far gone from her face.

Stella shifted her weight from one foot to another, she knew that Griselda was still here, but she hadn't been prepared to talk, alone, with the woman after so long of avoiding her. "Yeah." She answered, keeping her voice level. "Darcy had used him as a spy to keep tabs on Bloom, which had a crap ton of side effects on him seeing as his mind, will power, and body was slowly being taken over by Darcy." Another reason Stella wanted to form a punching line, Riven may be an ass-putting it mildly, there-but he didn't deserve to have his mind cruelly taken from him because of a psychotic witch.

"Poor man." Griselda nodded sympathetically. "After this battle, I would like to put our differences aside Princess Stella. There are many actions we both did in the past that were not very good at representing who we are. I am deeply ashamed of how I reacted to you, calling you those names and talking down to you as such made me feel incredibly guilty. You have been entirely unselfish this year and it was cruel of me to act as a bully towards you when I am an adult." Griselda said, still maintaining her usual aloof politeness, although there was a hint of emotion in those dark brown irises.

Stella blinked, surprised. "Don't be sorry Mrs. Griselda. I wasn't the easiest student to get along with and I understand what you said, it gave me the slap of reality I needed, so if anything, I should be thanking you for that." She dipped her head a little in respect, a wane smile tugging at her lips. "You don't need to call me Princess Stella, remember? I'm not a princess anymore."

"I'm sure, that when this is over, your parents will be forced to see that having you as their princess and heir is the greatest gift and honor." Mrs. Griselda smiled a little, a rare sight, before she walked past Stella without even a second glance.

Flora was pacing when Stella entered, looking like she hadn't slept a wink last night and Stella felt a little bad, feeling partially responsible for it. She snapped her fingers, summoning some green tea for Flora, before handing the steaming mug to the tired fairy. Musa and Tecna were both seated at the table, on the same side while Flora paced on the other side after depositing the tea on the table. Mirta was on the table, her pumpkin self seeming deflated and sad. Tecna had her hands braced on the table, the technology devices her and Timmy had been at work with sitting discarded in a separate part of the room.

"Morning girls." Stella went around Musa and Tecna, knowing that she'd probably do a bit better doing that rather than if she intercepted Flora's pacing. The balcony doors were open, allowing the cool air to waft into the room while also allowing the stench of the previous spells to exit. Stella shivered a little, turning her attention to Mirta. "Hey Mirta. I'm sorry I haven't been around in a while. I've missed you." Her throat felt clogged up and she swallowed the rest of the words she wanted to say while Tecna awkwardly put a hand on her shoulder, patting a little before withdrawing.

Flora stopped her pacing, arms still folded across her chest and her teeth worrying at her lower lip. She eyed Mirta for a second, unsure of what to do as she began drumming her fingers against one arm, anxious. "Flora, you can't give up." Musa said, giving Flora a long glance. "Remember, we're so close to breaking the curse, you just need to believe you can do it. You believed in us, so now it's time for you to believe in yourself." A light flush dusted her cheeks as she caught Stella's eye. "Hey, I'm trying to be encouraging."

Tecna ignored them both. "You're the only one who can help her." She directed to Flora, who looked even slightly more unsure of herself, eyes downcast as she focused on Mirta and she seemed to be racking her brain for something, anything that could help.

"Flo, please try to bring her back." Stella said pleadingly, reaching out a tentative hand to touch the leaves on the pumpkin form Mirta had been hexed into. Flora glanced up from the pumpkin, glancing into her eyes, her jade eyes reflecting her uncertainty. Stella was at a loss, she wasn't sure what she could say to convince Flora that she could do this, that she had this inside of her and all she needed to do was to dig a little deeper to find it.

Stella gave Musa a helpless look, so the bluenette took over. "You can do this Flo. We all know you can." Musa grinned, giving her a thumbs up.

Flora seemed to think on it for a minute. "You're right. Thanks girls." She said, walking closer to Mirta, starting to ooze a little bit of confidence. Flora settled her hands on either side of the 'face' of the pumpkin, closing her eyes in the process. A glow started to emanate from the pumpkin and Stella was aware of Musa and Tecna backing away and covering their eyes from the bright beams of light that emerged. It steadily grew even brighter, causing Stella to shield her own eyes and wait for the light to die down.

After several seconds, the blinding light dissipated, and Stella cautiously glanced over, the pumpkin glowed for a second before disappearing into green sparkles, the space between Flora's hands empty. Stella felt her heart sputter, and put a hand to her chest, wondering where Mirta had gone and what had gone wrong. Something must have for Mirta to disappear, and even Flora looked a little uncertain and scared.

"Mirta?" Flora called out questioningly.

Stella glanced up from the spot where the pumpkin had been and felt a relieved smile threaten to crack her face open. Mirta had reappeared a few feet in front of the table, silhouetted by a residue of green sparkles. Her silver eyes were questioning and full of disbelief as she stared down at her hands as if she couldn't believe she had actually been freed. Stella put a hand over her mouth, a few tears slipping out of her eyes as she watched her friend return from her orange form.

Although, she could go a few days without seeing the orange pumpkin on the white shirt serving as a painful reminder of what happened. "Mirta!" Flora sounded incredibly relieved. "Oh Mirta. You're back." She almost sprinted forward and wrapped the crimson-haired girl in a hug. Stella slowly lowered her hand, and cautiously stepped around the table. She hadn't forgotten the whole debacle with the ley lines and that Mirta would still need to go see the Nurse to fully recover and to get rid of the pale pallor of her skin and the gray bags under her eyes.

"Oh, thank you Flora. Thank you for not giving up on me. You saved me." Mirta said gratefully, and Flora pulled back, putting a hand on her own chest. Stella smiled a little, feeling guilty for the fact that amidst everything, she hadn't been able to properly come see her friend-and hopeful coven member-since the poor girl had been ruthlessly turned into a pumpkin. Stella peered at her hands, they were shaking at her sides and she glanced to her side to see if Tecna or Musa had noticed, but thankfully both girls were gazing at Flora and Mirta.

"You were a really great pumpkin, Mirta. But I think I like you better as person." Flora said, lowering her hands to her sides and letting go of Mirta. Her expression suddenly lost its vitality and happiness, "We have a lot to catch you up on after you go visit the nurse." Flora said, her way of explaining the change of emotion and the sudden intensity that had settled over the group like a blanket.

Stella hooked an arm through Mirta's. "Hey M. It hasn't been the same without you." She said, and they exchanged sad smiles. "Flora and I will take you to the nurse. Musa, can you do me a huge favor and go check on Riven? He should be in the canteen with the rest of the guys, I'll catch up with you later." Stella turned to look at the bluenette, she wasn't trying to matchmake, exactly, but she knew that Riven needed a crutch right now. And, she also knew that people who knew him prior to the event may not be able to fully come to terms with it, since he would be trying to return to how he was without proper healing.

"Why are the boys here? Isn't it a school day?" Mirta inquired, looking interested by that small detail. "Does it have something to do with why you're all so tense and why Bloom isn't here?" The mention of Bloom nicked a little at Stella's heart and she shared a glance with Flora before they both lead her into the hallway.

Stella bit her lip, mentally debating on whether she should start first. "Mirta." She finally said, causing the girl to look at her. Mirta looked even paler than before, probably due to the painful solution of the poisonous ley lines and the whole being kept in the dark. "What do you remember about before Icy's dark spell?" She carefully didn't say what exactly the spell had entailed.

Mirta closed her eyes for a second, worrying at her lower lip. "I remember finding Bloom and explaining the Trix's plans to steal her magic to her after tricking her. Then, I think we fought them and Icy seemed to get really annoyed about my presence disrupting her plans and fired a dark spell at me. That's when I became a pumpkin, right?" She gave them both a glance asking if she had her facts correct and they both nodded. "Everything after that is a little fuzzy, you were there afterwards and then you weren't." Mirta glanced at Stella, though there was nothing accusatory in her eyes, just plain curiosity.

"Due to the Trix's attempt at Bloom and their toying with the ley lines, the schools were each put on lockdown. We weren't really aloud to leave our respective schools and the Exhibition for Red Fountain was almost canceled." Stella explained, wincing a little. "I would have come if I could, but I wasn't allowed to leave school grounds prior to the exhibition since I had received an invitation from Brandon."

Mirta nodded. "My brother loves watching the exhibition." She suddenly frowned a little. "Why hadn't my family come to visit? Did they know anything about the attack or the whole pumpkin thing?" She inquired.

Flora took over. "They were alerted, but Magix was only pulling emergency leave or event leave-in terms of the Exhibition, which was a little ridiculous, in my opinion-so your family wasn't approved of coming. The council deemed it safer that way for them to not be at threat of the Trix." She explained, a little wane smile tugged at her lips in memory of the exhibition. "Besides, the exhibition was a bit of a legitimate explosion this year."

Stella rolled her eyes at the double meaning. "Basically, Bloom found out that Sky was engaged to Princess Diaspro-he's not anymore, by the way-and it led to a bit of a cat fight to put it lightly." Stella explained, flinching a little. "And that happened after we had all managed to sneak into the exhibition with a bit of help from some other friends of mine. So, we weren't exactly supposed to be there."

Mirta stifled a giggle, swaying a little. "I'm not that surprised about it." She yawned. "Can you finish the story in a minute, the world feels like it's spinning?" Flora gave Stella a wide-eyed and worried look, before they both put Mirta's arms around their shoulders, supporting her as they walked the rest of the way to the Nurse's office. The woman had her back to them, with her assistant typing away at the computer.

"Nurse Ophelia." Flora called, causing the woman to turn around. "We managed to free Mirta, but now we really need the poison from the ley lines purged from her." She explained, and the woman nodded in understanding, leading Mirta to a bed and putting both hands on either side of her head. Her assistant gave them a brief glance before resuming her work and Stella watched worriedly as Mirta leaned back on the bed, her eyes slipping closed. "Do you want to stay here while I go get Lucy and Bishop?" Flora suddenly asked.

Stella sat down on the guest chair beside Mirta, silently nodding her head. "Is she going to be ok?" She quietly asked Ophelia. The woman was still clasping onto Mirta's head with her eyes closed and a faint glow around her hands. Stella felt like crying once more, feeling the weight of it all come tumbling back down on her heart. They had promised to look out for each other and Stella had once again taken a selfish route. She had been here all evening and morning and only came to see Mirta in the latter portion, too wrapped up in herself.

"She'll be fine." Ophelia answered soothingly, finally stepping away from the patient. "Once the ley lines are cleared up, you both will be able to use them fully, but I recommend not tapping into them until the situation has been contained."

"If the situation ever becomes contained." Stella muttered quietly to herself, but the woman still heard and paused to glance at her.

"You mustn't lose hope, Princess Stella." Ophelia said, lingering by her desk. "Hope can be the most powerful thing in the universe and our saving grace. Never let go of it. Heroes don't win every battle, but they get back up when the fight counts and never stop fighting." It was the same variation of what Stella had preached to Bloom, the irony of it wasn't lost on Stella, and she wondered who exactly had taught that sentiment to the staff of the most prestigious schools of the Magic Dimension.

It was silent for a few minutes, of which Stella slowly grasped Mirta's hand and tried to send waves of warmth towards her. The door suddenly opened, and Flora entered, followed by Lucy and a young man with long hair that Stella had never seen before. Bishop. He was a tall and lean man with a hint of muscles in the same hero uniform with a crimson-colored jewel holding his cape on his shoulder. "Mirta." He exhaled, rushing to Mirta's other side and cradling her hand in his, his fingers long like a pianist. "What happened?" Bishop tossed the medium brown hair out of his pale face.

"Before the pumpkin hex was cast, Mirta used some magic from the ley lines before it was well-known how dangerous they were." Stella explained, opting not to include that they both had been aware of the risks of relying on that magic and had used it anyways. "She'll be fine and awake within the next hour." She said, glancing at Ophelia for confirmation, to which the woman nodded.

Bishop exhaled in relief. "Thank the Dragon." He said. "How much does she know about what's been going on?" He suddenly asked.

Stella sighed. "We didn't get to tell her much before the effects of the ley lines kicked in. We got to the part of the exhibition being ruined, but not to Bloom choosing to leave Alfea or what power Bloom had possessed or where she is." Putting it like that, it seemed they hadn't been able to explain anything.

Bishop returned his lilac purple gaze to Mirta, his face contorted into longing. Stella eyed him, it seemed her had no qualms about attempting to visit her, even though there were a million other things he was probably being required to do. "I've heard a lot about you, Stella. It's nice to finally meet you." Bishop said after a few long minutes.

"I could say the same about you." Stella returned the sentiment. "I'm sorry that we're meeting under such dire circumstances."

Bishop nodded solemnly. "Me too."

Stella glanced up, Lucy was lingering by the Nurse's desk, pestering her a little with quiet questions and Flora was trying-and failing-to interfere with Lucy's warpath. Her sharply angled face was schooled into an expression of indifference, although her green eyes blazed with a hint of worry for her longtime friend. It was the most compassion Stella had ever seen from the witch since she met her, especially the level of concern she displayed for Mirta. "Stop pestering Ophelia, Lu-lu. She has a lot of preparations to make." Stella called, motioning with her free hand for Lucy to get over here.

Lucy scowled a little. "I am not pestering her." She protested but walked over and loudly dragged a chair over.

Stella winced at the sound, lifting one hand to cover her ear. "You're being abnormally annoying today." She pointed out. "M is fine."

"I know that." Lucy said sharply.

Mirta shifted a little in her sleep, her eyes moving beneath her eyelids. The bags underneath her eyes had disappeared, although her face was restless and worried. "Maybe, you two should come back later." Bishop intercepted the incoming argument. "I don't want her to wake up before she's fully prepared to and you two are not entirely the most peaceful people. I'll text Flora when she wakes up and then you can update her on everything. Just give us a peaceful minute."

He had guts. Stella could give him that, but she didn't want to abandon Mirta, she worried at her lower lip, contemplating leaving. She hadn't eaten breakfast yet, her stomach reasoned with her heart and she wouldn't be of any use to anyone if she passed out. Someone threw open the door to the nurse's office, a young man with moon white colored hair, pale skin, and stone-blue eyes entering. "The heads of each school are holding an important meeting. Everyone is being called to the main hall for a debriefing." He said, eyes a bit wide.

Stella knew that something bad had happened from his tone of voice and shot to her feet. "Bishop stay here. We'll be back later to alert you and Mirta together." She turned to glance at him, and he nodded in affirmation, settling back in his chair from when he had shot to his feet at the announcement. Flora followed the man out of the door, while the nurse's assistant stayed behind her desk, having a hushed conversation with Ophelia.

"What do you think happened?" Lucy muttered, falling into step beside her as they followed a small crowd of students-fairies, heroes, and witches all intermingling together as a unified front-hurrying to the entry hall.

Stella shrugged. "Probably nothing good." She responded negatively.

"I know that." Lucy exhaled, waving Raven over. The black-haired girl with magenta streaks and other colors varying in shades maneuvered through the others and over to her. "Hey, have you seen the other girls?"

Raven nodded. "Regina left early this morning to catch up with a few of her friends." She responded. "Cerise and Morgan both went to the cafeteria to get some type of food." Raven wrinkled her nose and Stella shared the sentiment, there probably wasn't any good food remaining since the lack of communications meant that they couldn't get any new supplies other than what had been transported two days ago.

"Then, we might not be able to see them during the debriefing." Stella filled in. "Although, we do have some good news. Mirta has been freed from her pumpkin state and is taking a bit of rest in the nurse's office."

Raven smiled a little, a small curling of her lips. "That's good." She said. The main hall was filled with students, most were crowded around the stairs, not allowing those on the second floor to climb down. Stella withheld a sigh, the nurse was located on both the second and first floor, the infirmary taking up two stories due to an elevator that had been inserted in an old classroom, so she was stuck on the second floor. She glanced around the thick crowd, hoping to spot any familiar heads, but those she did recognize she wasn't close to.

Mrs. Faragonda, Mrs. Griffon, Headmaster Saladin, and most of their inner circles of trustees were standing in front of the door. Stella observed the solemn expression they each wore as they seemed to have a heated conversation that nobody could hear due to the low murmur of inquiries the crowd generated. Faragonda finally glanced up and acknowledged the audience they had generated with a tense smile. "Good morning, everyone. I trust you all slept well." She yelled over the crowd, and everyone fell silent.

Griffon gave the woman a measuring look, before stepping forward. "The Trix have launched an attack on Magix City." She didn't sugarcoat or lead up to it, her words blunt. Stella gasped, her hands shooting to cover her mouth. There were millions, maybe billions of magicals in the city and from the looks the circle of people at the front shared, the battle had not ended in their favor. "We received word early this morning from some people who managed to get away after escaping into the woods. Those people are resting on the first floor of the infirmary and some of the adults have relayed that the Army of Decay had sealed most of the civilians in cocoon-type things so to speak." Griffon informed.

Whispers rose to a hum around as panic and fear began to settle in. Cloud Tower, Red Fountain, and now Magix City had been completely taken over by the Trix. There was nowhere left on the planet, other than the island of Pyros-which was full of dragons and not much else that could be of any help to them-marking Alfea as the last line of defense before the Trix would spread to other worlds. Stella leaned against the railing, feeling her legs buckle underneath her, she felt sick.

Another factor began to click inside her head, if Alfea was the only corner left, then it was likely that Bloom and Sky were already lost and would never return. Her eyes burned as tears welled in them, and she had to hurry from the room before she completely broke down in hopeless sobs. There was nothing the teachers or administrators could say to fix this, to instill any bit of hope inside of her heart. Magix had been the home to so many, families were now ripped apart and innocent lives were in danger and maybe even gone. It wasn't fair.

Anger surged inside of her and she wanted to punch something, anything. Her fingers tightened into fists and she glowered at the area around her, her eyes dark. Stella would have launched herself at the wall, had she not been held back by muscled arms. "Stella, calm down. Save the punching for later." Riven said, holding her back so she couldn't unleash herself against the wall.

Stella stepped on his foot, tearing herself free from his grip as he grimaced, rubbing the muscles in his leg. She froze for a minute. "Shit. Riven, I'm so sorry. Are you ok?" Stella asked, her anger dialing back down at the visible pain in his eyes. He was leaning against the wall, soothing muscles that had been previously overtaken by Darcy. Stella knew that the dark magic in those muscles had left their mark, but she hadn't realized how bad it could be. Her guilty was made even worse by that realization.

"Don't be. I should know better than to try and hold anyone back." He sounded angry, most likely at himself.

She couldn't blame him, she would feel angry to if she was in his position. "It'll get better. Maybe, one of us can use some magic to act as a crutch until the symptoms fade." She offered and Riven glowered at her from beneath his lashes.

His gaze returned to his leg, now massaging the other one. "I hate that everyone else seems to know more about what's going on with me than I do." He finally spat, running his free hand through his hair. "I mean, you knew that it was in effect, before I did. You know that my muscles are being impacted from it as a symptom or something. Everyone seems to know more than me about something I'm dealing with." He continued, waving his hands aggressively in the air.

"Then, ask away." Stella crossed her arms. "Ask about your condition and I'll try and tell you all I know about. I know that saying I'm sorry doesn't make up for the fact that we couldn't tell you without causing more damage. So, ask questions about it if you want to know more than I do." She said, leaning against the adjacent wall. "Or, do you want me to baby you and pat you head and tell you to give it time when we don't really have a bunch of time as is?" Her voice became bitter and cynical as her eyes glazed over at the thought of what awaited them within a measly few hours.

Riven stared at her, his violet eyes dark. "I'm guessing there aren't any more hope speeches from you, today." He said with the same bitter smile.

"How did you guess that?" Stella rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping from her words. "Here's what I do know about your issue. Darcy used a mind spell on you that was slowly converting your mind into hers, and as such your body. Therefore, your muscles are a little sore because the spell works as a virus, starting from one point and working its way outwards. I know that only Darcy can fully disengage it, that there is a trigger-that we can only heavily guard-that she left behind." She relayed all of the information she had gathered on it, which was very scarce.

Riven seemed to pause, absorbing all of the information he could. "I think I might take you up on that magical brace." He finally said.

"Are you sure you want a witch adding another spell to you?" Stella asked bluntly, gesturing behind her. "I mean, I'm sure I could get a blue-haired pixie to help out." She smirked a little as a light pink dusted across his cheekbones.

He cleared his throat, "No. I'd rather not have a brace that could play music when I move." Riven said stubbornly and Stella lifted an eyebrow, a dark chuckle slipping out of her mouth.

"You do realize that's not how it works, right?"

"Shut up." Riven scowled and Stella smiled innocently, causing the dark expression on his face to somehow become darker. Waving her hand, she weaved the spell around his legs and arms, bracing the muscles and giving them time to relax. Riven inhaled and exhaled, his breaths lighter as he massaged his legs. "I didn't realize it had hurt that bad." He muttered to himself, probably not meaning for her to hear it.

Stella shrugged, swallowing the sympathetic look she initially wanted to give him. "I would say, no shit it would hurt, but you're still in recovery so your brain might not be all there. Poor thing." She mocked him a little with a smirk.

Riven's eyes narrowed, although a hint of amusement twitched at his lips. "Already making jokes about it, are you?"

"I've been storing jokes about it for months." Stella exaggerated, truthfully, she had only decided to make it darkly humorous today. She shrugged carelessly, unperturbed by the borderline murderous look he was throwing at her like a dagger. "Don't you regret following a witch into a hallway? We always do tend to make wisecracks about your suffering." Her smirk stayed firmly on her lips as she poked fun at him. Granted, she was grateful he had followed her, putting a fist through a wall was probably not the smartest decision she could have.

Especially, considering the fact that she had just had a peaceful conversation with Griselda, she'd rather not get back on her bad side. Riven nudged her, although she could tell he was smiling a little-ok maybe on the inside, but it was a hint of a victory-before leading the way down the hallway. "So, how is Mirta doing?" Riven asked.

Stella shrugged again. "As good as can be. She basically collapsed after the curse wore off. The ley lines are currently unusable, and she had used them before the curse, leaving some of the poison from them in her, because we couldn't fully heal her with the dark magic interfering." She explained, "Bishop is with her in the infirmary on the second level. Speaking of which, I still have to tell him all of the horrible shit about Magix."

Riven chuckled a little, "You sound so enthusiastic about that."

"Almost had a mental breakdown over it, no biggie. I seem to be getting those every waking hour." Stella scowled a little. There were so many things on her list that were making her guilty right now. The Bloom situation-which really could be summarized as two perceived wrongs-and the Mirta situation. The thing with Mirta is that she wasn't really acting the part of a selfless friend, which sucked because Mirta deserved good friends. "So, you aren't even a little bit curious about the ley lines being toxic?" She changed the subject from her issues.

Riven shrugged, "I'm betting that the Trix had something to do with it." He glanced around, eyes passing over the security cameras-which were powered by a technology gadget and were more than likely also down, considering the school was running on back-up generators-and the windows outside. "The same way they have something to do with it being freezing towards the beginning of summer, the fact that the sky looks like one big thundercloud, and the fact that the technology and communications are down." Riven listed off on his fingers.

"You'd win that bet." Stella answered as they turned the corner. Musa was approaching from the opposite direction, probably having gone to Nurse Ophelia to help out in any way she could following the announcement. Her narrow sapphire blue eyes widened a little at seeing them both, before returning to their normal size. "Hey Musa." Stella waved, racking her brain for an excuse so that she could leave the lovebirds alone. In her defense, matchmaking was a pretty good distraction.

"Sup." Musa waved a little, shifting the devices in her hands towards one hand. "Do you two have any idea where Tecna and Timmy are? I've been trying to find them since they end of the briefing-" She cringed at the word, her eyes becoming troubled, "-and I haven't been able to find them anywhere." The look on her face turned to irritation, probably at the fact that she had been reduced to errand girl for Tecna and Timmy's efforts to get communications back up and running or connecting to the World-wide web.

Stella hadn't seen the two nerds anywhere either, "Have you checked the dorm Timmy's staying in? I think they've been rotating back and forth between your dorms." Which seemed like a rather messy idea, seeing as some stuff gets left behind and that's not fun to go back and forth from one dorm to the other.

Musa's face colored, "I'm not sure where that room is." She confessed, "And I would try, but I'd rather not be hexed by an upset witch, no offense, Stella, or get sucked into a conversation with Apple White of all people."

"Oof." Stella cringed, Apple White was a sophomore who loved gossiping and storytelling, which was typical considering her family's business of owning newspapers. "I'm surprised you didn't show her the room, Riven." She smirked at the blush that covered Musa's face and Riven's own flushed appearance, though he glared at her. Turning back to Musa, she caught the bluenette's glare and raised an eyebrow at how perfect they were for each other. "Well, I'm going to go check in with Mirta. Riven, why don't you show her to the dorm?"

Riven moved to elbow her, but she walked forward a little bit and waved innocently at the two. She watched him stammer something, the normally unbothered Riven of all people reduced to a pile of mush, and Musa reply as they both turned to go in that direction. Riven glanced over his shoulder, 'I hate you,' He mouthed at her.

Stella winked. 'No, you don't.' She mouthed back, before heading back to the infirmary. A few twists and turns led her to the open door and she poked her head in. She had been one of the first to leave the briefing, but she had gotten a little caught up with catching Riven up on everything, including his condition, that it hadn't really mattered. Flora was seated in a chair, holding one of Mirta's hands as she talked soothingly to her. The crimson-haired girl was crying a little, while Bishop held her other hand, his own expression solemn.

It sucked, Stella mused, they probably hadn't even had a few minutes together before reality crashed in and reminded them that this might be their last day. That there might not be a tomorrow to look forward to or anything really for that matter. Or, maybe there would be, but the anticipation for the battle would tire them out and the Trix wanted to bask in the glory of attacking them at their strongest and winning. It wouldn't be much to bask in if all of the soldiers were exhausted from restless nights of sleep.

Stella took the other seat, grateful that even though the survivors from Magix hadn't fully moved to this side of the medical room. "I'm guessing Flora has finished catching you up?" She asked a second later, her voice lower than usual.

Mirta nodded, "Yeah." Her voice cracked and Bishop reached over to wipe the tears from her eyes. "I…I can't believe it. It all seems like a horrible nightmare." She admitted, nestling her face into Bishop's hand. Stella could imagine that the guy's back must have hurt from reaching over awkwardly like that, but he didn't even seem to care about that. The only thing he seemed to care about was if Mirta was ok. It was sweet. "And…Bloom hasn't come back, yet?" Mirta looked around the room, as if the aforementioned redhead would pop out from behind a desk or bed with a big cheesy grin on her face.

Exhaling through her nose, Stella nodded. "Yeah." She glanced at the clock, "The Trix are probably going to attack soon." Stella noted dryly, it was only shortly after 1:00, the morning having been hectic and borderline insane.

Flora grabbed her hand too, trying to give off some semblance of hope, but Stella could hardly feel it. "I can help fight." Mirta began to sit up, tugging her hands free and scooting her legs over the side of the bed. Or, at least trying to. "Seriously, you guys. If the Trix are going to attack soon, I need to be there. Not here, resting in a bed while the rest of you risk your lives." Se said stubbornly, Bishop put a hand on her shoulder, trying to ease her back into the bed.

"It's too risky, Mirta." Flora protested.

"Flora's right." Stella agreed, "You are still in recovery from the ley lines and haven't even been free for an hour. Give your body time to rest." She helped Bishop ease Mirta back onto the bed, the girl faintly protesting, but her entire body relaxed in exhaustion against the pillows.

Bishop glanced at the time too, before cursing a little under his breath. "I'm sorry, love." He pecked Mirta's forehead, "But I have to go, Codatorta is making some of us that are free do drills to keep in shape for the fight. He gave me a pass for this morning, but I have a feeling his kindness won't extend to an all-day thing." He pulled back and Mirta frowned a little, before returning the peck. They exchanged I-love-yous, in which Stella respectfully looked away to give them their privacy, before Bishop hurried out of the room.

"Lu-Lu, are you hiding under a bed?" Stella asked bluntly, after spotting the girl crouched beneath a bed a few spots down.

Mirta glanced that way, before snorting with laughter. "I forgot how weird your hiding places could be, Lucy." She said, fondness intermixing with sadness in her voice. She glanced back over to Stella. "Since when were you two friends? Have pigs started flying, or something?" Mirta's eyes bounced between them as Lucy crawled out from her hiding spot and plopped down on the free bed next to Mirta's, receiving a reprimanding look from Ophelia's assistant-a mousey girl with glasses-before the woman was overwhelmed by another patient.

Stella sighed a little, noticing Lucy's weirded out look by the mention of pigs flying. "It's a strange Earthen reference that Bloom taught M." She explained to Lucy, before turning back to Mirta, "We kind of became friends after the whole thing with the Trix, she helped us break into the Red Fountain exhibition along with a few of her friends." Stella didn't really want to elaborate on the fact that it was Mirta's situation that started off the weird friendship between her and Lucy.

"Wow." Mirta said, gaping a little. Silence settled around them all for a few peaceful minutes, "So, are you all against me training a little for the Trix?" Mirta finally asked, to which Flora, Stella, and Lucy all groaned. Raising her hands in surrender, Mirta backed down, "Fine. I won't go train, but won't my magic be rusty after so long of being held prisoner by that curse? And now, I'm being held prisoner by all of you." She flashed the puppy eyes and pouted a little.

Stella didn't budge. "Nice guilt-trip, M." She complimented dryly. "You forgot that it was moi who taught you guilt trips."

Undeterred, Mirta turned to Flora, who shifted uncomfortably. "But, Flora, you know how hard it was to free me. I don't feel very free constricted to this bed and you do want me to be free, right?" Mirta mimed wiping tears from her eyes, although there wasn't any moisture seeping out.

Flora turned to look at Stella, her face contemplative and considering. "Stella, don't you think-"

"No." Stella answered.

Lucy snorted a little, ruffling Mirta's hair. "I didn't realize that you got so good at guilt-tripping people, Mirta." She settled into the seat that Bishop had occupied. "And don't you even try that shit on me. You know damn well, it won't work."

Mirta threw her hands up, "Fine. I'll stop." She said. "So, if we're not going to talk about approaching death. Then, what are we going to talk about?" Mirta asked after a few more minutes of silence.

"We could talk about Stella hooking up with Brandon." Lucy smirked.

Mirta gasped, "Really? You two hooked up, finally? Dragon, I thought it would take you two a few more years to realize that you both have feelings for each other." She said, her smile eager. "You have to tell me everything that happened." Mirta demanded.

Stella opened and closed her mouth a few times, feeling heat crawl up her neck. "Really? We have to talk about this?" She glared at Lucy for changing the subject to her and Brandon. She wasn't embarrassed of it, but still the teasing was a little merciless, especially with Lucy present and the shrink of the Jinx club present-Stella knew they called themselves the Winx, but she wouldn't say that, even in her thoughts-and Mirta present.

"Oh. Did you two actually hook up?" Mirta asked, not entirely meaning dating anymore and Stella shook her head rapidly. "Really?" She asked disbelievingly.

Lucy chuckled, "Well, they did answer the door together this morning looking fresh out of bed. Stella's also wearing yesterday's clothes." She stage-whispered and Stella wished she had something to chuck at Lucy's head.

"Yeah. That's right. You are wearing yesterday's clothes." Flora snapped her fingers in realization.

Mirta grinned widely. "So, did you two sleep together?" She asked.

"Well…no. Not like that. We slept in the same bed…with our clothes on." Stella admitted, burying her face in her hands at Mirta and Flora's cooing noises and Lucy's gagging noises. "I would wait at least a few months of dating to actually do that." She peeked between her fingers, knowing her entire face was beet red.

Lucy raised an eyebrow. "I thought you two were already dating. You act like such a married couple sometimes." She pointed out, "it's a little disgusting in the cheesy, pixie way." Lucy added.

Mirta shook her head, "They weren't, sadly. But she's in love with him." Mirta dragged the word 'love' out, making kissy noises.

"You already said I love you to Bishop." Stella turned the conversation back to Mirta.

The crimson-haired girl shrugged, her face slightly turning red to match her hair. "Yeah. Well…this is a recent development in the Brella story." Mirta said, flipping the tables around once again.

Stella raised an eyebrow, "What the hell is a Brella?" She asked, her eyes glancing from face to face. Flora clearly was in on it, but Lucy looked a little interested as well, her trademark smirk on her face.

"Brandon and Stella added together equals Brella." Mirta explained.

Stella's eyes widened and she almost choked on her own spit, they had a freaking ship name for them, where did people even come up with these things. Lucy full out cackled, "Oh, Brella, nice. Although, it could be Bella, too." She added yet another ship name to the mix and Stella felt like her entire head was just going to turn red and she could go hide in Mirta's hair or even Riven's hair, although she was grateful, he wasn't here. Otherwise, she would never live it down.

Correction: she already was never going to live it down. "I…I hate you all." Stella stood up, "I have to go do things that do not involve getting teased over that." She knew the wild gestures she made with her hands did not help her cause, but really, she wanted to get out of the room before her face turned freaking purple or she had a heart attack, whichever one came first. Although, the infirmary would be a nice place for her to have a heart attack, it meant immediate medical attention.

"Yeah, sure." Mirta said teasingly.

Lucy gave her a high-five, "Yeah, you go smooch your man." She said to Stella and she flipped them the birdie, lowering her finger a little sheepishly upon being given a scolding look by Nurse Ophelia. Stella covered her face with her hair, before practically running out of the room and hurrying down the hallway. Although, her bad luck-well good luck, really-struck again when she bumped into Brandon on her mad dash to the dorm room they were staying in-it wasn't like they were living together alone, there were other people there-and almost took them both crashing down to the floor.

"Sunshine." Brandon sounded fondly amused, his hands steadying her, holding her waist. "Where are you off to in such a hurry? You almost took quite a few people out. Is something wrong?" He must have noticed her red face and wide eyes and assumed it was something worrying and stressing in relation to the Trix. A part of her melted at the concerned look and another part of her facepalmed at herself.

She shook her head, partially to clear it. "N-No. Nothing's wrong." She put her hands on his chest, dropping her face to his shoulder to cover up the fact that she was blushing furiously, and the stares they were receiving from fairies, witches, and heroes passing by did not help.

"You sure? You look a little flushed." He pointed out and she could feel the vibrations from his voice, opting not to take her head off his shoulder, besides, it felt oddly comfortable using him as a human pillow.

Well, not really that oddly. She loved him, of course it wasn't odd. "The girls are such meanies." She said childishly, hearing his laughter in her ears.

"Oh no. What did they do this time?" Brandon sounded amused.

Stella lifted her head to smack his shoulder, aware that his hands were still on her waist, thumbs rubbing circles. "You know, it's your fault too." She pointed at him, aware that she was being even more childish. He gaped at her a little, although she could tell he was trying very hard not to burst out laughing. "If you hadn't answered the door with me this morning, then Lucy wouldn't have brought it up."

He chuckled, "Awe. Sunshine, were they teasing you about me?"

"Shut up."

"They were, weren't they?"

"Shut up."

"So, that's why you're so red." Brandon said, smirking a little. "I didn't know you were so shy, sunshine." He teased and she felt her face become even redder.

"Again, shut up." Stella muttered, taking a step back and trying to continue the walk to the dorm, sighing exasperatedly when he followed her. "I hate you." She muttered again, as he fell into step beside her and slung an arm over her shoulder.

Brandon shook his head, "Nope. You love me." He dragged the word out teasingly.

"I really don't." Stella was joking, but he stopped anyways and tugged her towards the stairs leading to the roof, stopping them in the shadowed corner where no one would see them. She swallowed a little, aware of how they were alone again and closer to the third floor, which yesterday had involved a heavy make-out session. He sat down on the steps, and tugged her down with him so she was on his lap and she felt her face somehow even burn redder, she was sure that, even though it was dark, everyone could see her face like it was a sign.

Brandon's thumb traced her lip, "No. You love me." He said, sounding self-assured and he leaned in as she unconsciously did so as well, sighing a little more contently. "And…I love you." He whispered onto her lips, stopping so that she could pull back if she wanted.

"Didn't I initiate the make-out last night?" Stella asked, raising an eyebrow. "I think it's your turn." She said, knowing that if either one of them moved, they would be kissing.

His thumb continued tracing and she felt like she was burning again, her body glowing with her power both inside and out. "Last, I checked. I initiated the last kiss." He said, hot breath fanning across her face and she inhaled shakily. "So, by that logic-"

Stella interrupted him, "Shut up and kiss me." She said.

"As you wish, princess." She was about to say that she wasn't a princess and he didn't have to call her that anymore, but he finally closed the distance and she sighed contently again. His lips were soft against hers, one hand cupping her face as if she were something precious, and she felt like her heart was bursting. His tongue poked at her lip and she opened her mouth, her fingers reaching up to run through his hair, pulling slightly at the hairs resting at the nape of his neck. Brandon groaned a little and she felt goosebumps race across her skin, feeling his other hand go to the small of her back, and pull her closer.

They had to break the kiss to breathe, and she inhaled, her lungs were burning a little. But he wasted no time in trailing kisses back down her neck, going to the juncture once again and she tilted her head a little further, fingers tightening in his hair. He sucked on the skin there, his tongue soothing the mark and she felt a moan escape her throat. She felt content in his arms, happy and safe and filled with so much light. "B-Brandon." She moaned his name when he continued kissing her neck.

He pulled back to stare at her, the hand cupping her cheek toying with the strands of blonde hair. "You're beautiful, sunshine." Brandon said, pressing a kiss against her mouth and her hands slid to his powerful shoulders, clenching onto the muscles and she adjusted so she wasn't sitting sideways across his lip, straddling him. He pulled back, "Careful, sunshine. We don't want to get too carried away." His arms wrapped around her back and she felt her face heat at the implication.

"R-Right." She whispered, glancing around. "This is a stairwell, after all." Stella rested her forehead against his, the fact that she was in his lap the only thing making her slightly taller than him, but only by less than two inches. "When this is over, we should go on a date." She blurted out, feeling her face burn. "Like to the movies or dinner or anywhere really. If, you're interested in going on a date with me." Stella bit her lip.

Brandon chuckled, "Of course, I would love to take you on a date, Sunshine. I thought the fact that I love you was an answer enough to me always being willing to go anywhere you." She shivered at his words, goosebumps rising on her skin and her heart pounded inside her chest. For a brief moment, she wondered how she could be so happy, so content with everything when the world was going down. When the reality was that they both might not make it to afterwards, although she would be damned if she let him die.

"Aren't you scared?" Stella whispered, before she could stop herself, and he leaned back. She bit back her disappointment at the distance before internally scolding herself, they weren't even exclusive, and she already wanted to be with him every second of the day. It wasn't healthy, and her heart needed to learn to handle the distance. Although, distance is what almost got him killed during the attack on Red Fountain, she could hardly picture a world without him in it.

He studied her face, thoughtfully. "Of course, I am. I don't even want to imagine you going out and fighting those monstrous creatures." Brandon's hold tightened on her and his expression darkened at the thought. He cupped her face, holding himself upright with one hand, "But I know that you're scared, and I know that right now, you need me to be brave for the both of us. You need me to be the beacon of hope, this time, like you always are for everyone else." His thumb rubbed the liquid that gathered underneath her eyes, she hadn't even realized tears had slipped out.

She pressed a kiss to his lips, "Thank you." Stella whispered against them, before pulling back and glancing over her shoulder. "We should probably go. I'm in desperate need of a refresher charm or a shower and a change of clothes." Brandon smirked a little roguishly, his hair messier than usual, probably from her running her fingers through the strands. She swatted his shoulder, "Don't you dare make whatever comment you just thought of." Stella warned him.

He pouted, "You don't even know what I was going to say." Stella glanced both ways, before they entered the vacant hallway and she checked the windows when they passed them to make sure that they hadn't missed a warning about there being an attack. Then again, Codatorta and a few seniors had placed alarms around the building for when the attack came. "I could have been about to say something nice."

"Uh-huh. Sure." Stella gave him a disbelieving look.

He poked her forehead, "Get your mind out of the gutter, sunshine."

Rubbing her neck, she winced a little at feeling the bruise and moved her the collar of her shirt to look at the mark in the reflection of the glass. A few hickeys had developed around that point on her neck and she glowered at him, as he chuckled in amusement. "You know-" Stella started dryly, "-it's almost like you want the girls to tease me about this." She gestured to her neck, before covering up the marks quickly as she spotted some students, she didn't recognize walking towards them.

Brandon chuckled, "I would never."

"Liar." Stella responded quickly, pressing her finger against the scanner beside the dorm room door before opening the door, Brandon quickly grabbed the door from her clutches and held it open for her. She rolled her eyes a little at him, before entering. Tecna, Timmy, and Musa were gathered in the living room part of the common room, the sofas shoved back a little from the table in between them and wires tangled around a large device. "Whoa. What happened here?" She observed the rest of the living room, wires were everywhere, pooling out around the table.

Tecna briefly glanced up from her rapid-fire typing. "We've almost got the security cameras back up, we're going to run them on a separate power source, which will hopefully extend out to the forest so that we can get an approximate ETA when they start their march from Cloud Tower to here." Tecna explained, Stella was grateful for the dumbed down version, she wasn't even going to try to guess what their power source was.

As long as it worked, it would be fine, hopefully. "That's great." Stella lingered behind, not really wanting to disturb their project. "How long before you have it all set up?" She bit her lip, maybe it would also give them any inclination of Bloom and Sky being out there.

Timmy adjusted his spectacles, as Tecna went back to typing, unconcerned with answering and leaving it to Timmy. "We should have it up and running in approximately 46 minutes, give or take a few minutes." He glanced at the clock once, while Musa looked helplessly over to her. Clearly, the musical pixie had no idea what she was doing, just that she was holding some box in a perfect position so that the wires didn't droop too low.

"Where's Riven? I thought he showed you to the room." Stella directed the question to Musa, trying to take her attention away from the straining in her arms, the muscles in her forearms and shoulders twitching ever so slightly.

Musa sighed, "Codatorta personally called him in for one-on-one training. He wants to see if Riven can actually help with the fight and not become in need for a medical bed. If he does end up not being ready to be stationed at the front, Codatorta is going to put him on medical assist duty, bringing people in rather than actually fighting on the front lines." Musa explained, "Well, at least, that's how Timmy explained it to me. Riven wasn't very verbal when Codatorta got here."

Brandon nodded in understanding, "Yeah. Nobody really wants to speak out of turn around Codatorta. Unless, you know, if they want to be positively murdered during drills." He explained Riven's probably callous behavior.

"I understand." Musa said, shrugging. "And I don't mind. Riven wouldn't be Riven without his callousness. I just wish I knew how to talk to him when something is bothering him or that he wasn't so emotionless." She admitted, moving her hands slightly only to receive a sharp look from Tecna.

Stella raised both eyebrows. "He's not emotionless. I mean, he was stammering around you after I told him to take you to the dorm." She pointed out, "He likes you…but you have to be a little patient. He's going to be an even bigger pain in the ass because he's got his own issues to sort out." Stella reminded Musa, earning herself a raised eyebrow. "What? I've known Riven for at least a year longer than you. Obviously, I'm going to have some sort of understanding of him and why he acts certain ways."

Brandon gave her a sideways glance. "Yeah. And we've been grouped together since freshmen year in the same room. Believe me, he likes you. He liked you before the whole Darcy disaster. Although, he'll probably kick my ass if he ever finds out I told you that." He chuckled a little.

Musa glanced back and forth between them, "Ok. Thanks for the advice." Her eyes slid to the window, "Although. I'm not sure it'll mean much if we don't get past the fight. I just wish that the Trix would come soon, so we can get this over with."

"I know what you mean." Stella sighed, "They'll probably come around sunset." She mused aloud, "For the symbolism of the fact that they'll defeat us at sunset, so the sun is quite literally setting on our winning streak."

"Maybe." Musa said, "I don't know that the Trix are poetic like that."

Stella shrugged, "Maybe they aren't. But they'll probably want to make a story about their victory and doing it at that moment would be perfect for a good story. That, or doing it at night."

"I think Stella might be onto something." Tecna said, still not removing her gaze from whatever she was doing. "Didn't the Trix attack Red Fountain at sunset? They likely did the same thing with Magix and now they'll do the same thing here. It makes sense." She said, before a smile erupted on her lips as their device lit up. "We did it!" Timmy and her high-fived, before Tecna pulled back with a slight blush on her high cheekbones.

Musa lifted her gaze to them, "Great. Can I let go of this stuff, now?" She asked, and Tecna nodded, while Musa instantly dropped the part she was holding onto and stretched her limbs, picking her way towards the edge where Stella and Brandon were standing. "Remind me to never become Tecna and Timmy's errand girl for their devices again." Musa massaged the muscles in her arms.

"So, are you guys going to let Faragonda, Griffon, and Saladin know of the good news?" Stella asked, wanting to push off the explanation of her theory to Tecna and Timmy. She didn't really feel like walking to Mrs. Faragonda's office, especially considering she hadn't properly showered yet or changed her outfit from yesterday's clothes. Thankfully, she had had the mind to transport her clothes in when she had brought Bloom back from Earth with the rest of the girls, otherwise she was sure that she wouldn't have anything clean to wear.

Timmy nodded, "We should." He didn't remove his gaze from the large device, teeth nibbling on his lower lip. "But I don't really want to leave it alone if it malfunctions."

"It won't." Tecna said confidently, "We did everything right."

Stella clasped her hands together. "That's fantastic. I'm going to go shower and change into clean clothes. Maybe, you guys could mention the time we have theorized the Trix will show up, in case they don't know it already." She suggested, jabbing a thumb towards the bathroom down the hall. Sure, the refresher charm had worked its magic, but it would still be nice to manually be able to brush her hair and teeth and put on deodorant.

"You're just trying to get out of walking to Mrs. Faragonda's office, aren't you?" Tecna inquired flatly.

Stella plastered an innocent smile on her face. "No. I would never."

"Liar." Musa snorted, before her eyes zeroed in on something on Stella's neck and her jaw dropped, her gaze darting back and forth between Stella and Brandon. "Tecna-" She started in a sing-song voice, "You owe me twenty gems. They hooked up." Musa held out a hand and Tecna grumbled before grabbing her bag and handing Musa the money.

Stella glanced back and forth between them, "Wait a minute. You two made a bet on this." She gaped at them for a second. "And…we did not hook up…like that. We…ugh…Brandon, stop laughing and help me." Brandon had burst out laughing and she felt her face turn bright red, embarrassed. "And how did you two even know that we liked each other? I don't remember telling you that." Stella narrowed her eyes at them, briefly considering if Flora or Bloom had spilled, before dismissing.

"Even a blind person could see that you cartoon hearts appear around you two when you look at each other." Musa laughed, "No…Flora and Bloom did not have to tell us for us to piece that much together." She seemed to read Stella's mind and Stella glowered a little.

Stella pinched the bridge of her nose. "How many people are in on this bet? Is it just you two?" She inquired dryly, entirely done with this conversation.

"Of course, it isn't just us." Tecna said. "Flora, Bloom and Sky are in on it. We offered it to Timmy, but he didn't know how much he could keep his involvement a secret from Brandon." She added and Stella groaned a little at the number. "Logically, I'm sure that some others are also probably involved in a bet on it, but we haven't interacted with a bunch of other people."

Stella blanched, "You're just making it worse." She glanced down the hallway, "I'm leaving before I end up turning purple. Don't you dare say anything." Stella gave Musa a sharp look when the blue-haired girl opened her mouth to say something.

Going to the room she had settled her things, Timmy or Sky had probably meant to sleep in it, but both had been elsewhere, she unzipped her suitcase and sorted through her clothes for something that wouldn't be uncomfortable but suitable enough for fighting. She bit her lip, before going for black high-waisted jeans, heeled combat boots, a dark orange V-neck, and a black leather jacket. She grabbed a fresh pair of underthings, before heading to the bathroom, hearing the laughter and musings of the people in the common room echo down the hall.

Closing the door, she peered closely at her reflection before forcing herself to look away. A wave of sadness crashed into her, threatening to drown her, as she remembered that Bloom still hadn't returned and neither had Sky, meaning they both could be dead. The dark reality of that sentiment settled over her. Maybe it was a mercy, they could have passed before the fall of Alfea and could fall into an endless sleep, under the misguided hope that Alfea could withstand an attack from the Trix.

She turned the shower on after turning the fan on and undressed, avoiding her reflection because she knew that one glance and she would fall to pieces.

It sucked, she mused to herself, stepping underneath the scalding water, that she could barely keep anything together without the presence of others. Mainly, Brandon. And it wasn't healthy to be so reliant on others. Although maybe that was because she was so used to relying on a façade to keep her emotions hidden. A smile tugged at her lips, remembering the fluttering feeling in her stomach as she remembered the moments she had shared with Brandon. They were fleeting, but so meaningful. He made her feel like she could be herself in front of someone, rather than in the mirror.

Directing her thoughts to him, she tried to ignore the dark thoughts thrumming at the edge of the light thoughts.

A low hum of voices greeted Stella when she entered the canteen, she had emerged from her shower to an empty room-which had initially caused her to almost have a panic attack, but then she saw the note on the counter in Brandon's scrawl-with her hair brushed but still damp. She had wanted to save her energy for actual fighting, rather than using her powers on meaningless things that she could do herself. Riven had been an exception to that small rule, but only because he wasn't of any help without the brace and she knew that he could take down a few of the monsters.

She rocked forward, standing on her tip toes to glance around for her group of friends or a familiar face, and felt a smile tug at her lips when she spotted Brandon's hair across the room, Timmy was on his left with Riven across from Timmy and Musa next to Riven. Tecna was on the other side of Timmy and both of their heads were bent together in conversation over a device, while Musa poked fun at them from her spot across from Tecna with Riven watching her while eating his food.

"Oh. Hello, Stella." Stella cringed a little at the sneer and turned her eyes to Amaryl. The girl had one hand on her jutted-out hip, her narrow eyes scanning Stella from head to toe with thinly veiled distaste. "I see that the witch's taste in clothes has rubbed off on you." Amaryl clicked her tongue, "Although as you can tell, this is fairy hour in the canteen. Meaning, witches aren't welcome."

Stella crossed her arms, quirking an eyebrow. "I see some people haven't changed, Amy." Amaryl glowered at the less-than pleasant nickname and Stella felt her smile turn into a cold smirk.

Amaryl flicked her hair, "Obviously." She gestured to her own outfit before gesturing to Stella's. "How does your royal bitchiness feel now that you're…not so royal. It must suck to be a peasant; I can't say that I'd know how that feels."

Stella mockingly patted Amaryl's head, "Oh, poor, Amaryl. I didn't realize you cared so much about my life. I'll be sure to text you with all of the updates, seeing as you don't really have your own life to get to." Stella offered the fuming girl a little pitying pout, before side-stepping her and heading over to the table that Brandon had claimed, eyeing the empty spot next to him with a sense of warmth.

"I thought I already told you but since being a witch has made you stupid-" Amaryl grabbed her wrist, causing Stella to whip around to give the girl a death glare. "-you are not welcome here. You might think that they care about you, but they don't. Brandon will leave you the second he realizes that there's nothing behind you anymore. You don't have wealth. You don't have looks. And…to top it all off…you don't have an education. You have been kicked out of two of the most prestigious colleges in the Magic Dimension. Can't you see? You're worthless. You have nothing to offer…and Brandon…well, he'll come to his senses and realize that I'm so much better for him."

Stella ripped her wrist away, rubbing the spot where Amaryl's nails had dug in throughout her speech. A part of her wanted to break down into tears, because Amaryl had put a light on all of her fears and insecurities and flung them back in her face. But she wouldn't give the bitch the satisfaction of breaking her. Stella sarcastically clapped. "Wow. You're still obsessed with my boyfriend. I mean, seriously, jealous much." Stella smirked a little as Amaryl's smirk fell when she realized she wasn't going to get much of a reaction.

"As if." Amaryl said, "Why would I be jealous over someone like you?"

"Probably because, even though you've spent a year pining after Brandon, he still picked me over you." Stella pointed out, chuckling when Amaryl glowered. "And another thing. I might not have claim to a title anymore, but I still have the powers of Solaria. You might want to be careful with who you mess with, little Amaryl. I will eat whenever I damn well please, thank you very much, and if you try to interfere with that, well-" Stella conjured a showy ball of light, bending her fingers around it, "-you might find that I'm still a magical that has kicked your ass since grade school."

She waved tauntingly at the girl, before turning on her heel and heading over to the table, plopping down in the free seat next to Brandon. "I'm surprised you didn't slap her." Riven mused aloud, dragging a confused look from Musa and Brandon-Tecna and Timmy were too distracted to chip into the conversation-who probably hadn't seen anything.

Stella shrugged, "She's not worth it." She answered, smirking a little. "Besides, I have to have some source of entertainment after this is over and hexing Amaryl is definitely going to be fun."

"I'd feel bad for her-" Musa said, tossing the girl a glance before looking back to Stella, "But, she's such a bitch to everyone and she more than deserves it." There was definitely a story there, but Stella didn't want to pry into it.

Brandon glanced back and forth between them, "She hasn't been that bad to me." He said.

Stella snorted at his obliviousness, "Well, no duh. She has a huge crush on you." She pointed out and he gaped a little. "Of course, she's going to be sugary sweet to you. And…you haven't hung out with her that much, have you?" Stella was honestly a little curious. If he had, she wanted to hear it from him, not some mean girl who wanted to make her feel like a complete nothing.

"Well…no. Not really. I can count the amount of times I've had a conversation with her this year on one hand." Brandon admitted, before he smirked a little at her. "Why? Is someone jealous, Sunshine?" He asked teasingly.

Stella waved the matter off. "Not at all." She answered. She opened her mouth to deny further, but a loud wailing siren went off and her heart stopped beating in her chest. A red device had fallen from the ceiling and was now flashing a red warning light. She was on her feet in an instant, peering closely at the woods through the windows. A sense of calm suddenly settled over her and she glanced back at the crowd in the canteen, people were rushing towards the doors, heading to the courtyard.

Brandon grabbed her arm, his chocolate eyes wider than usual and slightly more panicked and she gave him a weak smile, stopping him to press a kiss to his lips. She poured herself into that small kiss, tears trailing down her face and making the kiss salty. He wrapped one arm around her, before they broke apart. She had to say goodbye and good luck all in one go and as she followed him, running with their hands interlaced, she worried if she would ever see him again.

The courtyard was a mess of people, a frenzied and cluttered mess. The fairies and witches were not separate but intermingling together as one large body while the heroes had separated into groups, some marching their way to the front gates while others went to the towers. "Senior and Junior magicals to the front! Sophomore magicals to the towers! Freshmen magicals will be helping Nurse Ophelia!" Codatorta announced, clapping his meaty hands together loudly, dragging every gaze to him.

The buff male didn't even need a microphone, his voice echoing around the courtyard. Stella shared a glance with Brandon, she wasn't really sure where she should go. By Alfea standards, she was a freshman. By Cloud Tower standards, she was a freshman. She had been expelled from both schools before the year had finished out. A part of her wanted to help with preparations for the injured, but she knew that she would be far more useful at the front. Faragonda spoke to a select few students, marking exceptions to the rule while Codatorta divided the squadrons of heroes by where they would be best suited.

"Sunshine." Brandon's voice caused her gaze to snap to him. He was looking at her, his eyes tracing her features and she interlaced their fingers, squeezing his hand. "I have to go. Codatorta is calling me to the front." He whispered in her ear and she almost didn't let go of his hand. She didn't want to imagine him at the front lines, but she knew that that's where she would go.

The Trix had made things very personal for them and Stella knew when it came to the final battle, she would be fighting the senior witches, even if it went against the guidelines Codatorta had laid out. "Ok." She whispered back, "Please…be safe."

Brandon flashed her his signature confident smirk, pressing his lips against her cheek and Stella felt her eyes flutter closed. "I will be." He said and she reopened her eyes, he turned on his heel and ran, cape fluttering in the wind behind him. Stella held out her hand, wanting nothing more to chase after him, but stopped herself, chewing on her lower lip.

She followed a few of the witches to the front. A few had ditched their robes, figuring that it would be much easier without the long robes holding them down or being another piece of clothing for a creature to latch onto. Others held onto their robes, but theirs had specially procured runes engraved on the sleeves. "So, ready to kick some monster ass?" Lucy was one of the former, her robe ditched for an outfit like Stella's, with nothing baggy for any monster to use as leverage.

"Of course. I've been waiting all day." Stella smirked, before peering over Lucy's shoulder, "Did Mirta-"

Lucy shook her head, "No. She got tasked with helping preparing for the injured. She won't be involved, as long as she doesn't attempt to sneak away." Lucy answered the unfinished question.

Stella relaxed a little, before lightning and thunder sounded in her ears, causing her teeth to rattle inside her mouth. Her entire body tensed, the muscles straining as she glanced at the sky. Greenish-white lightning arched downward, striking a few barren spots of the courtyard, and staining that part of the earth black. Thunder rumbled in the sky, loud and unnerving and Stella had to bit her lip to keep the scream that built in her throat from emerging.

The anticipation of it all was the worst part because she knew they were coming. She knew that the brief few hours they had to put the cameras up had been effective in capturing exactly what they were facing down. She could hear Codatorta making a disgruntled noise low in his throat as he watched the gates before the ape of a man turned to Saladin who also made an understanding noise.

Small tremors in the ground surfaced, small pebbles jumping with every heartbeat. Stella could feel the tremors shoot up her legs, and she tried to lock her knees and keep her stance ready. Lucy and Stella shared a measuring glance, before Faragonda's voice echoed around the courtyard, reaching the towers were students were standing, armed with electric-light guns and bows and arrows with specific purposes. "Alright, this is it. Hold your positions everyone! The stakes have never been higher!" Faragonda announced, her purple eyes darting over every student, trying to pick apart who was there and who shouldn't be there.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the obvious statement, Stella focused her gaze on where the Army of Decay would be emerging. She tried to absorb as much sunlight as possible, although the dark-magic laced clouds made her powers feel even weaker and she knew she wasn't drawling nearly as much for the battle ahead. Purple lightning, hued pink, cackled ahead, shooting the ground a little more than a mile from the turn and she finally spotted the first line of the red-hued army.

There were bug-like creatures on the ground and some even had wings and were flying ahead in the air, like enlarged bats. Beyond the armies, she could spot three tall structures, of the same color as the creatures beneath, that were like thrones. Stella glowered, how egotistical of the Trix to march towards them sitting on thrones like they were queens. She felt her jaw loosen as more and more of the creatures appeared, a never-ending number of soldiers that weren't even mortal.

Upon closer inspection, she could spot the varying sizes of the creatures on the ground, some taller than the gates of Alfea but without heads and eyes and muscled upper bodies. Purple lightning, curtesy of Stormy, lit up the sky once more, highlighting the cruel features of the Trix coven and their crimson army. Stella mentally recounted every rune and spell she knew, but she could tell with absolute certainty that it wouldn't be enough.

The army reached the walls, their footsteps pounding and for a single heartbeat everything was so still a pin could be heard dropping before it all dissolved into chaos.

Whoa. That was a long building chapter, you know building for the final battle which will come in the next chapter. I'm super duper sorry for the long wait and I hope that the Brella or Bella moments make up for it. If you squint you can see where I interjected my own confusion on the names. Anyways, thank you for sticking by this long and next chapter will be the last chapter of the third special. Yes, I'm definitely considering doing the fourth special for nickelodeon because I want Helia and Flora to exist and get together and I want Aisha to come in as well. Although, then I'm going to want Nabu. Alright, I've got to start writing the final chapter for the third special, which will be out soon, hopefully.