Archive of Our Own ^beta

Musa groaned, longing for the headphones she left in her pack. The new semester had just started and a flood of emotions invaded her, as always, allowing her to sneak into anxious and excited teenagers’ minds. She tried to focus on what Terra was saying – the only reason she wasn’t listening to music right there and then –, but it was incredibly hard. Especially when she felt a sudden burst of emotions from one person and one person only.

Trying not to let her friend understand that she was barely listening to her, Musa scanned the crowd surrounding them and found almost immediately who she was looking for.
Riven.

She began to recognize him among everyone else, even when there were so many people around her. It wasn’t difficult: he was pure chaos, nothing else could be compared to what he was constantly feeling.

They weren’t friends: in fact, they barely spoke. To him, she was just the mind fairy who was one of the roommates of his best friend’s girlfriend. To her, he was just somebody steadily pissed off at the whole world, and a real tornado of emotions. Nevertheless, she always felt curious around him: she never met anyone else who felt so much and so loud.

“Musa, are you listening to me?”

Terra’s words, followed by her concern and seemingly over-present guilt, tore her attention from Riven to her in a blink of an eye. “Sorry, it’s just that people are so overwhelmed now that the new semester is about to start that I can’t help but feel everything so intensely”, she apologized.

Terra relaxed a bit. “Oh, sure, it must really be a burden. Not that your powers are a burden, nor you, it’s just…”, she stuttered, but Musa smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I understood, don’t worry. I find it a burden too.” She winked at Terra, who finally smiled back at her, and then proceeded to repeat what she was saying before.

“I really hope there’s going to be a steady protection around Alfea this time. I don’t want to face the Burned Ones right here again”, Terra said, looking around her to see if she could spot their group of friends.

Musa shivered at the thought of what almost happened during the last attack of those monsters: Sam’s pain hit her like a million bullets, and she couldn’t forget that sensation despite how hard she tried. It was so strange to feel something so intense coming from Sam, and yet so frightening. She really thought she was about to lose him too, and the thought was just unbearable, to say the least.

As if her mind just projected him, there he was, standing right in front of her, with his genuine smile on his lips and the comforting absence of loud feelings invading her.

“Hey”, he said, approaching both Musa and Terra and planting a chaste kiss on the former’s lips.

“Hey”, she answered, smiling at him.

“Hi, Sam!”, Terra exclaimed, happy to see her brother and her best friend so close. “Have you seen the girls?”

“I think I spotted Stella in the canteen. The others are probably about to join her. Want me to come with you?”, he answered.

“Of course”, Musa replied, leaning against his shoulder and walking hand in hand with him.

As Sam said, the whole Winx suite was sitting around a table in the canteen, talking about something that evidently managed to get all of their attention, since they didn’t notice the three of them until they took a seat.

“Oh, here you are! I was about to call you”, Aisha said, greeting them with a smile.

“Sorry for the delay, we were just discussing about the security measures of the school”, Terra replied, and Musa had to suppress a smile because it sounded so weird even for Terra.

“That’s what we were talking about too”, Bloom intervened. Her face was extremely serious and Musa could feel a great deal of suspect and concern coming from her. “Despite what I did to bring her back, I can’t entirely trust Rosalind”, she whispered, and everyone leaned over to listen to her words. “The way she greeted us when we came back from my parents’ home, the fact that Sky’s father is still alive and she managed to save him just before Farah, Silva and your father”, she then pointed at both Terra and Sam, “trapped her, the things she and Beatrix told me… I don’t know, I feel like there are some missing pieces of the puzzle. I can’t wrap my head around what’s happening. Who am I?” Frustration tainted her words, and Musa didn’t need to use her powers to understand how Bloom was feeling right now.

Aisha’s hand covered the redhead’s one, reassuring. “We’re going to find out what’s happening and you’ll finally get to know the truth. You just have to be patient for a little longer. Nobody can keep these kind of secrets forever.”

Bloom chewed on her lower lip, but a rush of gratitude towards Aisha reached Musa and she relaxed a bit, knowing that her friend calmed down a little.

“Alright, everybody’s staring at us, so we should probably stop behaving like we have something to hide and start eating some of the shitty food this school has to offer”, Stella told them matter-of-factly, looking nonchalantly around to check that the attention was indeed focused on their small group.

“Hey, it’s not that bad”, Terra replied, earning a few amused glanced from everyone, including Sam, and an annoyed one from Stella.

“You go on, I’m waiting for Sky”, Bloom said, glancing nervously toward the canteen’s door to see if he was approaching.

Musa’s attention shifted when she noticed a table occupied by three people. Beatrix’s devilish grin was on its place as always, while Dane was smoking carelessly without even gazing at the food. Riven, on the other hand, had his mouth full and looked like he hadn’t seen something eatable in days. He didn’t even stop chewing when he turned her head to say something to the girl on his side, and that’s when he spotted her.

Musa held her breath. She knew she should just lower her eyes and turn back to her group, but she found that she just couldn’t. Riven’s green irises were planted on her face, and even if she couldn’t exactly read his thoughts, she heard the warning he gave her during training. Stay the fuck out of my head.

She gulped while he stopped eating and talking altogether, scorning her with one of his usual glances. Beatrix and Dane must have noticed his sudden change, because both of their gazes followed his and Musa found three pairs of eyes planted on her figure. Only then she decided to mind her own business and listen to her friends chit-chat.
“You okay?”, Sam whispered in her ear, softly rubbing her shoulder.

“I’m good”, she answered, but she could still feel Riven’s burning stare on the back of her neck. She did her best to ignore him, but it was simply impossible. He was just too much: too much anger, too much insecurity, too much everything. She would’ve never guessed that someone could feel all those emotions together and managed not to combust from the intensity of them all, but her powers never lied, and nobody could trick them. Just like Sam, Riven was different than the others in his own way, which was the exact opposite of her boyfriend.

Musa shook her head slightly to focus again on what was happening around her table, and in a span of a few minutes she forgot about the three other people who were still staring at them from the other side of the room.

§

She missed lessons with Farah’s supervision: Rosalind was nowhere near her, and not because she wasn’t qualified (she could have been even more powerful than Farah herself), but because Musa couldn’t understand what was going on inside her head. Whenever she tried to catch a glimpse of her emotions. Rosalind would turn to her and smile in a way that made Musa turn pale. So when the bell rang and everyone stood up to join the Specialists on the training camp, she felt a rush of relief and she knew its source was mostly her, though even the other fairies were feeling this way too.

“We’re finally going to see Sky’s father as a professor”, Terra chimed, but her happy tone couldn’t hide from Musa the anxiety she was feeling. She couldn’t blame her: Andreas didn’t look at all like his son, and she was kinda worried of what that could mean.

When the camp was finally on sight, Musa felt a presence at her side. She gave a quick glance and her breath caught in her throat as she saw Rosalind. She didn’t feel her coming: it was like she was devoid of emotions.

“I was told that you are a very capable mind fairy”, Rosalind said, smiling at her in a way that made her shiver. Musa was barely aware that the other girls fell silent when they noticed the new headmistress next to them. “I wouldn’t mind to check it myself. Follow me, please.”

Without a choice, Musa just glanced back at her friends with a small smile, trying to tell them not to worry, but it was hard since she was probably the most worried of them all.

They walked in silence, side to side, and Musa didn’t dare to speak first. Rosalind scared her: after her appearance, Farah was never mentioned again, as if she’d vanished, and Silva’s arrest worsened the situation. She gulped, praying that whatever that woman wanted from her would be easy to accomplish.

The Specialists were training all around them: Musa could feel every emotion flooding from them all over her, invading her space and making her more uncomfortable than she already was.

At last, they stopped. “Ah, this is a tough one”, the girl heard Rosalind say, and following her gaze she saw who the fighters were: a first year guy, just like her, and Riven.

Suddenly, she was hit by a thunderstorm of emotions: she felt a mix of anger, fear, hatred, amusement, lust, excitement and a million other things all coming from Riven, and again she couldn’t help but be shocked at the fact that a single person could feel that much all together. She was overwhelmed by every sensation he had, barely noticing the boy he was sparring with. It was as if in comparison to Riven his emotions were suppressed.

“Tell me what he feels”, Rosalind whispered to her, and she nearly jumped at the sudden intrusion of her personal space. She almost forgot about the woman. “And don’t lie to me: I will know if you’re telling the truth”.

She used a neutral tone, but the threat behind her words didn’t miss Musa’s ears; so she swallowed hard and tried to focus solely on Riven and his whirlwind of emotions.

“Anger”, she said, and that was nothing new. Everyone who barely knew the guy could tell he was pissed off half the time. Musa bit her lip, wondering about the fear part: should she tell Rosalind? The latter told her she’d know if she’d lie to her, but this was just omitting part of the truth. Musa decided to skip it, without even knowing the reason. “Amusement”, she spoke at last, seeing a small smile tugging Rosalind’s lips. “And a sort of excitement”, she finished, hoping that the woman would let her go.

Rosalind nodded. “This, and so much more. The guy’s pretty intense, don’t you think?” She smiled at her and Musa tried to smile back, but couldn’t manage to control her facial expressions. “It’s true, you’re good, but we still have a lot of work to do. But don’t worry, darling: you’re going to be a great mind fairy one day, if you follow my advices.” And with that, Rosalind left, leaving Musa alone on the supporting rounds, with a heart beating so fast she thought her chest could explode at any minute.

§

“So, are you going to have, like, private sessions with Rosalind?”, Aisha asked, raising an eyebrow.

Musa sighed, dropping her shoulders. “I don’t know. She wasn’t very specific: she just told me she’ll give me some advice.” She chewed on her lower lip. “Didn’t know she was a mind fairy, though.”

“I think she’s different than us. Maybe they trapped her not just because of what she did at Aster Dell. Maybe they had other reasons”, Terra intruded, frowning.

“Bloom, did she speak to you again after what happened?”, Stella asked suddenly, shifting the attention of the group from the mind fairy to the redhead.

“Nope”, the latter answered, and her confusion hit Musa like a wave. “We never talked again. That’s so weird. I tried to, but nobody ever lets me in her office.”

“This shit is so fucked up”, Stella snapped.

“Let us know if something happens when we’re not around”, Aisha told Musa, placing a hand on her knee. She nodded, and the conversation finally ended.

“Who wants to go to the cafeteria?”, Terra asked, and almost all the girls accepted her invitation, except for Musa.

“I’m going to the library. I need to find a book for my Potions’ research”, she explained, and the group parted ways.

When she was finally alone, Musa let out a breath of relief. The girls had been particularly noisy when she told them her conversation with Rosalind. All of their emotions collided into her, and Musa could feel her head was about to explode. She needed to spend some time alone, or, in alternative, to find Sam: he was always a good distraction when everything was threatening to make her fall apart.

Unfortunately, when she turned around the corner, she was suddenly overwhelmed by a storm of feelings so intense she had to place a hand on the wall to gain some stability. She didn’t need to look up at the face staring down at her to know that it was Riven.

“What did Rosalind tell you?”, he asked, his tone harsh.

“Excuse me?” Musa raised an eyebrow. “Since when my conversations are any of your business?”

“Since when they are about me. Now, would you answer my damn question, mind fairy?”, he replied, always hostile.

“I have a name, you know”, she said, pissed off by his behaviour. Besides, she was also curious: why was he in such a hurry to know what Rosalind and her talked about?

“Just answer me!”, he exclaimed, putting his hands on her shoulders.

“Hey, fuck off!” She jerked back, away from his touch. “What’s your problem, man?”

Riven stared at her for a few seconds without speaking, but his emotions were as chaotic as ever and this would’ve never stopped, she knew. “She told you to read my thoughts, is that it?”

Musa rolled her eyes, groaning. “That’s not how it works.”

“I don’t care”, he hissed back, pointing a finger at her. “I told you to stay the fuck out of my head. Mind your own business.”

“I’m trying, thank you very much!”, Musa snapped at him, taking a step forward. “But if she orders me to do something, I can’t just refuse.”

His mouth twitched. “So she did ask you to read my mind.” He closed his eyes, muttering a “Fuck” under his breath.

Musa suddenly felt a great deal of concern, but this time the primal source was herself. “Why? Did something happened? Has it anything to do with Beatrix and her relationship with Rosalind?”

Riven’s blazing gaze met her eyes, and she couldn’t help but swallow hard. “Don’t ask question you shouldn’t know the answers of. And whatever Rosalind asks you, be careful on what you answer.”

A burst of rage lit up inside Musa. “Are you threatening me?”

“No, I’m just telling you to be cautious”, he answered, scowling. “It’s not just about me.” And with that, he left, leaving her more confused than ever.

What the hell did he mean? And why did Rosalind ask her to check Riven’s feelings out of everyone else’s? Out of Bloom’s, considering they were roommates and friends?

Maybe she knew I wouldn’t tell her everything, if I felt that it would harm Bloom, and she kinda tested me on Riven, Musa considered. Or maybe she was actually interested in what was crossing Riven’s head. But… why?

There were a lot of question without an answer in her head, and she had enough of that bullshit. She needed to find her safe harbour and stop thinking about everything all at once.

She needed Sam.

§

Of course he was with his father, surrounded by plants all over the place.

“Oh, hello, Musa”, professor Harvey greeted her once he saw her. He smiled and she smiled back, but couldn’t help to notice he was a bit tense. Probably because of Rosalind. “Sam’s right there, if you need him”, he told her, pointing somewhere behind his back before focusing again on anything he was doing before her arrival.

Musa followed the approximative direction mister Harvey gave her and found Sam watering some plants at the back of the greenhouse.

“Hey, you”, he said once he spotted her, a smile tugging the corner of his lips. Musa felt instantly better when she saw him.

“Hello, stranger”, she joked, moving towards where he was and kissing him lightly on the lips, feeling his laugh against her skin.

“Don’t you have lessons?”, he asked her then, placing the waterer on a table and turning his complete attention to her.

“I skipped them just to visit you”, she answered, gaining an incredulous glare from her boyfriend, then she laughed. “No, it’s over for today. I just needed to relax a bit.” She hugged him, and the feeling of his arms circling her back made her all warm and fuzzy.

The echo of his laughter rumbled in his chest. “Sometimes I think you’re touch starved”, he said, rubbing her back gently.

Musa just nodded and rubbed the tip of her nose on his shirt.

They stayed like this for awhile, wrapped up around each other, and she could finally feel her heart beating slower and the tension easing from her shoulders. Having Sam was really a relief.

§

When Musa got out of the Winx suite that day, she expected to have lessons, have lunch, train with the Specialists, meet Sam in the library to talk and maybe even make out a little, have dinner and then go straight to bed.

What she didn’t expect was for Rosalind herself to show up during her first class and ask expressively of her. And of course Musa couldn’t refuse.

So there she was, in her office, alone with a potentially dangerous woman who was looking at her like she was some sort of alien who came out of nowhere. Again, when she tried to read her emotions, she met absolute nothingness. It wasn’t like Sam: Rosalind resembled a black hole, and that scared her.

“Musa, is that right? Hope you don’t mind if I call you by your first name”, the woman said, smiling apparently sweetly. Musa shivered.

“Of course not”, she answered, stuttering a bit.

“As you may recall, a few days ago I tested your powers and found them quite satisfying, albeit a bit fallacious, but this is not a problem. What I want from now on is for you to train exclusively with someone who can be an extremely good start for your powers’ growth. Please let me finish”, she stated when Musa tried to speak, and her tone was so imperative the girl couldn’t do anything but shut her mouth and stare down at the floor. “The person I’m talking about is the same I asked you to read the first time we spoke: I believe you already know him. If you don’t, then his name is Riven, and it wouldn’t be difficult for you to check on him, since he’s a good friend of the son of our Specialist trainer, Andreas. You will train with him and then you’ll tell me anything new you learnt about his emotions whenever I’ll ask you.”

“Are you asking me to spy on him?”, Musa questioned before she could stop herself.

Rosalind seemed genuinely surprised. “Oh, dear, why would I do something like that? I don’t need your help to do something I am perfectly capable of doing myself.” The smile she gave her at that point made Musa feel sick. “So, are my instructions clear?”

The girl nodded rigidly and when the headmistress finally gave her permission to leave, she stood up like a robot and walked out of the office without saying a word.

When she found herself in the atrium of Alfea, she leaned back against a column and closed her eyes, trying to focus on something that could calm her down.

Despite her words, or maybe because of them, Musa didn’t trust Rosalind a bit. Who knew what she could be capable of? She’d been imprisoned for sixteen years for committing a mass murder and now she was back and everyone involved with her seemed to act strangely.

Gosh, why the hell Rosalind wanted her out of all the mind fairies in the school to receive a special treatment?

As the thought crossed her mind, though, Musa realized that she didn’t actually know if she was the only fairy with her powers who was involved in whatever that woman had in mind. She chewed on her lower lip, meditating if it was the case to try and talk with some other mind fairy about all of this, when she felt the now familiar rush of everything coming from only one source.

She lifted her gaze and spotted him in a dark corner: he was smoking a cigarette, careless of the fact that someone could’ve seen him.

Musa fought a battle inside her head: should she talk to him about what Rosalind told her and see what he had to say in return, or should she just ignore him and go back to her class?

Well, she thought in the end, if she had to train with him the subject would show up anyway, so why not informing him right now about what had already been planned for them?

Taking a deep breath, she moved towards his spot, trying to seem casual and miserably failing.

“Why are you grimacing like this, mind fairy? It’s not Halloween yet”, he greeted her, smirking. He seemed far more relaxed in comparison to the last time they spoke, probably because of the weed he was smoking.

Musa decided to throw her caution away and just get straight to the point. “Rosalind told me I’m going to train with you from now on.”

This seemed to wipe the smile off his face. “What the fuck?”, he hissed.

“Hey, calm down, it’s not my fault.” She put her hands forward to avoid any kind of outburst coming from him. “This confuses me as much as you, believe me, but I can’t refuse. She…” Musa gulped, not knowing why she was saying this to him of all people. “She scares me.”

“Damn right she does”, Riven muttered under his breath, the cigarette forgotten in his hand and a scowl on his face.

“So… what are we going to do?”, she asked almost shyly. She didn’t really know how to properly behave around him, truth to be told: he seemed to catch her completely off guard all the time.

“Why are you even asking it?”, he snapped back, straightening his back and crushing what was left of the cigarette between his fingers. “Seeing you this afternoon at training.”

§

Despite her past as a dancer, and thus the fact that she knew how to use her body, Musa found herself nervous when she and the girls reached the fighting spots.

“Are you sure you don’t want any of us to stay and check on you?”, Terra asked, concerned. Musa told them everything and had to bear their reactions, which went from pure horror to confusion to some sort of strange curiosity to anxiety and concern.

She nodded. “It’s going to be fine. To be quite honest, he didn’t look very enthusiastic, but the news caught him off guard as well. We both have to adjust to it, I guess.” She shook her shoulders and then went toward the mat already occupied by Riven, waving the girls goodbye.

“You’re late”, the Specialist greeted her as he saw her approaching.

Musa lifted an eyebrow. “Actually, you’re early, but I don’t want to get into a discussion about this”, she said to stop him from making any snarky comment. “Let’s just get started.”

“Fine by me”, he answered and, without giving her any signal, he attacked. Musa stumbled back, confused by the sudden outburst of rage coming from him, and his emotions distracted her well enough to let him pin her down in a matter of seconds.

“Jesus, fairy, I thought you were at least decent”, he spit venomously, as if he wanted to hurt her. Musa didn’t understand his behaviour: Riven was a true mystery.

“Maybe if the next time you’ll warn me…”, she suggested sarcastically, getting back up.

His laugh was completely devoid of any humour. “You think the Burned Ones will fight on your terms? Sorry to disappoint you.” His voice was filled with bitterness. This gave her the chance to focus on the actual task she’d been given.

While he wasn’t looking at her, her eyes flashed purple. She wasn’t doing it just for Rosalind: she was genuinely curious about what crossed his mind, and she desperately wanted to find out if she could get a good hold of his real emotions in the thunder of feelings that surrounded him.

“What the fuck?” He was staring back at her now, angrier than ever, and Musa had to close her eyes and regain her usual composure.

“I told you what Rosalind asked of me. Don’t act so surprised”, she replied defensively. She didn’t want him to think she was nosy, despite her curiosity.

“Spill a fucking warning out of your mouth next time, will you?”, he asked then, but it didn’t really sound like a proper request.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m ready now. Let’s fight”. And while she positioned herself, she tried to focus: she wanted to test her powers, to see if she was capable of reading his emotions while they were sparring. It would turn extremely useful for when she had to face the Burned Ones. “I’m going to use my powers”, she warned him, remembering his not-so-gentle question, and then, without waiting for an answer, she attacked first.

She didn’t really know what she was doing: she just tried to follow her body. It usually worked when she danced. Fighting was something else, though, and while she managed to kick him a few times on the legs, he stood still and seemed unbothered by her display of strength.

“Piss off” was his only comment when she hit him on his knee, and then he managed to get a hold on her neck so that her back collided with his chest. His grip was like iron and she caught glimpses of his emotions, but her concentration was rapidly abandoning her.

Growling of frustration, Musa tried to free herself from him, messily moving her arms and legs, but the only thing she obtained was a low sigh from Riven.

“Not like this”, he told her. “You’ll never get free if you keep doing… whatever shit you’re doing right now.” He tried to hold her down, and then began to explain. “When an enemy has you in a chokehold, you had to put most of the pressure on your legs. Try to slide one behind mine and put all your efforts to make me stumble.”

Musa did as she was told, canalizing all her strength on her left leg. She managed to make him uneasy, but he was still holding onto her tightly and she was starting to feel a little dizzy.

“Could you ease your grip? I can’t breathe correctly”, she asked him and he obeyed, letting her go completely.

“Maybe we should start with something simpler”, he mumbled, mostly to himself, and while she was regaining her breath, Musa tried to probe what was crossing his mind in that moment.

She felt a new emotion among all the usual ones: he was tired. Not bodily speaking: it was as if his mind was trying to process too many things all at once and in the end it short-circuited.

“You know, you don’t have to carry all the weight of whatever is happening to you”, she blurted out without even thinking about it, and then she proceeded to curse herself mentally.

“For fuck’s sake…”, he started, his tone dangerously calm.

“Hey, I told you I was going to use my powers!”, she said, lifting her hands to protect herself in any case. Then, slowly, she asked, “Do you want to talk about it? I know we’re not friends, but maybe it’ll be easier for you.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew what the answer would be.

“I don’t want your help, or your pity, or anything else. I just want this training to be over, but the thought that I’ll have to deal with you until Rosalind says it’s enough is giving me a massive headache”, Riven said, his mouth curving into an ugly grimace.

Musa sighed. “Whatever. I don’t care. Let’s get over with it.”

They kept fighting without exchanging another word, except for some tips Riven listlessly gave her. Then, when Andreas shouted that it was enough for that day, they parted ways without even glancing at each other.

§

“So, how are things going with Riven?”

Musa groaned, the sound muffled by Sam’s chest. “I really don’t want to talk about this right now.”

Her boyfriend stiffened immediately. “Why? Is he mistreating you?”

“No, not at all, that’s not the point”, Musa assured and, as strange as it may sound, it was true. Despite all the snarky comments and his sarcastic behaviour, Riven was actually helping her: she made some impressive improvements over the previous three weeks thanks to his grumpy advices, and she even managed to fight and read his emotions at the same time without de-focusing. As much as she thought at first that this was a bad idea, she couldn’t help but realize that she was actually getting stronger both mentally and physically.

However, Riven and her seemed to be constantly on short terms: whenever Musa tried to ask him something about Rosalind he would scoff and refuse to answer, and every time she warned him she was going to probe his mind and check on his emotions he’d suddenly become even more aggressive, as if he wanted to use his anger to hide something from her. This pissed her off countless times, but it also elicited her curiosity more and more every day.

In any case, she already had to spend a lot of time with Riven, and she didn’t need to be reminded of his existence even when all that she wanted was to cuddle with her boyfriend. So she just planted a kiss on Sam’s mouth, trying to make him understand her mood.

He smiled, pulling her up for another kiss, and they kept making out and touching each other for another half hour before pulling apart.

“Alright, my dad needs help with some elixir he’s trying to make, so I really have to go”, he mumbled a few inches apart from her lips, and she sighed.

“Fine. See you at dinner, than”, she answered, kissing him lightly on the cheek before heading back to her dorm.

She was feeling a bit better: lately, the anxiety and pressure filled every moment of her school life, but Sam’s calmness always managed to sober her.

That sensation didn’t last long, though, because a few metres away from her suite she felt it: the pulsating chaos radiating from one person and one person only, right behind her.
She pinched the bridge of her nose. “What do you want, Riven?”, she exhaled slowly, turning to face him.

His expression was hard and unreadable: he didn’t seem surprised that she recognised him. He probably got at least a bit used to her mind powers just like she got used to the feeling of his body pressed against hers during training. “Rosalind wants to speak to us now”, he said, throwing her completely off balance.

“Us? As in… both of us? Together? Right now?”, she asked, hating how stupid that sounded.

“Just follow me”, he replied and began to walk toward the headmistress’ office without checking if she was actually behind him.

Musa tried to take advantage of the fact that he wasn’t looking at her, and her eyes flashed purple. She should feel bad for intruding this way into someone’s mind, especially if that someone had clarified multiple times that he hated it, but maybe this was the only chance she’d get to know his true emotions.

Anger was overcoming every other feeling, as always, but this time it was different: it was mixed with fear and a strange numbness, like a sort of acceptance of something he didn’t like. She tried to dive deeper into his mind, but he stopped abruptly and she crashed against his back, de-focusing.

“What are you doing here, Beatrix?”, she heard him asking, and then the familiar grin appeared right in front of her.

“I was looking for you, Riven. Didn’t know you were in company. Hi, Musa”, she said, waving at her. Musa just acknowledged her presence with a nod, but Beatrix didn’t seem to mind. “You’re neglecting Dane and me. I thought we had something special going on, but now you’re just avoiding us like the plague. Have you found somebody else?” And with that, her big eyes stared directly into Musa’s.

She got defensive. “I have a boyfriend”, she reminded the other girl, but her words were overcome by Riven’s voice.

“I don’t have time for your shitty drama, now. Rosalind wants to talk to us”, he said, beginning to walk away from his girlfriend.

“What?” Beatrix frowned, following him. “What do you mean she wants to talk with you? Why am I not allowed? What is happening, Riven?”

He seemed to explode. “None of your fucking business, Beatrix! Not everything about Rosalind revolves around you, you know?” And with that he just stormed off, leaving both the girls behind.

The auburn girl’s lips were pressed into a thin line, and Musa tried to sneak into her mind. There was a cold fury rising inside her, together with a slight pang of frustration and uncertainty. Then Beatrix’s head snapped to look at her and Musa couldn’t hide her purple eyes in time. Instead of getting angry, though, the girl just smiled at her in a way that made her shiver and said “Have fun!” Then, she disappeared in another hallway.

Musa’s head was throbbing, the sensation she felt while being with Sam long gone, and she decided to follow Riven and get it over with.

He was waiting for her outside Rosalind’s office, arms crossed and his usual scowl. “Come on, let’s go”, he said when she finally reached him and entered the room without even knocking first. Musa froze in her place for a moment before shaking her head and stepping inside.

Rosalind was sitting on a couch, looking respectable and powerful as always, and this time Musa felt the hollowness she radiated: it was as if she was trying to communicate with her, to make her understand that her emotions, if they ever existed in the first place, were out of her reach.

The mind fairy gulped and glanced at Riven, who was hovering over the woman, apparently not planning to sit at all. She didn’t quite know what to do, so she just stood there awkwardly, glancing back and forth from the headmistress to her fellow trainer partner.

“No need to worry, Musa. I just wanted to check that both your trainings are working. I saw you two sparring the other day, from afar. You’re pretty good. And you, Riven”, she turned to face him, her smile even sharper, “you are exceptional. You may have surpassed Sky. Andreas is enthusiast, even though he doesn’t show it.” She clapped her hands, startling Musa. “Now, onto the mind training! Musa, please, tell me what Riven is feeling right now.”

The girl gulped, giving a quick glance at the Specialist before turning her attention back to Rosalind.

The headmistress was still smiling in that disturbing way. “I’m waiting”, she said, and Musa’s eyes flashed purple.

“He’s angry.” Of course he was, He seemed to always be angry at everything and everyone. “It’s not an emotion focused specifically on something or someone. He’s just… angry. It’s like part of his being.” The words were coming out from her, but it was like they were being pulled to get past her lips. She wasn’t consciously reading his mind, she was forced to. And she hated it. “He’s also scared. You scare him. And he’s tired. He hasn’t slept well in days, weeks maybe.” When she finished and her eyes went back to her usual brown, she almost collapsed on the floor. She felt nauseous. It was as if she’d been using her powers non-stop for a month: she never felt like this before. It was sickening and scary.

Riven was staring right at her, eyes wide open and lips slightly parted. He seemed worried as he glanced toward Rosalind, whose attention was still entirely focused on Musa.

“Impressive, really”, she commented, and now she was grinning and the fairy thought she’d never seen something more terrifying. “You really are something else, Musa. I hope you know that.” She nodded to both of them. “You may leave now. I’ll see you soon.”

The girl moved like an automaton towards the door, crossing the threshold without ever glancing back. When she finally found herself in the hallway, she placed a hand on the nearest wall to steady herself. Her legs were weak and her mind felt like a pudding. She thought she might faint at any moment.

Riven walked past her without sparing her a glance, and that sight managed to give her enough strength to follow him.

“Wait”, she said while his footsteps were threatening to leave her far behind. “I said wait!”

He was blatantly ignoring her, and she felt a burst of anger coming inside of herself. She finally got to walk properly and speed a little to get to him.

“For fuck’s sake, I’m talking to you, asshole! Fucking look at me!”, she yelled, and thankfully no one else was there to attend at her lack of control.

Riven stormed around, looking at her with bright fury in his eyes. This time, though, she didn’t back away.

“I didn’t mean to tell her all those things. It was like a strange force was pulling the words out of my mouth. I don’t know what’s going on, but you do, so tell me!”, she exclaimed, gripping his arm tightly.

“This is none of your fucking…”, Riven hissed, but she interrupted him.

“Oh, cut out the bullshit! This is my business now, as much as it’s yours!” Her anger was still there and wasn’t leaving that soon.

Riven looked away from her. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Then fucking tell me! Explain that to me!” She was exasperated, and at that point she didn’t care if somebody could hear them. She just wanted to know the truth, plain and simple.

River draw a deep breath and glanced around them to check if they were alone. “Not here”, he said then, proceeding to grip her wrist and drag her out of the school.

They crossed a few students while leaving Alfea, and their burning gazes made Musa blush: she’d have to tell Sam and the girls whatever is happening to avoid any jump to conclusions.

Riven kept walking fast and she could do nothing else but follow him. In the end, they reached the Barrier and they overstepped it.

“What the hell!”, she almost screamed. The forest was swarming of Burned Ones and he seriously thought that was the best place to speak?

He shushed her and walked over some rocks, checking that they were actually alone, then he sit down on one of them and took his head in his hands.

She stared at him, unsure of what to do, her anger slowly fading away, leaving place to an uneasiness in seeing him like this, apparently so fragile and vulnerable. Nothing could’ve prepared her for his next words.

“There’s going to be a war.”

Blunt, sharp, cold. It was as if he stabbed her. Musa stared at him in horror, trying to process what he just said as he kept talking.

“I don’t know against who, or when, or where. I just know they’re planning on it.”

“They?”, she managed to ask, her tone strangled.

“Rosalind and Andreas, and probably Beatrix is involved too. So will be Dane. And me. And everyone in this damn school.” He kicked the grass at his feet, throwing a clod of soil a few feet away from where it was before.

“Wait, this doesn’t make any sense”, Musa tried to reason. “Why would they start a war and put the students’ lives in danger? They’re trying to protect us after the arrest of Silva and the sudden disappearance of Farah…”

He laughed humourlessly. “Farah is dead. Rosalind killed her. She doesn’t care about the students’ well-being. All she wants is power, and she’s willing do anything to gain it.”

“But she’s already powerful…” Musa was extremely confused.

“Not near as much as she could get”, he stated.

There was silence before she spoke again, quietly. “She’s not a fairy like me and the others, right? She’s… different.”

Riven gave her a quick glance and nodded, wordlessly.

Musa felt her brain on the verge of exploding. “Are you helping her?”, she asked, and her tone was more accusatorial than what she meant.

He balled his hands into fists. “I was, but now… I don’t want to…” He was struggling with words, so Musa just let his emotions flow towards her.

He was scared that Sky’d get hurt. He was scared for Dane and even Beatrix. He was scared that the people he cared about would have to face something horrible because of him.

“We need to tell the others…”, she began, but he stopped her immediately.

“Don’t you fucking dare!” He stood up, fire in his eyes that could rival Bloom’s flames. “I’ll find a solution. You just stay back and keep your mouth shut.”

They stared at each other for some moments, fighting a battle inside their heads. Then, without speaking, Musa turned around and overstepped the Barrier again, getting away from him and his guilt.

§

Despite that feeling in her guts that told her otherwise, she actually kept her mouth shut. Her conversations with the girls were centered around various topics, but whenever Rosalind’s name was mentioned Musa tended to avoid anything that had to do with her. When Aisha asked her if the headmistress approached her again, her answer was vague and left the entire Winx suite a bit confused, but they quickly moved on to other subjects. The day they started talking about Farah, tough, Musa couldn’t help herself: she became so pale that Terra immediately noticed something was wrong.

“Hey, what’s up?”, she asked, focusing the attention of the group entirely on the mind fairy.

“Wh-what?”, Musa stuttered, suddenly hit by a wave of emotions from all her friends.

“You look sick”, Stella stated, but there was no malice in her voice, just sincere apprehension.

Musa swallowed, desperately trying to think of something to say. “It’s nothing, really…”

“We’re your friends. You can trust us. Tell us what’s going on”, Bloom urged, clearly worried about her.

With four pair of eyes staring right at her, she felt as if she had difficulties to breathe. “I mean, what if… Farah didn’t just disappear out of nowhere? There’s no reason for her to act like this. What if she…” Musa took a deep breath, and the next words came out in a rush. “What if she’s dead?”

Her sentence was followed by a dense silence, so thick that she began to think that maybe the others were listening to her increased heartbeat too.

“I don’t think you’re the only one who thought about it”, Aisha spoke finally. “To be frank, the possibility crossed my mind many times, but it’s just… unbearable. Because it’ll mean that we’re in the hands of potential killers.” She didn’t say their names out loud, but everyone in their group thought about the same people: Rosalind and Andreas.

“We don’t even have Silva any more, and this could be another sign that things went horribly wrong the night of the Burned Ones’ attack”, Stella said, biting her lower lip. “They arrested him for having tried to kill Andreas, but Sky told me that it was his father who started the fight.” The blonde frowned. “Everything is just so messy.”

“I agree”, Terra said, playing with her fingers. “My father… He’s not involved with school’s business like before and that’s so strange. He doesn’t know half the things that are happening inside Alfea, and that’s just… not how it’s supposed to be.”

“They’re definitely trying to trick us”, Bloom said, and Musa could feel a throb of pain mixed with anger coming from her. “I need to talk to Beatrix again. She must know something.”

“But she will never tell you”, Aisha stated, matter-of-factly. “She adores Rosalind like a goddess and would never do something that could displease her. We have to find another way.”

“What if there’s no other way?”, Bloom argued, her tone a bit higher in volume. “I have to try.”

“But you’re not going alone”, Stella intervened, a look in her eyes that meant that she would never allow it.

“Fine”, the fire fairy accepted with a sigh. “We’ll talk about it later. I need to find Sky now.”

That sentence gave Musa a good excuse to back out of the uncomfortable conversation. “And I wanted to talk to Sam. See you later.” She turned her back to them without waiting for their answer and she knew that they’d find her behaviour strange, but at least now she had some time to think about what she could tell them.

Her steps took her directly to the greenhouse, where she was sure she’d find her boyfriend. And here he was, surrounded by plants of every size and shade of green. The absolute absence of chaos he radiated was welcomed by her with open arms.

He had barely noticed her sudden appearance when she threw herself against him, hugging him close. “I’ve missed you”, she whispered in his ear, feeling his hands rubbing her back.

“Missed you too”, he answered, placing a soft kiss on the top of her hair. “How are you?”

She sighed. She didn’t want to lie to Sam: he didn’t deserve it. “Confused”, she said, trying not to give away too much of what she was actually feeling.

When they parted, she saw that he was frowning. “Why? Did something happen?”

Suddenly her mouth seemed dry. She searched for the right words, but her mind was finding it difficult to process. “What if… I promised to someone that I’d keep a secret, but sharing this secret could help find a solution for a problem?”

Sam smiled, caressing her gently. “You’re smart, Musa. I think you already know the answer.”

She did. Of course she did. But she kept seeing the expression on Riven’s face, she kept feeling his guilt and sorrow, and she just couldn’t bring herself to reveal the truth to anyone.

“It’s complicated…”, she started, but interrupted herself mid-sentence. She felt a big thunderstorm of feelings right outside the greenhouse: a huge amount of chaos was about to come crashing down on them, and she knew exactly who it was.

Riven stepped in as if he owned the place, scanning the space until his eyes landed on her. “I need to talk to you”, he blurted out, without even acknowledging Sam’s presence.

Musa felt the boy beside her stiffen a little. “Excuse me, you’re interrupting”, he said, never failing to sound polite.

“It’s important”, Riven stated, giving just a quick glance at Sam before turning his attention back to Musa.

The earth fairy sighed, and for probably the first time she could feel a tiny bit of annoyance coming from him. Nevertheless, he gazed down at her. “Musa?”

“Don’t worry. It’s just Riven. He won’t harm me”, she simply said, offering him a smile before following the Specialist out of the greenhouse.

Riven’s posture was erratic, his feelings a powerful and dangerous mix of concern, sense of victory, frustration and confusion. Surprisingly, there was no trace of his usual anger.

They walked until they reached the training mats. There, he threw a stick at her and she almost let it fall on the ground.

“Pretend we’re sparring”, he offered as an explanation before taking another stick for himself and pointing it at her.

Musa positioned herself and then attacked first, without too much conviction. “What’s happening? Why did you take me here?”, she whispered.

“I overheard a conversation between Rosalind and Andreas”, he murmured back, hitting her lightly on an elbow and then skipping back. “They were talking about the blood witches of Aster Dell.”

The mind fairy gulped, letting their sticks collide. “What did they say?”

“Apparently not everyone died on the massacre they planned sixteen years ago”, he confessed. “Some of the witches survived and spent the past years plotting revenge. I think… I think they can control the Burned Ones now, in some way.”

“What?!”, she burst out before remembering that the kind of conversation they were having couldn’t be heard by anyone else. “Are you sure about this?”

“Not completely, but they were saying something along the lines.”

“So… they’re not the bad guys, in the end. Rosalind and Andreas. They’re trying to protect us. The war is against the witches.”

Riven looked at her with an expression of pure disappointment. “Remember what I told you. Rosalind only wants power. She wants to know how the blood witches are controlling the Burned Ones and then she’ll take that knowledge from them. She wants to create an army, a horrible, indestructible army composed by those monsters. And then… who knows what she plans to do.”

“Oh, God…”, Musa exhaled, letting go of the stick and falling on the floor. Riven didn’t hit her, but his words made her legs tremble so much that they couldn’t bear her weight any longer. She tried to control her breathing, closing her eyes and shutting everything else out. When she finally realized she was feeling a bit better, she turned her gaze to Riven, who was now kneeling in front of her. “Why are you telling me this? I thought you didn’t trust me.”

He didn’t answer at first, avoiding her stare. Then, as if the words were costing him a lot, he said, “It’s good to have someone to talk to. Someone that actually knows that something very strange is going on and is determined to find out how to stop it. Someone who isn’t the son or daughter of the evil masters behind the plan.”

Musa knew he was talking about Sky and Beatrix. She added Dane to the equation, because talking to Dane would mean he’d tell Beatrix, and he wasn’t exactly a close friend of Stella. His relationship with Terra was a mystery to her: they seemed to know each other pretty well, but at the same time there was a distance between them that’d be difficult to overcome. Bloom was Sky’s girlfriend, so she was out of question, and she never really saw him speaking to Aisha, nor anyone else. She was the only one left.

“They don’t trust you”, she suddenly realized. “Rosalind asked me to train with you and read your emotions because she feels that you’re not devoted to the cause. She must have some sort of powers… I can’t feel anything coming from her”, she finally confessed, letting all her frustration and disbelief out in the open for the first time. “But she can force me to dive deep into someone else’s mind. And she wants you to know that! She wants you to know that she’s practically spying on you, that you can’t hide anywhere and that all you can do is follow her.”

Riven breathed hard and lowered his head. “This makes sense. Dammit!” He hit the mat with a fist.

“Hey.” She placed her hands on his shoulders. “We’ll find a way out. I know we will.”

“Don’t tell anyone, for now. Wait until something, anything happens.”

“Are you sure?” She furrowed her brows. “I think we should…”

“Please, just… Just trust me”, he asked, and his eyes were pleading. Musa had never seen him like this, nor she ever felt the desperate need he was radiating right now.

She nodded slowly. “Alright. Let’s see what happens, then we’ll act on it.”

Riven stood up and offered her a hand. “Thanks”, he blurted out once they were both standing on their feet. “You can go back to your lover boy. I’ve got things to do.” He waved her goodbye and then left, while she kept looking at his silhouette until it disappeared.

§

A couple weeks after that conversation, they were sparring during training like every other day when something happened.

Rosalind appeared beside Andreas and started to whisper something in his ear. Riven was the first to notice. “Look”, he said, pointing them at Musa, and she discreetly tried to read Sky’s father’s emotions, but the headmistress’ lack of feelings formed a barrier to shield them both from any intrusion.

The mind fairy groaned, frustrated. “I can’t even guess what they’re talking about. Rosalind is blocking me out of Andreas’ mind too.”

Riven’s lips pressed together in a thin line, but before he managed to open his mouth Andreas’ voice reached every corner of the camp. “All the students are required in the lecture hall for an important announcement right now!”, he shouted, emphasizing the last two words.

Both the fairies and the Specialists stared at each other with a confused look on their faces before starting to follow the orders they’d just been given. Musa felt their concern and curiosity fill her in a matter of seconds, and it was so different from the black hole she tried to dissipate from Rosalind and Andreas that she stumbled, and if it wasn’t for Riven she would’ve fallen on the ground.

“Easy”, he whispered in her ear, helping her straighten up. “What’s up?”

“Nothing, just usual mind fairy’s business”, she answered, smiling weakly at him.

To her surprise, he smiled back. It wasn’t his omnipresent grin, but something more genuine she rarely saw on him before, and that was the first time it was addressed to her.

“Alright, let’s go listen to what they have to tell us”, he murmured, walking side by side with her.

“Hoping they’re not about to announce a war”, she said with a low voice, gaining a small and awkward scoff from him.

When they reached the lecture hall, it was already almost full. Musa spotted Aisha, Bloom, Sam, Sky, Stella and Terra standing a few metres away from where she was right then, and she turned to Riven. He understood immediately. “Go join them. I’m going to find Beatrix and Dane. I can’t let them suspect anything.”

With that common agreement they parted ways and Musa approached her friends and boyfriend.

“Hello, stranger”, Sam greeted her when she made her way towards him.

“Hey, you”, she whispered back, interlacing their fingers.

“Haven’t seen much of you these last days”, he told her.

Musa felt a pang of guilt. “Yeah, sorry. I was kinda busy with Riven.”

As those words left her mouth, she sensed something weird coming from Sam. She was so used at him being her own absence of chaos that the fact that he was actually feeling something strong enough to reach her caught her off guard.

“You alright?”, she asked, trying to understand what that feeling was.

He smiled, but it felt forced. “Just curious about what’s about to happen, that’s it.” However, his eyes were scanning the crowd and they seemed to have finally settled on someone in particular. Musa followed his gaze and recognized Riven’s leather jacket. He was standing side by side with Dane, and Beatrix was nowhere to be seen. She briefly wondered if that could mean something when her mind finally realized what Sam was feeling and why he was staring directly at Riven.

“Are you jealous?”, she asked, her tone so surprised that Terra and Stella heard her and turned to face the couple with a small frown on their faces.

“What? No, of course not! What are you talking about?”, he dismissed, trying to laugh it off, but she knew he was lying. She squeezed his hand tightly and leaned over his shoulder.
But the feeling didn’t stop. It grew even more intense, if possible, until it was almost the only thing she could feel despite the fullness of the hall. It was chaotic and direct right at her and… it wasn’t coming from Sam.

Musa glanced at her right, discovering that Riven was still staring at her, or better, at them. His usual scowl was back on his face and Dane was telling him something, but the Specialist was blatantly ignoring him. He was looking at her, at her hand intertwined with Sam’s, at her head placed on his shoulder, and then he realized that she was staring back at him. He glanced away immediately, preventing her from looking at his face any longer.

Musa was so confused by whatever had just happened that she didn’t notice that Rosalind had finally entered the room and was about to speak.

“My dear students, it is with great excitement that I summoned you here. I have news that will probably shock you at first, but I ask you to listen to me very carefully before making any assumption. The future of our beloved school is at stake.” Her voice startled Musa, who jumped when she heard it, and Sam glanced at her worried, but she immediately reassured him that everything was fine.

In her head, a thousand questions started forming. What was the headmistress talking about? Why was the smile on her face so triumphal yet feral? Why was Andreas’ hand placed on the hilt of his sword, as if he was ready to attack anyone who dared interrupt the speech? And when she finally glimpsed Beatrix a few meters away from where Rosalind was standing, a cold shiver ran through her spine. Something really bad was about to happen, she felt it.

“Not many of you know that not far from the Barrier there are some ruins. There was a village nearby once, and its name was Aster Dell”, Rosalind continued, and at the sound of that name many people hold their breaths. Her smile grew even wider. “As I can see, you know what happened to that village. I’m here to tell you that it wasn’t just a story, a legend, a myth. Aster Dell was populated by evil creatures, blood witches who would’ve done everything in their power to destroy the world we live in. I ordered to burn the village because those horrendous monsters were controlling a powerful and even worse danger: the Burned Ones.”

“What the hell is happening? Why is she confessing everything?”, Musa heard Bloom say.

“I don’t know, but something tells me that I won’t like whatever she’ll say next”, Aisha commented, crossing her arms and biting her lower lip.

“I’m here to tell you that the blood witches are no longer the only ones who can attack us with such strength: we finally discovered how to control the Burned Ones!” As she exclaimed it, her face lit up and Musa felt for the first time something coming from her. It wasn’t an emotion, though.

The scenery changed completely: around herself, Musa saw fire and destruction. People were screaming and dying, monsters were crawling in the shadows. A light fairy surpassed her, and Musa thought she recognised Stella, but she wasn’t sure. And then Rosalind was standing by her side, her hand above Musa’s shoulder, smiling down at her in a horrific way.

“Do you like what you see in my mind?”, she whispered, and Musa wanted to scream.

Everything fell back to reality in a matter of seconds, but her heart was racing and her breath was erratic. Sam was soothing her in any way he could, but she didn’t hear a word he was saying, didn’t feel his touch at all. All she could see was Rosalind’s eyes staring right at her while she finished her speech.

“We will declare war to those filthy creatures and we’ll finally clean the world from their presence. The training of the last months was able to prepare you for the battles to come. You are fighters, now. Soldiers. Do not ever forget where your loyalty lies. With me.” There was a dangerous glimmer in her eyes. “And with Alfea.”

§

They were in the woods now, the echo of Rosalind’s words still fresh on their mind.

It was cold and dark, but they kept going. The headmistress wanted them to find the Burned Ones and attract them towards the school, and only then she’d perform the spell which will cast their enemies in a condition of literal slavery.

Musa was trying to sense if there were any of them in the proximity, Aisha was ready to attack them with balls of water if they showed up too near to where they were, Terra controlled the trees around them. Bloom and Stella were with another group, together with Sam, Sky and another Specialist. The three of them had been paired up with Riven and Dane, and Musa kept de-focusing because she really needed to talk to the former. He must know why Beatrix was commanded to stay at Alfea instead of helping with the researches.

“Feel anything?”, Dane asked her, distracting her from her thoughts once more.

“Still nothing, let’s keep going”, she answered, trying to keep her voice steady, but she must have failed since both Terra and Riven turned to look at her with a strange expression on their faces.

“Are you okay?”, the earth fairy approached her, careful not to let go of her magic.

Musa let a sharp and brief laugh escape her lips. “Nothing about this situation is okay, Terra, but thanks for asking anyway.” She didn’t mean to sound rude, but the whole story was so fucked up she didn’t know what to think any more.

“Quiet. I heard something”, Aisha commanded, the balls in her hands growing bigger. “On our left. Riven, you go ahead, blades ready. Be careful.”

“Don’t boss me around”, the Specialist muttered, but still did as she ordered.

Musa realized her friend was right: she sensed a strong and deadly presence lurking in the shadows she pointed at. She gulped, her mind invaded by horrendous thoughts and feelings.

Riven disappeared behind the trees and Musa felt his fear, but to her surprise the most overwhelming feeling coming from him was a sense of protectiveness, and it applied to them all. Despite the awful situation, she felt her lips slightly curving upwards.

Suddenly, a loud noise broke the silence… but it was coming from the right. They all turned to face the danger, too slowly.

The Burned One jumped on Aisha and Musa sensed clearly his desire to kill the water fairy. She wanted to scream, but her voice was trapped in her throat. Terra did the job for her, shouting at the top of her lungs while at the same time trying to control the plants around them so they could protect the group from the attack.

Aisha hit the monster with a powerful blow, concentrating all the water she could call to her and throwing it at him right in the middle of his chest, making him leap backwards.
“Don’t kill him! We need to bring him at school! Rosalind wants all of them alive!”, Dane yelled.

“Excuse me for trying to defend myself!”, Aisha screamed back, preparing another ball of water without shooting it.

“Where’s Riven? I thought the Burned Ones were coming from the left!”, Terra stated, searching in the shadows.

“They were, and still are”, Musa stated, gulping audibly, feeling a massive wave of extremely negative emotions coming from where Terra was looking. Amidst all of them, she recognized Riven’s, which were loud enough to be distinguished, and despite the terror that was still paralyzing her she couldn’t help but feel relieved that he was unharmed.

The Specialist came rushing back to where the rest of the group was standing, followed by a crowd of at least seven Burned Ones.

“We need to go! Now!”, he screamed vehemently, the swords in his hands glistening with blood.

“What did you do? Rosalind will punish you for it!”, Dane exclaimed when he noticed.

“Are you fucking serious, man?”, Terra shouted. Seeing her truly angry while she was defending someone who bullied her was such a surprising sight that Riven glanced incredulously at her and Dane stopped dead in his tracks with whatever he was about to say next.

“I really think eight Burned Ones will be enough for Rosalind”, Aisha said, and from the state of her mind Musa could understand that she wanted them to tore the headmistress apart piece by piece. She couldn’t really blame her. A part of Musa actually hoped that the spell Rosalind wanted to use to subjugate the Burned Ones to her will would fail, but in that case the students would be left alone to face an army of monsters.

The group began to run back towards Alfea, chased by those blood-thirsty creatures who only wanted to dismember all of them. Musa was about to throw up: she doubted she’d ever recover from the images they were transmitting into her head.

“Are you alright?”, Riven asked her, appearing by her side.

“Never felt worse”, she answered, and it was partially true: not even when her mother died she’d felt such loss and despair.

Riven hesitated, unsure of what to say, but in the end she’d never know. Because someone jumped right on them from a scrub of trees and managed to kill three Burned Ones in a few seconds.

“What the-”, Aisha began, so shocked that her water ball dwindled because of her lack of concentration.

Dane unsheathed his blade and pointed it right at the mysterious man. “The hell you think you’re doing? Haven’t you heard Rosalind’s order?”

“Are you really obeying her now?”, a disbelieved voice reached them, and they all faltered.

“Silva?”, Riven asked in a breath, lowering his swords.

“The one and only”, the previous Specialist trainer said, finally appearing in the dim light that surrounded them.

“I thought they arrested you!” Musa couldn’t hold herself back: she was so surprised by his sudden appearance that she hardly believed her eyes. What if this was a trick? What if Rosalind wanted to test their loyalty? What if…?

The remaining Burned Ones attacked them. In a matter of seconds, all the fairies unleashed their powers, trying their best to fight like they’ve been told. Musa knew her mind powers wouldn’t be of much help with such creatures, so she pulled out the knife she’d previously hid in one of her boots and focused on the Burned One who was about to assault her.

Thanks to her reflexes, she managed to avoid his sharp claws and, with a move that reminded her of her past as a dancer, she quickly jumped past him and stuck the blade in his neck with one swift movement.

“Good student”, someone breathed next to her. She recognized Riven’s voice before seeing the small grin on his face.

“I had a good teacher”, she replied, smiling back at him.

The fight was over after a couple of minutes, mostly thanks to Silva’s support. The bodies of the Burned Ones were laying on the ground, in a horrendous display of blood and rotten meat.

“Hey, where’s Dane?”, Terra suddenly spoke, turning everybody’s attention to the missing Specialist. “He was here a moment ago…”, the earth fairy added, scanning the surroundings with her eyes to no avail.

Aisha pressed her lips in a thin line. “He’s gone back to the school. He’s Rosalind’s pet now. Fucking scumbag”, she muttered the last sentence as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear it, but they all did.

“Hey, it’s not his fault”, Riven began defending him, but Silva stopped him before the conversation could’ve gone any further.

“As much as I love seeing that most of you haven’t been subjugated by Rosalind, there’s still a lot of work to do, and we better get going before things get out of hands.” He turned to face them all. “How many other groups are outside the Barrier right now?”

They all looked at each other, unsure of what to say. In the end, it was Aisha who spoke.

“Five, maybe six, but I could be mistaken. There could be more”, she stated, and the look on Silva’s face said that he was all but happy about this turn of events.

“We have to find them all”, he muttered under his breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Alright”, he said then, voice higher. “Let’s go back to Alfea and see if there’s already someone there. Then we’ll think of a plan.” Suddenly he boggled, eyes widening while he was staring at all of them one by one. “Sky’s not with you”, he finally said, his tone weaker than before.

Musa could feel Riven trying to hold back a sigh. “He’s with another group, together with Bloom, Stella and a couple others. I’m sure he’s fine”, he added to calm the man down.

Silva nodded slowly, as if trying to process his student’s words and then forcing himself to believe them.

They all moved together in unison towards their college. The forest around them was thick and dark, and no other noises could be heard beside their own panting and the crash of leaves under their foot as they ran.

When they finally approached the school, the unmistakable clatter of a battle reached their ears.

Musa’s breath caught in her throat, and suddenly the group members’ emotions collided onto her: all the pain and suffering and concern and fear mixed together assessed her a powerful blow which almost made her trip. Luckily, Riven was there to catch her before she fell.

“Careful, mind fairy.” Despite the mocking nickname he gave her, his tone was worried. She was about to answer when she heard someone gasp behind her.

Terra was staring right in front of her, several meters away, and her mouth was open without any sound coming from it. When they finally realized what, or better, who she was looking at, the entire group minus Silva almost had a heart attack.

“It’s miss Dowling!”, Aisha exclaimed, voicing everyone’s thought.

“It is her indeed”, the Specialist trainer confirmed, letting his lips curve into a tired smile.

The previous headmistress of Alfea was standing in the middle of the training camp, facing Rosalind. Around her, there were Bloom, Stella, Sam and other students who couldn’t believe their own eyes and ears. There were also a few Burned Ones on Rosalind’s side, but their number was so small that Musa foresaw a very short battle.

“I must admit, I thought you were dead”, Rosalind was saying, her voice deathly quiet. Nothing good was about to come from her tone.

“As you can see, I am very much alive”, Farah Dowling answered, her eyes shimmering with power.

The two fairies were ready to fight, that was clear, and it probably would’ve been the kind of confrontation nobody should find themselves in the middle of.

With the corner of her eye, Musa acknowledged Andreas’ presence not far behind from where Rosalind was standing, his sword in his hand, prepared to combat. He hadn’t noticed them yet, but it took him a few seconds to glance away from the two women before his gaze settled on Silva. His eyes widened and he gasped for a moment before regaining his usual self-control. He shifted his position, so he was ready to spring against his former best friend at any given chance.

Musa noticed two other figures beside their current headmistress: Beatrix and Dane were unmistakable. She drew a sharp breath: exhaustion filled her every bone, but she had no other choice than to fight beside her friends for Alfea’s freedom.

Then, everything seemed to happen all at once. Rosalind’s eyes gleamed, a cold and icy blue staring right through miss Dowling, and for the first time Musa really felt the woman’s emotions.

It wasn’t anything like what she sensed during the meeting in the lecture hall: this time, a burning hatred exploded in her head, mixed with a longing for control, contempt for everyone in the whole world who didn’t agree with her ideals and wild and blind fury.

Musa fell on her knees, screaming. Her eyelids were shut and her head was exploding: both of her hands were settled on her temples, trying to suffocate Rosalind’s destructive feelings without succeeding.

Musa felt other intrusions: people right next to her were worried, scared, furious, and she could do nothing to stop them. A hand gripped her arm and she shook from the pain: the skin contact carried an intense jolt of emotions right through her mind, and she immediately knew who they belonged to.

She opened her eyes and was about to plead Riven to let go of her, but when she met his gaze the air was completely kicked off her lungs. His pupils had completely covered all the green of his irises, making him look like an alien creature.

He yanked her off and she tumbled on the grass, away from the battle that Rosalind and miss Dowling were fighting in the middle of the camp. Musa tried to get up, but the Specialist threw himself over her, blocking her movements. She was suddenly reminded of their trainings together, of how they practised every day for months and how he taught her everything he knew. Despite her knowledge, however, she couldn’t bring herself to hurt him, nor she could do anything else, actually: he was hovering over her, a grotesque mask instead of the usual smirk or scowl she always saw him with, and all his emotions were so negative and destructive that she almost passed out because of their intensity.

“Riven, what are you doing?”, she shouted, trying to free herself, but his grip on her hardened. He hissed, his face a few inches away from hers, and the black of his eyes scared her more than she could’ve ever predicted.

“Let go of her!”, she heard someone scream. From her peripheral vision, she caught a glimpse of Sam, ready to throw himself over Riven, but suddenly he fell on the ground. Beatrix was right behind him, her grin wider than usual, staring right at them.

“Go on, Riven. It shouldn’t be difficult with her.” She sounded happy in a way that made Musa sick. She was really enjoying all the suffering around her.

The mind fairy put her attention back on the boy on top of her. “Please, Riven, this is not you”, she started, her voice shaking. She tried to calm down as she continued, “You don’t want to do this, and you know that! Rosalind is controlling your mind!”

“Shut the fuck up”, he growled, his fingers leaving bruises on her wrists. Musa tried to ignore the pain and went on.

“I’m your friend, Riven. I know who you are, I know how strong your feelings are, and I know that you don’t want this. You never wanted this.” She was almost whispering. “Please, Riven, come back.”

“I said shut up!”, he screamed right on her face, crushing her with his weight. Musa found it difficult to breathe.

“No, I won’t!”, she exclaimed, but her voice was hoarser than she meant. “I won’t stop until I see you, the real you!” And with that, she tried something she never dared to do before. Miss Dowling and her spoke about it briefly before the whole Rosalind situation, but she had no other choice now. She had to bring him back.

With all the strength that was left in her, she focused intensely on the Specialist. She tried to cut out everything else, including her own emotions: the only important thing was him. Her eyes flashed purple and she found herself invested by his emotions, but instead of letting them overwhelm her, she went through them until she found herself in his mind. She didn’t know how to explain that, and she barely thought it was actually possible, but there she was: and, as it turned out, Rosalind was there too. Musa acknowledged her presence in the span of a second, surrounding Riven’s real emotions and suppressing them to make him a loyal and faithful servant.

She narrowed her eyes and delved deeper in his head until she came in contact with Rosalind’s control itself: despite the power it radiated, it was less effective as the seconds tickled by since the headmistress was busy fighting against miss Dowling.

With a grunt, she pushed her own power all over Rosalind’s and it began to crumble: Riven’s emotions flew out of the woman’s mental grip one by one, slower at first and then always faster, until the last trace of her presence in his mind was completely removed.

When Musa’s eyes went back to normal, Riven was still on top of her, but his irises were now the familiar green she expected them to be.

“Musa…”, the Specialist murmured, confused, but her last effort drained her out and, before she could hear another word, she passed out.

§

“I need to see him!”

Musa never thought that, one day, she’d found herself in the office of her current headmistress, shouting at her because she wanted to see a guy who, at first, she considered nothing but an asshole, and yet there she was, slamming her palms on miss Dowling’s desk while frustration ran through her veins.

The woman sighed, interlacing her own hands. “Musa, as I already told you, Riven has been taken not far from the campus, but for some time he needs to remain isolated. He attacked you…”

“It wasn’t his fault! Rosalind was mind-controlling him!”, Musa literally screamed, her space buns bouncing up and down as she gesticulated to emphasize her words. “It wasn’t even the first time, probably! He tried to help us, he told me a lot of things weeks before that night! You need to release him now!”

She felt a rush of annoyance coming from miss Dowling. “You are in no position to give orders, young lady. We will think about what you said and then we’ll see when the boy can come back. Now, if you excuse me, I need to attend to a lot of work.”

Musa’s arms fell limpless at her sides. She nodded and, without saying another word, left the office, headed straight to the dormitory. She needed the girls’ help.

“Alright, who wants to do something reckless and pretty stupid?”, she began the moment the door closed behind her.

Stella lifted her eyebrows, Bloom and Aisha stopped talking and Terra almost pushed a vase on the ground. “What are you talking about?”, the earth fairy asked, placing the plant back to where it was.

“I talked to miss Dowling and she won’t let me see Riven. I think I know where they put him. Anyone wants to come?” Musa scanned their facial expressions and emotions, and was slightly disappointed by the fact that they weren’t really keen on following her.

“Are you sure you want to meet him? Last time I checked, he was trying to kill you”, Aisha started, hesitant.

Musa rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t him, Rosalind was controlling his mind.”

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea”, Bloom said.

“Seriously? I thought you’d be the first to jump at the opportunity of doing something inconsiderate. And what about Sky? Isn’t Riven his best friend?” Musa didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but they were all getting on her nerves.

“Fuck, let’s do it”, Stella’s voice came before the redhead could reply. They all stared at the princess of Solaria, agape. “What?”, the light fairy asked, frowning. “I’m his friend too. Sort of.”

“I think we should go.” Terra’s tone was shy, but Musa felt a wave of confidence coming from her. “Riven may be a giant pain in the ass half of the time, but…” She stopped, and Musa thought about all the previous interactions between the two of them. There was something underneath it, she was pretty sure, but now it wasn’t the right time to delve deeper.

“So, are you two staying?”, the mind fairy asked at last, looking at Aisha and Bloom.

They exchanged a glance, shrugged and then got up. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Musa smiled. “I love you, girls!”

“No fuss, please. Tell us where we’re going”, Stella cut her short, earning a small smile from Bloom.

“Do you remember the place we’ve rescued Beatrix from?”

Aisha rolled her eyes. “Can’t believe I’m actually following you this time.”

The group left the suite, headed to their destination.

“Should I warn Sky? After all, Riven is his best friend, as you pointed out”, Bloom asked, phone already in her hand.

“He’s training now”, Stella answered, leading them. The fire fairy raised an eyebrow but listened to her, putting the phone back to where it was.

Terra tapped on Musa’s shoulder. “Hey.” Her smile was tense, and the mind fairy narrowed her eyes, wondering what was up. “Is everything okay with my brother?”

The thought of Sam made Musa feel guilty. “I’m… We’re...” She sighed, lowering her head. “We haven’t really talked a lot, these past few days. Actually, weeks, if I have to be honest.” The memory of him trying to defend her from a possessed Riven haunted her mind in her sleep and made her feel so bad for not feeling the same lovesick happiness she was used to link to him any more.

“It’s alright, don’t worry.” Terra’s emotions were still the easiest to read, unfortunately, so that Musa knew instantly that she was worried indeed. “Just… talk to him about it, would you?”

She nodded, a slight smile appearing on her lips. “Of course I will. I’d never hurt him, you know that.”

They kept walking, trying to avoid any spot where Silva, miss Dowling and mister Harvey could’ve seen them to reach the place they thought Riven was imprisoned in.

It was quiet and it might’ve seemed abandoned if they didn’t know the truth. There was no one to guard it, so they looked at each other, unsure.

“Maybe he’s not here. It’s too silent…”, Aisha began.

“They surely wouldn’t let him stay completely alone with himself”, Terra argued.

“It’s also possible that they don’t consider him a real threat, therefore he doesn’t need to be watched over”, Bloom stated.

“Hello? Magical defenses, anyone?”, Stella rolled her eyes.

“Guess we just have to check by ourselves”, Musa concluded, stepping into the perimeter of the place.

Nothing happened: no alarms activated, no magic barrier to push her back. She took a few other steps, feeling bolder and bolder the more she got near her final destination. When she was right outside the door, she turned around, discovering that her friends followed her but stopped several metres away from where she was standing.

“You probably want to talk to him alone”, Aisha said, smiling weakly at her. “We’re going to stay here and check if someone’s coming.”

Musa nodded, feeling grateful for the fact that they understood what she really wanted. Then, with a deep breath, she entered the structure.

The moment she laid foot in there, she felt him. His presence was overwhelming as always, and the fact that he was the only other person in the entire building beside her made his feelings even more intense, if that was somehow possible.

Musa followed the path that his mind was suggesting her, and in a matter of seconds she was standing right in front of a cell. This was different than Beatrix’s one, though: Riven was laying in a bed, eyes closed to pretend he was sleeping, but she knew better. She felt his mind working restlessly, his emotions pumping wildly through him. “Riven”, she called, unable to take her eyes off of him.

Suddenly, his gaze was fixated on hers and he was standing, facing her like he couldn’t believe his own sight. “Musa”, he whispered, lifting a hand before making it fall back to its place. “What are you doing here?”, he asked then, his voice harder.

“I wanted to see you”, she simply answered, approaching even more the bars.

“Why? Wanted to be sure I’m not a walking danger any more?” His tone was bitter, but she could feel all the guilt and disgust for himself he was feeling right now.

“It wasn’t your fault, Riven. Rosalind was controlling you”, Musa tried to soothe him, to no avail.

“Yeah, and I let her, like I was a fucking doll”, he growled, balling his hands into fists.

“You couldn’t have prevented it. She was powerful – she still is, wherever she is now, and we need you to stop her once and for all, the next time.” She kept looking at him, trying to meet his gaze. “Please, don’t feel useless. You aren’t.”

“Stay the fuck out of my head, for heaven’s sake!”, he exclaimed, and for the first time tears shimmered in his eyes. “It’s not a place for you.”

“Riven!” She inserted her hand between the bars and gently touched his cheek. He seemed so surprised by her gesture that it looked like he stopped breathing. “I want to help you”, she whispered softly, and through the small contact she tried to convey all the gratefulness, the joy, the relief she felt in seeing him and knowing he didn’t follow Rosalind, Andreas, Beatrix and Dane, wherever they went. He stayed.

Riven leaned on her touch, closing his eyes and pressing his skin against her fingers. Musa caressed his face, his cheekbones, his jawline, until she touched his lips. At that contact, she felt her heart skip a beat. The Specialist slightly lifted his eyelids and looked at her in a way that made her feel as if they were the only two people in the world.

She drew a sharp breath and pulled away from him, trying to regain control of her own emotions. He seemed taken aback by the sudden absence of her touch, but he recomposed himself as fast as he could.

“I’ll get you out of here, I promise”, she said. “I won’t stop stressing miss Dowling until I see you walking through the corridors of Alfea once more.”

His small smile felt like a victory. “No doubt you will, you little nosy.”

She smiled back. “Maybe I should change my name.”

They stared at each other some more before Musa remembered she didn’t come alone.

“I really need to go now, but I’ll do my best to talk some sense into the headmistress.” She bit her lower lip. “And I’ll come back here, if they won’t free you soon.”

“I’ll be waiting”, he murmured, and Musa really needed to get out of there before her heart exploded. She waved him goodbye and ran out of the structure, finding her friends waiting for her.

“So, how did it go?”, Terra asked, concerned for Riven’s well-being.

“He’s good, but I’m going to get him out of here. And I’ll visit again, if it’ll take too long.” She smiled, more to herself than to them, and as they walked back to the school she couldn’t help but remember the sensation of her fingers against his soft skin.

§

“Potions is definitely the worst subject ever”, Musa sighed, her awful grade still imprinted in her mind.

Terra chuckled. “Come on, it’s not that bad. We can revise together next time, if you’d like”, she proposed.

“I think it would literally save my life”, she answered, earning another laugh from her friend.

Terra then said something else, but Musa didn’t hear. She couldn’t focus on anything except the strong wave of emotions coming from right around the corner. She sped up, eager to get a confirmation of who she thought – hoped – was behind there.

Her friend was calling her, but she didn’t turn around. Her legs were almost running, her breath faltering, and then she bumped into someone. Surprise, confusion, happiness and something else, quite difficult to fully comprehend, crashed down on her as she took a small step back to look up at the person right in front of her.

Riven was smiling, truly smiling: not his usual smirk, but something wide and beautiful and contagious. Musa didn’t even think before jumping on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

“I knew you’d be back”, she whispered in his ear without letting go of him.

His hands were stroking her back. “This school’s not going to get read of me that easily.”

They kept clinging onto each other, and Musa felt the curiosity, shock, turmoil, amusement, annoyance, envy, jealousy of all the people around them, but this time she couldn’t care less. She was so happy that he was finally back. That meant…

“Wait!” She stomped back, her hands still placed on his shoulders. “We’re going to be training partners again, won’t we?”

His familiar smirk popped up on his lips. “I’m going to destroy you, mind fairy.”

She narrowed her eyes, her smile a mirror of his. “Don’t count too much on that, Specialist.”

A not so discreet cough behind them made both their heads turn around. Terra was looking at them, alternating her gaze between her roommate and her former friend, a confused smile tugging her lips and her emotions racing one mile per hour, making Musa’s head throb. “So… you’re back”, she said in the end, talking to Riven.

He nodded slowly. “Apparently so.”

“That’s… good. I’m happy you’re here”, she continued, and Musa know that, despite all the awkwardness of that meeting, Terra was sincere.

Riven let go of Musa and fixated his gaze on the floor. “Terra… I owe you an apology. More than one, actually.” He scoffed, half laughing half sighing. “I owe a lot of people an apology.”

“Just… try and be better, okay? This will be enough, at least for me.” The earth fairy’s smile widened a little. “We can hang out together again, if you want. At the greenhouse”, she explained, matter-of-factly.

Riven smiled back at her. “Sure. I have a lot to catch up onto.”

“I’ll be happy to help you.”

Musa felt optimistic while witnessing that weird but significant conversation. Optimistic and peaceful. That last emotion reminded her of something she really had to do but postponed for too long. Her smile faltered a little at that thought, but there was no other choice: she had to do this.

“Musa? Is everything alright?”, Terra asked her. Riven was staring at her too, eyebrows furrowed as if he was trying his best to read her mind.

“Yeah, I just… realized that I have a very important thing to do.” She took a deep breath and collected all the courage she needed to ask her friend the next question. “Do you know where I can find your brother?”

§

She was nervous. Sam was such a good guy and she cared about him a lot. He helped her through a ton of hard situations, not to mention he was her best friend’s brother. She never meant to break his heart and she really hoped he wasn’t so invested in her as it may have seemed, but… she had to tell him the truth.

She was waiting for him on the lakeshore, earphones in her ears instead of her usual headphones. She tried to concentrate on the music, tried to make it flow through her until she reached a peace of mind, but it wasn’t really working. This was the first time, but that’s maybe because she never had to deal with an emotional break-up.

Sam wasn’t her first boyfriend, but he was actually the one she cared about the most, if not the only one. All her previous dates had lasted for maximum a couple of weeks before either of them got bored or just lost any interest. She never made a big fuss out of it. Sure, she also had her mother to rely on…

Tears were prickling her eyes and she fought not to let them stream on her face. Sam didn’t need to see her like that: they had to have an important talk.

Suddenly, she felt the pressure of a hand on her left shoulder and she turned immediately, meeting Sam’s calming gaze.

“Hey”, she greeted him, removing the earphones.

“Hey”, he said back, sitting beside her. He didn’t lean out to kiss her as he usually did before, and she was thankful for it. Maybe Terra hinted something, or maybe he just sensed it and realized that things between them had changed.

“I wanted to talk to you about something”, Musa started, moistening her lips.

He nodded. “I’m listening.”

She stayed in silence for a few seconds without knowing how to start before deciding she would just follow her instinct. “You are one of the most important people in my life. I don’t know if I could’ve gotten past all the things that happened during the previous months without you.”

He smiled, taking her hand in his. “You matter to me too, you know.” He squeezed her hand as he said those words, but his eyes were sad. He knew where this was going to end.

“And I’m feeling so guilty right now because I feel like I used you! I used the fact that your stillness, your absence of chaos made me feel good and sheltered from everything else. It’s like you’ve been more my anchor to sanity than my boyfriend, and I’m so sorry because you deserve so much better than this”, she continued before he stopped her.

“Hey, no, you didn’t use me!” His grip on her tightened as if to enforce that concept. “You would never do something like that. Please don’t think so low of yourself. I might not be a mind fairy, but I know that you felt happy when you were with me, and that’s how a relationship should make you feel.”

Musa wavered, a sad smile tugging her lips. “But it’s not enough to make it last.”

They stayed silent for a while after that, focused on their own thoughts. Finally, Sam spoke again. “So, this is it. We’re breaking up.”

His blunt statement made Musa shiver. She felt his pain mixed with hers and she almost burst into tears right in front of him, but this wasn’t the right time nor place: she’d mourn for the end of them alone, in her room, when only her thoughts were crossing her head.

“Tell me just one thing.” He still didn’t let go of her hand, and she was a bit grateful for that. At least, he didn’t hate her. “Is it because of Riven?”

Musa’s eyes shot up, merging into Sam’s brown ones. She was at loss for words.

“I heard about the hug”, he offered as an explanation. “But it’s not just that. Sometimes I saw you two training and… I don’t know, you were just so synchronized that… I can’t even explain it.” He laughed a little. “And then there was that day in the greenhouse, when he stormed in and you followed him. I have no doubt you really had to talk about something important”, he stopped her before she could interrupt him. “But still, there was something in the way you two looked at each other…” He sighed, looking back at her. “Do you like him?”

“We’re friends”, Musa managed to say, struggling to find the right words. “I… feel something, and it’s complicated. He feels something too, I believe, but…” This time it was her who squeezed Sam’s hand. “I never cheated on you, Sam, I swear.”

“Of course you didn’t. I never thought it. It’s just something that happens. Falling in love with someone else, I mean.”

She didn’t know how to respond to that. They stayed still for a moment before moving to hug each other tightly. “I still want us to be friend, if you’re okay with that”, she muttered against his shoulder, breathing in his scent.

He smiled, his mouth quickly pressed against her hair. “I will always care about you, Musa, and nothing could change that.”

Despite the sadness that goodbye left behind, she found the strength to smile back at him, knowing that in the end they would always be there for each other, no matter what.

§

The end of her first year was approaching and Musa couldn’t honestly believe she survived all that happened. Sure, she still had to face the final exams, but with a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work she’d get through them, of that she was sure.

As she was scrolling through some books she found in the library to finish her essay, she felt a chaos now familiar to her walking up to where she was sitting. She smiled to herself: she never thought that she could get used to feel something so powerful and overwhelming without being extremely annoyed by it, and yet now it was almost a comforting presence always in the back of her mind. She knew she could rely on the strong emotions flowing from Riven anytime, since she could locate him amidst a crowd with little to no effort.

“Hey there, damsel in distress”, she called without lifting her eyes from the book she was currently reading.

The Specialist took the sit next to her, chuckling at the nickname she gave him. “Hello to you, my knight in shining armour.”

Musa couldn’t hold back the laugh that escaped her lips as she finally turned to face him. He looked relaxed, despite the constant whirlwind of thoughts in his mind.

“Don’t you smoke any more?”, she asked, noticing for the first time that she hadn’t seen him with a cigarette in his hands in quite some time.

“I’m starting to quit some bad habits. Not all of them, though”, he answered, winking at her towards the end of the sentence.

She scoffed, feigning to be bothered by his attitude. “It would be too much to ask.”

“Indeed”, he laughed, then fell silent. “I’m still sorry about you and Harvey junior, by the way”, he added quietly, as if he didn’t really want her to hear him.

Musa tried to smile. “It’s fine, we’re still friends. He’ll always be important to me.”

At that statement, Riven twisted his mouth and a dose of bitterness hit Musa. She gulped, still not knowing how to handle whatever was happening between her and the Specialist, so she tried to change the subject.

“You know, I never asked you how you’re feeling about Dane and Beatrix”, she spit out, and only then she realized that maybe he wasn’t ready to face that conversation yet.

Riven sighed, his hands in his pocket. “What can I say? I miss them”, he admitted, without going any further.

She hated to look at him and find him so miserable. He didn’t deserve it, not one bit. “We’re going to find them, and then we’ll free them from Rosalind’s control. I’m sure she’s subjugating them too.”

Riven scoffed. “Dane, maybe, but Beatrix…”

“With her it might be different”, Musa conceded, but still she didn’t retreat. “I have hope that she can change her mind and become a better person on her own, though.”

Riven lifted his head, looking up at the sky. “Has anyone ever told you you’re too optimistic?”

She grinned, slapping him gently on a shoulder. “It’s a quality. Don’t make it sound like a liability.”

“Alright, ma’am, sorry.” His gaze came back to hers. “There’s a party, the last day of school. To celebrate the fact that we survived this year and, you know, Rosalind’s tyranny”, he blurted out. “I know parties aren’t exactly your cup of tea, but…”

“I’ll be there”, she confirmed without hesitation. “I deserve it. Everyone does.”

“Yeah, you’re right”, he smiled, before standing up. “Well, then, see you at training.”

“Brace yourself, I’m going to smash you”, she warned him jokingly as he walked away.

“Keep telling yourself that and maybe one day it will come true”, he replied.

When he disappeared, she found herself alone again, with a pile of book, a still empty paper and a heart thundering in her ears.

§

If Musa could describe the party using only one word, that would be carefree. All the pressure, pain, fear and stress of the last months seemed to disappear amidst the stroboscopic lights and the loud music, and for the first time in forever she loved the fact that she could sense the emotions of everyone around her. It made her feel light, as if an enormous weight had been displaced from her chest and she was finally able to breathe again.

Bloom and Sky were dancing in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by a multitude of couples, people dancing on their own and groups. Stella wasn’t far from them, catalyzing the attention of a great number of guys around her.

Musa was aloof with Aisha and Terra, occasionally drinking something and exchanging a few words then and there when they could understand what the others were saying, but mostly enjoying the company and the good music.

The mind fairy felt the pressure of a hand on her shoulder and turned around to greet whoever was claiming her attention. She met Sam’s brown eyes and smiled instinctively: she wouldn’t have heard him coming anyway, but with all the noise around her it would’ve been literally impossible to acknowledge his presence if he wouldn’t have showed up.

“Are you having fun?”, he asked, half screaming, placing his mouth a few inches away from her ear.

“I’m not complaining”, she answered, gaining a laugh from him. She was happy to have him as her friend; not everyone was so lucky after a break-up.

“I think next year will be a wild ride”, he told her then, and she rolled her eyes playfully, but a small pang of concern still grew inside of her.

“Please don’t make me think about it”, she pleaded, smiling to show that her tone was joking.

They kept talking for some other time and Terra joined them too once she realized her brother was there with them. Aisha mostly listened and added a few comments here and there, but her head was clearly somewhere else.

“Maybe you should stop with these”, Musa tried to tell her, pointing at the drink in her hand. If she wasn’t mistaken, it was already the fourth or fifth, and Aisha wasn’t exactly a heavy drinker.

“Mhm”, was the only answer she got, but after emptying the glass the water fairy put it down without showing any more interest in alcohol.

After a couple of minutes, Sam dragged his sister on the dance floor. Terra tried to back off but he wouldn’t let her, and Aisha helped him between laughs. In the end, the three of them were dancing in a circle, and Musa was so happy to know that her roommate was actually feeling confident.

Still, she felt like there was something missing. She didn’t know why, but that sensation struck her once she laid foot in the place were the party was held and persisted throughout the evening, leaving a part of her empty. She tried to focus on what could be wrong and suddenly she realized: all the noise around her was nothing compared to the constant chaos she got used to feel from one person in particular, but right now she couldn’t sense it anywhere.

Her eyes scanned the room, waiting for the familiar face she was looking for to pop up in front of her, but she found nothing. She sighed at the realisation: she missed Riven.

Wondering where he could be, Musa considered asking Sky, but one look at him suggested that he was too invested in Bloom to notice anything else, so she had to rely on herself. Without being noticed by her group of friends, she slipped away, her eyes flashing purple to catch the minimum sign of his presence.

As she left the place where the party was hosted, she began to feel something: it was just a small part in the back of her head, but she recognized Riven’s wave of emotions. He couldn’t be too far from where she was.

She went across the training camp and, right in the middle of it, a small drop hit her face. She lifted her eyes just to discover that a light drizzle was coming down from the sky. She didn’t mind it: actually, she liked rain. It was relaxing and kept her mind off from unwanted thoughts.

She kept walking, her jacket feeling slightly heavier because of the rain, but she felt she was near him and she couldn’t care less about anything else.

In the end, she found him: he was just outside the barrier, sitting on the ground with his back against a tree, eyes closed. Despite the thunder of emotions always coming from him, Musa felt that he was at peace like he’d never been in the last time. Without making any noise, she settled down just beside him and nudged his knee with her own.

He opened her eyes and looked at her, a surprised but pleased smile curving his lips. “Look who missed me.”

Musa felt her cheeks redden, but she kept a playful tone. “The party wasn’t noisy enough.”

Riven laughed and for several minutes they just sat there, enjoying the sound of drops hitting the grass. Their hands, placed on the ground, made their way towards each other, touching.

“Jeez, what are you, a fucking freezer?”, he joked, feeling her cold fingers against his hot skin.

“Then keep me warm”, she retorted back, but when the words left her mouth she realized how different they may have sounded to him. Honestly, she didn’t mind.

“With pleasure”, he answered, and his husky tone mixed with the feeling of his hand enveloping hers made her breath erratic.

“You told me about the party, so why weren’t you there?”, she asked, trying to steady her voice.

He sighed without letting go of her, and she was silently thankful for it. “Too many people watching me. I may not be a mind fairy, but I don’t need your powers to know what they think of me.”

She looked at him. “You’re trying: that’s all that matters.” And, taking advantage of the fact that their hands were still entwined, she took away his guilt and replaced it with all the good things she felt about him.

“Hey, no”, he protested, but she cut him short.

“Shhh. Just let me”, she whispered, tightening her grip on his fingers, caressing his wrist with her thumb.

Riven’s gaze was fixated on her, his eyes tracing every shape of her face, and she felt a shiver running down her spine. It wasn’t from the cold, she was sure of it.

After some other time spent in companionable silence, he spoke again. “You should go back. Your friends might be worried about you.”

“They’re your friends too, you know?”, she pointed out, waiting to see his reaction.

He huffed a laugh. “Whatever.”

Musa smiled. She never thought she’d find it so easy to do in his company, but it was like breathing. “I’m going only if you’re coming with me.”

He furrowed his brows. “Your reputation will be ruined.”

“Piss off”, she scolded him, pushing him a little, and Riven finally laughed as some more droplets hit his face. He was so handsome, Musa thought, and she couldn’t find it in herself to be ashamed for thinking so.

“Deal”, he said, standing up and offering her his hand. She blatantly ignored it, earning a knowing sigh from him, and they made their way back to Alfea.

The light drizzle now was more intense, and Musa briefly considered ditching the party to reach her suite and take a shower, but she really craved to dance that night after denying it to herself for so long, and she also wanted to spend some other time with Riven.

“This year’s been tough but, hey, we survived”, she brought up, studying his expression.

“Wait until next year. Who knows if we’ll be that lucky”, he predicted.

She punched him lightly on the arm. “Don’t be a mood breaker.”

“Do I affect you that much?”, he smirked, already knowing the answer.

“Fuck you”, she retorted without losing her smile.

At last, they finally found themselves right out the room where the party was still going on. Musa lifted her hand to open the door and let herself be surrounded by the loud music once more, but she bit her lip and drew a long breath.

“Maybe we can keep in touch…”, she said, turning to face him, finally feeling brave enough to ask that question, only to be interrupted by Riven’s lips on hers.

Her eyes widened. It was shocking and unexpected and fucking amazing and she wanted more, oh, so much more.

She circled his neck with her arms, pulling him down and deepening the kiss. His tongue slid into her mouth, eliciting a small moan from her.

When they parted, they were both panting, staring at each other in wonder. “… this summer?”, she finished, her voice thin.

He frowned slightly. “What?”

“I said that we can keep in touch this summer, if you want”, she repeated, but her brain was still replaying the kiss over and over, in a never-ending loop.

His laugh made her heart skip a beat. “Of fucking course, you little mind-reader.”

Her smile was so wide her face barely contained it. “Good”, she murmured before pulling him in again to press her lips against his once more. Her back hit the wall behind her.

The party could wait.