It was a dark summer's evening and the hunters had found their prey.

They stood above her, like vultures ready to feast. 

The first shook with a feral rage.

Each gruelling second of a centuries long war had led him here.

The second stood, in stark contrast, deathly still. 

Where once were millions, now only two fairies opposed him.

The third held the fairies in his sly gaze.

Their captivating beauty was not enough to distract him from his imminent victory.

It was the fourth- their leader- who finally addressed them.

"Well, this is unexpected." His silky voice was jeering and cold. Much like his heart.

His eyes met one of the fairies, who recoiled at his glacial stare.

"I'm sorry about your friend." He mocked, glancing down at the girl's unmoving body.

The other stepped forward.

"You will be."

~

20 minutes earlier...

"It's so good to be back on Earth!" Bloom said, soaking in the evening sun as the girls strolled through the bustling streets of Gardenia.

"The palace of Domino is gorgeous, but we all felt you needed a bit of downtime after everything that happened on Obsidian, isn't that right Musa?" Stella winked at her friend.

Musa nodded mutely, her cherry-red headphones resting around her neck whilst she was in the company of others.

Since becoming the guardian fairy of her home planet, Melody, she had been blessed with the power to hear all the music in the dimension, even the song in peoples' hearts.

Though recently this blessing began to feel more like a curse- now the only escape from the endless noise were her beloved headphones.

"And with all your new duties as princess of Domino- trust me I know how that goes." Stella laughed, though now there was a bitterness to her tone.

Responsibility was not a foreign word to her. Being in next in line as Queen of Solaria, and it's guardian fairy, was not something her father allowed her to take lightly.

She couldn't help but wonder if she would ever live up to his impossible expectations.

"Well, I look forward to receiving royal training from the expert herself." Bloom joked.

"Yes, yes. But that can wait. First, I have more important things to take care of." Stella said, earning quizzical looks from the girls. "Shopping, of course! I need to try out all the new boutiques here! I heard the mall is massive!" She practically drooled at the thought.

"It must have been, overwhelming discovering a whole new life." Flora said sympathetically, absent-mindedly slowing her pace to match her steps to her excited friend's.

"I mean, of course, I'm so happy to have found my birth parents," Bloom began, looking out at the busy street, "but everything started moving a little too fast for me. I was very grateful for the save when you three showed up at the palace."

"Although, I think we nearly gave your maids a heart attack with Flora's home-baked cookies." Musa chuckled at the memory of watching the lady tightening Bloom's corset fall over in shock at the sight of sugar.

"Thankfully, your Earth parents are more accepting of my culinary talent." Flora sniffed in mock disdain and the girls laughed at the memory.

After a tearful reunion with her adoptive parents, Mike and Vanessa (in fact the only tears shed were Mike's who then proceeded to comfort himself with copious amounts of Flora's chocolate-chip cookies), Bloom was all too eager to show her friends the city in which she had grown up.

"Hm, that place looks interesting." Musa said, pointing to a wooden, open-roof building on the beach with a neon sign above it, reading: "FRUITY MUSIC BAR".

The faint sound of rock music came from within the bar and Musa instinctively started walking towards the enticing sound, the other girls following close behind.

People mulled about the tables, some sat sipping different coloured smoothies and others clustered by the stage at the back of the bar, dancing to a boy band that were jamming out.

On the right-hand side, the building opened out onto a beautiful view of the golden sand and the calm aqua water, shimmering under the evening sun.

A tall man stood at the bar wearing a gold pin that bore the name 'Rick', mixing all sorts of liquids and fruit together in silver cups before pouring the concoction into individual glasses stacked on a tray that a young lady, with bright, candy pink hair, picked up and carried to the nearest table.

Stella took a seat at the bar and motioned for the others to follow.

"We'll have a round of smoothies please," she said, "You pick the flavour, I want to try them all."

"Coming right up, ladies. Hey Roxy, four strawberry smoothies, stat!" He commanded with a friendly yet authoritative tone.

"On it, Dad!" She ran over the counter and started chopping up the strange red berries that were foreign to three of the girls.

"I haven't seen your faces around here before, is this your first time in Gardenia?" Rick struck up a conversation with ease as he polished a tall glass with a cloth.

"Oh yes, the three of us have never been here before," Stella chatted away, "but Bloom actually grew up here." She wrapped an arm around her best friend.

"It was a surprise, bringing her back here." Flora said, keenly eyeing a selection of fruits she had never seen before, on Linphea, that were stacked in crates behind the bartender.

"Yeah, no more surprises, okay?" Bloom laughed nervously.

"Oh, I guess we should just go home then guys." A teasing voice spoke from behind her. Bloom whipped round, her eyes bright.

"Sky!" She leant back in her seat as he wrapped his arms around her, wide grins on each of their faces.

"Um, we're here too." Riven said, earning a distant laugh from Bloom.

"Right on cue, Brandon," Stella got up and ruffled her boyfriend's hair affectionately, "I'm impressed."

"Well, it took some work. Riven was too busy looking at himself in the mirror to get ready."

"I wasn't." A voice grumbled. "Ihadjustworkedchestwhatdidyouexpect?"

Stella rolled her eyes and Brandon quickly kissed her while she was distracted.

"My love." Helia delicately brought her hand to his lips and Flora blushed at his chivalry.

"You're never far away." She mused.

"Always close enough to protect you." He assured.

"From who?"

"I don't know yet. But I don't trust that drummer over there." He joked, nodding at the band on stage and Flora laughed before hugging him properly.

Musa stayed sat at the bar, her hands hovering by her headphones.

She wasn't in the mood to deal with Riven's inevitable bluntness, especially after the argument they had just had, so blocking him out altogether was very much an option. 

But it wouldn't make much difference either way- she could feel his harsh stare bore into the back of her head, and a shiver ran down her spine.

"Here we are ladies! Four smoothies." Rick called, sliding the pink beverages across the bar, each one topped with fresh strawberries and a mini umbrella.

"Those look great." Sky said, taking a seat next to Bloom. "How did you make that?"

"You mean to tell me you've never made a smoothie before?" Rick chuckled, flicking the towel over his shoulder.

Sky shook his head guiltily- the duties of being king of Eraklyon didn't exactly include drink preparation.

"Tell ya what, why don't you come behind the bar and I'll show you the ropes."

"Uh, I don't think that's a good ide-"

"Go on, Sky! Aren't kings meant to serve their people?" Brandon pushed him out of his seat, the rest of the specialists gathering to witness his majesty's performance.

"I'll have another one of these please." Stella ordered, shoving her already empty glass into his hands.

"Okay," Sky said nervously, inspecting the glass with intent curiosity, "I'm not sure that's what they meant, though."

As Musa watched his lousy attempt, her whole body stiffened as Riven leant over the back of her chair, his face so close she could feel his breath on the back of her neck. Though she pretended she wasn't fazed by his presence, Riven could sense every muscle of her body tense at their proximity.

They both did an excellent job of acting as if they were interested in Sky's failed strawberry smoothies, but Musa felt the anger growing in the pit of her stomach.

Each irritating breath on the back of her neck- the intervals in between each one were so consistent, she could predict exactly when the next one would come- somehow made it more frustrating.

The fast thump of every heartbeat; the screech of a metal spoon against glass; the jingling of someone's bangles; each noise felt like it was being projected at volume 100 into her ears.

She fixed her gaze on the watery, pink liquid Sky was pouring, refusing to let any emotion bubble to the surface, but then Riven placed a hand firmly on her shoulder.

Her eyes widened at the contact, she stood bolt upright, her chair screeching noisily as it skidded backwards and the group fell silent, all eyes on her.

"It's a bit too hot in here for me," she said hurriedly, her face flushing, "I'm gonna grab some air."

Riven glowered at the ground and Flora and Bloom exchanged concerned glances as Musa hastily left the bar, leaving an awkward tension behind her.

"Sky, I love you, but this is awful." Stella broke the silence, her face twisted into a pained expression as she put the glass of Sky's concoction down.

The others laughed as Sky mimed a dagger plunged through his heart.

"Look kid, some people just don't got the gift." Rick said, patting him on the shoulder whilst shaking his head. "Roxy, we are fresh out of strawberries. There should be some in the storage house."

Upon hearing her name, the pink haired girl set down the cutlery she was polishing but one of the knives slipped from her grasp and clattered noisily to the ground.

Suddenly, a loud barking sounded from behind the counter.

"Sorry, Artu." She said, kneeling and softly scratching his chin to calm him down.

"And take him out, he's causing too much of a racket." Rick rolled his eyes exasperatedly as he turned to the others. "Honestly, I don't know why she insists on bringing that dog everywhere she goes."

The gentle tug of Artu's lead guided Roxy as her companion trotted towards the familiarity of the storage house. However, a lone figure leant against a tall palm, eyes cast out to sea, caught her attention. Her navy hair swirled in the steady breeze and her head nodded slightly to the beat of the music playing through her headphones.

She looked peaceful.

~

Musa whipped round, her jaw hanging loose in shock. Her eyes scanned the car park, taking in every detail.

What she had just felt pass through her moments ago was unmistakeably a wave of positive magic.

Fairy magic.

Not Stella's or Flora's or Bloom's. Something new. Something powerful.

She pulled her headphones off her ears and closed her eyes, listening. The rhythmic thud of the bass, the clinking of glasses, the shuffling of feet on the dance floor, the breaking of waves on the shore, the distant screech of seagulls, the sound of dog paws scuffing the dirt. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Her eyes opened and she scoured her surroundings again.

Still nothing. It didn't make sense.

"Musa?"

She jumped a mile, gasping loudly at the soft, tentative voice calling her name.

"Flora!" She breathed out quickly, her heart thumping loudly in her chest, "you scared me."

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You've been acting..." Flora paused, raising an eyebrow at her startled friend, "...strangely."

Musa let out a forced laugh, raking her hand through her hair.

"Yeah. About that..."

But before she could tell Flora about the magic trail, a piercing scream echoed around the car park, and a violent burst of dark energy erupted from the small wooden hut.

A purple vortex swirled out around the storage house ascending up to the sky, where dark mauve clouds were materialising, blotting out the orange sky.

Strong winds shook the leaves of the tall palm trees, whipping up sand and dust and made such an unbearable screeching noise that Musa had to press her hands to her ears.

Flora watched in shock as wood of the storage house began to splinter and crack; sharp fragments flying out in all directions, and then whole planks ripping away from the walls.

As the hut tore itself apart, she began to make out the silhouettes of the people inside.

Four men, dressed in black stood in a circle, connected by their fingertips, and in the centre, a pink-haired girl hung limply, suspended in the vortex.

"Roxy!" Musa called, already running towards the carnage.

Upon hearing a voice, one of the men looked up abruptly from under his wide-brimmed hat.

Musa froze as if 400 volts had just passed through her, unable to tear her gaze from his hazel eyes.

"Get away from her!" Flora yelled, her eyes stinging from the sand as she pushed through the winds.

She looked back desperately only to find Musa frozen to the spot.

"Alright enough." Flora whispered under her breath. "Enchantix!"