Chapter Text
When Stella opens her eyes, the darkness is all around her. A throbbing headache and the flannel sheets covering her body are among the first things she registers, much to her surprise. Where is she? And, most importantly, where are the others? Puzzled and confused, she sits up on the bed where she's lying to reach out for the lamp and turn the lights on, and suddenly it all comes back to her at once: she's in her hotel room. Right, of course that's where she is. She distinctively remembers excusing herself from her friends as they were hanging out in Magix's city centre, the capital city of the realm of Solaria. After visiting the Museum of Magical History during the morning, the class had been dismissed and given the rest of the day off to enjoy the city and relax: the bus wasn't leaving until 8:30 p.m. or so.
Alfea's second-year students had arrived in Magix the day before, leaving the school after their morning classes to finally begin their exciting and thrilling school trip to the swamp of Melmamora (which everybody unofficially called the black mud swamp), located in the realm of Linphea and possibly the most depressing and daunting location headmistress Rosalind could have come up with for their trip – even the puddles and ponds on Andros full of bugs and slimy weeds seem exciting in comparison. According to Rosalind, that God-forsaken hell hole was perfect for field exercises and learning about exotic species of magical plants and animals, which Stella did not care about in the least. Had it been to up to her, she gladly would've chosen to skip that nightmarish week to be spent covered in mud and simply stayed at Alfea with her friends, as the rest of the Winx girls are still in their first year and relegated to classes and theoretical studying – even chore duties and cleaning the halls and the library seem more exciting activities, and especially more dignifying.
But Stella didn't really have a choice, did she? For starters, participation was mandatory as it was part of their global evaluation, and secondly, even if she had tried to come up with all sorts of excuses in order to avoid that painful torture – health problems, faking an injury, actually getting injured or the death of one of her long lost royal relative – none of them would have worked with her mother. In fact, Stella is pretty sure queen Luna is actually the person who came up with the idea in the first place and forced Rosalind to execute it just to punish her specifically, which does not come as a surprise at all given Stella's inexcusable and undisciplined escape from the Royal Palace, also known as the best decision she's ever made in her life. Or really just the first actual independent decision she's ever made in her life, given her mother's manipulative and controlling nature keeping her under control and preventing her to choose even which flavour of ice tea to drink. Stella wanted to be free, right? A week covered in mud is probably the right price to pay, at least according to Queen Luna.
Anyway, the only bright part of that trip is their stop in Magix, Solaria's capital city. Linphea is too far away to be reached in just one day, therefore their bus has stopped there for the night to make the students rest and sleep in a hotel, allowing them to visit the city the following day before leaving again for Melmamora. Stella remembers getting lunch with her friends after a tedious guided tour throughout the museum which felt like an eternity, she remembers hanging out with them for a while to do some shopping and visit a couple of boutiques, and then... and then she's started to feel a bit tired and decided to go back to the hotel and rest, yeah, that's what happened. That's why she's there. She doesn't remember falling asleep though, nor is aware of how long she's been out. Which reminds her, what time is it? She immediately reaches out to check her phone and with a sight of relief she realizes it's only 7:57 p.m: she's got about half an hour to pack her stuff and meet up with the others at the bus station nearby. Besides, it's not like they'd leave without her, that would absurd.
Speaking of which... where are all the others? It's all so suspiciously silent. Looking around the room with slight agitation, Stella realizes that not only the other two beds are completely empty, but also that none of her roommates' stuff is there – no bags, no suitcases, no phone chargers. It's like they've completely vanished. Luckily, all of her stuff is still here and Stella's barely opened her suitcase anyway, it won't take much for her to be ready to leave. As she hastily checks the room to make sure she won't forget any of her items, a rather unsettling feeling begins to sink in. It's like... there's something off. Something weirdly and inexplicably off about that entire situation that makes her feel as though none of that is normal or should be happening – the empty room, her friends completely gone. How come no one has even bothered to wake her up, if she was sleeping and they're leaving in half an hour? No, something isn't right.
Checking her phone for text messages, Stella opens the group chat and asks the rest of the class where they are and if they're all at the bus station, reassuring them that she's coming in a minute. She hurriedly throws her phone charger inside her bag, puts her blue jacket on and with her suitcase packed she's ready to leave. As soon as she closes the door of the hotel room, her first nervous instinct is to check her phone again. No answers. Well, that's fairy reasonable, she's basically sent the text a couple of minutes ago. And yet... something's off, again. Not only has no one replied to her, but her text wasn't even delivered, to any of the contacts in the group. That... shouldn't be happening. She worriedly tries to call one of her classmates, but her phone doesn't even ring, like it's been turned off. She tries another number, and then another one, but the recorded voice message she gets every time is identical, the number she's trying to reach is not available.
Okay, if that is some weird, sick prank, it's definitely not funny. Carrying her big, pink suitcase by the handle with now a considerable amount of agitation, Stella quickly leaves the hotel in a rush and strides – clearly not running, as princesses certainly do not run – to the bus station in less than five minutes. Lightly panting, she checks her phone again to make sure she's on time, a confirmation she quickly receives since the screen informs her that it's only 8:17 p.m. - she's even arrived a bit earlier, which certainly isn't usual for her. Which naturally leads her to wonder, shortly after... where the fuck is the rest of her class? Because none of her classmates is at the bus station, that much she's sure of. She attentively looks around, trying to spot familiar faces or even small groups of students, even the sight of fricking Rosalind would bring her comfort right now. But all around her she can only see strangers running all over the place to either leave or arrive in the big city.
What on Sun is going on? I'm sure this is the right place. Did they seriously forget about me? The princess of Solaria, of all students?
Relax, it's probably just a big misunderstanding. Are you sure this is the right time? Maybe we got here too early.
Well, I don't exactly remember the time, but it should be around 8:30 p.m., right? I checked before we got to Magix.
At that, a terrifying doubt crosses Stella's mind for the first time in the night. What if she didn't remember the time correctly? What if 8:30 wasn't the right time at all? Trying her best to control her growing panic, she immediately searches her bag to find the piece of paper with the schedule of the trip.
Departure from Alfea: Monday – 2:35 p.m.
Arrival in Magix: Monday – 7:45 p.m.
Visit of the Museum of Magical History: Tuesday – 9:30 p.m.
Departure from Magix: Tuesday – 4:30 p.m.
Oh shit.
No, no that's impossible, there's absolutely no way in Solaria's three suns that they forgot about me! How could they? And my classmates didn't even think of waking me up while they were getting ready to leave? This can't be happening. If my mother finds out about this I'm dead, I'm quite literally dead, she'll think I'm running away again and I'll be dead to her for good. Oh God, she's already cut me off completely, I don't even want to think about her next level of punishment.
Will you stop? Panicking will literally get us nowhere. Now quit being such a drama queen and try to come up with a solution, please.
Yeah, a solution, it's much easier said than done. The only way to fix this is to find a way to reach Linphea and that stupid swap and take part in those pointless field exercises like the good little student Stella must prove she is, but it certainly doesn't look that easy. For starters, the swamp is not easily reachable given its God-forsaken location, and Stella doesn't even have a car. Her best shot is trying to get there through public transport, which basically means she's screwed.
If only we weren't in the main station of the capital city of our own realm, right?
With that in mind, Stella leaves the bus station to go check the train one nearby. She already knows no buses go to Linphea anyway, unless someone specifically booked one and paid a driver, like their school had done. Lucky for her the train station seems pretty empty on the inside except for a couple of passers-by, and so is the ticket office, which saves her the annoyance to wait in line for her turn. The girl at the front desk looks pretty tired and like she's dying to get home and have dinner, but right now Stella couldn't care less. She'll have to get her a ticket out of there and quickly, because Stella doesn't think she could take another bad news.
“Hello. How can I help you?” the employee greets her in a flat voice, barely looking away from the screen monitor of the computer on her desk.
“Hello. One ticket to Linphea please, any destination will do,” Stella asks as she looks around nervously. She wouldn't be so stupid to think that a freaking swamp in the middle of nowhere would have a train station of course, but it doesn't matter, as soon as she gets in the earth fairies' realm she'll just ask for directions and figure something out along the way.
The ticket agent is surprisingly quick to respond: “I'm sorry, the train to Linphea has left in the afternoon.”
Great, now that's a piece of information I'll find really useful.
“I don't care, when does the next one leave?” Stella insists, her annoyance increasing by the seconds.
“Interrealm trains only travel once a week, so no sooner than next Tuesday,” the employee informs her.
No. No, this can't be happening. Not to Stella and not like that. She's getting to Linphea, even if it's the last thing she does.
“But... But I have to go to Linphea, you don't understand, it's important,” she pleads, hoping that the urgency of her situation will prompt the other girl to at least come up with an alternative solution. “I can't get stuck here.”
“Than you should have checked the train schedule in advance,” the useless employee coldly cuts her off.
How dare she talk to me like that? Does she know who I am?
“I'm sorry, do you know who you're talking to? Because if you did, I'm sure you'd be pretty stupid to address the princess of Solaria in such a rude and impolite manner,” Stella warns her, hoping that the veiled threat in her tone will not go unnoticed.
“I apologize, your Majesty,” the girl replies, her eyes finally turning away from the monitor to look at Stella. For a brief moment, the fairy enjoys the pleasant feeling of power and privilege that her title still grants her, something she has been deprived of for the last three weeks or so. It feels so good to be validated and respected again, in spite of the terrible situation she currently finds herself in.
“That's better,” Stella gloats in satisfaction, a small, triumphant smile escaping her lips. Too bad her contentment doesn't last very much.
“Now go call your personal chauffeur or ask mummy for a carriage, and please leave a bloody girl alone,” the employee shots back with sarcasm, clearly (and foolishly) not believing any of the words Stella just said to her.
Well, she can't really blame her for that, in a way the girl's right: the princess of Solaria is not supposed to rely on public transport to travel, much less to a mortifying location like a swamp. She's supposed to call her mum and get anyone to come pick her up within minutes, even seconds – and clearly get that disrespectful employee fired with the flick of her wrist. And yet, here she is, unable to do any of those things because if her mum knew that she had fallen asleep and as a result missed the school bus, she'd be in far more trouble than she is now. Well, the good news is that technology doesn't work on Linphea, or at least in the great majority of the realm, save for a couple of civilized cities. No one will know that she's in Magix and that she fled, though not even on purpose.
Realizing that she'll get absolutely nothing out of that disrespectful ticket agent except for anger and frustration, Stella turns her back to walk away, but not before muttering under her breath a much heart-felt: “Bitch.”
Perfect, just perfect. She's stuck in a city which is far away from Alfea, ditching school and possibly pissing her mum off all at once. Not to mention that the sun has set in and it's dark outside and she has no idea where to spend the night, where to go or what to do next. Just great. Could her night possibly get any worse?
“What are you doing here?”
Turning around to face the voice coming from behind her, Stella immediately finds out the answer to her question. Not only it can, but apparently it will, judging by the sight of a certain redhead girl now standing in front of her. What the hell? Beatrix, among all the people she could've run into, really? What is she doing here? Stella barely remembers seeing her on the bus, sitting somewhere in the back with her headphones on. Why is she even taking part in the trip? It makes no sense, she's in her first year!
Well, at least that means she's not alone. Honestly Stella doesn't know which one is worse, to be left completely on your own or in the company of an alleged murderer. She just hopes her classmate will prove herself to be more useful than the stupid ticket agent, though it won't take much for sure.
“It's embarrassing,” she finally replies to the other girl's question, adverting her gaze for a moment while she debates what her answer should be. As the air fairy throws her a questioning look, raising an eyebrow while implicitly asking her to elaborate, Stella sighs. What's the point of lying anyway?
“I fell asleep and I missed the bus. I thought we were leaving at 8:30 or something, and apparently I was wrong,” she admits, bracing herself to be mocked and made fun of by the other girl. “What are you doing here?” she then asks, mostly to move away the focus of the conversation from her, but partly because she also really wants to know why Beatrix is here as well. Has Rosalind sent her to pick her up?
“What? You thought we were leaving at 8:30?” Beatrix instead asks almost in disbelief, thus leaving Stella's question unanswered.
“Yeah, I know, I was an idiot and I should've checked twice,” she admits with an annoyed look, rolling her eyes in irritation, both at her classmate and herself. “If Rosalind sent you here to make fun of me then I'm not really in the mood for...” she adds, but Beatrix immediately cuts her off.
“No, you don't understand, it's strange,” she explains with a cryptical expression. “Somehow I also thought we were leaving around 8:30. I checked our schedule yesterday.”
“So you got lost here too,” Stella concludes with a frown. And here she was just starting to think that the headmistress' pupil was coming to get her. Turns out, Beatrix has been forgotten just a much as she was. Well, at least she's not going to be the only one to get in trouble, if that can be of any consolation. “Great”
“What the fuck do we do now?” Beatrix then asks, looking around the station as though she was searching for something, anything, even the smallest detail that could give her some sort of clue or reassurance of any kind.
“I've just been to the ticket desk to ask for a ticket for Linphea, but the next...” Stella begins to tell her, but she soon finds out the other girl is already aware of the absolute and ridiculous uselessness of Solaria's public transport.
“Yeah, I know, I've been there too. I was just leaving the station when I saw you enter, so I followed you. Figured I was the only one stuck in this mess, but apparently I got lucky,” she explains, ending her sentence with a smirk which leaves Stella wondering what exactly she means by those words.
“Lucky? How so?” she asks for an explanation, not quite sure if Beatrix was simply being sarcastic or there was actually more to it.
“Perhaps because you're the fucking princess of Solaria?” her classmate reminds her, as though it was an obvious statement. “Just call your mum, she'll get us out of here and back to the class in a second.”
“I can't,” Stella immediately replies in a firm voice, adverting her gaze to the ground in shame. God, she's never felt more stupid in her entire life.
“What do you mean you can't?” Beatrix insists, now looking quite confused.
“I said I can't,” Stella defensively reiterates. “My mum and I haven't really been on good terms since I escaped from the Royal Palace to hide at Alfea, so she probably won't be thrilled to know...” as she's speaking, Stella immediately realizes she's justifying herself to a stranger, something she really shouldn't be doing in the first place. If Beatrix is so eager to leave anyway, why doesn't she call that sort of paternal figure of hers instead of demanding things from her? “You know, why do I even have to explain myself to you? I said I can't call her and I won't,” Stella concludes in slight irritation.
“Easy there princess, no one is forcing you to do anything,” Beatrix backs off, which makes Stella calm down a bit. “If you prefer to spend some quality time with me while we wait for the next train, I'm all yours.”
“I don't enjoy any of this either, trust me. But my mum is not an option, period,” Stella establishes, glad to know that Beatrix is dropping the subject. She doesn't really want to keep talking about the way she's continuously disappointing her mother, she's already doing a pretty good job at feeling like a failure herself with no need of outside help.
“What are you suggesting then? I've tried to call Rosalind like, a million times, but she's not picking up,” Beatrix informs her with an irritated look. That doesn't surprise Stella in the least.
“They've probably already reached Linphea,” Stella guesses, “technology doesn't work there.”
“Fucking plants,” Beatrix replies with a snort. “On second thought, under normal circumstances I'd be almost glad to skip that depressing hippy retreat.”
“You have a point, though a hippy retreat with terrible outfits and flower crowns is still much more exciting than mud and slime for a week straight,” Stella jokes, and for the first time since she's left Alfea, a soft laugh escapes her lips. It's nice to finally have someone who understands her pain and frustration, however unlikely that person might be.
“Don't tell me the princess fled on purpose because she couldn't bare the thought of being deprived of her five pillows,” Beatrix teases her. Her cheekiness is both annoying and at the same time strangely amusing, but that's really not the point right now.
“For your information, I don't sleep with five pillows,” Stella tells her, slightly blushing as she thinks to herself that she actually uses seven – on an average day. But then again, that's not really the point, is it? And why does she keep explaining herself to Beatrix anyway? That girl has a really annoying way of pulling information out of her and making her talk about herself without Stella even realizing it. “Why do I keep explaining myself to you anyway?” she adds, as Beatrix stares at her with an amused grin on her face. “You know what? Why don't you start suggesting something instead of mocking me for no reason?” Stella then asks her, a bit flustered.
“Someone's a bit nervous”, Beatrix casually comments, as Stella rolls her eyes. “I'm starting to think you were the lucky one to have me by your side throughout this forced stay at Magix. Anyway, my suggestion is actually rather simple: we go back to the hotel, ask if they have any spare rooms for the night and get some rest,” Beatrix tells her, now finally going back to being serious.
Well, that makes... a lot of sense. Stella has been so insanely worried about her mum and the consequences she'll inevitably have to face that she wasn't even thinking clearly. Beatrix is right – as much as she hates to admit it, – it's getting late and the sun is already gone, they need to look for a place to stay as soon as possible. Their hotel is probably the best shot, perhaps they'll have some spare rooms. She's carried some cash with her for the trip anyway, hopefully it will be enough to pay for the room.
“That is actually not the worst idea,” she reluctantly concedes. One night should be enough for their class to notice they're missing and go back for them, right? “They must have noticed we're missing by now, I'm sure they'll be back for us tomorrow,” Stella thinks out loud, trying to convince herself more than her interlocutor of that.
“I hope so,” Beatrix mutters. The hint of doubt in her voice clearly doesn't go unnoticed by Stella: is there something the other fairy isn't telling her?
“What do you mean?” Stella asks for clarification.
“Nothing. Just a stupid thought, really, nothing to worry about,” Beatrix immediately tries to reassure her, clearly faking a smile. “Shall we go, princess?”
Despite being far from convinced by that answer, Stella reluctantly agrees to let it go and starts following her to the hotel nearby. Judging by the look on Beatrix's face, the latter's thoughts seemed to be anything but optimistic, and Stella really isn't in the mood for another bad news. Silently walking along the pavement with Beatrix by her side, both of them carrying their bags, Stella decides that she can wait until she's sat down and warmed up to get even more depressed about the pathetic mess she's gotten herself into.
...
“We still have one room available, yes, but only for tonight. Does this work for you?” the nice guy at the reception desk of the hotel informs the two fairies with a polite smile, and for the first time in her night, Stella finally feels relieved at the thought that there are still people with decent manners properly doing their job in Solaria after all.
“Yes, obviously, I'll take it, I don't care how much it is,” she's quick to reply, without giving it much of a thought.
“He means we'll have to share it, Stella,” Beatrix clarifies shortly after. “But it's not a problem, I'm sure my friend will agree with me.”
Oh. Stella hasn't really thought of that, has she? As much as she despises the concept of room sharing in general, she supposes they don't have much of a choice. Besides, it's certainly going to be a cheaper solution, which right now clearly doesn't hurt.
“Absolutely” she confirms, faking a smile to the receptionist.
Once he's done filing their information into the hotel server, he gently handles Stella the magnetic key to the room. “The key to your room, Miss, you'll find it on the third floor. Breakfast will be served from 8 to 10 o' clock. Enjoy your stay,” he dismisses them with a polite smile.
At that, the two fairy politely thank him as they start to head for the lift. Even if their situation hasn't changed much, the mere thought of having a place to stay, even if it's just over the night, it's enough to contribute to make Stella feel a bit more relaxed, possibly because the comfort of the premises is something quite familiar to her and the environment she grew up in.
“Seriously, what kind of messed up people eat their breakfast before 10 a.m.?” Beatrix playfully comments as the lift doors spring open before their eyes, accompanied by the trademark mechanical sound.
“Uhm, the people who are busy in the morning because they have a life?” Stella points out as she she pushes her suitcase inside, followed by Beatrix shortly after.
“Exactly the kind of people I strongly despise,” the latter sarcastically observes as she rolls her eyes and presses the button to the third floor, making Stella chuckle in the process as she shakes her head in disapproval.
It doesn't take much for them to find their room, they just have to turn left once as they walk down the hallway and suddenly room 307 appears before their eyes. Stella immediately rushes to pull the magnetic key out of her pocket and slide it along the small screen near the door, finally granting them entrance.
'Comfort at last', that's the first thought that crosses her mind upon stepping inside. Without much of a care she throws her suitcase to the side and immediately heads for her bed, ready to lay down, close her eyes and take a much-deserved break from reality. And yet, once again, things don't really go as planned as the sight of a double bed abruptedly stops her in her track.
“Wait. What is that supposed to be?” she vents, throwing the piece of furniture a look of pure anger and frustration. There's no other bed in the room which inevitably means... no. No, that is simply not happening.
“What does it look like?” Beatrix sarcastically asks, taking off her shoes to sit on the right side of the bed, her eyes fixed on Stella as she runs a hand through her long blond hair while sighing.
“No. Sharing a room is frankly quite mortifying in itself, but I cannot and will not share a bed with a stranger,” she cries out in frustration, taking a long, deep breath to calm down.
“Guess it's all mine then,” Beatrix replies, “you can sleep in the bathtub as far as I care, I'm sure it's quite fancy.”
If possible, her bitchy replies only irritates Stella even more, which makes her blurt out in anger a short but concise: “fuck you,” not even bothering to look at Beatrix.
The latter clearly takes the hint as she doesn't say anything back, minding her own business as Stella ignores her right back. As silence falls into the room, the princess goes back to her suitcase and opens it, carrying it next to left side of the bed as she starts pulling out what she's going to be needing for the night: her toothbrush, her toothpaste, her hairbrush, her nightgown, her phone charger...
“You don't like me very much, that's pretty obvious,” Beatrix's voice breaks the silence after a while, leading Stella to look up to her. Beatrix is still sitting on the other half of the bed, her expression looking kind of... sad? Perhaps even guilty, to some extent? And suddenly, Stella realizes that she's just as much of a victim of the circumstances as she is. It's not fair of her to direct all her anger and fear and resentment for having been abandoned by her incompetent class to a person going through the exact same situation. “But I'm not enjoying any of this anymore than you do, Stella. Let's just get through the night and hopefully in the morning we'll get to leave for an exciting week covered in mud,” Beatrix continues, in an attempt to establish a truce.
“I'm sorry, this isn't about you,” Stella apologises. Beatrix is right, they're in this together – however unfortunate that may be, she's not to blame. Silently accepting her peace offer, Stella moves her stuff and her suitcase to the bottom end of the bed to awkwardly sit beside Beatrix, clearly keeping a respectful distance between them. She's definitely not used to close proximity, especially with people she barely knows. “I'm just very tired and angry and confused,” she tries to justify herself, hoping that Beatrix will understand. In the meantime, the other fairy first observes her movements with a certain degree of curiosity, probably taken by surprise by Stella's initiative; then, she stretches her arms and lays down on her side of the bed, catching Stella by surprise in return.
“I know, me too,” she exhales, her eyes fixed on the white ceiling above them. Stella takes advantage of that moment of distraction to attentively stare at her, almost as though she was analytically studying the other girl to assess whether she could trust her or not. She observes the way her red hair is scattered across the white pillow, her pouty lips covered in dark red lipstick, the curve of her nose, her dark brown eyes... Stella has never gotten that close to her over the course of the last semester at Alfea, and perhaps that is the reason why she never really noticed how ridiculously pretty Beatrix actually is; it's no wonder half of the Specialists were practically drooling over her, or at least that's what Sky told her. There's something intrinsically mesmerizing about her beauty, something that makes Stella realize that, well, she supposes there could have been worse people to share a bed with, right?
So she gets a pass for being a murderer just beause she's pretty? God, you're pathetic.
That was just a casual, objective observation, of course I don't like her. How could I? She's unpleasant and annoying and cocky. I wouldn't be friends with her even if she were the last fairy on Solaria. But she doesn't look like a threat to me, at least not right now. I'm not saying I can trust her, of course, but I don't see the harm in working with her to find a solution to our mutual problem.
With that in mind, Stella realizes she's feeling a bit more relaxed and therefore decides to imitate Beatrix, awkwardly laying on her side of the bed as she stares at the ceiling.
“You don't believe that they're coming for us, do you?” she asks, recalling what Beatrix said earlier at the train station.
“What?” Beatrix exclaims, as she turns to look at Stella in surprise.
“I heard you earlier,” Stella recalls, “you don't believe that they're coming back, right?”
“I honestly don't know,” the other fairy admits with a sigh. “We shouldn't be here, something's off, don't you think?”
“I don't know,” Stella replies, because really, at this point she has no idea what to think or what to expect. Beatrix is right, something's off. How could Rosalind and the rest of her class not notice that no one but two students were gone? Besides, Beatrix has pretty much become her own secretary, constantly following her around with a clipboard whose use Stella hasn't quite yet figured out, whereas Stella is the fucking princess, for God's sake. She's quite sure her mother has ordered Rosalind to take notice of every single breath she takes and reprimand her the moment she even considers doing something even remotely against the rules. How could Rosalind leave them behind, out all the students in the class?
I mean, it's not freaking Tecna we're talking about, we're two of the most powerful fairies in the class! Beatrix is right, this is weird.
“Why don't we go get something for dinner?” Beatrix then proposes out of the blue, snapping Stella out of her trail of thoughts. “I don't know about you but I'd much rather have this conversation when I'm not bloody starving, helps me to think more clearly.”
Once again, Stella realizes she's right. She hasn't eaten anything after lunch given that she's slept through the whole afternoon, and afterwards she's been so caught up with finding the rest of the class that she hasn't even noticed that... well, she's hungry. She's really hungry actually, and all that nervousness certainly doesn't help.
“Yeah, me too,” she tells both the other fairy and herself.
At that, Beatrix props on her left elbow to lay on her side, thus looking at Stella directly in the eyes. “I'm sure the princess has been in all the five-star restaurants of the big city. You could show a small town girl around,” she jokes, giving Stella an amused smile.
With a snort, Stella shakes her head in disagreement.
“Considering our low budget, we'll be lucky to eat in a pizzeria and get a decent dessert.”
But the thing is, in a weird, contradictory way, Stella doesn't even mind getting pizza for dinner. Just like Beatrix guessed, she's been in basically all the fancy, luxurious restaurants of Magix with her mum and a bunch of other relatives, where she didn't even have the option not to finish her meal if she didn't like it or, on the contrary, to get another portion if she was still hungry. Hell, half of the time she wasn't even allowed to get a dessert – getting used to too much comfort results in weakness, according to her masochistic mum. Pizza is going to be nice for a change; at least this time, no one will tell her what she can or cannot eat.