It took 30 minutes before Amber thought she was well enough to leave her room. She would have liked to stay more if it weren't for the fact she had assured Sky she would meet him.

Alfea's halls were buzzing with excitement. She could hear music playing when she got closer to the Assembly Hall, although it did little to drown the conversations of the students all around her. Choosing not to get lost in the crowd, the blonde girl found her way to the second floor, knowing it would be quicker to find Sky from there.

It took her a moment until she did.

He was standing with Stella on the ground floor, frustration written all over his face. Amber didn't have to guess what they were talking about — she heard every piece of gossip Dia had about the two. From the resentful grumbling of her sister on the day the two had started dating to the squalls of excitement when it came to her attention they had a messy fallout.

When Sky noticed Amber watching him from above, he gave Stella one last look before handing her the glass he was holding and making his way towards the staircase.

"I was looking for you," The specialist said as he approached her. "I was about to go and find your suite but Stella stopped me."

There was barely anyone around them as everyone was mingling with each other on the floor beneath them, and Amber was grateful for the seclusion.

"Glad to know I saved you from that awful conversation," Amber smirked, not bothering to hide her disdain for a second. Sky already knew how she felt about the Solarian Princess. But the way Sky's face fell for a moment caused slight guilt to seep in. "Sorry, I know you two are close,"

"Not so much these days. But from what I heard you two are even closer. You're roomies now." Sky replied, leaning over the rail where he could see everyone at the party. Amber knew he was partly glancing at Stella as he did. "Maybe you two can finally get along. She isn't a bad person,"

Yeah, I'm sure you had all summer to think about it lingered on her lips, almost begging to be voiced just to finally prove a point to Sky that Stella had changed, she was no longer the sweet little kid they knew years ago. But it wasn't fair of Amber to do so. It wasn't her relationship, she had no right to interfere.

Sensing her slight withdrawal from the conversation, Sky lightly bumped his shoulder to her side, "So, Ms. Dowling talked with me. And I heard she talked with Stella, too. You're keeping a low profile now?"

"Less prying eyes."

"You know people will figure it out, eventually. Your suitemates will, too."

"I'm not ready to deal with everything just yet, Sky. Alfea is my last chance." Amber revealed, looking at Sky and hoping he would understand, "If I can't find a way to fix myself here, I can't... I won't be able to–"

He quickly grabbed her hands and held them tightly as the girl's voice broke away, "Hey, where's that brave girl who saved my life when I was six and fell off a horse? I know you, Amber. Pretty sure there isn't a single thing in the entire Otherworld that can beat you down."

Sometimes Amber wondered if Sky was a light fairy and didn't know, because she had no idea how else Sky had always managed to brighten her mood so much without it feeling like magic.

"It was a pony," Amber corrected, and a small smile broke through.

"An abnormally large one." Sky insisted, his grin matching hers, "And whatever happens, I'm always gonna have your back, alright?" He promised her and she knew he would always keep his promises.

"I missed you." Was all the fairy managed to say without cracking. It had been so long since she felt this kind of genuine support and trust.

"Then you should've called more." His tone was mocking but held no heat. Just genuine concern for his childhood friend.

Amber let out a sigh, "I wanted to, but my parents thought I should focus on myself. They said it would be easier if I distanced myself for a while."

"It's ok, Dia kept me updated." Sky said, a smirk tugging at his lips.

Amber let out a laugh, "I'm sure she took advantage of that situation if it meant she got to talk with you, she was always a bit too obsessed with you."

"Well, Riven did say I'm Prince Charming."

He looked at her with twinkling eyes, and that alone was what it took to make that sinking feeling that hovered around her since she had stepped in Alfea go away. Maybe, just maybe, being in Alfea would not be as bad as she thought.

~~~

Stella was unusually quiet. Not that it bothered Amber much anyway, in fact, she was pretty glad for it. But still, it was weird. Stella was the epitome of power and strength, always voicing her opinions (as annoying and unimportant as they were to Amber) and dragging the attention of whoever was in the room. Staying silent from the moment she walked into the Main Room was the opposite of that. The only sound she made was when she snapped her fingers and created a small orb of light while lifting her phone at certain angles to take the perfect selfie.

Amber didn't say a thing and instead buried her head back into the book she was reading. Alfea's mandatory books for the first year almost felt like a joke, a child's play. With a frustrated groan, she closed yet another book, hoping the next one would somewhat be more useful. Amber had a list of questions, and with Alfea being the most prestigious school in the Otherworld, she hoped to find some answers soon.

Feeling her irritation grow as Terra placed more and more plants around her, (because according to the brunette "The room needs a bit more decoration and I have the perfect flower pots for that!") Amber decided to activate the bangle's charm, just in case.

Soon, another book was added to the small pile she had created for the books that weren't very helpful. Amber realized she would have to visit the library to try and find what she was searching for.

Her thoughts were cut off when voices started to replace the silence in the suite.

"She's blanking my texts."

Without turning around from her table, Amber recognized Aisha's voice.

"Strange. I wonder if it's because she poured her heart out to you and you called her a freak?" Musa joined in, too.

"Have you seen Bloom?" Aisha asked both of them, but only Stella answered.

"Not recently." There was a slight pause that caused Stella to snap her fingers and make the light disappear. "Yes?"

"Your face looks so calm, yet you're racked with guilt." Musa revealed.

"You're a mind fairy." Aisha concluded.

"A mind fairy?" Terra's joyful voice joined the conversation, "What's your connection? Memory, thoughts..."

Musa stopped her, "Not a great time."

"Is everything OK?" Terra asked, worried.

"Not really." Aisha said, "I'm looking for Bloom. For some reason, Stella's feeling guilty about it."

"Could everyone save the drama for drama club?" Stella replied, annoyed with the conversation.

"Wasn't she talking to Sky?" Terra questioned, which slightly caused Amber to tune in.

"And?" Amber recognized Stella's tone. Irritation mixed with calmness.

"And I know what happened to the last person who was talking to Sky," Terra stated and that was enough for Amber to finally leave her book and turn around to look at the girls. "I was here last year, remember?"

Stella scoffed loudly but didn't say anything.

"Stella, where's Bloom?" The brunette insisted.

"She was feeling homesick, so I did a nice thing and I lent her my ring, so that she could go back to the First World." Stella admitted with a huff.

Her words dawned on Amber, and she finally spoke up, "Doesn't your ring only work outside the barrier?"

"Yes, and there's a gateway in the old cemetery." Stella told them.

"That's deep in the forest, Stella." Terra said, "You know what's out there, right?"

Terra's question was left unanswered, but they all knew what she was talking about. Amber heard the whispers and the rumors of a beast that killed an innocent shepherd right outside the school's barrier. Whatever it was, it was dangerous to be outside.

"We have to go and find her," Aisha decided.

Musa and Terra immediately agreed with her, but the other two fairies stayed silent.

"You're not coming?" Musa asked them, baffled.

Stella sighed loudly, "Look, I'm sure everything is okay and you're just making a big deal out of nothing. She'll be back soon,"

"But what if she doesn't?" Terra panicked.

"Then it'll be the consequences of her own actions," Amber replied, and the three of them turned to look at her, shocked at the way she was acting. Amber continued, "She must have known the risks of getting outside the barrier."

Whatever dangers that were outside, she would have to deal with them. There was no way Amber would volunteer to help. Why would she risk her life for a fire fairy?

"How can you say something like that? Do you not care at all?" Aisha snapped at the blonde.

Amber looked at Musa, "You can read emotions, right? Go on then, read mine and see if I care."

Musa's eyes glowed purple indicating the use of her magic, but then her eyes fluttered back to their original dark color, confusion swimming in them. She looked at Aisha and shook her head, proving that Amber, indeed, didn't care.

"Fine, we'll find her ourselves," Aisha declared, looking at the blondes with aversion before the three fairies rushed out of the room.

Once again, silence filled the room, until Stella broke it.

"They are overreacting, don't you think?"

Amber rolled her eyes, if that was how the light fairy wanted to justify herself so she could feel better then so be it. But Amber had no interest to take part in it, "I don't know, and I don't care."

"Wow, must be really easy for you, running away from your emotions and responsibilities. As if everything in the world is just so black and white, and simple like that." Stella rolled her eyes, attention focused back on her phone.

If Stella wanted to divert her anger and guilt towards Amber, then she could. But Amber could play this game, too.

"You know they are going to hate you for this, right?" Amber stated.

"For what exactly? I didn't do anything wrong." Stella defended, glaring at her.

"You know what they say: Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence, the third time is enemy action. Dia, Ricky, and now the fire fairy." Amber said and crossed her arms, looking at the Solarian accusingly.

It was just for a split second, but Amber could spot it. The hurt. And then the anger that washed all over Stella's expression.

"I'm not going to get lectures from someone who thinks getting rid of her emotions is the best way to not be a danger to society," Stella exclaimed, enraged. For a moment, Amber saw the lights in the suite flickering.

"At least I'm not trying to get a girl killed for talking with my ex," Amber argued, "And if something happened to her, you know who they would blame."

While it was the fire fairy's choice to go, Amber knew that Stella played a role in that decision. And with Musa revealing Stella's guilt, the other suitemates probably thought the same as well.

Amber expected Stella to yell back at her, come back with some snarky remark or something. But instead, the Solarian princess didn't say a word and stormed out of the suite.

She thought back to Sky's words, on how he insisted they could be friends. That seemed just beyond the bounds of possibility.

_____________________

Author note: Sooooo, Bloom and Amber... Are we gonna talk about it? Let's just say that we have a lot to unfold here ;) Same goes with the history our angry (Yet with a hidden soft spot) girl has with Stella.

Let me know your thoughts about this chapter!

And you know the drill, drop a comment here for a tiny sneak peek from the next chapter 😉✨