#i think this is one of my finest brushwork i like it huh

[zeiinoviahh]

Mercurio & Lacroix

[elleonmybeloved]

A New Muse

Winx Club | Flora x Helia Words:5785 Chapter 1 Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22431853/chapters/53596288

Summary:  Ever wonder what goes on in that freakishly strong poet guy's mind when it comes to Flora? A retelling of the events of their experiences together in season 2 but this time you don't have to guess at Helia's personality.The mind of a teenage guy can be an interesting thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“No way dude, Kellthorn is totally winning this. Miran might be at the top of his class, but he’s just a sophomore. Kellthorn’s got two years of experience on him.”

“You obviously haven’t seen Miran fight. He’s got this one in the bag.”

“You wanna bet?”

“Sure. Whoever loses buys dinner.”

“Hah! You’re so on.”

Helia had chosen a seat surrounded by empty space in the hopes of getting whatever peace he could at such a loud and chaotic event as the reopening of the Red Fountain stadium, but unfortunately he could still hear the bickering of some excited specialists from his corner seat.

He hadn’t even wanted to come in the first place, but Uncle Saladin had made him a deal too good to refuse… and well, just about anything seemed worth it in the face of getting a new set of WeiLu brushes. Enhanced with a secret potion formula and made from the finest of unicorn hairs, the kind of elegant and versatile brushwork they could produce was a worthwhile trade for a few hours of mild suffering.

“Yes!! I told you Kellthorn would win. Mmm, I can taste the pricey Italian alfredo already!”

“Aw man, can’t we just go out for pizza dude?”

“Nope. This is what you get for underestimating a real specialist’s strength!”

Helia hid an expression of disdain. What good came of obsessing so much over strength? In his opinion, it was pathetic to take such pleasures in brutish delight. The best this school had going for it were it’s few intellectuals, but they always failed to acknowledge the balance of technology and nature.

The new design of Red Fountain’s campus would be one example of such. Floating among the clouds with the help of technology and magic, but a part of the natural beauty of the sky, floating like a cloud, and gravity’s brush painting the long cascades of water that fell from all sides, like a waterfall.

Not that anybody would notice that.

A flock of doves landed at his feet, cooing on their way down. Pleased, he leaned forward and turned a new page in his sketchbook, trying to capture the grace in their flight. They had such fluffy feathers, like clouds. He made several short, curved strokes, trying to imitate the downy feathers and the soft clouds above simultaneously.

“Hmm…” He was pleased with the overall shape, but he wasn’t sure he had succeeded in what he had been trying to do.

“According to my calculations, this is the best angle to watch the event!”

Glancing up briefly, he noticed a few of his specialist acquaintances approaching with a group of young women he suspected were Alfea fairies. Looks like his newfound peace wasn’t going to last long after all. He went back to his sketch.

“Hey, who’s that ?” He supposed he should have knocked on wood. One of the fairies had noticed him already. Helia pressed his lips together at the subsequent uncomfortable sensation of several pairs of eyes on him.

“Oooh, he’s kind ce-yute… is he a transfer student? I’d remember if I’d seen him before.”

This one’s loud voice grated harshly on his ears. Helia suppressed a sigh.

“That’s just Helia.” From the unamused tone in Brandon’s voice, he made the quick connection of the identity of the loud blonde as his royal girlfriend.

“Helia is Saladin’s nephew.” Timmy never missed a chance to list off the facts.

He almost didn’t hear the next voice. Unlike the others it was quiet and soft, and not easily heard over the ambient noise of the crowd.

“Then he must be a talented specialist. Is he going to be in the competition?”

“Actually no, he’s not a hero.” Brandon was quick to explain. “He goes to art school, but Saladin’s trying to convince him to transfer here.”

And he’d need a better bribe than high quality art supplies to pull that off.

“The problem is, he’s a pacifist, and doesn’t believe in violence.”

“Huh, what a shame.”

He flipped to the next page and began another sketch, not really wanting to hear the usual judgements of how lame or cowardly he “must be” that usually ensued the disclosure of that information.

“Actually, I think that’s wonderful…” The quiet voice was so full of genuine admiration, it shocked him.

Finally looking up from his sketchbook, his gaze raked over the group of girls, searching for the owner of that voice.

“I’d like to meet him and hear his point of view.”

Her shy expression wasn’t hidden by the blonde like she had been the first time he’d looked at the group, nor was the rest of her. For that, Helia was thankful. He would’ve been extremely remiss had he never gotten a chance to lay eyes on this fairy.

Helia took his time drinking in the sight. Her petite form, the deep green of her eyes, the delicate swell of her pink bottom lip, the glow of her smooth caramel skin, and the delicately curled waves of her long chestnut hair that flowed loosely in the slight breeze were enticing. More than those, however, was her posture: graceful yet shy, and the way she wore her expression: open and kind.

It was exactly the kind of raw, gentle beauty he found himself chasing so often in his artwork. Most fairies were physically attractive, but he always found their “pretty” to be boring and repetitive. It was refreshing to encounter something different.

“Sure, I’ll introduce ya.”

Helia set down his brush and shifted his leg in anticipation as Brandon approached, giving the specialist an inquisitive gaze.

“Hey Helia.”

“Hello.”

“These ladies here are my friends. Let me introduce you.” Brandon turned to indicate each girl with one hand as he rattled off their names.

“This is Tecna, and that’s Layla, and-”

“I’m Princess Stella of Solaria!” The blonde chirped enthusiastically as she inserted herself in front of the one girl who’s name Helia was actually curious to know. “I’m actually a big supporter of the arts and-...”

Perhaps it was worth the delay, because the brief flash of disappointment in the other fairy’s eyes at the lost chance to be introduced pleased him. He was glad she wanted him to know who she was.

“-you’re an artist, right? Can you show me your sketchbook?” Helia tuned back in to what the blonde was saying in time to hear what was probably simultaneously the most annoying and most asked question of every artist of all time. As usual, he ignored it.

He stood and gave a formal bow of greeting to the group, coaxing forward his best friendly smile. “It is an honor to meet all of you.”

“With all due respect, Helia, why are you drawing on paper?” The one introduced as Tecna asked. “Such a primitive antique. Graphic palettes are so much better.”

He didn’t have a chance to answer as what he assumed was Tecna’s bonded pixie began regaling him on all the specs of such digital equipment. Helia raised an eyebrow and tried to keep his polite smile.

Except the blonde then casually took his sketchbook right out of his hands.

“Wooow!” She gushed, shamelessly flipping through the pages. It was too quickly for her to really be looking at them. “These are greeeaat ! You’re perfect to do my royal portrait.” She gave him a wide, expectant grin as if she’d just given him a great honor.

And then unceremoniously shoved his sketchbook into the hands of the gentle girl.

Stella continued on about having her people call his people or some nonsense, he was only paying attention to the almost reverent way the girl was holding his sketchbook, taking her time on each drawing and turning the pages gently.

Helia was quiet as he awaited her response to what she saw there, curious what she’d have to say.

“Your brush strokes capture the dove’s moment so beautifully.” She sighed, still looking at the drawing. “The way you’ve drawn the wings -  it’s like they’re hugging the clouds and the sky and the dove… become one.” Meeting his eyes at her last words, she seemed a bit chagrined, but passed his sketchbook back with a shy smile.

He was a little stunned and mechanically took it back from her before speaking.

“That’s… exactly what I had in mind. I wasn’t sure I’d managed to pull it off... I love that you got that.”

The girl let out a nervous laugh, like she’d been expecting him to make fun of what she said and was relieved that wasn’t the case.

If anything, it was the opposite.

“He-hem. And this is Flora.” Brandon’s knowing smirk was annoying but the important information he just imparted was enough for him to get away with it.

“Hmm, Flora.” He murmured quietly, immediately testing out the name on his tongue.

Flora . Of course her name was Flora, he thought, a girl with all the beauty and grace of nature. Like a wood nymph of legend. He wondered how she would feel about letting him draw her sometime.

“Anyways, we need to go start getting ready. I’ll see you girls later.” Brandon said, winking at Stella before he and the other specialists broke off from the group.

Helia took the opportunity to take his own leave. He didn’t want to risk getting dust or rubble on his sketchbook while the “Big Reveal” was taking place, and as it was he was thirsty. His uncle surely wouldn’t begrudge him getting some water before returning.

The group of fairies chatted animatedly as they took their seats, and though he resisted the temptation to turn his head for a last look, his wondered about warning the gentle fairy about what most of the audience would probably perceive as an earthquake…

...Nah, she would be fine.

And if she wasn’t, he’d be there to rescue her.

---

Flora would do anything to save those she cared about, so while she wasn’t particularly brave, she volunteered to be bait in their plan to get rid of the monster attacking Red Fountain.

Her magic was primarily defensive after all. She’d leave it to the heavy hitters to bash this thing down.

Steeling her nerves, she flew around the face of the monster, trying not to look at it’s scary gaping maw that was no doubt right behind her.

Finally, the signal. The spell Bloom and the others had been charging were ready.

“Aaieee!” Flora panicked, suddenly covered head to toe in a stick substance that stang where it touched her skin. She’d reflexively squeezed her eyes shut, but now she couldn’t open them. She shouldn’t have looked away!

“Oh no, that’s what it does right before it eats you!” Bloom’s voice sounded hopelessly far away.

“I-I can’t see!” She stammered, trying her best to shake the goo off with little success.

Flora knew she needed to keep moving, but what if she flew into the monster’s awaiting mouth? There was a spell for this, of course, but her mind was blank in her panic and it would take several seconds she didn’t have to cast it. Her breath left her in gasps, and she sobbed, curling in on herself in anticipation of the sharp teeth she knew were coming to crush her in two.

But those teeth never came.

“What the- look, it’s being restrained by glowing cords!”

Still unable to see, Flora frantically chanted the spell while she had the opportunity, and after a few agonizing seconds, the goo vanished and she opened her eyes.

Instead of the gaping maw she’d expected, the monster was several feet from her, bound in a glowing gold cord. Her eyes followed the line up to a high ledge.

There stood her hero. His bicep flexed as he effortlessly restrained the monster with a single hand, the cords extending out from a white glove on his left hand. The folds of his loose poet’s shirt billowed in the wind.

An odd sensation buzzed in her chest.

“How did that happen?”

“Haha!” Sky’s laughter sounded surprised. “It seems like we have a new hero!”

“What? Where?” Brandon swung his dragon around.

“He’s up there.” Flora couldn’t keep the smile off her lips. “Helia.”

Following her gaze, Brandon’s eyes just about bugged at the sight of the young man. A smug smile on his face, still keeping the powerful beast restrained with just one hand.

“Wh- Helia ? How could an art student do that?” From his tone it sounded like he hadn’t expected Helia to be able to fight at all.

“Well, he is Saladin’s nephew… maybe heroics is in his blood?”

But Helia wasn’t paying attention to them anymore. Or the monster. He was looking straight at her. When he spoke, the soft concern in his voice made her throat go dry.

“Are you okay, Flora?”

“I- uhhh…” She didn’t really feel okay, she felt weird in her chest, and she’d almost been eaten by a monster with very sharp teeth. She should thank him right? Or maybe... reward him with a kiss? She covered her face with her hands at the embarrassing thought, immediately banishing it. “Uhhh?”

Sky laughed. “She’s okay.” He still seemed shocked, gazing incredulously at the artist.

“Hmm.” He seemed pleased with that.

And then let go of the monster in one fluid movement. Flora didn’t miss the cheeky smile that quirked up at the corner of his lips.

Her friends reacted immediately, shocked and enraged, but Flora was transfixed. Helia just walked confidently away, barely seeming to hurry at all for the monster that slammed an angry fist near where he’d just been standing.

He just calmly walked away with a satisfied expression on his face.

It was startlingly cocksure compared to her first impression of him. She couldn’t decide if he was humble or reckless… but regardless, she found the display incredibly attractive.

---

As much as he hadn’t expected a giant monster to crash the tournament ceremony, he’d appreciated the opportunity it had presented.

Helia decided he’d liked the look on Flora’s face when she opened her eyes and turned to him and saw him as her savior.

There was something in her eyes, a kind of trust that was so tempting. In that moment, it had satisfied him more than any of the art he’d made that day. The way she’d watched his arm, assessed his capabilities… he sort of felt like a preening bird in that moment, oddly. He didn’t usually care much for competing with others, but to have won her sole attention had been so satisfying he maybe needed to revisit that.

He wanted to see her look at him like that again.

Helia had succeeded in his first attempt to impress her, but what could he do to do it again? Hmm, perhaps… ah, yes.

An hour later, he managed to track down the group’s whereabouts, the specialists and fairies lounging in the courtyard against some trees. Flora sat alone against the base of a tree, eyes closed and looking peaceful as she relaxed.

It would be a shame to disturb her.

Folding his drawing into a paper airplane, he tossed it in an arc, letting it catch the wind.

A lucky throw - it landed right beside her.

Helia watched from out of her sight as her expression changed from one of curiosity, to shock, and then joy as she saw that it was a portrait of herself.

Flora looked around for him, but when she couldn’t spot him, she smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and happily hugged the drawing to her chest, holding it tightly like it was precious. It seemed attempt number two was a success.

Helia smiled too.

---

The next time Helia saw her again was several weeks later.

Despite his original resistance, with a bit more bribing on his Uncle’s part, he’d caved and joined Red Fountain. When asked, he’d said it was because he was bored and interested in a change of scenery.

But really, he was just concerned about his uncle’s safety here. They’d found no evidence in the aftermath of the beast’s attack to identify the perpetrator, which was odd. And meant that whoever was unsuccessful the first time might come back to finish the job.

His hunch turned out to be correct, the mayhem globe wreaking havoc on campus could attest to that. Unfortunately, nothing they were trying was having much of an effect.

Helia had happened to be outside, trying to find a pattern to the globe’s movements when she’d showed up, long hair streaking behind her as she and her friends ran to come offer their aid.

To be honest, he’d only thought of her a couple of times since. Sure he was interested, but he didn’t know the first thing about her. Though he wasn’t inexperienced, he wasn’t really the type to chase women.

But now that he saw her again, he was reminded of why he was attracted to her. It was those same eyes, that tempting expression.

In battle she was brave and kind, and smart enough to know her limits. But in the end, they lost the codex, despite their best efforts.

---

It was another several weeks before he saw Flora again. But this period of time, unlike the last, he spent thinking of her often.

It had started when Sky had asked Bloom to be his girlfriend after being revived from death by her power. Though he was happy with the situation, he’d come to Helia for advice on how to take her out on dates she’d enjoy.

And then Timmy had approached him soon after to ask for help in wooing Tecna, having failures to capture her heart with several gifts.

Happy with the results of his half hearted counseling, they’d formed a habit of “thanking” him with things they heard about Flora from their girlfriends.

“She likes strawberry milkshakes.”

“Pink is her favorite color.”

“There’s a large vine plant that grows in her room. She calls it Leafy. Apparently she snuggles it at night sometimes.”

There were admittedly some interesting things among the asinine.

“She mispronounced a spell in class the other day, saying your name instead of helion .”

“It’s supposed to be a secret, but Bloom says that sometimes Flora makes weird noises when sleeping with her vine plant and the room smells strongly of sweet sap.”

That one had earned Sky a glare, if only for telling him that someplace public enough to be inappropriate for the boner Helia was then sporting.

Helia had then proceeded to have a very heated dream about the subject and he’d given up trying to resist his attraction that morning.

He wanted to see her again. He wanted to know more. He wanted to hear it from her lips, in that gentle voice.

But it had been weeks… and besides, it was possible she wasn’t interested. Or had someone else in her heart.

“Hmmph.” He scowled down at the journal of poems below him, tearing off the sheet and balling it up before tossing it and beginning anew.

Her voice is the whisper of wind-swept trees

Putting my troubled mind at ease

Her eyes are lit with a new star’s aura

I long to be close to my dear Flora

...It seemed the muse wasn’t with him tonight. Maybe a hot shower would help him relax… he set down the pad and headed towards the bathroom, pulling the strings of his shirt loose.

As usual, he took long showers. It took time to wash and condition all of his hair after all.

He was just patting it dry when he heard a noise in his room.

That was odd. Had something fallen?

But when he walked out to check, everything was in place. The sound must have come from the adjacent dorm.

Glancing at the poem, he decided to give it a rest for the night and go to bed. Maybe the right words would come to him tomorrow.

---

“You really think the poem was about me?” Flora asked, gazing up at the sky, wanting to believe what Layla had just told her, but it was too good to be true. She really wished it was. She couldn’t stop thinking about the handsome artist.

She’d daydreamed about him saving her from monsters more than was probably healthy. It was hard not to drool over the memory of his confident smirk as he’d saved her at Red Fountain. It would feel so good to be held in his arms. At least that was how it had felt in her dreams. She’d had some other dreams too, but she’d never admit to those. Only that her imagination had a lot of faith in Helia being good with his hands.

“Unless he’s madly in love with a Dora, Kora, or Laura.” Layla teased her, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. “Of course it was about you, Flora. He’s into you, big time. Trust me.”

It was such a tempting thought.

Flora was struck by a whimsical, bold idea. Encouraged by the prospect of the truth of Layla’s words, she sat up, deciding to act on it before she lost her nerve.

“Maybe I’ll just send him a little something to let him know I’m thinking about him too.” The way she was planning to do it, she would be totally safe if it went south - she could always feign innocence and pretend it wasn’t her.

It was a clear and sunny afternoon. Maybe some sweet and unobtrusive white camellias? Nothing too garish or fragrant, so as not to disturb him…

She hoped he didn’t know flower language. White camellias represented love and adoration and were given to those you really liked. Well, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he knew it.

“I’ll be right back.” She said, giggling at the knowing look Layla shot her.

“There’s a blue ledge next to the window that makes a good hiding spot.”

---

Helia was in the middle of his afternoon meditation when he noticed a lack in the absence of the gentle heat of the sunlight. A shadow…? He hadn’t sensed anyone’s presence.

He opened his eyes and stood. There by the balcony ledge, a small bush of flowers magically grew and blossomed in front of his eyes.

Racing out to the balcony, he watched them bloom and sparkle in the light of the sun. They were white camellias, beautiful with their winding stems and layered petals. They usually only bloomed in the winter.

“Whoa! Nice…”

He looked up in search of the one responsible for such a gift, just in time to see the form of someone flying away. They were already almost out of sight, so to his disappointment he had just missed his chance to find out their identity.

Regardless, he couldn’t help a smile as he looked down at the plant, softly touching the petals of one of the flowers. If he remembered correctly, white camellias were typically given to those well-liked by the sender and could represent feelings of adoration… or love. Well, that was only one interpretation.

Who indeed?

He aced all of his tests later that day, but refused to answer as to the reason for his good mood when asked.

Even when it lasted for the rest of the week.

---

Enough heroism was enough for one day. Helia had half a mind to skip his classes, but it was a bit difficult to do when your uncle was the headmaster.

But nothing was stopping him from escaping to the park in Magix the second he finished school for the day.

Helia didn’t stop until he found the perfect spot - a large flat rock in the middle of a clearing in the trees, far enough away from most of the bustle and noise of the park, but still near enough by that he wouldn’t lose his way.

Time for some much needed decompressing.

Helia climbed up on the rock and made himself comfortable, crossing his legs and resting his hands on his knees in his usual meditation pose, and began to empty his mind.

Soon, his shoulders relaxed and the stiffness began to seep out of his spine. His mind was blissfully clear but for the chirping of birds and woosh of wind in the leaves. Nature never failed to calm him down.

He was almost an hour into a deep in a meditative trance, so when someone called out his name, it took him a moment to resurface to the forefront of his mind and open his eyes.

“Hmm…?”

Flora stood before him, and startled so harshly when he met her gaze that she dropped all the books she had been holding to her chest. Had she been looking for a spot to read?

She made a sound of distress and bent down, hastily gathering them up. The embarrassed look on her face was adorable.

“Hey Flora.” He couldn’t keep the mirth out of his tone as he leapt down from his perch and knelt on the ground by the mess. “Let me help you.”

He picked up one of the pieces of paper she had dropped - a letter actually, he realized as he held it up.

“Umm ahh - that’s just- uh-!” She seemed to panic, and he took a second look at the letter.

It couldn’t be...

“The christened Flower of Love?” He said out loud as he recognized the flower on the cover of the letter, surprise quickly turning to anticipation.

Flora hastily gathered up her last book and stood. He rose mechanically with her.

“You know it?” She sounded surprised, as if she didn’t expect him to. As if she had been counting on it.

“It means this letter is for the one who has your heart.” He pressed his lips together unhappily. She looked like she wanted a hole to swallow her up rather than have him see this letter. It wasn’t for him then. He felt like a fool for having misread the situation. She had probably just enjoyed his attention. Or was just that friendly to everybody...

“Uh yes.” She admitted. “But it’s uhh…”

She was blushing. Irritation swelled up within him as the image of her romantically presenting this letter to some other man came into his mind, unbidden.

“I have to tell you, whoever’s getting this letter is really a very lucky guy.” He said stiffly, fully scowling now. He had the sudden urge to leave and never show his face again.

“Well actually it’s for my parents.” She finally blurted.

“Oh.” There was an intense feeling of relief, like a pressure being lifted off his chest. But just as soon, doubt creeped back in. She was covering her mouth - was she lying to save him face? But Flora didn’t seem like the kind to lie.

“That’s very sweet.” The smile he forced on his face felt stiff even to him. “Here-”

He handed the letter out to her and she quickly took it back from him. Clutching it awkwardly, she bit her lip and gazed up at him reluctantly as if she wanted something.

But after a moment she just squelched a placative grin and nodded awkwardly. “Well… see you later?”

The disappointment hit him like a sack of bricks. Turning away abruptly, all he could manage was a simple-

“Bye.”

He sounded like a defeated loser even to him.

---

Every time Flora thought about the disastrous lost opportunity with Helia at the park, she got the urge to bang her head against the wall. Well maybe not quite, but she knew Chatta certainly did.

So it was a relief when Bloom invited her along on her trip to Eraklyon to meet Sky’s parents. And that they hit the ground running when they got back, although she wasn’t sure how she felt about going to Cloud Tower. She could really use a break from negative energy.

She didn’t miss the surprised look on Stella’s face at the orb of darkness she summoned. The sun fairy had probably assumed that she too would be unable to summon one.

But it wasn’t hard to let the feelings of embarrassment, disappointment, and frustration with herself rise to the surface.

It sure made for one ugly orb of dark energy. She tried not to let the disgust show on her face though, considering she was surrounded by witches who may not appreciate that.

---

“Man, we finally get fall break and my girl isn’t even in the same dimension. How am I supposed to ask her out on a date now?”

“You’re out of luck Brandon, besides they don’t get their break until next week. They’re only on Earth to conduct research for their project. Going to some creepy house for a party. Bloom told me it was for gathering information about a traditional folk holiday there called Hahl-oh-eeyn.” Sky responded matter of factly.

“They always get to do the fun projects.” He grouched, looking for all to have the wind blown out of his sails.

“Not always.” Timmy interjected. “In fact, I don’t envy them. From what I know of Halloween, going there now is practically the worst timing ever after their harrowing experience at Cloud Tower last week.”

“How come?”

“Apparently, Halloween is all about getting scared by creepy things. Take a look at some of these decoration example images I found on the interweb.”

Helia raised an eyebrow at what he saw as Timmy scrolled through the display. The objects ranged from tacky to something he’d seen a witch wearing, to straight up terrifying. Fake blood, faces twisted in gaunt screams, large weapons and unsettling equipment all set up in a dark place called a “Haunted House” that people went in for thrills. Or to show off to their crush.

What a terrible holiday. This was why he was a pacifist - he could never fathom why people could stand or even enjoy such violence. And Flora, sweet, gentle, easily startled Flora was going to have to go in something like one of those “Haunted Houses?”

Poor thing. Her not-quite rejection a week prior had stung, sure, but his heart still ached at the idea of her crying out in fear.

Images of her trembling, her large green eyes filled with tears… if he was there, he’d hold her close until she stopped shaking and then take her out of such an awful place immediately. He imagined her clutching him closely, looking up at him with that same expression of admiration as the day they first met. Like he was her hero and the only thing that mattered in her eyes.

“Helia? Hello-o, earth to Helia!”

“Huh?” The fantasy scattered from his conscience. “What?”

“I asked if you wanted to come with us to get some pizza tonight.” Brandon said. “They’ve got a group deal on Saturdays.”

“Dude, why’re you always spacing out?” Riven crossed his arms, shaking his head like it was personally disappointing to him. “Seriously.”

“I’ll pass, thank you.” Helia responded simply.

“Alright man. More pizza for us.” Brandon loped an arm around Sky and tugged him towards the door. “Lets go, I’m starving.”

“Yeah dude, me too. Codatorta really went all out on us in combat practice earlier.”

Riven and Timmy followed them out the door, and when they were gone Helia was left alone with his thoughts. Where was he…

Ah yes, Flora’s hero.

---

Sometimes, being part of a prestigious family line of powerful sages came in handy. Among other things, one had good eyesight, incredible natural strength, and a natural propensity for the mystic arts.

But sometimes, it just plain sucked.

Like now, when the rest of Helia’s specialist classmates were being sent to spend an entire week alone with the six fairies to ‘guard’ them on a beautiful vacation realm full of exotic plants and animals he would’ve loved to have the chance to capture in paper and ink. Meanwhile he was stuck attending one of the “important family meetings” one could expect of a rather powerful and well off family with much business to do about Magix and several other realms worth of politics.

It didn’t help that he had to listen to them talk about it while he assisted with prepping the hovercraft ship for use. He was just about turning green with envy.

“Dude, I can’t wait to see Stella’s new bathing suit. She’s been teasing me with little details over text all morning. Expensive, red, custom-contoured to fit her body…”

“Dude, you’re drooling.”

“As if you’re not looking forward to seeing Bloom in a bikini.”

“Touche. I bet she’s got freckles just as cute as the ones on her face in other places.” The blond easily hefted a box full of tents into the back of the ship with a cheeky look on his face. “I’m also looking forward to her having to embrace her natural height. Without the help of 3-inch heels since she can’t possibly wear those in the sand or mud. Heh-heh, she gets so angry when I tease her about it, it’s adorable.”

Riven made a choking sound like he was gagging on the mushiness of Sky’s tone.

“We’re not allowed to socialize. Seems to me like you’re forgetting that.”

“Don’t be such a drag, Riven. Besides, I’ll bet you’ll be the first one to drop the whole routine.”

“No way dude.” Riven looked offended at the very insinuation that he would fail at any mission. “I’m not the one getting all horny over some girls in bathing suits.”

“Woah, hey, it’s not like that.” Brandon wagged his finger at Riven as if teaching a young boy. “And there’s nothing wrong with wanting to embrace the woman you love.”

They then moved on to the topic of who was sharing tents with who, and taking bets on who the first fairy to scream over a bug or something in her sleeping bag would be.

Helia wasn’t really listening anymore. His brain was stuck on the image of Flora, lounging next to him on a beach towel, sipping on a strawberry shake as he applied sunscreen on her bare back, strands of a frilly pink two-piece laying untied at the sides so as not to hinder his application job.

He forcefully cut the image off when it started to wander into “sounds she would make from his hands massaging her back” territory. That was dangerous. And besides… there was the guy Flora was going to give that love letter.

That was a sobering thought. Seems like the engines were in perfect condition and nothing was wrong with any of the interior systems.

Time to go ask if he could get out of the family meeting. Or at least leave early.