Princess | Riven (Fate: Winx Saga)

Act Two: Chapter 6

Rosalind must have had all Mor's belongings moved into the room already, as she'd found her shoes lining the bottom of the wardrobe, and her jewellery sorted away into the draws of the vanity. In an attempt to appear more human, Mor had picked out a pair of large, gold hooped earrings, which now hung down on either side of her face.

Inhaling deeply, Mor smoothed down the edges of her dress before slipping on her shoes and making her way over to the door.

She hesitated slightly, hand hovering over the doorknob, before gritting her teeth, steeling her nerves, and throwing the door open.
Get it together, she chided to herself, you've got this.

Oh, shit. 
She's definitely not got this.

Mor hadn't even made it through the threshold before she stopped dead in her tracks, breath totally escaping her. All at once, all of the composure she'd managed to scrape back together, shattered once again.
She wasn't ready. Not yet. Not for this.

There, staring back at her, equally as shocked, were her suitemates.

"Mor..." Terra gasped, her jaw hanging slack as she gawked at the blonde girl.

"Hi." Her voice was barely a whisper as her gaze swept over her old friends - Bloom, Stella, Aisha, Terra... Musa seemed to be absent, and in her place, another girl with ringlets of rich brown and a slender figure.

Stella's brow furrowed, her words tainted with confusion and accusation, "Morrigan?"

Mor winced, "Hey, Evil Queen."

Shaking her head, Bloom took a cautious step forwards, "What- but... I-I don't understand-"

And suddenly, all ability to form words abandoned Mor.
Here, face to face with the girls she called friends, she was completely and utterly at a loss of what to do. She couldn't think, couldn't speak, couldn't process what was happening. She knew she had to say something, but what? And how? Her tongue felt like ash in her mouth.

But it was Terra, then, that broke free from the group. It took three long strides for her to reach Mor, before she was surging forwards and enveloping the blonde girl in a back-breaking embrace. Stumbling back at the force of the hug, Mor hesitated only a second before she was wrapping her arms around Terra's shoulders with just as much strength.

"I missed you." Terra whispered, and Mor's heart swelled to a point of pain - but this was the kind of fulfilling pain that was welcome.

Seemingly spurred on by Terra's first move, the other girls wasted little time to follow in her footsteps and engulf Mor in a hug from all sides. The slender girl, however, hung back, a gentle smile resting upon her lips as she watched the scene unfold before her.

After a while, the girls broke apart, and Aisha was the first to address the elephant in the room, "Where have you been?"

Stella nodded, arms crossing over her chest, "Yeah, you were there when Rosalind murdered Devin, and then you just... vanished."

At the mention of Devin, Mor couldn't help but wince.
I did not kill Devin. In fact, I saved him... Rosalind's words reverberated through her mind. 

However, before Mor could argue the truth, Terra placed a firm hand upon her shoulder, and she glanced down to see an expression of pure concern contorting her face, "What happened to you, Mor? You look terrible. I-I mean, no offence."

Sighing, Mor cast her gaze across the expectant faces of her friends, "What have you been told?"

"When Rosalind arrested you all those weeks ago," Aisha began gently, although Mor could practically see the suspicion dripping from her like water, "we were told that you were sent to the capital to receive further education on how to control your magic."