CHAPTER TEN
MEANWHILE...
"What should I name the fallen child?" Isabela asked herself, her own voice echoing throughout her room. "Isabela. Sure."
She tried entering her own name into the game Undertale, in which she had just begun. It was already afternoon and her catch-up classes have already ended, giving her some time to do some "research" for the Winx. Luckily there weren't any assignments from her professors, so she went straight to her bed, took her laptop, opened it and started the game.
Now she's struggling with character naming. As usual.
The raven became furious the moment she could not input the last letter to her name. "What?! This cannot be!" She exclaimed. "This is prepostrous! Ridiculous! I will not allow my name to be mispelled as 'Isabel!' That is unacceptable!"
The girl began ranting about how her name didn't fit and how frustrated she was. In the end, she reduced her name to her nickname: Isa. Pressing the Enter button to finish the job, she didn't expect the question "Is this name correct?" to appear. Isabela stopped, then started sobbing again.
She was, however, interrupted by a series of knocks from the apartment's main door. That immediately stopped her from her fake sobbing, thinking there could be someone listening to her. Another series of knocks followed, and then she decided to open the door. The raven twisted the knob, unlocking it in the process. "Who goes there?" She asked, half annoyed.
A fellow student stood before her, maroon-colored eyes looking back at her brown ones. They seemed to compliment her russet hair which was tied into a half-tail, the lower side laid down to her shoulders. Her white blouse was wrapped by a light red vest with ruffles on the sides of the darker red front zipper. Ultramarine slacks were worn to compliment the color. Isabela glanced down to see that the girl wore laced boots underneath the slacks. They must be knee-length, she thought.
After having a good look on the student, Isabela finally recognized her as one of her fellow classmates. "Ah, I remember you!" She said. "You're from Prof Daphne's History Class!"
The brunette chuckled. "Indeed I am," she replied. "So you have noticed. If you do not yet know, I'm also in the catch-up classes."
"Yeah, I see you sometimes," the younger agreed. She noticed the huge bag the elder was holding, so she let her in. "You should come in!" She piped. "That bag looks a little heavy."
The other nodded as Isa stepped aside. She muttered a small "thank you," to which the raven heard, and entered the room. She saw the usual set-up of the Winx's dormitory, and she wondered why it looked neat as if the Winx weren't around. Whipping her head, she asked the apprentice, "Where's the Winx?"
"Out on a mission," Isabela answered casually. "They just left yesterday. I think."
The notion surprised the other student, even if she knew the Winx were the dimension's heroes. Surely they were just in class the previous day, right? How they were suddenly sent on a mission just bewildered her. Isabela just giggled at the small expressions she was making. The unnamed student glanced back at her.
Then, her eyebrows knit themselves as she squinted her eyes on the apprentice. "What's so funny?" She asked her. Isabela only gave a chuckle. "You could have seen your face," she added.
The brunette rolled her eyes as she blinked. Human girls, she thought.
"Anyway," the raven began, rummaging the bag as she sat on the sofa. "What brings you here, and what are these stuff for? There's a small stick here that looks like a wand and a bunch of books. Is this your bag or...?"
The russet nodded to answer, proving the fact that the bag is hers. Isabela's smile shrunk into an awkward one, small beads of sweat rolling down the sides of her head. She placed the bag on the floor and apologized, though the other said, "It's fine." The raven gave off another chuckle, then blinked to process what she said. After a moment, she managed to get the idea.
Probably.
"So, if your bag is here, and you're here," she started waving her hands around, pointing at the bag and the student. "Then you must be moving to this dormitory...?"
She was answered with another nod, saying "Madam Faragonda said I need more guidance, especially from the professional fairies around."
The younger's lips formed an "o" upon hearing the information. She sighed, however, to the fact that the Winx weren't around. She's stuck with me for the time being, she thought. I'm not too sure when the Winx will return, or if they'll ever return considering the legend...
"Hell, they're the Winx for goodness' sake!" She muttered to herself. "They can escape that barrier in two weeks' time! Of course they can do it!"
The russet blinked. "What were you saying?"
"Oh, nothing!" Isabela countered immediately, waving a hand. "Anyway, I still don't know your name."
A chuckle resounded from her throat, dramatically raising her right hand to her chest. "Pardon me," she replied. "My name is Tayla. Tayla Felton."
Isabela nodded, processing the name. "Tayla, huh?" The name rolled on her tongue. "It kind of sounds like Aisha's other name, Layla, but begins with T instead. It's pretty cool, though."
"I'm glad you think so," Tayla smiled. "What's your name? I heard from Madam Faragonda that I will have a younger roommate--an 'apprentice' of the Winx--but I didn't ask for your name."
This made the girl smirk as she stood up and posed herself. "The name is Isabela," she introduced herself. "And I'm your resident magical human!"
Tayla chuckled at the girl's antics. If there's anything she can be sure about her, she's an oddly interesting person.
Isabela sat down, bouncing on the cushion of her seat. "Great! We know each other now!" She cheered, clasping her hands together with sparkling eyes. "I believe that this is a start of a wonderful friendship!"
That's when she realized that Tayla had to migrate to her room. She stood up again, taking her bags as she carried them to her door. Tayla was mystified for a moment, the girl's sudden actions unknown to her. She then asked, "What are you doing?"
"Helping you migrate to my room," Isa replied. "Wait, scratch that. Our room!"
She opened the door with her free hand. Tayla came inside with her, seeing the sugared almond pink walls decorated with a few posters--but that was limited to the younger's side. Her shelves were filled with different books, beginning with the ones she must have brought from Earth (because she wasn't too familiar with the titles) to the textbooks for her classes. Some stuffed animals and teddy bears were neatly arranged at the head of the girl's bed, expressing the fact that she is still quite the child. Overall, Isabela's side of the room somehow felt very... homey.
Isabela carried the bags to the other unoccupied bed, the pale sheets seemingly untouched. "I sometimes sat on this bed when I get really bored," she stated. "But I love my bed, and so should you!"
Then, she spread her arms out to Tayla, her jacket sleeves creasing. "Welcome to your new home, friend!"
• • •
After helping Tayla arrange her things in her new room, Isabela climbed back on her own bed, kicking off her boots as she scrambled to sit in front of her laptop. She looked at the shaking word in front of her as she realized something.
"I have to confirm my name!" She shrieked as she pressed the Enter button, only for it to bring her back to the naming screen. The raven rechecked her name (which never changed from "Isa"), then confirmed it after passing the question that asked for the name's accuracy. The screen faded to white, and immediately transitioned to a familiar scene. She sighed in relief.
This got Tayla curious as to what Isabela was doing. She slowly approached her as she asked, "What is that?"
"Oh, it's a video game," the other replied. "The title is Undertale. It's about a human child who fell down from Mount Ebott and into the Underground, which is full of monsters."
Something about it was familiar to her. Mountain Ebott? Tayla asked herself. But I thought...
Tayla shook her head, knowing it was impossible. She figured that the name was merely a coincidence. The game's story is fictional, after all. I shouldn't worry about it, she thought. That's all in the past now.
Silence floated over the two, and it annoyed the younger. She suddenly stated, "This is actually related to the Winx's mission."
"Wait, what?" The russet's face twisted in confusion.
"Yeah! They're sent to Mount Ebott to free the monsters, and after that manage with the village nearby the mountain. They don't know anything about their history and stuff, but I do! With this game, of course."
No way... Tayla panicked internally. This cannot be happening.
Brushing the thought off again, she asked an obvious question. "So you're their informative support?"
Isabela nodded in approval. "I can transmit them the info they need whenever I can." She added. "That's why I can't wait to play this game! I've also been half-hoping we don't get too much homework for this."
"I... see." Tayla replied. "Very well. I should probably leave you to it."
As she stood up from her position however, the apprentice pulled her back. "No no wait! Play with me!" She pleaded. "The more the merrier, right? We can take turns! And I'm incredibly lonely."
Her maroon eyes looked at Isa's brown, pleasing ones. Seeing that she really is lonely (considering she had been the only person in the apartment for two days), she sighed as she answered, "Okay."
"Yes!" Isabela cheered with enthusiasm. "Come on, I'll teach you how it works! I've played the demonstration of the game once, so I know how to do stuff."
As the raven taught her how to control the character, Tayla came up with another thought. I suppose her not knowing about me is good for now, she noted. Especially since everything has just begun. I cannot let her panic about the thought of my father.
And the afternoon passed with a small playthrough of Undertale, Isabela's random commentary, and Tayla's control on the protagonist.