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The Last Time (eng)
Darcy awoke from a dreamless sleep. She didn't know why. It was completely silent in her apartment. There was no sound that could have awakened her. Sleepily, she rubbed her eyes.
Out of habit, she reached for the other side of the double bed, only to find it empty and cold. Her fist tightened around the deserted sheet.
Don't think about it, it's okay. It's better this way.
She and Riven had broken up two months ago. For good, it seemed. It was truly ironic that they had been able to meet secretly back then, amidst the Trix and Winx conflicts. That their desire for each other had been stronger than reason. And now, with all the fighting over, they couldn't manage a completely normal relationship.
She let go of the sheet and smoothed it down. Then she turned over and reached for her alarm clock. A quarter to three in the morning. Sighing in annoyance, she sank back into the pillows, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to sleep again. The carousel of thoughts was in full swing. She turned onto her stomach and pressed her face into the pillow. Once again, her hand wandered to the other side of the bed. She'd been sleeping alone for two months now, but she still hadn't gotten used to it.
It took Riven an insane effort to block the mental link. Even the smallest stray thought could cause Darcy to notice him.
It was just before three in the morning, and he was standing in front of her apartment building, staring up at her bedroom window.
He sighed and walked toward the front door. How did he get here again? He didn't know. But it had become a habit over the past few nights to drive to Darcy's apartment and stare, only to drive back and not get any sleep for the rest of the night.
The voices in his head were arguing. One wanted Darcy to come to the window, for their eyes to meet again, for their gazes to devour each other, for everything to be as it had been before. The other voice screamed at him to disappear, to finally forget her.
But he couldn't.
The jingling of the ring of keys pierced the night as he pulled it from his pocket, inserted the front door key, and turned it. He was sure the whole house must have woken up. But it remained silent.
Stay cool, it was just a faint clink.
As he climbed the stairs, he almost forgot to breathe, and then he stood in front of her door, like all the nights before.
He leaned his forehead against the cold door. It would be so easy to give in to the mental bond and let her know he was here. But then there was the possibility that she might come to the door, but brush him off. Or worse, ignore him while he stood outside her door like an idiot in the middle of the night. That was a risk he wasn't willing to take.
Riven sucked in a sharp breath and pulled his head back.
How could he be so stupid, hoping every night that she would act as stupidly as he did? Hoping that she would get up in the night, put on her purple trench coat, and open the door, intending to drive to him. And then she would see him standing here and—
It was so pointless. It wasn't going to happen. Anger rose within Riven, pushing away the faint, small hope. He wanted to bang his fist against the door. But then she would wake up, and the chances would increase that she would send him away. The chances would increase that she would tell him she was long over him and to piss off.
They hadn't even argued about anything important. It was the little everyday things they couldn't get their heads around. Things they hadn't paid attention to between the fights, blood, and curses.
Riven almost wished for Valtor or Darkar back. He longed for the time when everything was so hard for her and yet so easy between them.
Just as quietly as he had come in, he left the stairwell. He closed the front door silently behind him and strode across the sidewalk to the street. He didn't look back.
Then he quickly turned the next block to where he had parked his wind rider. That was the last time, he told himself as he turned the ignition key and sped off into the night. He didn't even believe the lie.
At 6 a.m., Darcy's alarm clock rang relentlessly. She had indeed tossed and turned all night, only falling asleep shortly before dawn. And not even ten minutes later, the alarm clock's beeping jolted her awake again.
She felt completely wrecked as she sat up and buried her face in her hands. She massaged her throbbing temples with her middle and index fingers. Damn, when was the last time she had a good night's sleep? She didn't know.
She'd spent the last month working on her second state examination. The last three years had been more strenuous than anything Darcy had experienced in her young life. Compared to the many exams and her traineeship at Cloud Tower, the time spent in Darkar's fortress had seemed like an afternoon stroll.
It was strange not to use her powers for something evil like violence but instead to focus on using them for teaching purposes. But it was her chance, her new beginning.
Darcy stretched halfheartedly and looked at her bare feet, which bounced uncomfortably. Today she would return to Cloud Tower. Not as a student, not as a criminal under Valtor's command. Today she would return as a teacher, to the place where it all began.
With a groan, she rose. After boiling the kettle for tea, she shuffled into the bathroom. A glance in the mirror confirmed what she'd suspected. Deep, dark circles formed a semicircle under her eyes. She looked the way she felt. Completely exhausted. But she should be happy. A completely new phase of her life was beginning. A phase that would finally allow her to right the wrongs she'd done in her early twenties.
She clapped her palms against her cheeks vigorously.
Pull yourself together, from now on, a new phase begins, a new beginning—
She paused as her gaze fell on the second toothbrush in the toothbrush holder. Riven's toothbrush. Darcy hadn't thrown it away because she'd had that foolish hope that everything would turn out okay. But it wouldn't. She hadn't heard a sign of him for the past two months. He seemed to have completely forgotten about her.
Without hesitation, she grabbed the toothbrush and threw it in the small trash can next to the toilet.
That's enough. Look forward.
She grabbed her own toothbrush and started the day. The day that would change everything.
But Darcy didn't know by now how much would change and turn everything upside down...
Riven saw Darcy enter the coffee shop. He quickly grabbed a newspaper from the magazine rack to hide behind before she noticed him. He heard the patter of her footsteps approaching as she approached the counter where he was sitting.
"Good morning," the barista greeted Darcy. "Long time no see, Darcy. Herbal tea, like always?"
Riven curled his mouth at the familiarity displayed by the guy behind the counter. He'd often been to this café with Darcy after the fighting was over. At the beginning of this time, they'd enjoyed simple coffee shop dates. Sitting here, he with a cup of coffee, she with tea. Following her in every bookshop, in case it had a book the latter didn’t. Watching her studying while her long hair fell over her shoulders…
But in the past few months, Riven hadn't seen Darcy here, even though he came here every morning and drank an espresso just to be there should she decide to come. It was the first time she'd been here in two months.
To Riven's great surprise, Darcy replied, "No, no herbal tea today. A coffee to go, black."
The barista seemed equally surprised. "Something new today?"
"Yes," Darcy confirmed. "Today begins a whole new chapter, and therefore no herbal tea. That's in the past."
"Okaaay," the barista drawled, as if he wasn't entirely convinced. Riven wasn't convinced either. Darcy had never been a coffee person. As surprising as that was from the Witch of Darkness. Ever since he'd known Darcy, she'd been a tea person. Herbal tea, jasmine tea, chai. Everything but coffee.
She really wants a fresh start. Without tea and without you, a spiteful voice in the back of his mind spoke up.
Bullshit, he thought.
She was so close to him now he could have touched her. But he stayed where he was.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jack operating the coffee machine. "Is that why you're without your glasses today?" he asked.
"Correct," Darcy replied matter-of-factly. "I've been wearing contact lenses for a few weeks now." She took the coffee mug. "Thanks, Jack."
Thanks, Jack Riven mimicked silently with his lips, still hidden behind his newspaper.
When Riven heard her footsteps recede, he lowered the newspaper. He only saw her from behind and couldn't convince himself that she was wearing contact lenses. The curtain of long, dark hair fluttered behind her as she left the coffee shop. How much he missed running his hand through her hair.
He drained his espresso in one gulp and pushed the empty cup back to the barista.
"Bye, Jack," Riven murmured as he also headed for the door.
"Bye. See you tomorrow, Riven," Jack replied with a knowing smile.
It had been several months since Darcy had last climbed the steep bridge to Cloud Tower. As always, fog surrounded the witch school, and the building's uppermost towers jutted into the low-hanging clouds.
She turned into the path that led to the dungeons, where the teaching staff had a sort of underground parking garage. Believe it or not, witches' brooms were out.
Darcy parked her wind rider next to Edeltrude's MINI and took off her helmet. Her eyes stung a little from her contact lenses, and she blinked several times. A new beginning wasn't easy. Especially not when you were notoriously keen to do everything differently than before because everything else reminded her of Riven.
This morning, she had left the brewed tea water standing because she'd remembered that the brand of herbal tea she had in the cupboard was a mistake Riven had made. He hadn't been able to find the brand Darcy usually drank, so he had brought it for her. She'd liked it and had always bought them since then.
So she'd decided to start the day like a cool coffee girl at the coffee shop with a black coffee. But at the next corner, she'd thrown the coffee into the nearest trash can. She simply didn't like coffee.
And now her contact lenses were acting up, too.
She stowed her helmet in the designated compartment at the back of her wind rider and then made her way up to Griffin's office.
The problem with Cloud Tower was that nothing ever stayed in one place. The building was a living being, rearranging its inner workings daily. Griffin's office, however, usually stayed in the middle section.
As Darcy reached the last landing of the stairs she'd brought up from the garage, she heard voices.
A little later, a couple of young witches turned the corner. Apparently, they'd just returned from breakfast. Loaded with books and coffee cups, they were chattering away like young girls do.
When they saw Darcy, one of the witches dropped her coffee cup in shock, another squealed in surprise, and the third stared at Darcy wide-eyed and murmured, "Oh my God, that's her."
"It's true, she's going to be a teacher here." The girls' voices were filled with admiration, distaste, and fear. "One of the Trix!"
Darcy grimaced in annoyance. Her reputation would stick with her for a long time.
Probably my whole life, she thought as she reached out and chanted a simple spell. The broken cup, along with its contents, reassembled and floated back into its owner's hand.
"Thank you," the young witch gasped nervously.
When the students showed no signs of moving, and Darcy wasn't in the mood to blast them out of the way (that wouldn't make a good impression on their first day), she snapped at them. "You're going to be late for class, girls."
"Right," murmured the girl in the middle, reaching out to her friends and pulling them past Darcy. Not without giving her an awed yet fearful look.
"Well, this is off to a great start," Darcy murmured as she continued on her way.
She had already encountered these conflicting feelings among the students during her traineeship. On the one hand, they were fascinated by her. The mere name "Trix" made most people uncomfortable. They had gone down in history as the most dangerous witches of modern times. The young witches were either fascinated by them, afraid, or, and this was almost the most common, unable to understand that such war criminals were now living completely normal lives and that one of them was supposed to teach them.
Well. Even though they were all rehabilitated, their reputation still preceded them. A reputation they would never shake. Even in twenty years, people would still see the Queen of Erakloyn as the witch who, along with her coven sisters, wanted to seize control of the entire Magical Dimension. Marriage to Sky didn't change the fact that Icy was a witch. And witch hunts weren't that long ago in Eraklyon either.
Musa would always get strange sideways glances when she was photographed with Stormy on a red carpet. Melody's guardian fairy and the youngest of the Trix officially together. This would make headlines for years to come.
And finally, there was her, Darcy. The Mistress of Shadows and the Jewel of Darkness, now a teacher at Cloud Tower. But something set her apart from her sisters: she was the only one who was now single. She was 27 and farther from a normal relationship than she had been in a long time, while Icy had already had royal offspring two years ago. Stormy and Musa had officially announced their relationship last year and, by all appearances, were happy together despite the headlines.
Only she remained.
To distract herself, she looked at her phone. Two messages popped up. Stormy's consisted only of happy emojis, wishing her luck on her first day. Below was a message from Flora, who, in her usual poetic way, also wished her a good start. Flora and Helia had married this spring...
Darcy shook her head to dispel the thought. I'm not alone, I'm single. There's a difference. I don't need anyone right now. Now my new life as a teacher begins. I won't have the energy for anything else for a while anyway, with all the exams.
Meanwhile, she had reached the office of the headmistress. She took a deep breath and knocked. There had been a time when she was called to this office because she and her sisters had received the best grades and were being praised. There had been a time when they had taken control of Cloud Tower and sat in the Headmistress's office, commanding the Army of Decay from there, while banishing Griffin to the furthest cell of the dungeon. That was before Darcy learned the truth.
At a "In," from Griffin, Darcy opened the door. She entered and closed the door before turning to the Headmistress of Cloud Tower and saying, "Good morning, Mom."
"No confidences while you work here, Darcy," Griffin instructed her without looking up from the documents on her desk.
"I thought so." Nervously, Darcy played with a strand of blond hair from her long bangs that framed her face.
"Then why don't you abide by it?" Griffin asked, his eyes still on her desk. "Sit down."
Darcy sat down. "I'm sorry, I'm nervous and I need some kind of..."
"...motherly support?" Griffin guessed, finally looking at her.
"Something like that," Darcy confirmed, suppressing a yawn.
"You look terrible," Griffin remarked.
"Thank you," Darcy said dryly.
"The breakup is still bothering you."
Darcy took a deep breath. If only she hadn't told her mother. She had learned that Griffin was her mother when Valtor was defeated. That had been five years ago, and a strange relationship had developed between her and Griffin. It wasn't a classic mother-daughter relationship. They were far too many years apart for that, but they were both trying to build something together. Both longed for some kind of normality. As a result, Darcy had told Griffin that she and Riven broke up. And she regretted it. She wasn't feeling bad because of Riven. She was simply exhausted from the last few months and the stress of the exams. That was all. Why didn't anyone understand that?
Even Icy had mentioned last night, on the phone, that Darcy hadn't been in a good mood since her breakup with Riven.
Darcy didn't want to admit to herself that Riven still had such a big influence on her well-being. So she waved it off and said, "No, I haven't been sleeping well. It's all the stress of the last few weeks that's now lifting off me."
"Oh?" Griffin raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," Darcy replied firmly.
"Well, then we can talk about your first day. Did you get your timetable? Good. Be careful with the third year. They all think they're very mature and grown-up just because they're taking their final exams next year. Be strict. Potions, especially, is a demanding subject."
Darcy nodded as Griffin continued to talk about the different years and grades. Darcy would be teaching Potions and Curses. Both subjects she had excelled at, both as a student and afterward. She would also be teaching an elective course on mental magic.
"Very well," Griffin concluded. "Tonight will be your swearing-in ceremony. It would have been more appropriate, of course, if we had performed the ceremony last week, but we had to wait for the next full moon."
"I know. The moon's influence on the swearing-in ritual." In truth, she had devoured every piece of literature she could find on the ritual. Darcy wanted to do everything right and shine again at all costs. She wanted to become as good a teacher as the student she had been. No misstep was allowed, only perfection. She wanted to be a daughter her mother could be proud of after everything that had happened.
This drive for perfection grounded her somehow. It was familiar and reminded her of her school days. The time before they had gone after the Dragon Flame. Her perfectly normal school days, where she excelled with good grades. Good grades had always been a boost for her. She was never sociable and lacked self-confidence as a teenager. And even if she was a disaster socially, she at least wanted to be a model student and thus secure recognition. The envy of the other students had spurred her on, as had the benevolent glances of her teachers. Now it would be the same. She would be the best again, only this time from the other side of the teacher's desk.
Griffin pulled her from her thoughts. "Well, then, as you know, I need some more information from you." She pulled out a document and read aloud. "I already have your age, birthday, and source of magic. Moon phase when your powers awoke?"
"New moon."
"How prophetic," Griffin murmured, and Darcy couldn't suppress a grin. Of course, her powers of darkness had awakened on a new moon night.
"You were nine?" Griffin continued.
"Correct."
"Which constellation dominated at that time?"
"Nereid."
"Support crystal?"
"Amethyst."
"Etheric source?"
"Lavender."
"Height?"
"5'9"
"Weight?"
"121 pounds"
Griffin rattled off more questions, the answers to which were necessary for preparing the ritual. Darcy answered, her mind already turning to her upcoming class. She was perfectly prepared, but still nervous—
"When was the last time you bled?"
Darcy paused. "Ah, what?"
"Your last period?" Griffin repeated the question.
"I..." Darcy began, considering. "That was..."
...two months ago.
Suddenly, she felt ice cold, and a terrible realization clenched her insides. The last few months had been so exhausting that she hadn't even noticed her period was late.
No.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Not now. Not like this.
Darcy felt nausea creeping up her throat.
Two months late. Her period hadn't arrived since she last slept with Riven.