Stella POV

"Does that mean we found them?" I instantly ask, tilting my head to view the screen.

"Not exactly, but I know what to do," Tecna begins doing something technological that I had no idea about.

"Uh- what exactly is it that you're doing?" I ask, looking over her shoulder.

"This is identical to the traces we found at Alfea. We can use this to track down our culprit," she tells me without looking up.

I look at the other girls who shrug. Musa sits beside her, "why couldn't we just use the traces we found on Alfea? Why did we have to go through all that? I though you said only towns can be specified to track a person."

"Yes, but this is different in a few ways. First of all, these traces are fresh, and therefore are more accurate and effective. Second, the traces at Alfea didn't lead anywhere. Essentially, the fairy just disappeared into thin air. Because these traces are recent and likely lead somewhere, as this person couldn't have just disappeared in public, we can use these to find the trail of where they went," Tecna explains.

We didn't really understand, well, I didn't, but we all nodded and followed Tecna. At the moment, she knew best, so it was a good idea to just go along with anything she had planned.

She took out yet another strange device that I had no idea what it was. She points it to the floor and a pink trail appears on the floor. It was as if invisible paint had been spilled, it was an irregular pattern that led all the way outside the bar.

"Follow me," Tecna says, and she begins walking alongside the trail, a strange bleeping sound happening every few seconds.

"I'll never understand all that stuff," I sighed, the other girls giggling.

We followed Tecna, and followed, and followed, until eventually we stumbled across the- the woods? Seriously? Why does absolutely everything sinister happen in the woods? How typical.

"Uh- girls? I don't know if I like the look of this place," I squirm, unknowingly holding onto Bloom's arm for dear life.

"We won't be long Stella, we just need to get to the bottom of this," Tecna says, distracted and not very reassuringly. I sighed, it was no use complaining, the girls weren't going to turn back at this point. I should just go along with it, we'll be out of here in no time. Probably.

"Does it tell you how much farther the trail leads, Tecna?" Bloom asks after a while of walking.

"Come on-" completely ignoring the question, Tecna remains invested in her device.

"Why does it have to be in the woods?" I ask, and the girls just laugh, "seriously!"

"I've got something! This way!" Yet again, we are led down another path- well, it was no longer a path as we had lost it long ago- and deeper into the dark forest.

"Ouch- ouch!" My heels were beginning to ache after what felt like hours of walking.

"Stella, just use your magic to put on another pair of shoes!" Bloom tugs my arm to make me walk faster as I am trailing far behind the group.

"No! They go so well with this dress!"

"Then keep the same colour or style or whatever and just make them comfy flat shoes," Bloom tries to keep a serious expression but eventually laughs.

I groan, but eventually notice that we have completely lost sight of the group, "fine!"

My shoes transform themselves thanks to my magic, and much to my disappointment, and I frown.

"There," Bloom smiles, "feel better?"

"My feet do," I shrug.

"That's good enough, now come on," she drags my arm as we attempt to catch up with the others who have all strode ahead.

A loud growl emits from throughout the trees and I immediately dive behind Bloom, "what was that?" She doesn't reply, "Bloom!"

"I don't know, Stella!" She whispers loudly, "we need to be quiet."

"Okay- Okay-" I can only hear my loud breathing as we look around.

"Stella it was probably just an animal or something," Bloom says after a few moments of silence.

"Exactly! A dangerous animal!" I reply.

"Stella it was probably just-"

The two of us let out a shriek as three- lions? There were three of them, and were all an icy blue colour. One let out a growl identical to the one we had heard and we wasted no time before running in the direction the group had went- which luckily wasn't the direction the "lions" were currently stood.

We ran as fast as we could, the trees were flying by my face and I was actually glad I had changed my shoes for a moment. I wasn't a very good long-distance runner, however, and was beginning to run out of breath.

"How fast can these- things go?" I pant harshly, trying to yell to Bloom who is slightly ahead of me.

"Keep going!" She calls back, but my legs eventually give in and I fall tumbling to the ground.

"I- can't-" I breathe out as Bloom stops and tries to help me up.

"Stella! Come on!"

"Well, if it isn't my favourite girls," a voice appears overhead.

"Icy?" Bloom gasps, causing me to instantly look up, no way! It was the Trix all along!

The other two witches appear and Bloom and I are completely surrounded. I walk back, bumping into Bloom's back.

"Split up," Bloom whispers quietly so that only I can hear. I nod, but then remember she can't see me.

We jump up and fly off in two opposite directions. I look behind me quickly, of course two of them follow me.

Darcy and Stormy were not far behind me, and from all the previous running my energy was very low.

I spot a gap between two trees, small enough for me to fit through, but too small for the two sisters. If what I was thinking would work-

I fly through the gap, and sure enough, the witches fly into each other as they both try to fit through. I fly back through, and look down at them on the ground.

Smirking, I mutter under my breath, "don't mess with Stella."