Searching for Answers

[Stella]

Reading the same sentence for what felt like the hundredth time, Stella finally slammed the heavy tome shut with a frustrated sigh before shoving it across the table far, far away from her. Sure, she wasn't exactly known around Alfea for being a bookworm, but she never had this much trouble reading one damn page of a book.

Of course she knew the reason why she couldn't focus, but at the moment, she didn't want to think about it. She didn't want to think about Brandon and how she couldn't seem to come up with a solution to bring him back to normal. She didn't want to think about a future without him. She didn't want to think about how he didn't remember her or how he seemed so concerned about Angelique. All she wanted to do was rewind the clock to the last time she had spent with him before this whole mess; she wanted to go back to that moment where she had been lying in his arms, looking up at the sky and just enjoying being with him.

Her eyes beginning to well with tears, Stella slumped down in her chair as she shifted to bury her head in her hands. As her shoulders began to shake, Stella bit her lip, wishing for the millionth time that Bloom could be here. She loved Flora dearly and Stella knew that her friend wanted to do all she could to help, but still . . . Flora wasn't Bloom.

Fighting to regain control of herself, Stella rubbed furiously at her eyes as she tried to take steadying breaths. She wanted to be brave and strong and to be able to just say 'oh, no sense in crying over things like this,' but instead, all she could wonder was what she had done to deserve having her life being ripped apart like this.

[Tag: anyone who wants to come out to play with Stella ]

[Demeter]

OOC: why not ::laughs:: after all, Stella doesn't know that Flora's switch sides again

Demeter padded down the aisles of the library, trying to find some forgotten tome that would help her bring Bloom under Darkar's control without alerting the rest of the goodie-goodies. Her golden eyes alighted on Stella and she nodded to herself. Wouldn't do if Stella found out about her right now. Slowly, Demeter faded away, leaving Flora in her place.

Flora silently padded over to Stella and peered over her shoulder, glancing at the book she had been reading. "So, what book's that Stella?" she asked, sounding perfectly normal.

[Stella]

Shrugging listlessly, Stella replied flatly, a tone that the once perky and effervescent fairy seemed to be using more and more these days, "Just something that was on the table when I got here - something about the realm of Calypso." With a wan smile, Stella tucked her hair behind her ears as she pulled her legs up onto the chair and said, "It's pretty dry reading so I wouldn't bother with it."

Silent for a moment, Stella ran her gaze around the walls of books that surrounded the table she was seated at before she said, forcing herself with visible difficulty to say in a more upbeat tone, hoping her friend wouldn't bring up any reference to Brandon lest she burst into another bout of tears, "So, what's new with you, Flo?"

[Demeter]

"Oh, nothing much," Flora said, lying obviously, but Stella didn't need to know that. "Same old, same old." She tilted her head for a moment before sighing mentally. Well, she supposed she should tell the truth, but she didn't want Stella to know about Bloom just yet. Not until she could start doing what the master wanted. She was getting to be quite the actress.

She settled down and took the book, gazing at it. "Calypso?" she repeated to herself, straining her memory before giving Stella a slightly amused smile. "I suppose I should remind you that according to Bloom's earth mythology, Calypso was a woman who turned men into animals so perhaps you should try looking into that myth and see if anything mentioned in it could help Brandon."

[Stella]

Wincing slightly at the mention of Brandon, Stella quickly covered it with a smile as she answered, "Great idea, Flora." Her smile brightening as another thought dawned in her mind, Stella straightened suddenly as she said enthusiastically, "And perhaps this was the universe's way of making things right! After all, it couldn't just have been a coincidence that this book on Calypso was lying on the table I picked to sit at, right? Maybe you're right; maybe this is how I'm supposed to help Brandon. Maybe all the answers are right in front of me! Oh, I hope I'm right, Flo! Won't it be wonderful to have my cupcake back?"

Jumping to her feet, Stella gave Flora's hand a firm tug as she exclaimed, inclining her head toward the numerous volumes of dusty books on the shelves, "Come on! We've got to find out as much as we can about this realm!"

[Demeter]

Demeter had to keep herself from throwing up at how suddenly sugarly perky Stella had gotten. She made a mental note to never be this helpful again. 'Too pink and perky,' she thought with a mental shudder. 'And I'm so overjoyed,' she added with a mental sneer. It was a good thing she kept her inner thoughts quiet - didn't want Stella to figure her out too soon.

Flora gave a simple nod. "All right."

[Stella]

Pausing for a moment, Stella gave Flora a quizzical look, something about her friend's tone not exactly sitting right with her. She couldn't put her finger on it precisely - it was almost like Flora wasn't in the least bit excited about having a lead on curing Brandon. Feeling her smile starting to fade, Stella then nodded slowly. Of course. Duh. Flora didn't want her to get too excited about this development in case it turned out to be a dead end. Giving Flora's hand a squeeze, Stella smiled as she said, "Don't worry, Flo; I know that this might not be the answer we're all looking for, but it's something and I just have to run with it."

[Demeter]

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I guess that's what I was thinking. I didn't want you to get your hopes up only to find out it was a dead end or have something worse happen." She didn't think she could handle Stella if that were the case.

[Stella]

Nodding, Stella replied, "I don't blame you for worrying, but if I've managed to live through all things that I've had to live through this year, I think I'll manage to find a way to handle one more disappointment." A determined look settling over Stella's features, she murmured under her breath, more to herself than to Flora, "If it means getting Brandon back, I'd live through a million more disappointments before ever giving up on him."

[Demeter]

"All right," Flora said, walking over to a bookcase. "So, where do we start looking?"