Gardenia Park

The day is calm and sounds of flowing water can be heard in a distant corner of the park. Suddenly, the other side of Stella's portal appears.

Stepping through the portal, Sonya found herself in a wide open, grassy area. She looked around, enjoying the fresh air but finding it a bit too bright. Pulling a pair of sunglasses out of her jacket pocket, she slipped them on while waiting for the others to arrive. It's not like she had any idea where to go from here.

Somewhere, far in the back of her mind, the teenage girl part of herself was kind of excited that she was hanging out with one of the Winx. It was stupid, she knew that. She hadn't cared about them too much before. They'd saved the magical dimension plenty of times, and she was grateful to be sure, but she'd just never been a particularly star-struck person. It hadn't really phased her to see the at school. But something about being invited to hang out with the Stella, someone widely renowned for being a generally good person, felt...nice. Like Sonya wasn't the lost cause she always assumed herself to be.

Feeling the difference in the temperature as she reaches the other side, Snow begins to look around. All she could see were trees and bushes and part of her wondered where they had even come out. She was glad to be off magix for the time being and could tell this atmosphere would be so much better than school.

Xanthe emgerges from the portal and onto soft grass.
"What is this place?" she asked, not knowing what an Earth Park is like.

"This is the park in Gardenia." Stella answers as she walks from the portal and zaps it with her magic to try and close it. "It's a wonderful place to come and go from."

"Really? Cause this is beautiful" Xanthe exclaimed, "I never seen a place like this. Not even on tour."

"It certainly feels different from the other parks I've encountered at home." Snow looks to the sky for a moment and returns to her sight back over to Stella.

"There are many parks on Earth that are better than this one." Stella remarks with a grin, "But this one is special and I wouldn't give it up for anything."

"Why is that?" Xanthe asked, curious about why it was special to the young adult.

"Well, this is where I encountered Bloom for the first time, which triggered the Winx to form." Stella answers, her face turning slightly pink. It was kind of an embarrassing thing to say.

Sonya looked around from behind her sunglasses, surveying the trees and grass and blue sky. It was picturesque, to be sure, but it seemed like a pretty standard park. There were a few similar to it back home she used to frequent. Maybe once they got to a more populated area, she'd feel the astonishment the others described. If nothing else, she could say that the general magical atmosphere on Earth felt different than what she was used to in places like Magix.

"Wait, so if there was no magic on Earth when you met Bloom here, then how did she end up at Alfea?" As far as she knew, people from the magic dimension weren't supposed to actually do or talk about anything magical on non-magic planets. Maybe this story was common knowledge for people who knew more about the Winx, but even if it was, she'd yet to hear it.

"Well, I brought her there since I saw her magical talent after she saved my bacon from the Trix's then minion Knut. I sort of felt she belonged there and she really wanted to learn about her magic too." Stella remarks off hand, not seeing the harm in answering.

"Ooooh, that makes sense, then," Sonya said with an understanding nod. A situation like that, which forced magical knowledge onto someone from Earth, would explain things.

"I never heard that at all before." Snow remarks, feeling glad that Sonya had asked the question. "So which way is the place you want to go Stella?"

"It's not that far, we just have to pass those bushes. Let's go!" Stella answers, pointing over to them and strides over to the plants. She peaks around the side of them just as a passing precaution. She didn't want to run into Mitzi today of all days.

Snow follows Stella silently, wondering why she was peaking around the bush, instead of just walking around it.

Xanthe followed the rest of the group.
What a twist of fate she thought.

Sonya was still looking around and nearly bumped into Snow as the group stopped to wait for Stella to check the area around the bushes. "...We good?" she asked curiously.

All that stood between the girls and the exit of the park was a stout security guard enjoying a doughnut and greeting people in a friendly manner when they either entered or exited the park.

"Great, we're in the clear." Beaming happily, Stella rounds the rest of the bush and strolls towards the park gate. She knew this officer wasn't going to give them that much trouble today or was hoping he wasn't going to.

Sonya continued to follow Stella once she rounded the bushes and continue forward. There were more people in this area of the park, as well as a security guard, but it still seemed pretty standard.

Snow swift follows the elder fairy, feeling at ease with it being peaceful. There wasn't much of anything that could spoil this day right?

Stella passes by the cop, swinging her bag lightly to and fro as she steps out onto the sidewalk. She looks around and turns back to the three girls, "Not too far now! The sales are starting really soon!"

Shrugging off an intrinsic discomfort she felt passing by a cop, Sonya continued to follow Stella out into the streets and toward the mall.

"Are we on the hunt for anything specific?" she asked, taking in the city as they made their way through. Now is when she could really tell they were somewhere different. Not primitive, but definitely less magically and technologically advanced than what she was used to. But still generally pleasant. Probably even more so than bigger cities like Magix or her home on Eraklyon. This Gardenia place seemed a bit smaller, a bit more friendly.

She also couldn't help but seek out potential targets as they headed down the street, even though she felt guilty for doing so. Even with a sale, she still needed money to buy anything, and who knew what kind of currency they used on Earth. Maybe she'd find someone who looked particularly well-off that she could "borrow" some cash from... But that would be wrong, wouldn't it? She frowned to herself as she tried to overcome her impulses.