A lone coffin, once an illustrious masterpiece crafted for only the most highest of royalty, now laid in decay. Worn down, decrepit, forgotten by time. Buried under the crumbled remains of a malformed and eroded castle. The very soil of the land was sick. There existed no sky, only the emptiness of any life. Nothing was welcomed, nor anything could leave, it was the resting place of a war. A war too great to remember, and like a bad dream, left behind. Forgotten... However, history repeats itself, a great many times. Three girls, Witches, find this accursed plane. Sisters, of the names Icy, Darcy and Stormy. Icy, the oldest and with the coldest heart of the three, lead them into a collapsed arch. She held up an old book.

"Here...! I can feel it! What we're looking for here!"

Darcy looked around and rubbed her arms.

"Ugh, what could be all the way out here!? I didn't think this place existed in Magix! There's no records or any mention!"

Stormy flexed and rolled fingers in the air with a growl.

"I can barely use my magic out here? Why! This place is a dump and a waste!"

Icy held a hand up.

"It has to be whatever is here. It's like the opposite of the Dragon Flame, it sucks all forms of energy away! We've got to get our hands on it!"

Darcy raised a brow as she looked around.

"These are strange sculptures to have around... They look like they're doing something."

Stormy looked at one. It held a spear stabbed into the ground, the spear crumbled, and the body destroyed.

"They're fighting. But, what? Who'd make something so ugly looking?"

Icy shook her head as she and her sisters blasted a small pile of debris away together.

"They weren't crafted... They were fossilized. We're walking among corpses!"

"Eyuck!" "Gross!"

"And by the manner of how this place is affecting us, we'll end up like this if we're not careful. C'mon!"

They entered the blocked room, and felt completely rejuvenated, recharged. Stormy's fingers and hair began to course with bolts of lightning.

"W-Whoa! Suddenly it's all different! What is this place!? Darcy? Icy?"

Darcy only looked up in awe. Icy smiled brightly.

"No... Way...!"

Stormy put her hands on her hips and looked to the sides.

"What're you gawking at!? Just a bunch of stupid chains that lead up to..."

Her eyes widened at the sight. A large humanhoid dragon, chained and hung high above the ground, the body layered in dim low flames. The build was powerful, but wounded, and it lacked wings and a tail. The head was more of a fierce eagle, even the body was more human. Scales lined the arms, spines, and around the eyes. Icy looked at her hand and drew forth great magical power.

"The closer we are to this being... The more full of life we become! The Great Red Dragon gave Magix life and power! Is this... The Dragon's Flame!?"

Darcy looked to the chains and walls. Claw and burn marks were all around, yet she saw the wounds still leak. Blood, but golden and light, it shimmered in the darkness. As it hit the ground, flowers grew. A whole garden lived right under the body of the Dragon.

"How did he get all the way over here...? But there's no denying, this is what we seek! Is he even alive?"

Stormy raised a hand a shot a bolt at a wrist. The shackle shattered apart and the arm fell limp. Darcy and Icy both glared at her.

"What do you think you are doing!?"

"Stormy, you dolt, stop it!"

Stormy shrugged as she flew up to the freed arm.

"If we free him, he'll owe us, and look how big he is! Even if he can't do anything special, he'll be an upgrade from the loser."

Darcy shook her head.

"Knut has his uses, for now, but you bring up a good point..."

Icy flew to the base of a chain and froze it link by link.

"Stormy, with an idea that may work? Guess this Dragon's Flame really is all powerful!"

The other arm fell free. Darcy attacked the shackles on the ankles with a psionic wave. The throat and waist were left. Icy raised a brow at them.

"Hold on... Those two look normal. No, pristine! Look how shiny the metal is!"

Darcy flew closer to inspect the throat chain.

These chains are different than the others. It's as if, the others were only to hold him down, but not restrain him? I, can't really explain it..."

Stormy shouted and pointed to the roof.

"It doesn't end! Er, the chain is in the stone! Like, merged with it!"

Darcy attacked the chain, but it had no effect. It had bounced right off.

"Ah! How did that...?"

The chain began to wiggle, before a metal spike shot out at Darcy. Her head would've been skewered, had the Dragon not pulled on the chain and lifted himself, the spike flew into the wall and receded. He roared and began to flail, but the throat and waist chains erupted with several blades, bent and sent to cut away at the body. Icy sent a hail of icicles, but it was torn apart, ignored even as the Dragon shrieked in pain.

"We have to save him!"

Stormy fired a powerful bolt, but it bounced off and struck her.

"Augh!"

She fell, and after her, were the blades.

"Stormy!" "Stupid...!"

Both sisters flew after that, but glanced to the side, the blades all flew after the three of them.

"N-No!" "We can't lose!"

Together, the two put up a force field to protect themselves, and had barely saved themselves. The blades pierced the shield, but stopped at the skin. Darcy gasped.

"S-Stormy!"

The Dragon had caught her. Her body rested in his open palm. He stared down at her, then at Darcy and Icy.

"..."

He grabbed the blades, and bit down on them with his beak, the blades fell away and rotted in an instant. He seized the other sisters, and threw all three into his beak. With screams, they fell onto the tongue, and watched the beak snap down. Icy stomped down and snarled.

"ARGH! He! Ate us! This is the absolute worst!"

Darcy held Stormy up and lightly slapped her.

"Hey! Wake up, we're not done yet..."

"... nh... Huh?"

Stormy sat up and gagged.

"Oh, Yuck! Where are we!? It's so gooey and warm!"

"He ate us! Well, maybe he's trying to protect us?"

Icy smiled and spoke with great sarcasm.

"Gee! How do I defend some bunch of strangers I don't know? Oh, I know, I'll EAT THEM!"

She fired an ice bolt, but it had ricocheted all around. The Trix all dove for cover. Darcy hissed.

"Good job, Icy! Real smart move, brought us all the way to who knows where and get us digested!"

Icy opened her mouth, but screeched and spat.

"Ew! His saliva got in my mouth! Utterly disgusting! If we get out of here, I'm ending this-"

All went silent as the beak grew bright. The sounds of an inferno erupted all around. They all screamed as they began to fly around. The tongue backed up and blocked the throat, keeping them from being swallowed. All finally fell quiet with a large thump. The beak opened and the Witches stumbled out. Stormy shook her head.

"Can we... Not, do that again?"

"NO! ! !"

Icy screamed. The Dragon laid dead, the whole room began to rot away and decay. The castle crumbled away entirely. Like dust blown by the harsh winds of time. The Dragon, evaporated into a shower of sparkles, yet the sparkles came back together, combined and compacted to a much smaller shape. An egg. Darcy pointed out the distance.

"Sisters! Look! There's... Several!"

All around, in various colors, some brighter than others and some dark as night. All floated and dispersed into wind. Icy caught the egg and held it to her ear.

"... Something is moving! He's alive! YES! Sisters! We have the actual Great Dragon!"

Stormy rubbed her cheek.

"How do we know that's the Great Dragon?"

Darcy looked back and saw the garden, still alive and flourishing.

"The fire he produced, burned but gave life, and he protected strangers with his life. That's a kind of kindness you don't find normally..."

Icy shook her head.

"It doesn't matter! We have to get back to Cloud Tower, now!"

At their room within Cloud Tower, Icy took the large egg from the ethereal stove.

"Rgh! Why!? Why won't you hatch?!"

Icy shook the egg harshly. Darcy yawned and rolled in her bed.

"Sister... You've been at it for hours... We've tried everything..."

Stormy only snored lightly as Icy threw it to the ground.

"Ugh! Useless! Useless! Useless! All that effort, and it was for nothing!"

Darcy put a pillow over her head.

"Just throw the thing away..."

Icy lifted it up and threw it out the window.

"There! I can't believe we didn't make it in time!"

"Maybe with the Ring of Solaria...? That was the plan at first."

"... Agh! How could I have been so- The egg! It'll respond to warm light! I have to go get it!"

She ran to the window and pulled her hair. It had vanished. Morning rose over the realm of Magix. A world outside of the rules of time and space, supposedly. In Magix are three schools. Red Fountain, the college for young men to become Specialist, combat oriented wizards. Cloud Tower, the college for young girls to train in the dark arts, to become Witches. And finally, Alfea Castle, opposite of Cloud Tower. A college that teaches young girls in character, and what it means to be, a Fairy. This morning, in a class that regarded Nature, the Professor placed a number of eggs on his desk.

"Now then, ladies! These eggs will be apart of this weeks lesson, the cycle of nurturing. First, a Fairy must understand the importance and fragility of life. I want each of you to come and listen closely, see if you can feel the rhythm of their heartbeat. Now everyone, line up!"

Each Fairy stood up and placed their heads close to each egg. One Fairy gasped.

"Whoa!~ What funky beat! Professor Palladium, what's this egg?"

"Ah! That's an Arm'ny Buzzard, large birds that use their harmonious voices for a variety of things, they are very much one of the musicians of the animal kingdom in Magix."

Another Fairy tapped on an eggshell.

"This one's got a catchy beat!"

"Careful, that's a Trapeez Hummingbird. They use their hypnotic tendencies to catch prey. Whether it be tapping their talons, singing or even the beat of their wings, listen too long and you may get trapped in a daze!"

One Fairy stared at her egg with a face of confusion.

"Erm, Professor? This one sounds like fire."

Palladium blinked and rubbed his neck.

"Huh? Fire? I'm not sure what you mean."

"Just that! L-Like a campfire or something!"

"Why, that's rather odd. Hm..."

He placed his ear by it and listened. It was clear, the crackling of fires, the whoosh of the heat. Even the egg itself was rather hot.

"I... Didn't notice that before! To be fair, I'm not sure what creature this even is, the egg had rolled onto campus from the bushes. It seemed harmless enough but, it's quite an enigma."

The egg began to shake and leapt into the arms of the Fairy. Palladium eyes widened as he saw the egg nestle into her arms.

"My, my! It seems to have taken a liking to you, Bloom!"

"Me? B-But why?"

"Like I said, I'm not quite sure, but maybe you're more in tuned with Nature than we all thought!"

"I don't know... But there's something, familiar, about it."

"Well, how about a little bit of extra credit, try and find out whatever you can about it?"

"Sure thing!"

"Now then, onto you, Tecna!"

The class was soon dismissed, the school day over, and students free to themselves. Bloom however, studied the egg on her bed. Her pet rabbit circled around it.

"I'm trying to figure it out as well, Kikko, but it just sits there! ... Well, it is an egg. Where did it even come from?"

Icy frantically searched around the dire forest that surrounded Cloud Tower.

"Where! Where!? WHERE!?"

Stormy floated idly in the air beside her irate sister.

"So, let me get this straight, you threw what we perceived as unlimited power out the window?"

"SHUT UP STORMY!"

Stormy flew back with her hands up in surrender.

"No need to bark so loud, frost breath! Besides, it was just a dumb egg."

"That egg held the most powerful creature in creation! I won't lose it now!"

"You just did last night."

"STORMY!"

Darcy let out a screech from afar.

"Ough! Disgusting!"

She backed away from the corpse of a creature. Eviscerated, mauled, unrecognizable. Blood was all around, recolored the grass and soil.

"What... Did this!? Was it the egg? Ah!"

She saw one of the sparkles from before, a black one, floated past her and vanished against a tree. As she gazed up at the tree, she gagged. On each branch thin or wide, long or short, a creature was impaled against them. Icy and Stormy ran into the scene and gasped.

"What in the...?"

"T-Th-Tha-T-Tho-Thu-T..."

A crack in the tree began to form as the trunk twisted. The tree turned around with a strange face carved into it.

"..."

A shadow fell out of the mouth, slithered up Darcy's leg, and formed into a strange being that held her close. The head resembled an ant with the mandibles on the head. Two wheels with men tied onto them were plated on the chest. A bloodied dagger in the left hand and a disfigured right hand with claws. Although it had full lips, the mouth itself was full of a strange black sludge. He spoke with an ethereal echo, a gross tone yet a gentle rasp, a voice slick as oil and volatile as acid.

"WiTcH... FrEEd... SeRvE... I aM tHeDeViL... I sErVe YoU wHo FrEEd Me..."

Darcy shook as she saw images of the creatures within the sludge. They looked uncomfortable, writhing in agony, suffering. She then spoke past her fear and disgust.

"Y-You want to serve us...? G-Good! What... Can you do?"

The Devil smiled, and morphed into a dark predator. A quadruped beast, one of the victims of the tree, yet former differently.

"WhAtEvEr I kIll... I bEcOmE... bUt BeTTeR..."

He then turned into a shadow on the ground and slithered up a tree. A bird gave a choked chirp before the eyes changed. It spoke, with the Devil's sickly slick voice.

"i PoSSeSS aLL tHiNgS..."

The bird flew off the tree and dived down on a small animal. Though much larger than the bird, it managed to cut the throat out with a glide across with its beak.

"if I aM hUnTiNg... My HaTe GiVeS mE sTrEnGtH bEyOnD cOmPrEhEnSiOn..."

The bird's neck began to twist before a crunchy snap sounded. It turned it's head into an awkward position, out of place, and fell dead. The small shadow grew larger until the Devil rose from the he ground. He opened his mouth and revealed the two animals trapped inside with the others.

"AnD wHaTeVeR sTrEnGtH i GaInEd FrOm My LaSt lIfE... i Add To My NeXt..."

Darcy looked to her sisters for help. Stormy had threw up earlier and just walked into the bird's suicide. Icy however, watched with great interest, and her eyes grew wider as the Devil explained himself. She shouted out.

"You're perfect! Absolutely! We'll use you for now, just know that you work for us!"

The Devil turned to Icy and closed his mouth with a smile. He sounded relieved, as if he was worried they'd deny him, desperate even.

"ThAnK yOu...! MiLLeNiA aFtEr MiLLeNiA... a PuRpOsE aT lAsT...! tHaNk YoU!"

"Oh, we'll give someone with your abilities some, purpose. For now, stay close, and stay hidden! You're our little surprise for this school year."

The Devil nodded before fading away like a ghost. Stormy ran up to Icy.

"That thing, is, the absolute worst! We shouldn't have freed any of those freaks! I mean... Just smell that!"

Darcy stumbled back.

"It was... Made of sheer darkness! That thing was... Powerful, and it can grow stronger, we got lucky he just feels like he should serves us!"

Icy rolled a wrist.

"Details, details, we're Witches! We deal with dark and bleak regularly! If anything, we ended up with the perfect servant. Anyone want to take him for a spin?"