The Nexus of Nightmares
by Sweetgaea0
It had been ten years since Bloom had died. Without her the Winx Club had fallen apart. They all get together once a year now at the place where she had sacrificed herself. It is once again time for the group to come together and pay homage to their fallen friend but this time they are attacked by a couple of dark beings. Can they pull together as a group one more time? Or will they all be destroyed?
STELLA
I showed up on four days before the anniversary like I normally do. Flora appears behind me. "Hello Stella. How are you?" she asks. She has changed the most out of all of us. Her nut brown hair is shoulder length now and she has rings under her moss green eyes. "Fine and you?" I ask. I may not be friends with Musa and the others any more but Flora is and always will be there for all of us. "Alright," she says. I turn away from the forest. "So what do you need help with?" I ask her. "The rooms need dusting and we need to make the beds as well as stock the kitchen," she replies. I nod and we start.
The four days pass quickly. Me and Flora have everything ready when the others arrive. The first one to get here is Sky. "Good morning," he says quietly. He is wearing his uniform from his Specialist days. We nod to him. "Breakfast is on the table," I tell him. "I will see you later today," he says as he walks towards the kitchen. The others start showing up then. The last to arrive is Musa. "Glad you could show," I say coldly. She ignores me.
We all stayed in our rooms until the hour arrives. "Sunset," I breathe and head downstairs. We all gather in the foyer and then walk to the garden. At the spot where she died is a memorial. It reads "In memory of Bloom, Princess of Domino, beloved friend and daughter" We all gather together around the stone; the fairies change into their Enchantix forms, the men all pull out there weapons and raise them to the sky. We send up a convergence spell that bursts into glitter. As we stand there the sky turned dark. I looked up and frowned. "What is going on?" Aisha muttered. "There is darkness surrounding us," Flora answered.
From the sky dropped a man and a woman wearing masks. The guy was handsome with long dark hair and jade green eyes. His mask covered half of his face in a sweeping elaborate silver and black crescent moon. He wore a deep gray long coat over black pants and a dark blue shirt. He turned toward the girl. "Iris we made it!" he said excitedly. The girl smiled at him. "Yes we did Kieron," she replied kissing him on the cheek.
The girl turned toward us. Her mask was a Colombina style with fiery red and gold lace over a black background. Her hair was blazing red and fell down to her nape in flipped out waves, woven randomly throughout were ten braids. Her eyes were a pale aqua blue. She was wearing a midnight blue cloak over a black outfit. Both were barefoot. "Who are they?" Iris asked. "I think they are either celebrating or mourning," Kieron replied. "Oh then we better move on," she said. They started to fly away. "Wait!" I cried out, "Where did you guys come from?" The girl turned towards me. "The Nexus of Nightmares," she said. "Come on Iris!" Kieron shouted. Suddenly a wave of darkness hit us.
The girl widened her eyes. "Kieron the portal is opening again!" she shouted. The boy turned back but it was too late. The girl was being attacked by dark pixies that came from the portal. She fought like a demon. "Hey leave the pixies alone!" Aisha shouted when suddenly half of the pixies flew towards us and began attacking. "NO!" the girl shouted, "Enchantix!" She changed and sent out a fireball to wipe all the pixies out. The little ones ran but to no avail. The girl collapsed and the guy went to her. "I forgot how tiring that can be," she said with a laugh. Kieron laughed as if it was the funniest joke of all time.
All of us were staring at the strange couple. "Did she?" I asked. "Yes she used the dragon flame," Techna replied. Sky stepped forward. "Bloom is that you?" he asked. "Who's is Bloom?" the girl asked, "Oh never mind. Kieron we must lock the portal." He nodded and helped her up. "Are you sure you are strong enough?" he asked. "Yeah I'll be fine but do I use Enchantix or Dark Enchantix?" "Dark." he said. She nodded. "Dark Enchantix!" Suddenly the girl's entire outfit turned from aqua blue and pale pink to black and red. Her eyes flashed gold. "Alright let's do this," she said in an eerie voice.
He nodded and took her hand. "With flame and light we cast our spell. Hear us now and do not fail. Seal the world of Nightmare. Till flame and light release thee fair." Kieron intoned while Bloom/Iris translated the spell into real magic. When they were done the two dropped down. "Ouch, magic here sure packs a wallop," Kieron said. "Don't I know it," Bloom/ Iris replied.
"Will you take off the mask Bloom?" Sky asked. Bloom/Iris stared at him in shock. "Are you mad?" she asked. "The only thing keeping us alive right now is these masks," Kieron explained. Sky shook his head. "I don't understand," he said. The girl rolled her eyes. "Of course not you didn't spend ten years in there," she said sarcastically. "Iris your darkness is showing," Kieron said. "Sorry," she muttered sheepishly and changed back to normal. "Any how the Nexus of Nightmares is a strange place it takes worst pieces of everyone and keeps it there. To exist with out corruption you must were a mask made of power and forged with will. It takes all the darkness for you," she explained. "Of course we are no longer in the Nexus but one can never escaped unscathed. If we were to take off our masks we would become living shadow creatures for all the darkness would be directed back into us," Kieron stated as if it was the most logical thing in the world.
"I'm thirsty. Does anyone have water?" she asked. "You can come back to the house with us," Flora said. Then suddenly Musa broke through the group and hugged Bloom. "Ummmm, are you alright?" Bloom asked. "Yeah I just missed you," Musa replied. "Right well I don't know any of you so how could you miss me?" Bloom said. Musa stepped back. "You don't remember us?" she asked in shock. "Afraid not," she said with a shrug. Kieron shook his head as he tried to catch up with her.
We stopped him. "Explain who you are and what you've done to Bloom," I said angrily. "I've done nothing to Iris, if that's who you are talking about. She can't remember anything before the Nexus. Neither can I for that matter. I believe it's a part of the Nexus' curse. But Iris is a strong one she survived three years without a mask before I found her," he said, "If anyone can remember her life before it will be her."
I called Ms. Faragonda that night. "Bloom is back but she doesn't remember anything from before ten years ago," I said trying to keep calm. "I'm on my way," Ms. Faragonda said right before appearing next to me. "Take me to her," she said. I nodded and led the way. "She's sleeping right now," I said opening the door to her room. Ms. Faragonda approached the bed but found Bloom sleeping on the floor. She stepped a little closer and kneeled down.
Immediately Bloom woke up, shouted "Kieron" and attacked Ms. Faragonda. She had the Headmistress on the floor in half a second. "Stop she's not here to hurt you," I said. The girl blinked the gold from her eyes and shook her head. "Rule number one do not sneak up on someone who has survived the Nexus of Nightmares; especially when said person is asleep," she said. Ms. Faragonda paled slightly at the name. "The Nexus of Nightmares," she said in horror, "but no one can survive the Nexus of Nightmares." Bloom lifted her head in defiance, "Well we did so there." "Bloom I didn't mean-" Ms. Faragonda began. "And would everyone please stop calling me Bloom! My name is Iris," she said angrily.
Just then Kieron busted into the room. "What's wrong Iris?" he asked. "They decided to sneak up on me while I was sleeping. I reacted instantly," she explained. "Oh are they okay?" he asked. "Yes," she said. Ms. Faragonda was staring at the Kieron. "Young man what is your name?" she asked. "Kieron," he said. "Were you in the Nexus as well?" He nodded. "Alright we will let you get to sleep," Ms. Faragonda announced after a moment of silence. We left the room as Kieron laid down next to Bloom. "Ms. Faragonda what is going on?" I asked once we were in the hall. "Gather everyone in the foyer and I will explain," she said.
There we were all together once again. "Alright listen carefully," Ms. Faragonda started, "Bloom and that man Kieron were sent to the Nexus of Nightmares." "Yes we know this but how and why can't the remember who they are?" Sky asked. "Only someone who has died can reach the Nexus. However they must have been killed by both darkness and light forces at the same time. The Nexus is a place were all nightmares come from and return to. The people who go there never come back the same. They lose what they love the most: themselves. There has only ever been one other that has survived the Nexus, he went mad and had to be locked away," Ms. Faragonda said. "That won't happen to Bloom," I said determinedly.
"Did this other one have a mask?" Techna asked. "No, he just appeared in a swirl of darkness out of the clouds," Ms. Faragonda replied confused, "Why?" "Well according to Bloom and Kieron their masks adsorb all the darkness directed to them from the Nexus. They said that to take off the masks would change them to something they called "shadow beasts"," Techna explained. "Hmm interesting," Ms. Faragonda replied. Sky had been quiet until then.
"But you said they died so how can they be here?" he asked. "Being attacked by both light and dark forces rips a person's soul in half. If that person is powerful then both pieces of his or her soul snap back together but the force of that snap sends them into the Nexus and as the Nexus is a place of real nightmares the souls cannot exist without a shell so they form one from magic," she explained. "How do we help her?" Musa asked. "I don't know, this is the first time anyone has come back sane," Ms. Faragonda said. "Perhaps Lockette can help," Aisha spoke up. "Alright me and Aisha will head to the Pixie Village. Flora you will stay here and take care of our guests. The rest of you look for other ways of bringing back lost memories," I ordered. They nodded. I looked at all of us. We were becoming the Winx club again.
Iris
I woke up curled next to Kieron. His arm was a living pillow for me. I turned to see his beautiful green eyes smiled into mine. "Something smells heavenly," I said. He laughed and kissed my forehead. "Alright Iris let's go eat," he said. "Hope you guys like cinnamon rolls," Flora said when she saw us. "Never had one as far as I know," I said honestly. "Well here try one," she said sliding a plate over. I bit into it and by light and flame it was the most delicious thing I've ever tasted. "Oh," I said. "That good huh?" Kieron asked. I nodded and handed one to him. His eyes widened with his first taste. "By light and flame that is the most delicious thing I've ever tasted," he exclaimed echoing my earlier thought.
"So were is everyone else?" I asked. "Two of them headed to the Pixie village to find Lockette while Techna and Musa headed to the library at Alfea to see if they can find a way to bring back your memories," Flora explained. We stared at her. "I don't think that's possible," Kieron said. "I'm not even sure I want to know who I was before," I said quietly. Flora blinked. "Why wouldn't you?" "Because all I know is my life in the Nexus. Who I was before is not who I am now. To hold both lives in my head and to make the choice of which I want to live now . . . I just couldn't do it," I explained while both Kieron and Flora stared at me.
Kieron kissed the back of my hand. "I get it," he said with a sad smile. Flora's eyes filled up with tears. "But you are our friend," she said, "We thought we lost you once. And now we have a chance to get you back. How can we not take it?" "Who says we can't be friends with who I am now?" I asked angrily, "You are asking me to give up myself to become who you want me to be." I stood up and stalked outside. Flora tried to follow me but Kieron stopped her. "Let her be. She needs to be alone right now," he said. He always knows what I need.