Quest for Survival
Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club.
Thanks to Stills and Photographs for betareading this story.
Chapter 1: Visiting Dark Places
It had been some months after Mirta, Lucy, Flora and the rest of the Winx defeated the Void Lord that took over Cloud Tower. Everybody concluded that there was somebody behind the Void Lord's actions, and the headmasters of the three schools started researching while the girls enjoyed their well-deserved vacation. But sadly, the vacation didn't last long.
After some weeks, some realms reported that they had been attacked by a small commando of four. Their targets were usually libraries where said realms stored their most powerful and secret spells; however, they didn't steal any spell, potion recipe or similar, but maps and cartographic documents instead. The headmasters, taking advantage of the lack of classes, fit out the schools as a base of operations, in order to investigate these weird attacks. The summer was almost over, and they hadn't yet found the mysterious group, who was also presumed responsible for the attack on Cloud Tower.
…
It was night. Mirta and Lucy walked through a street on the outskirts of Magix. Lucy, who was carrying a bag, seemed to be calm, but Mirta was a bit nervous.
"Never been here before?" asked Lucy, noticing her friend's worry.
"I didn't even know that such a place existed in Magix," replied Mirta, taking a look around.
The street they were in differed a lot from the rest of the city, since it was darker and gloomier. The streets were dirtier, buildings were in a deplorable state, and the people who populated said streets didn't look too...respectable. Mirta just learned that even Magix has a slum.
"Tell me again what we are doing here?"
"We're going to pay a visit to an old friend of mine," said Lucy enigmatically. Mirta raised an eyebrow, wondering what kind of 'friends' Lucy had – besides her, of course.
Lucy, however, noticed her reaction.
"Well, it's not really a friend," clarified the green-haired witch, "but somebody who helped me in the past. Relax; everything is going to be fine."
Mirta was still unsure. They kept walking until they arrived at their destination.
"We're here," announced Lucy. They stopped in the front of a place with a neon sign that said 'The Crow's Nest'.
'The Crow's Nest' was some sort of discotheque, with many boys and girls happily dancing, bathed by multicolored lights while loud music played. Mirta immediately knew that the girls were witches. It seemed that the Hex Cafe wasn't the only place they frequented.
But they didn't come here to see dancing witches. Lucy then walked towards a man seated at a table in a corner, with two young girls on each side. The man was probably in his late thirties, had short black hair, a mustache and a goatee, and wore a blue buttoned shirt, and black pants. He didn't take too much time to notice the newcomers.
"Lucy!" greeted the man. "What a pleasant surprise," the man's voice oozed sarcasm.
"Can we talk in private, Mot?" asked Lucy.
The man, apparently named Mot, told his young companions to leave and have something to drink. Lucy and Mirta sat beside him.
"So, what can I do for you, Lucy?" asked Mot. However, before Lucy could answer, he asked: "Do you want to drink something?"
Mot snapped his fingers and three glasses with a purple liquid appeared floating in front of them. Lucy glared at him.
"Like hell I'm going to drink one of your poisoned cocktails again," grimaced Lucy.
"Come on, it was only once! And you survived, right?" However, Lucy's expression didn't change. The man got the message and made the glasses disappear. He then glanced at Mirta, and asked: "Who's your friend?"
"My bodyguard," replied Lucy. Mirta almost gasped when she heard that. Mot, on the other hand, let out a rather loud laugh.
"Bodyguard? Why would you need such a thing? Did you become a celebrity or something?" asked Mot, before looking at Mirta again. "She doesn't look too tough."
"Oh, you haven't seen her in action," said Lucy. Mirta smiled shyly.
"Anyway, what do you want?" asked Mot.
"You should already know: information."
"About what?"
"How about the recent attacks made by a small group to many royal libraries?"
"Maybe I know something," said Mot. "But my mind is a bit...cloudy. Do you have something that may help me to remember?"
Lucy glared at him coldly, and fantasized about blasting him with her most powerful spell, followed by some line of the kind "Do you remember know? Because I have more of that." She really hated that man, but she had to put up with him if she wanted answers. She opened her bag, took a book from it, and gave it to Mot. Mot opened the book and had a look at it. His face spotted a bored expression.
"Enough for ya?" asked Lucy.
"Come on, Lucy, you have to have something better than this," said Mot. "This is not enough for the...kind of information you're looking for."
Lucy frowned. "That book came from Cloud Tower's crypt. Griffin would kill me if she knew that I picked it up without her permission, no less to use is as a payment for you!" yelled Lucy.
"Well, come here when you have something better," replied the man with a smug face.
Lucy was about to yell at him again, but Mirta touched her shoulder. In that moment, all her rage against the man dispelled, and she felt much calmer. She then knew what to say.
"Okay," said Lucy calmly. "Let's see what the police in Magix think about your business involving rare animals smuggling."
Mot lost his smug expression, and paled.
"You wouldn't dare!" said Mot. Lucy smirked.
"We can do two things: I can go to the Magix police, or you can accept my generous payment and tell me what you know."
"Like hell I'm going to let you do that," said Mot, now enraged. "You're a great witch, Lucy, but you aren't strong enough to beat me."
"I know. That's why I brought her," said Lucy, moving her head, pointing at Mirta.
Lucy left Mot thinking. Her silent friend didn't look that powerful. Maybe she was just bluffing. But maybe that's what she wanted: Mot knew appearances could be deceptive.
"Okay, you win. I'll tell you what I know," said Mot.
Damn you, Lucy, and your pokerface.
They spent about fifteen minutes talking. Mot mentioned that when people talked about the attacks, he heard a place named Opal Nebula mentioned quite a few times. It was all that he knew.
Once they had what they came to look for, Mirta and Lucy left The Crow's Nest.
"Lucy, what do you know that guy from?" asked Mirta.
"Like I said before, it's just a contact. He did me some favors and gave me useful information," said Lucy. "Oh, and thanks. I almost let my temper ruin everything."
"No problem," said Mirta. When Mirta had touched her shoulder, she used her powers to erase all of Lucy's rage and replaced it with tranquility. "Fortunately, we got what we wanted. Well, if we can trust what he said..."
"Mirta, that guy is an overblown jerk, and a smuggler," said Lucy. "But his information is always reliable. I know it. Besides, I gave him a good payment."
Mirta didn't ask about that. She already knew that it wasn't an original Cloud Tower book, but a copy. An incomplete copy, made by Griffin herself, who was aware of Lucy's schemes with the underworld, like all the spell books Lucy gave him in exchange for whatever. But Mot never realized it.
"By the way, I thought that you could tell when somebody is lying," said Lucy.
"I decided to not to use the Emotion Scan on him. He would have noticed it," replied Mirta.
"Wise decision."
Mirta and Lucy continued walking through the dark streets in silence, until Mirta spoke again:
"Wait, if that guy is a smuggler, shouldn't we report him to police?"
Lucy simply laughed.
"Oh, Mirta, those years in Alfea totally wasted you," said Lucy. "You should know better than anybody that the world isn't black and white, but gray. Yes, that guy is a criminal, but he also provided me very useful information. Information about much more dangerous people than a simple smuggler. Like the people who attacked Cloud Tower months ago. I know that it sounds like a paradox, but that guy does more good here than in a prison."
"I think that I get it," replied Mirta. "He's the lesser of two evils, right?"
Lucy smiled with satisfaction.
"Maybe you didn't forget all the things you learned in Cloud Tower," said Lucy. "Let's return to the inn. We'll pick a bus tomorrow."
…
Meanwhile, far away from that place, in the deep space, a spaceship, a small cruiser flew towards a horrible destination.
"Omega Dimension on sight," announced a female voice, inside the ship.
"Excellent, prepare to land," replied another male voice.
Minutes later, the ship landed without any trouble in the hostile planet. The main door opened, and four figures came from it: three of them were wearing thick coats and winter cloaks to protect themselves from the extreme cold; the fourth one, on the other hand, only wore a purple cloak that covered his whole body.
"Master Gaul, I still don't know what we are doing here," said a pale girl with shoulder-length black hair. "I thought that you found the location."
"I did," replied the cloaked man. "But none of us has the strength to use the power we're looking for. And the only person left capable of it lies on this frozen wasteland."
"Speaking of which, how the hell can you wear so little clothes?" asked the other girl of the group, who had the same pale skin but long, brown hair, and was a bit taller than the first one. "I'm going to freeze..."
"Remember that I'm not bound to the curse of flesh anymore, Neyra," replied the man.
"I'm sure that, if we joined our forces, we would be able to master that power," said the first girl. "We're wasting our time here."
"It's not just that," said Gaul. "We're also in need of a strong leader that can direct us to our longtime goal. An army without a leader is totally ineffectual."
"What about you?" asked the girl again. "You've done a great job this time, and taught us a lot of things. You could be that leader. I don't know why we're doing this."
"Can you explain it to her, Kharel? I'm not in the mood," replied Gaul, a bit irritated.
"Sure," said the other man. He had short, spiked, black hair, was tall and bulky, and carried a large sword on his back. "Listen, Mirage, a sword is made of two parts, the blade and the handle, and can't work without both parts. Let's say that Gaul is the handle, and we're looking for the blade."
"I see..." replied Mirage.
"Nice metaphor, Kharel," praised Gaul.
"Thanks," said Kharel, proud.
"Maybe you aren't as much an idiot as I thought," said the cloaked man, much to Khrael's dismay. He then turned to Mirage, and gave her an item. It was a silver mask, completely flat, without any marking or adornment. In fact, it only had a small gap for the eyes. "Now, let's find him."
Mirage took the mask, touched it and closed her eyes. She murmured some words to herself, and, after some minutes, she pointed to the northwest.
"He's following that direction," said Mirage.
"How long, sis?" asked Neyra. Apparently, they were sisters.
"Forty kilometers. Maybe more."
"I knew we were near," said Gaul. "Let's move. We have a long trip ahead."
They spent several hours walking through the dark tunnels and icy paths of the Omega Dimension. From time to time, they saw people encased in an ice block. The man they looked for was in one, too
.
"Uh, I have a question," said Kharel. "If this place is supposed to be a prison, where are the guards?"
"There are no guards," answered Gaul. "This is the most inhospitable place in the known universe. The people who suggested ditching the worst criminals here knew that it is impossible to escape once you're dropped here, and that nobody would be crazy enough to come here voluntarily to free a prisoner."
"But...we're here exactly for that," said Neyra.
"Yes. And that was a mistake they'll forever regret," said Gaul.
"We almost arrived," said Mirage. "He's in that cave."
The group of four entered the cave, where a single block of ice stood. As expected, there was a person frozen inside. Said person, presumably a man, was wearing black armor over his whole body, under a black hooded cloak. Neyra took a closer look, and gasped.
"Dear Darkness!" shouted Neyra, repulsed. "What happened to him? His face is just..."
"It is the price you have to pay for a great power," said Gaul. "Come on, unfreeze him."
Neyra took off one of her gloves, and placed her hand on the ice block, and said a heat spell. Soon it started to melt. After it was completely melted, the man inside fell on his knees, letting out a faint shout. Kharel caught him in time.
"What the...?" the man murmured.
"Finally we found you, Master," said Gaul.
"That voice...Gaul...is that you?" asked the man in black, while Khrael helped him to stand up. His voice was deep and dark, and sounded very distorted.
"Yes, Master, it's me. We came here to free you."
The man in black looked behind Gaul's hood. "What happened to you?"
"I've...changed," replied Gaul. "Mirage, give the Master what is his."
The black haired girl, a bit unsure, gave him the silver mask, and he immediately put it on.
"How much time have I been here?" asked the masked man.
"Twenty years," was Gaul's response. "Now, let's go, there are a lot of things to do."