The Trix were the most feared witches in the universe, and deservedly so. They struck fear into the hearts of weaklings, allied themselves with some of the most dangerous criminals in the Magic Dimension, and brought entire planets to their knees. They deserved to be sitting on thrones, ruling over the entire Magic Dimension.
Yet here they were, stuck hiding in a small shack on Magix. After Tritannus failed to pan out, they retreated from the Infinite Ocean to regroup and figure out their next move.
Icy was still fuming over the situation. "Impossible. Inconceivable. Unbelievable. I had it. I was so close to being empress."
Darcy was only barely paying attention to her, instead focusing on her nails. "Oh relax. Sure Politea and big, green, and ugly didn't work out, but so what? This isn't exactly new to us."
"That's exactly the point," Icy snapped. "We've been trying for years, doing everything in our power to secure dominance. And what do we have to show for it? Nothing except bruises and humiliation from the Winx."
Stormy was tired of Icy's complaints. Ever since their last lost she had done nothing but rant about how unfair the universe was to her. She was far too obsessed with power these days. Really, she had been like that ever since touching the Dragon Flame, but now it was getting even worse. The weather witch had half a mind to ditch Icy and strike out on her own. These universal conquest schemes were getting ridiculous.
For now though, she had to put up with her sister. "Hey Icy, calm down before you freeze over the place we're sleeping."
"What if I want to freeze this place over?" Icy questioned viciously. Ice was forming at her feet and slowly expanding beyond her.
"Then do it elsewhere," Stormy said. "If I wanted to sleep on ice, I'd go to Omega."
Icy looked like she was about to attack Stormy right then. "Don't tell me what to do. Ever."
"Calm down," Darcy said. "There's a whole forest out there you break to your heart's desire. Take your anger out on that, not on us."
The ice witch turned away. "Fine. You two can sulk and do nothing for all I care. I for one am going to figure out how to destroy the Winx." She stomped out in a fit of rage, slamming the door on the way out. Darcy settled back down and turned away from Stormy, who leaned against the wall and started to quietly fume.
Winx Winx Winx Winx. Sometimes that was the only thing Icy seemed to think about. It really got on Stormy's nerves. Right now she wished she could go a full month without having to think about those insufferable fairies, but the way her sister was acting she'd be lucky to go a full day without them crossing her mind. Yes they were the most irritating pests the Magic Dimension had ever conceived, but they were far off on Domino or Andros or some other planet celebrating their umpteenth victory, not right on top of them about to take them to prison.
Now she was thinking of them too much. Shaking her head, Stormy attempted to clear her head of any and all fairies. It was almost ironic. Witches were the ones meant to cause fear, misery, and resent, yet here they were, in misery because of six overpowered fairies. Darcy and especially Icy would never admit it, but unconsciously they must have feared getting into a direct battle with the Winx. At this point that was a losing battle, no matter what they did. If only she had struck them down years earlier when she had the chance, then things might've been easier on them.
Wind stirred all around her, shaking the entire contents of the building. The thought of missed opportunities made her blood boil. So many times where if she was just a second faster…
"Calm down Stormy," Darcy told her from across the room. "Or do I have to throw you out too?" Her glare would have made lesser people quiver in fear and follow her commands to the letter.
Stormy had nothing to fear from her, but at the same time she had no interest in angering Darcy, lest she poison her next meal or use her for some magic experiment. The wind calmed down as Stormy's mind drifted away from the Winx and to something more pleasant. Satisfied, Darcy returned to her own activities.
She may have been weaker in the past, but the past held one thing she envied even to this day. Peace. Before Cloudtower they were just your regular witches in the eyes of everyone. A nuisance and unpleasant to be around, but not evil or anything to be concerned about. They could walk the streets in the open, eat at restaurants without a disguise, and have regular fun without being on the watch for law enforcement.
They had never been normal girls, but they had enjoyed normal activities. Movies had been a fun pastime, at least until Icy declared them a waste of time. Darcy always liked horror movies to complement her favorite novella, but Stormy preferred disaster and tragedy movies. She got a kick out of seeing so much destruction happening at once. They served as an inspiration for her to follow, something to help her get a grasp of what she would be causing in the future. Cities wrecked by storms, lightning striking down those foolish enough to stand in its way, harpies making a feast out of weak elves, it was all a prelude to what she wanted to do.
Well now those sorts of activities were no longer options. Being wanted criminals made their leisure options a bit more limited. They could always disguise themselves, but that still carried the inherent risk of someone recognizing them. Heck, they couldn't even do something as simple as go to a hair salon to stylize their hair. If they wanted to change their hair, they'd have to do it themselves.
Stormy looked into a mirror and stared at her hair. It was just as frizzy as ever, popped up in the shape of a cloud. On occasion she had changed it to something smoother, but it eventually it always popped back up like that. Perhaps it was because of the constant lightning she used, as she rarely took much time to take care of it.
"Should I change my hair style?" Stormy asked no one in particular.
Darcy looked up upon hearing her sister speak. "Change your hair? Nah, you should keep it the way it is. It's your signature look, so to speak." The witch of darkness had a relaxed expression on her face, one that made it tough for Stormy to tell if she was joking or not. She was good at hiding her thoughts like that.
"I think I'm due for a change," Stormy replied. "What about you? Maybe you should try something different."
Now she looked interested. "You think so? I don't know; I'm used to having it long and loose like this."
"Yeah, but it gets old after a while. We're really due for some sort of makeover." Stormy wasn't used to this sort of conversation, but it helped get her mind off more depressing matters.
"Should I tie it up or just halve its length?" Darcy questioned to herself.
Stormy tried to picture Darcy with hair that didn't extend down to her legs. She found it quite difficult to imagine. "Maybe not something that radical. Tying it up seems like a nice place to start."
Darcy telekinetically formed her hair into a long ponytail. "What do you think?"
Stormy was no expert on fashion, but she could give an honest opinion. "Not bad actually. Maybe we can force someone to enchant it like that to make it look professional. That would be one way to kill a day at least." Letting it down Darcy closed her eyes, apparently going into deep thought.
How long had it been since she had a normal conversation like this? No plotting to take over the Magic Dimension, no deference as she listened to the boss of the week, and no griping about the Winx always ruining their plans. Just a simple talk about inconsequential things. It was relaxing to say the least. It had been far too long since she had concerned herself with trivial matters.
Maybe it wasn't too late to return to that life.
Then Stormy heard the door creak open very slowly. She frowned in suspicion. Icy likely wasn't done yet with her latest temper tantrum. Maybe her wind had opened it by accident. It's not like the shack they had commandeered was particularly sturdy. Or maybe it was something else.
Walking over to close it, she saw a light grey metal ball rolling along the ground from the door. It had several small bumps on it, slowing it down before Stormy caught it with her foot. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it, but alarm bells were ringing in her mind. Darcy had opened her eyes and was watching with interest.
Then the ends of the ball flashed red as it started beeping quickly, and Stormy realized what it was. "Bomb!" Leaping back she summoned a gust of wind, attempting to send it as far away as possible while simultaneously putting up her own shield.
The bomb exploded before she could get it far enough away from her. The explosion deafened her as she was sent flying through the wall, smacking the ground far away from their temporary home with a loud thud. Her head took the brunt of the impact, leaving her in more of a daze. Her shield managed to block the shrapnel, but the force of the explosion still took too much out of her.
Stormy briefly saw Darcy slowly back up towards her before her vision failed. Someone was attacking them, and try as she might she couldn't gather the energy to get back up and fight them. Her entire body was numb, and she felt like she had taken a bat to the head. Blacking out, she swore to destroy whoever their attacker was with all the power she could muster when she woke up. Her life may be a mess, but she still had things she wanted to do.
She was no longer interested in dreams of conquest. When she had the chance, she planned to give Icy a piece of her mind.