Chapter 1- An odd encounter

Tecna sat at her desk, typing out her history of magic's report. The dorm was still. It wasn't the first time that Tecna had found herself alone in the past month. Quite the contrary in fact. After Dakar was defeated and all the commotion died down she found that she wasn't really close with anyone anymore. Musa used to be her best friend. In their first year they got on really well. Tecna was the one who confided everything in Tecna. Who was it who listened to all of Musa's problems with Riven? Who supported her at all music concerts and what not? True, sometimes they got a little distance and had little fights but they were always about nothing and they always bounced back. But then Aisha came into the picture. Tecna didn't blame Aisha, not really. She used to at the start, but that was only because she didn't really want to face the truth that Musa had basically ditched her. No, it wasn't Aisha's fault but there was still a little resentment. After Musa stopped hanging out with her, Tecna realised just her different she was from all the other girls. She guessed that Musa was her bridge across and now that that was gone she almost felt like an outsider. Her and Stella had never been that close. They had probably butted heads more than anyone else. Flora was quite nice and they did have more in common than some of the other girls but she was too close to Bloom for Tecna to hang out with all the time. Tecna found Bloom slightly obnoxious and a bit of a control freak (not that she would ever say anything) and, well, Aisha had Musa. Plus sports weren't exactly Tecna's strong point. Sure there were other girls at the school, she wasn't confined to her dorm or anything, but it was obvious that to them she was just the girl that always put her hand up in class and seemed to know everything. To put it straight she was seen as a nerd. The defeat of Dakar had given her popularity a needed boost, but now it seemed that people felt nervous coming up to her or felt that she didn't need any more friends as she already had the Winx. She started to wish that things were like they used to be back before she went to Alfea. She had plenty of friends at home and all of them understood her.

Tecna sighed as she realised she had let her mind wander again and felt herself getting a little angry. Damn emotions getting in the way again. She tried her best to concentrate on the history of Bullion but it was no use. She just didn't quite feel like herself. Perhaps a walk and some fresh air would help. It had been a while since she last saw Timmy. They hadn't been on any official dates yet but it was obvious how they both felt. Grabbing her PDA (she never left without it) she headed for the door. Before she left however she looked back over at the four empty dorm rooms and couldn't help but wonder where the others were. It wasn't as if they told her. Looking back over the place she had lived for the past year and a half she allowed her mind to flood with memories of the past. Of the much happier times that she had spent there. She remembered getting ready for the dance with Red-fountain in their first week at the school and when Flora's plants had completely taken over the four dorm rooms.

The early spring wind rustled through the trees, making fruit blossoms fall from their branches and ruffling the magenta hair of the technology fairy as she pulled her light jacket tighter across her body to protect it from the slight chill in the air. Red-fountain school loomed in the distance. The school looked very big and prestigious in the midday sun. Nature had indeed helped Tecna forget about all of her friend problems. It was as if she had left them back in her dorm room back at Alfea. It was impossible to be mad or frustrated outside where the spring air was thick and sweet with the smell of blossom that so ornately decorated the trees. It didn't matter that she was alone here. In fact, she didn't want anyone with her. This was her moment. A stronger breeze brought a group of dandelion seeds floating in the air her way and she couldn't help marvelling at the way that they floated and bounced seemingly effortlessly. This moment was just perfect.

Tecna found the Specialists training in the battle arena. She felt a little discouraged as she was hoping to get some alone time with Timmy. She stood and watched for a moment, observing the Specialists as they leapt through the air, battled practice drones and shot down targets. After about ten minutes she was able to get Timmy's attention and he ran over to greet her. She could see the faint blush appear on his face as he got closer to her. He stood there a little awkwardly and ruffled his hair with his hand.

"H-hey Tecna. W-what are you d-doing here?" he stammered, his cheeks growing redder still.

"I just thought I would drop by since I haven't seen you in a while. I didn't realise that you would still be training. Why are you training so late?" questioned Tecna.

"We've been training even longer and harder ever since Dakar attacked. I think we've all realised just how serious things have gotten and if anything like that ever happens again, we want to be ready." Timmy explained.

"I see. Very logical. We've have stepped up our studies as well." Tecna agreed.

"Hey Timmy. Get back over here! We've still got a lot of work to do!" Riven yelled from the target range.

"Uh- sorry Tecna. I better get back. I'll talk to you later though, right."

"Yes, of course. I wouldn't want to keep you from your training." Tecna reluctantly said goodbye and watched Timmy run over to join the others. The visit hadn't ended the way she had thought her hoped it would. She figured that as she was already there, she would have a little walk around the Red-fountain gardens. She wasn't in a particular hurry to go back to either an empty dorm or Musa giving her more or less the cold shoulder. The Red-fountain gardens were quite large and filled with a huge array of different plants. It being spring, most of the flowers were in bloom and giving off a very sweet aroma. There were flowers in every colour of the rainbow, millions of plants that Tecna couldn't name and some that she was sure she hadn't seen before. It was almost impossible to feel upset here. Perhaps there were some plants here that gave off calming properties. Tecna made a mental note to ask Flora the next time she saw her.

Tecna quickly found a nice, shady oak tree and settled herself underneath it. She took out her PDA and started working on some new programming. It was very peaceful with the only sounds being a few chirping birds and the tapping of Tecna's PDA. The atmosphere was so calming that Tecna soon found it hard to stay awake. It started to become too hard and she soon stopped trying and let herself drift.

When Tecna woke up, she found that it was getting dark, about 7 or 8pm. This wasn't good. There would be no busses operating this late. She was extremely glad to be a fairy so that she didn't have to walk all the way home. Standing up, she brushed away the few stray leaves and twigs that had gotten stuck in her hair and covered her clothes. The moon was bright and yellow, creating enough light for Tecna to be able to see with having to strain her eyes. She turned on her phone to find that she had no service.

"Great." she muttered herself. "Looks like I'm on my own." The lack of technology put the fairy slightly on edge, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. I mean hadn't she faced terrifying villains and monsters plenty of times before? Transforming into her fairy form, Tecna took to the sky and started flying in the direction of Alfea. She had been flying for what seemed like an hour when she heard an odd wheezing and whooshing sound. Tecna stopped and looked around, searching for the source of the noise. A blue police box was sitting in a nearby clearing and Tecna was certain that it hadn't been there before. Curiosity grabbed her and she couldn't help flying towards the box to investigate. She silently slipped between the trees, they made long shadows as the sun sunk deeper into the horizon making is easy to conceal herself. The door to the police box opened and someone came out. It was a woman with ginger hair. She was quickly followed by a man in a large trench coat and spiky brown hair who locked the door behind him.

"So where exactly are we then?" The woman had a thick accent that Tecna recognised as British from Bloom's Earth movies. The woman put her hands on her hips and turned around to look at the man, a questioning look on her face.

"I have no idea. The TARDIS doesn't like it though. She keeps playing up." The man had the same sounding accent as the woman. He turned around and stroked the door of the blue box when suddenly, it made a sort of exploding sound and smoke started to billow out for the back of it. The woman looked concerned and looked at the man, as if she was waiting for an explanation.

"She generally doesn't do this. There's something in this atmosphere that isn't quite right" the man took a big breath in before continuing. "It tastes kind of fizzy. It could be affecting the TARDIS."

"Wait, you can taste the atmosphere" The woman asked, putting emphasis on the word taste.

"'Course I can. It's a Timelord thing." The man looked back over at the woman to see her worried face.

"Don't worry Donna, we'll be alright. The TARDIS just needs a little time to adjust to the atmosphere, then we'll be on our merry little way. Besides I've never been here before. Who knows, we might have a little adventure." He assured her. She looked better and was even smiling.

"Since when do we not spaceman."

During the couple's conversation, Tecna had edged closer and closer as silently as she could. She was only a few metres away now. She was contemplating whether to approach these strange people or not, they did seem to be friendly and genuinely lost when her phone started beeping loudly. It must have connected to the internet and all the messages she had missed were coming through. The man and woman both looked in her direction.

"Hello. Is anyone there?" the man called out. Tecna quickly took action and transformed. She darted through the trees, her wings taking her away as fast as they could. Once she was sure that she was far enough away, she stopped to catch her breath. She knew that it was irrational that she had run away from them, they didn't seem to be armed or dangerous but there was something off about them. Something she couldn't quite pinpoint. And then there were all those strange words that they had used. TARDIS, Timelord and why had the woman called the man spaceman? Tecna knew that she had to figure this out so she speed towards Alfea. What was going on?