Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club.
Well, this one took longer than I expected. Then again, it is about three thousand words long and there's no fewer than three action scenes in this one. And you all know how much I hate writing action scenes. Before we get going again on the story, I'm going to address some reviews.
Cyborg, the gag with the names was something I'd been planning right from the start. It was interesting and funny, and it gave me a good chance to show how the characters have grown and matured off-screen during the last five and a half years. They're still the same people, but they're not teenagers anymore. Artis is a college student on the verge of graduation, Perdi is Alfea's new librarian, Dhalia is a co-owner and co-founder of her own buisiness, Reyva is something of a celebrity and a highly skilled athlete, and Nyssa now works for Stella pretty much full time. They're adults now, not children.
Special thanks go out to cybercorpsesnake for joining the the party on one of my mainline stories. If you are just joining now, I highly recommend going back and reading my previous trilogy, unless you enjoy being rather confused.
Additionally, special mention goes to VampireNinja1706, who has been following my work for quite some time, and has finally posted what I believe to be his/her first review. I like people reading my work, but I like it even more when I get feedback from them. I read every review you guys write, and while I may not agree with all of them, I do take them into consideration. If you've been reading my work for a long time, or if you're just joining us for the first time, I would love to hear from you. Reviews are how I know what I'm doing well and what I could be doing better.
Now, on with the story because this A/N is getting out of hand.
Artis stared at the five men who were threatening her and her friend. Artis the fairy from six years ago would have known instantly what to do. Artis the woman of today was no different, even if her answer had changed. Her mind whirred, flashing through possibilities. This wasn't a robbery, it was more like an assassination, or possibly a kidnapping. That meant she didn't have to be careful.
She dashed forwards at a speed that verged on inhuman. Reflexes she had spent six decades training kicked in as she moved in close to the leader of the five men, brushing his knife arm aside. Her right hand shot forwards, gripping him by the front of his shirt. He tensed in shock, giving her more than enough time to finish her move. She pivoted on one foot, reached back with her left hand to grab him, and heaved. She put her whole body into the throw, and he flew across her yard to slam into one of the brick pillars that held up the roof of her porch. The solid Victorian-esque architecture didn't even tremble as he impacted the column, sliding down like a raindrop on a window. She turned towards the four remaining opponents.
Their stunned expressions were both gratifying and reassuring. Whatever else these men might be, they weren't trained fighters. She gave a feral smile and advanced. One of the men advanced on her, his knife swinging wildly. Artis caught his knife hand and broke the wrist it was attached to before throwing him into one of her bushes with a powerful kick. She spun away from another enemy's knife as Reyva came up behind her.
What Reyva lacked in both finesse and training, she made up for with pure strength. She grabbed the man with one hand, lifting him into the air with the strength of an elite athlete who had been bred and raised to a world with a gravity a third again as strong as that of this one. With a contemptuous flick of her arm she hurled him into another attacker, causing both of them to go down in a tangle of limbs.
Artis slowly walked towards the final would-be killer. "There are several different kinds of stupid." Artis said. "There's attacking two relatively famous people. You do not want to know what I had to do to keep the media away from my wedding. I'm certain someone from some tabloid magazine is currently watching this." She calmly disarmed the man. "There's attacking two war veterans." She ducked his punch and grabbed his arm. "And there's attacking a woman who invented her own martial art and has all but mastered another." She twisted the man's arm up behind him. "And then there's what you did: combining all three." She pushed him to the ground. "Reyva, please call the police."
"Got it."
"You're the real criminal here," The man spat through clenched teeth, "and you and all of your accomplices will be brought to justice!" He reached into his shirt and pulled out a small piece of jewelry. It flared a brilliant red, blinding the two women. When the glare faded, the five men were gone.
"Great." Artis said. She reached down and picked up the knife he'd left behind. Nothing special. She would leave it for the police. Reyva was just putting her cell phone away.
"The police will be here soon." Reyva said.
"Good. Get in the car."
"What? Why?"
"He said that all of us would be 'brought to justice'. We have to check on the others."
Reyva loaded herself back into Artis's car. "Alfea first?"
"Alfea first." Artis said, starting the car. Reyva flinched at the expression on her face. "If they've hurt her..."
Dhalia was almost at the Magix Central Police Station. She carefully readjusted the strap on the bag she was carrying. She'd taken the bus into Magix and walked the rest of the way. She wasn't as fanatical about it as Reyva was, but she did like to get a little exercise on occasion. She reached the gates to the compound when a sound from behind her startled her. She turned to find four men dressed in dark red and wielding knives following her.
"Give it up girlie." The one in the lead said. "I'll make it quick."
Dhalia stared in disbelief. They were doing this right in front of Magix Police HQ? She silently promised herself that if she made it out of this situation she would never call Liam paranoid again. If she could be attacked here she could be attacked anywhere.
"I don't think so." Dhalia reached into the bag she carried and pulled out a small metal disk. It was covered in runes and glowed with magic. She pinched the small glass orb in the middle of it before throwing it at her assailants. It landed in their midst and unleashed a blast of horrible sound. Two of the men fell to their knees, clutching their ears. The other two who were farther from the device moved towards the small woman with fell intent.
"Great." Dhalia muttered. "I may be the first person in Magix history to be murdered in front of the police station." She pulled out an amulet as she leapt backwards, away from the knives. Pausing for a second, she threw the amulet to the ground where it shattered. The shards burst with energy, forming a magical wall between her and her enemies. Dhalia dug into her bag, knowing she'd only bought herself a brief respite. That amulet was still a prototype, and it would only last for five minutes, at most. She pulled out another amulet.
The shield went down and she pointed the amulet at one of her attackers. A pulse of energy burst from the silver gem, striking the man in the head. He collapsed, twitching slightly. Dhalia grinned at the success of their newest product. She pointed it at the last opponent.
"Freeze! Police!" A voice shouted. Four of Magix's finest were rushing over to help. The man hesitated, then pulled out a jewel that flared with a bright red light. He and the rest of the men vanished.
"Are you alright miss?" One of the officers asked.
"I'm fine." Dhalia stared at the empty space where the men had been just moments ago. "But what were they after?"
Perdi walked towards the library. She was due to meet with one of Alfea's more promising young fairies, a girl named Allison. She gave a wry smile at the thought. She and Allison hadn't exactly gotten off to the best of starts. Perdi's smile faded as she considered the reason for that. Allison had had every right to dislike Perdi. After all, the war had made her an orphan.
Allison's parents had both been killed during the early days of the war, before the forces of the Magic Dimension could organize themselves. The ten year old Allison had survived through a mix of pure luck and her fairy powers manifesting themselves. When she'd discovered that the librarian of her new school was one of the five women who were responsible for the war, she'd been furious.
Fortunately, Allison was a direct sort of person. She had stormed into Perdi's office, full of anger and hatred, expecting the worst. What she had not been expecting was Perdi's steadfast refusal to deny her responsibility for the death of her parents, or the way the woman attempted to reach out to her. The willingness, no, eagerness, to take responsibility was something she was ill-equipped to deal with, and in her confusion she found herself opening up to Perdi in ways she'd never expected. They had come to a truce, and although neither of them would admit it, they had settled into an odd sort of friendship.
So when Allison had asked Perdi for help with her Spring Break project, Perdi had been more than willing to help. Besides, she had to admire the girl's strength. She had suffered a great deal at a young age, but she was working through it. She excelled in her studies, constantly pushing herself. And even if she was only the fairy of weaving (a more specific and limited power Perdi had yet to encounter), she was far more powerful than her magic's source would seem to indicate.
Perdi reached her office. Allison was waiting just outside.
"Hello Allison."
"Hello Miss Soph-, er, Misses, um..." Allison trailed off, unsure of how to address Perdi.
"Misses Conte-Sophus, but you can just call me Misses Sophus." Perdi said. "Don't worry, we only just figured it out ourselves." Perdi opened the door to her office. "Come in."
They entered the librarian's office. It was small, but efficient and orderly. Perdi's desk and chair were against the back wall with two chairs in front of it. Filing cabinets lined the sides of the office while the back wall was one massive bookshelf. Perdi sat down in her chair and gestured for Allison to take one of the chairs in front of the desk.
"So, Allison, what was it you needed my help with?"
"Well, for my Magix History class, our Spring Break project is to investigate a random recent major event." Allison looked at her hands. "And I drew the war."
Perdi flinched. That was a particularly harsh stroke of luck, given the girl's history. "I see. And you came to me to get a first hand look at the war."
"Yes."
"Why me? Why not one of the Winx? Why not someone who could give you a more accurate view of the war?"
"Because you were on the front lines from the start to the finish." Allison pulled out a folder stuffed with papers. "I did some research. I already knew you were one of the five girls who started the war," Perdi sighed, although she'd known this was coming, "but when I did some research I learned that you were also present at the first battle, and almost every single major battle. In particular, the record notes your presence at the Battle of Magix, the initial battle at a place on Earth called Stonehenge, the Battle of Tir Nan Og which happened the same day, and the final major battle, again at Stonehenge. The only truly major battle you missed was the Battle of Domino, but that happened the same day as both the first Battle of Stonehenge and the Battle of Tir Nan Og so there's no way you could have fought in all three."
"You have done your research." Perdi said. "But you didn't ask me here just to show me how thorough you were, did you?"
"No." Allison pulled out another piece of paper. "There's a gap in the record. After the second battle at Stonehenge, you disappeared completely. Then, less than two weeks later, you reappear in Andros, unconscious and badly wounded. The war ends the same day when Eclipsis's son suddenly vanished. The Winx say you and your friends are somehow responsible."
"Ah." Perdi said. "Now I know what you're after."
"I want to know how the war ended. There's no official explanation."
Perdi took a deep breath. "I and my friends were indeed responsible for ending the war as well as starting it."
"Then why haven't you told anyone the full story?"
Perdi stared at her desk for a minute before answering. "Partially because we didn't think anyone would believe us. Partially because it's not an easy story to tell."
"One of your friends didn't come back." Allison said, pulling out another piece of paper. "I found an obituary for her. Amelia Galiana of Oppositus."
"Yes. But we also kept silent because some secrets are better off staying secret."
"What does that mean?"
"Some of what we encountered during that 'gap' in the record is too dangerous and too important to make public." Perdi considered the girl before her for a moment. "If you were any other student, I'd have told you to go to someone else for their extra credit. But this is personal for you, isn't it?"
"Yes. I want to know what my parents died fighting for. I have to know."
"I will tell you, on the condition that you let me read your report before you submit it. Some of this information could be very dangerous if it got out."
"Deal." Allison picked up her notebook and pen. "You can start whenever you're ready."
"And that's it." Perdi concluded. "Amelia...burned herself out...channeling the full power of Altivix. Eclipsis was forced through the portal, stripping both her and her son of the magic that made them monsters. Amelia's final act was to use the fifth and final Ember Stone to save the five of us. The next thing I knew, I was in a hospital on Andros."
"I see." Allison bit the end of her pen in thought. "Why is it so dangerous to let this information out into the world?"
"Think about what Altivix is, what it can do." Allison looked at Perdi, confused. "The immortality and the increased powers aren't the issue. It's that massive sump of magical energy. In the wrong hands, it could tear the Magic Dimension apart. Some of the spells it contains came close to doing so on their own. That much power is not something we want people to know about. Unfortunately, it's the single critical detail of the story."
"Without it your success makes no sense." Allison said. "Still, to reach it you would need to travel through Omega and Altivix itself."
"There are people who would do it." Perdi said. "They might do it for noble reasons, but not even Amelia could truly control that much magic. All she could do was act as a guide. If it were misused, or even handled incautiously..."
"You're afraid it would backfire."
"Yes. It's too dangerous to tell the world about this."
"I see. Thank you Misses Sophus. I'll be sure to show you me report before handing it in."
"You're welcome." Perdi replied. She glanced at the clock. "The bus should be here soon, would you like to wait with me?"
"Sure."
Perdi and Allison stepped out onto Alfea's quad. Allison had asked for some of Perdi's war stories to help flesh out her report. Perdi was in the middle of telling Allison about the incident that turned Dhalia's skin neon green for a week when three men burst from the concealment of the pillars surrounding the quad. They were dressed in dark red and carrying knives.
"Who are you and what are you doing on Alfea's campus?" Perdi demanded.
"You don't need to know who we are. As for why we're here, we're here for you." He pointed his knife at Perdi. He glanced at Allison. "Get out of here brat. You're not the one we're after."
"Allison, do as he says." Perdi said, staring at the man. "Get out of here. Don't worry about me, just get yourself to safety. Call for help if you can, but get out of here."
"No."
"Allison, go!"
"No." She transformed. Wings sprouted from her back as her school clothes shimmered and vanished. They were replaced by a simple white sleeveless dress that went down to her knees. White cuffs of fabric wrapped around her wrists. She smiled at Perdi. "I still need to show you my report."
"Allison, you can't-"
"Fight three men who want to attack my school's librarian? Just like how you couldn't fight in the war?"
"Give it up girl!" One of the men snarled. "Get out of the way and we won't hurt you."
"Allison..."
"Don't worry. Bloom's been teaching us. I think I can handle three guys with knives." She made a grabbing motion with both hands. Strips of cloth burst from the cuffs on her wrists to grab two of the men. She clapped her hands together, slamming them into each other and knocking both of them unconscious. Perdi stared, stunned. She knew Allison excelled in battle, but this was a lot more intimidating than she'd anticipated.
"Get out of here and I won't hurt you." Allison said to the last remaining opponent. He went pale and pulled out a small jewel that flared a brilliant red. The three men vanished, leaving nothing but the two knives dropped by Allison's victims.
A/N: Lots of action, a new character, a little more info about what some of the characters have been up to, and a mystery to be solved. Who are these men? What are they trying to do? Why are they after the Classix? And where's Nyssa?
That's all for this chapter, see you next time.
