A/N: I apologise for the delay everyone but I've been busy working on some art for my DA account and have started a new fan-fiction entitled 'The Shard'. The Winx Chronicles is currently stalled but I am aiming to work on getting the next chapter posted as soon as possible. I haven't forgotten about it so bare with me.

Special shout-out goes to my younger brother who was a massive help in making this chapter as good as it could be :)

All errors are mine.

Warning: This chapter contains strong violence and blood references. It is not suitable for children thirteen and under, hence the T rating, you have been warned.

Chapter 3

Blood On Her Hands

Flora never appreciated the sun more then when she landed on solid ground in District Four. It felt so warm and beautiful against her skin, which pickled and stood on end as if trying to capture more of its vitamin releasing shine, and she wished she could bottle it and bring it back underground with her in District Thirteen. Of course, the chances of that happening were quite small, and the solar room they had passed on their way to the armoury gave them a hint that they had managed to harvest the natural sun from above the surface, but it still couldn't compete with the real thing.

Anagan tilted his own head back, enjoying the sun's rays that were absorbed by their suits dark exterior. Just as they were ready to head back into the shade Lucy appeared from a nearby warehouse with a beaming smile from ear to ear. She raced forwards and took Flora into her arms and held her tight. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, "but I just couldn't… I couldn't."

"I know," Flora replied, leaning away and looking Lucy in the eye.

"I can't imagine what you must be feeling."

"Arcadia is keeping me distracted." Lucy smiled before extending her hand to Anagan who gave it a firm and definitive shake. "You must be Anagan; it's nice to meet you in person."

"It is, so where do you need us?"

"At our largest storage facility, just follow me." The two walked down the streets, the sound of metal and fire crackling on all sides. Judging by the heat they both guessed that it was a mixture of the brimstone and smelted gold adding to the discomfort. Each of the warehouses they passed were rife with loud noises, whether it was the blacksmiths banging the gold into place, water bubbling as the metal cooled, or laughter and the odd song they sang to keep their spirits up amid a chaotic work schedule.

A small group of young children ran passed them and into a warehouse, delivering lunch packs and water to everyone at regular intervals.

"As you can see we've all been working very hard," Lucy explained, "at the moment about seventy percent of our population are working toward the completion of the effort and most women and children are doing their part by making lunch for the men or delivering the goods. We also have some women working on the hilts of particular blades and wrapping the leather strapping around or adding feathers to the arrows."

"Certainly looks like hard work."

"It is, but they can see the end in sight, they have their hope."

"And what about the others who don't?" Anagan asked and Lucy released a sigh. "I'm afraid they are another problem entirely." She stopped walking and turned to the right where a factory once stood was now missing. "They did that?" Anagan asked, mesmerised by the black debris and stick crosses that marked their positions before the rubble.

Lucy nodded solemnly. "Last week, a few men sighed up to help and we set them to work. They turned the boiler up, drove a tractor that was meant to deliver materials inside and put a match to the fuel tank. The hot water caused the serious burns to the workers inside and the fire was next. Fifteen men, seven women and two children all perished. We were lucky that there weren't more, and those who have been severely burned have been transported back to District Thirteen for medical aid."

"What about those responsible?" Anagan questioned.

"They are being held inside a holding facility on the outskirts of the district. We will trial them for their crimes once the rebellion is won and true order is restored," spoke a man to their left and Flora lifted her gaze to see Caius standing by her side. He didn't look like the same man she had seen on her Victor's Visit, the man who was struggling so much with his grief he could only mutter one word to himself over and over 'why'. This Caius seemed strong, he stood confidently, though his eyes burned with an inner hatred and fire, the inner spark that Arcadia had been talking about.

"Hello, Flora, it is good to see you again." Flora didn't even think he registered her presence the first time but she smiled and nodded all the same. "Welcome, Anagan."

"Sir," he greeted with another handshake before they were lead into a nearby warehouse and lead towards a flight of stairs. The two followed closely behind until the sound of metal banging against metal and water sizzling stopped. Flora turned, a little confused at why they had all stopped their duties and they stood there, staring at her in awe before a massive cheer erupted and their hands clapped against one another in celebration. Some cheered her name and she couldn't help but blush, if not a little, before they were lead down another flight of stairs toward the basement of the warehouse and through another door.

The stairs slowly descended out of view below ground and Flora wondered why there was this constant fascination with keeping everything below the earth. When they reached the basement, Caius turned on the lights and thousands of prepared weapons shone in their eyes. There were crates full of broadswords, throwing knives, daggers, spears, bows and arrows.

"Wow," Anagan smiled when Lucy's pocket communicator buzzed to catch her attention. She opened it to answer and walked up the stairs to hold the conversation in private. "This is incredible; there must be thousands of weapons here."

"Seven thousand, two hundred and ninety three to be exact," Caius smiled. "The District has been storing them gradually since the last rebellion when they had managed to make more than the desired quota for Magix. But the gold addition meant most of our reserves needed to be made back from scratch." Anagan walked to a crate full of his crossbow gauntlets and he smiled at his own reflection while Flora remained where she stood, an overwhelming feeling of sickness washing over her head.

"You ok?" Caius asked.

"Yeah," she answered, it only being a half truth. She wasn't sure if she'd ever be used to seeing so many weapons that would soon be held by legions of men and women. They'd charge toward Magix with their ships, fight to death with its citizens and soldiers, all in the name for freedom. And yet many of those who were about to fight would fall on their sword and never see the freedom they fought so desperately for. It reminded her of the arena, of that first initial feeling when you honestly, with all your heart and soul, believe that you can win, and then you're face the crushing reality that you won't.

"So, where do you want all of this to go, which District's?" Caius handed Flora a series of roller stickers, each to be stuck on the side of the crate and she walked over to Anagan and passed him some. They both agreed that the two collections of bows and arrows should be split between the combined forces of Twelve and Thirteen while the rest went to District Six, Gaien who were renowned across the dimension for their hunting abilities. The swords were to be split across all districts, but the majority were to be sent to Districts One and Two, that of Erakleon and Solaria. Throwing knives and a variety of far shooting weapons like crossbow gauntlets would be distributed to Zenith while the shields would accompany ground soldiers in each districts assault.

Spears would go to Downland in District Five while tridents would be sent to District Three, Andros. The remaining weapons were to be scattered around the other districts until each one had something to defend themselves with. Axe's would be sent to Rhythm in District Eleven while District Four's own supplies sustained their needs and that of their armies.

Hundreds of other weapons were crafted above ground every day, each with their trademark black and gold appearances, and the true numbers for the rebellion became realised. Each sword was another man or woman in battle, each dagger another weapon on their side, each one another person risking their life for the well being of their districts. Flora prayed that they would not fail.

"Sky just contacted me." Lucy exclaimed as she raced down the stairs and walked to the wall, pressing a series of numbers on a key pad that separated the ground above and lifted a ramp for easy transport. "The ships have just arrived, I've instructed the warehouse men to keep on working and for those who can help to load the ships to do so immediately."

"Excellent, Flora and Anagan have sorted them."

The pair raced up the ramp as two hundred or so men and women ran down with carts and tractors and various ropes were strewn across the cargo to heave it to the surface. The two ran outside into the main street to see them, twelve ships, each one with the district number emblazoned across the front in gold while the rest of the ship had been painted black. "Now we're talking," Anagan smiled as he stepped out of the way of a tractor that was headed toward District Two's ship.

"WE HAVE TO GET THIS DONE AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE! THIS IS OUR ONLY WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY. DON'T WASTE IT!" Lucy yelled above the commotion, her voice booming across the buildings and to the workers who all chanted a response and continued their loading.

"Incredible, isn't it," Caius sighed, "the last time we saw the districts working together like this we thought we were heading for a new future."

"We are," Flora answered, "and this time we're not turning back."

"RUN!" Screamed someone from behind, making Flora and the others whip their heads around to see them running frantically in their direction. Two shadows eclipsed the earth below as another two ships raised behind the man, the letters AW emblazoned across the sides in purple, blue and red against the silver craft.

"HURRY THEY'RE HE-"

Bang!

A bullet finished his sentence and he fell face first into the dirt.

The ships started firing their rounds while Lucy and Flora created a shield strong enough to stop them. Two fully loaded ships departed allowing the men and women to focus on loading as much cargo as they could onto those remaining.

"ARCHERS!" Lucy screamed, fifty men rose on the rooftops and all aimed their bows toward the cockpit of the ships.

"FIRE!" The golden points pierced the glass and cut through the pilot's chest, making the ship quickly spin out of control.

"LOOK OUT!" Anagan yelled, before running into the backs of Flora and Lucy, pushing them forward with his hands to hit the deck. The ship smashed into the already dead messenger on the ground before bounding and flipping its way down the street, souring over the three of them before smashing into District Five's ship and exploding.

A mixture of intense heat and wind hit their backs and, when they scrambled to their feet, another two ships flew overhead and began to fire.

The warehouse on the far right of the district exploded into flames and another to their left was close behind. The district ships started to take off, some navigating past the blasts and managing to escape. Weapons that didn't make it onto one ship were forced onto another, and those that had just been bought from the warehouses storage facility, were quickly forced back below ground.

Quickly, Anagan picked up Flora by the arm and pulled her to her feet as Lucy pushed them forwards. "We need to get you both to safety!" Lucy screamed, bullets flying through the air behind them. "Ugh." She groaned as a sharp pain hit her back, the screams of fallen archers echoing from above as they fell from the rooftops like raining sacks of flour.

Lucy push herself to continue running as children screamed, their mothers and fathers pulling them to safety. "GET INTO THE UNDERGROUND HANGERS!" She barked and they started for one of their bunkers.

Flora slowed just as Lucy reached the two of them. "They're after you. We need to get you away from the warehouses." Flora's body jerked to the right as Lucy pulled them toward a nearby shop with two hoverbikes nearby. "Get on!" She yelled and a frozen Flora did as she was told. Anagan got onto one while Lucy got onto another, Flora climbing on with her fellow fairy.

The hoverbikes kicked into high gear and raced away from the carnage as quickly as they could toward Mirta and Riven's home on the country outskirts, away from the city, away from danger.

Anagan followed behind as Flora released her hold on Lucy's body and turned herself around, removing her bow and arrow and firing at the ships cockpit. The first arrow missed, the second hit the pilot in the forehead, and the third targeted the co-pilot before his hands could even reach the controls.

Thrusting her hand forwards she released another blast, sending the ship into a sky dive over the paddock with a bang. Lucy turned and stopped the bike; Anagan skidded to a halt beside her. "We did it," Flora smiled but it faded the moment a bright yellow light tore through the sky and hit Mirta and Riven's home on the distant hill top, destroying all of their possessions with it. They looked back and saw another Magix ship flying towards them, two others following it.

"Spoke too soon…what do we do now?" Anagan asked when two smaller ships flew overhead and blasted the larger ones with bullets. They aimed for the windows and managed to snipe two ships into to the ground in a ball of flame. They fired at the next while soldiers started racing towards them from the still billowing wreckage on foot.

"Get off the bike!" Anagan yelled over the bullets flying overhead. Flora got off the bike quickly though Lucy struggled. She stayed frozen on the bike, unable to lift her leg without excruciating pain radiating through her lower back. Flora helped to lift her off and supported her weight with one arm over her shoulders. When she looked down to her right hand she saw it, blood and Lucy gave a sheepish smile. "No," Flora sighed.

Anagan set the bikes motor on full throttle and sent it flying their way. He did the same to the second bike and prepared both gauntlets to fire. Then he watched, and waited before releasing. Placing both of his arms behind his back he swung them forwards and fired, making the arrows curve through the air and aim for the fuel tanks. The arrows pierced the tanks edges and, when the tips touched the spark exploded the bike into hundreds of pieces. He aimed and fired again at the second, hearing the distant screams of men in agony.

Those that remained still ran forwards while Anagan shot them with his crossbow and Lucy and Flora used their free hands to hit the others with their magic. Suddenly, the line of soldiers before them were mowed down by another smaller ship that passed by and landed next to them.

"Hurry up and get in! We have to get you out of here!" Yelled the officer.

"No, we can't just leave!" Flora yelled over the motors incessant noise.

"Yes you can!" Lucy replied, pushing her towards the ship and forcing the slingshot into her hands just as another wave of soldiers start their decent. She looked in the distance to see six other ships all flying away with their supplies, their duty was complete. "Flora, I'm sorry," Lucy apologised.

"For what?" Flora questioned.

"This." Lucy's hands pushed the nature fairy into the departing ship where Anagan forcefully restrained her. The ship slowly rose into the air as Flora tried desperately to get away from Anagan's ever increasing hold on her shoulders. Her eyes filled with tears as she looked down to Lucy, the weakened fairy looking up to them and giving one final smile before she was shot by another blast and crumpled to the grass without a sound.

"NO!" Flora screamed as Anagan let her go and she tried to take a swing. He grasped her wrist with his hand firmly as she slowly slid to the floor of the craft. Her blurred vision focused on her trembling hands and there, sitting between her fingers, was Mirta's slingshot, dripping with Lucy's blood.

And the true rebellion had only just begun.

A/N: This stories rating will be increased to be M for Mature content in future for strong violence. I will let you know the chapter before the change so those who do not have the story on alert can search for it accordingly. Thanks for reading and please review :)

Response to Anonymous Reviews:

Guest (Last Chapter): Thanks very much for taking the time to review. It's great to know that there are people out there who have enjoyed the trilogy thus far. I hope you enjoyed this chapter :)