Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club. If I did the first fairy form would have a real name, and I wouldn't be stuck having my characters shout "Magic Winx" when they clearly are not members of the Winx.
This chapter contains a tribute my late father. One of the new characters in this chapter is based off of him. I think he'd have gotten a kick out of that.
"NO!" Reyva shouted. "Just like the first three book stores you've asked about! If you go into one we won't see you again until some time next month!"
"I promise, just one book!" Perdi pleaded.
The other four fairies looked at each other. Then they looked at Perdi. "No." Four voices said in unison.
"Come on Perdi, you need to get your nose out of the books for once." Artis said. "Try something new. Live a little!"
"Yeah," Amelia agreed, "You need some variety in your life. Try to balance out your reading with the real world."
"Okay." Perdi sulked.
"Hey, you guys, let me show you my favorite restaurant in Magix." Dhalia said. "It's called The Sated Tyger. It's a little odd, but the food is excellent and the proprietor is very nice.
"Sounds good." Said Reyva. "I'm starving."
"You're always starving." Artis commented. "That's what happens when you spend half your time in the gym."
"Says the girl who's never exercised a day in her life."
"True!" Artis acknowledged.
Laughing, they set off towards the restaurant with Dhalia in the lead.
The Sated Tyger was definitely "a little odd". It looked like a medieval tavern, tucked between two very modern looking buildings. Inside it was the same. A fire burned in the large hearth, and wooden tables and chairs were scattered around the room. The place felt very cozy and warm, a welcome change from the brisk autumn air outside. They were met at the door by a very large man. Standing just over six feet tall, he was built like a refrigerator.
"Hello ladies. You sure look lovely. What can I do for you today?"
"Hello Johan."
"Oh, Dhalia, I didn't recognize you!" Johan said. "How's the new school year going for you?"
"Well, I transferred to Alfea, so I'm pretty much doing freshman year again."
"Oh, that explains it! You look so much happier than you did last year. I'm glad you had the courage to go through with the transfer. You were so uncomfortable at Cloud Tower."
"Yes, I was. Thank you fo helping me find the courage to make that decision. These are my new friends, Amelia, Artis, Perdi, and Reyva. Girls, this is the proprietor of the Sated Tyger, Johan."
"It's a pleasure to meet such lovely young ladies. Please, have a seat. I'll be over to serve you in just a minute." He bustled his way back into the kitchen, bringing out another customer's order. The five girls moved to an empty table and sat down.
"Well, he sure was friendly." Perdi stated.
"Yes." Dhalia said. "He's an interesting man. Did you know he built this place himself? Along with all the furniture in it?"
"He's a wizard?" Reyva asked.
"Nope." Dhalia said. "He built it all by hand. No magic. And I bet he enjoyed every minute of it. As for him being friendly, he firmly believes that, and I quote, 'all women are beautiful' no matter what they look like."
"Well that's nice of him." Amelia said.
Johan came over to their table, a smile on his face and a notepad in his hands. "Alright ladies, who wants what?"
An hour later all five girls sat back and gave a sigh of satisfaction. Dhalia hadn't lied, the food was truly excellent, and Johan had made them all feel completely at home with his jokes and friendly nature.
"Dhalia, how did you find this place?" Reyva asked. "This food is incredible!"
"Tell me about it!" Artis exclaimed. "And it's such a lovely little place! I can't believe Johan built it by hand!"
"He's certainly an incredible man." Amelia said. "Although I think these chairs may be a little too well built. I can't even pick mine up!"
"That's Johan for you. Anything he's built could hold three of him jumping up and down on it. It may weigh half a ton, but it will never break."
"Oooh, do you think he'd be willing to build me a new bookshelf?" Perdi asked. "One of mine broke the other day when I was doing some rearranging."
"You need a new bookshelf?" Johan had come over with the check. "No problem. How big do you want it to be?"
While Perdi and Johan discussed the bookshelf Artis went and paid for their meal. It was much cheaper than she'd expected, even after she added a sizable tip. They were going to have to come back here again some time.
"Alright, I'll let you know when I'm finished with it." Johan said. "In the meantime, I have a book you might enjoy. Give me a moment." He went back behind the kitchen, grabbed the book and brought it back out. "You can keep this, I actually have two copies of it."
"Oh, thank you!" Perdi squealed. She hugged him in her excitement.
"Don't mention it. It was the least I could do for such an intelligent and lovely young lady."
"...I guess we can't say no to this book can we?" Reyva muttered to herself.
The five young girls walked out of their new favorite restaurant. Perdi clutched her new book like a child with a new toy.
"Sorry girls." Dhalia said. "I should have realized this would happen. Johan loves books almost as much as Perdi does and he always has something to give to someone."
"Don't worry about it." Artis said. "The food was worth putting up with Perdi getting a new book."
"Yeah, we have to go back again some day." Amelia declared.
"Go back where?" A cold voice entered their conversation. "That miserable old dive?"
Dhalia gritted her teeth. "Don't you have somewhere better to be, Elise?"
Elise grinned. Two other girls stood next to her. "I don't think so Dhalia. You left us after all. Then again, you always were the soft one. But we've replaced you."
"So you and Trina found a new partner to help you bully other girls? Congratulations. Now leave me and my friends alone."
"What, you don't want to meet her? Come on Lora, why don't you introduce yourself?"
Something about the way Elise spoke set alarm bells ringing in their heads. "Duck!" Reyva yelled.
Just in time. "Toxic Flood!" Shouted Lora. A flood of foul green liquid blasted over Artis's head, just barely missing her face. Turning, she could see the green fluid was eating into the wall behind her.
"Hey, watch it!"
"Steel Spear!" Yelled the girl named Trina. A rod of metal launched itself at Amelia, who had to drop to the ground to avoid it.
"Quit it!"
"Deathly Moan!" Elise screamed. She opened her mouth and waves of ghostly energy pulsed from it, blasting at the five fairies.
"Alright, that does it!" Reyva yelled. "Let's go girls!"
"Magic Winx!"
(Cue transformation music)
The fairies stood together facing down the witches.
"Hey, Dhalia, what are we up against?" Amelia asked.
"Elise, Trina, and I used to be a coven. Or rather, Elise and Trina formed a coven, but they wanted a third member so they dragged me into it. Elise is the witch of the Dead. Watch out for ghosts. Trina is the witch of Metal. As for Lora, I've never met her before in my life, but I'm guessing she's the witch of Poison."
"Okay then!" Artis said, rising into the air. "Let's use what we learned in our class with Bloom!" Artis was as good as her word, and a thick fog rose up around the three witches. "Dhalia, you're up next!"
"Static Field!" Electricity coursed through the mist. This time Dhalia was trying to do more than just distract her targets, and miniature lightning bolts flickered in the hazy air.
"My turn." Reyva announced. "Gravity Crush!" The force of gravity on the three witches tripled, driving Elise and Trina to their knees.
"Poison Shot!" A powerful jet of green ooze blasted into Perdi, throwing her across the street.
"Perdi!" Amelia yelled, flying towards her injured friend.
"Iron Hammer!" A ball of metal smashed into Amelia from the side, throwing her to her left. She crashed into a wall and lay there stunned. Then her form began to flicker. The black slowly faded from her outfit, leaving nothing but white. She picked herself up, shaking her head to clear it.
"Seismic Blast!"
Nothing happened.
"What? Seismic Blast!"
Still nothing. Amelia fainted.
"Amelia!" Reyva yelled.
"We have to retreat." Dhalia said. "We've got two fairies injured and we haven't even touched the witches. Reyva! We need to get out of here!"
"On it! Spacial Rift!" A hole in the universe appeared in front of Reyva. Artis and Dhalia grabbed Perdi and pulled her through the portal while Reyva grabbed Amelia and did the same.
The portal let them out at Alfea. Unfortunately they landed in some hedges.
"Ow! Reyva, try to be more careful with the portals, okay?" Artis complained.
"Sorry, I always have trouble with that spell. At least we landed at the right school."
"Enough, we need to get Amelia and Perdi to the infirmary." Dhalia said.
"What happened to Amelia?" Artis asked. "It was like she couldn't use her magic!"
"I don't know, but maybe Amelia does. If she doesn't know then we can ask Ms. Faragonda. But first we have to take them to the infirmary."
Profiles:
Elise:
Appearance: The ultimate goth, she has long black hair, completely black eyes, and a tall but emaciated figure. She favors black clothing and heavy dark makeup. She accessorizes with the skulls of various small animals which she wears on a belt.
Powers: Death. She can summon ghosts, shoot blasts of dark energy, and just generally make an unholy pain of herself.
Trina:
Appearance: If Cloud Tower has cheerleaders, this girl is their captain. Her literally golden hair flows down past her waist, while her blue eyes are as cold as they are beautiful. She's very tall, and very well built, and she knows it.
Powers: Metal. Any form of metal she wants, she can summon and control, although her powers aren't very effective with precious metals like gold.
Lora:
Appearance: Violently green hair with matching eyes, she stands just a touch shorter than average, with a rather unremarkable build.
Powers: Poison. She throws toxic goo around. What more do you want?
A/N: Okay, a few notes.
One, Johan is based on my father with little to no modification, although my memory of him has faded somewhat in the eight years since he died. Yes, he really did hold those beliefs, build things simply for the pleasure of doing so, and he always had something to give to those in need. My father was an amazing man, and I am dedicating this chapter to him.
Two, The Sated Tyger actually does, or rather did, exist, although I took some creative liberties with the appearance and the location. And yes, it was owned and operated by my father, mostly as a hobby. He had to stop when I was born, simply because he had too much else to do. (Like help raise me.)
Now, on to the actual story. We now have villains, and the actual plot is beginning to unfold. What just happened to Amelia? Keep reading to find out. Oh, and I wanted to thank everyone for taking the time to read this story. I never expected to get so many readers in such a short amount of time, and from so many different countries. As of right now, people from the following countries have read this story:
In order of views, from most to least, USA (Obviously), India (Huh?), Canada, Germany (Where my Dad's family came from!), Australia, the United Arab Emirates (What the heck?), UK, Malaysia, Slovakia, Brazil, Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Sweden, Netherlands, Philippines (My step-grandmother on my mother's side is from the Philippines. My heart goes out to all who suffered in the recent typhoon.), France, Spain, Czech Revar (Is Revar Czechoslovakian for Republic?), Norway, China, Austria, Belgium, and Guatemala. Fanfiction truly is an international community. Thank you all for taking the time to read my story.
Wow, that was maudlin. Hopefully we can have more fun next chapter. I hope to see you all there.
