Chapter 6: A History Lesson
The Prometheus landed near Alfea at the hour Timmy specified in his last transmission. The rest of the Winx Club was there to greet the group and congratulate them their success. Also, many other Alfean fairies came close to the landing place, driven by curiosity, to take a look at the magnificent ship. Some of them began to whisper to each other about the ship belonging to the famous Winx Club, and that they were back from a very dangerous mission. Well, it was true.
Some seconds after the ship landed, its entrance opened, and three girls and five guys came from it. Yes, five guys. All of the watchers noticed that there was a new guy in the group. And that guy was actually handcuffed.
Tecna then remembered Helia and Timmy talking about a 'guest'.
…
"Tell me, boy, what's your name?" asked Alfea's headmistress.
The group told Faragonda about their mission, not skipping the tiniest detail. Of course, the run-in they had with the witch and the paladin was one of the major points, plus the fact that they had managed to capture the latter; although, capture may not have been the most appropriated word. Needless to say, Faragonda was interested in interrogating the young paladin herself. Now she was in her office, with the paladin, no longer handcuffed, sitting in front of her with the constituents of the mission watching.
"My name is Marco," said the paladin.
Faragonda smiled, much to the paladin's bemusement.
"May I ask what you find so funny?" asked Marco, a bit annoyed.
"You know, you couldn't even walk the last time I saw you," said Faragonda. "You probably won't remember me, but my name's Faragonda."
Faragonda. That name sounded familiar. Wait...did she say that she knew him?
"And tell me, Marco," the headmistress continued. "What were you doing there?"
"As your subordinates probably told you, I was there to retrieve a very important item that belonged to the Company of the Light. But, as you can see, I failed."
Faragonda let out a small laugh. "Those aren't my subordinates."
"No?"
"No. They were my students. In fact, I don't know if you know, but you're in Alfea, school for fairies."
That information seemed uninteresting for the paladin.
"So, would you like to call your mother? I'm sure that she'll be a bit worried," said Faragonda. The offering took Marco by surprise, and not only because the elder lady apparently knew about his mother.
"No catch?"
"My God, you are really distrustful!" said Faragonda. "Thank goodness that I already know her number..."
…
A white haired woman was peacefully reading a book in what looked to be a small office. Somebody knocked the door. The woman closed the book and told the visitor to enter. It was a young girl wearing a white robe, strapped sandals, partial armor, a spear and a shield: one of the place's guards.
"Milady, there's a holographic call incoming," said the soldier. "The caller requests to talk with you."
"Where does the call come from?" asked the woman.
"Magix, Milady."
"I see...the line's safe?"
"Not only that, Milady," said the soldier. "The caller is using one of the lines used during the war with the Ancient Witches."
The woman suddenly started. Very few people knew about those lines, and most of them were already dead. That meant that it only could be...
Losing no time, the woman, followed by the soldier, headed to another room: a bigger one, with a huge table with several maps scattered over them. It was a war room.
"Enable the transmission," ordered the white haired woman.
A projection of Faragonda appeared in front of her. The woman was speechless.
"Hello, Arthaia," greeted Faragonda. "It's been long since the last time we talked."
"Lady Faragonda!"
Almost instinctively, Arthaia immediately bowed before Alfea's headmistress.
"Stand up, Arthaia," said Faragonda. "We're no longer in the Company."
A bit unsure, the woman stood up.
"Much better," said Faragonda with a smile.
"I never thought that we would talk again after dissolving the Company," said Arthaia. "Even if my heart dwells in joy to see you again, may I ask the reason behind your call?"
"Oh, it's that there's someone here who wants to say hello," said Faragonda. A holograph of Marco appeared besides her.
"Hello, mother," said Marco.
"Marco!" said Arthaia, relieved to hear of her son. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, mother. Don't worry for me," replied the paladin.
"How did your mission go?" asked Arthaia. "Did you get the map?"
"No...well, not exactly. Other people got it before me. Then they took me here," said the boy.
"I'm glad to see that you're fine, and that the map is safe," said Arthaia. "Now, Marco, listen to me: that woman, Faragonda, was a top rank member of the Company of the Light, besides being my master and mentor."
Marco gasped when he heard that. Then he was invaded by relief when he realized that those guys he fought on Danpal were in the same side as him.
"Now, Arthaia, I'd like to have your son over here for some time, if it's okay with you," said Faragonda. "We'd like to know what he- and therefore you- know."
"Of course," replied Arthaia. "Anything else?"
"No, that would be all. It was a pleasure to see you again, Arthaia."
"Likewise, Faragonda," the woman then turned to her son. "Take care, Marco. Remember that our mission has just begun."
"Don't worry, mother, I will. I won't disappoint you."
Faragonda and Marco's holographs disappeared.
…
Faragonda resumed the interrogation; however, now Marco was much more willing to collaborate. In less than ten minutes, he said all that he knew about the mission. The headmistress knew that it was time to take the next step.
"Guys, call for Bloom and the others, and tell them to come here. There's something about the item you retrieved that all of you must know," said Faragonda.
Moments later, the Winx Club, plus the Red Fountain boys and Mirta, were gathered in Faragonda's office.
"As you probably know, the item you found in Danpal is a map," said Faragonda.
"A map of what?" asked Riven, impatient to finally know the purpose of his mission.
"A map of a place named the Forge of Wonders," revealed Faragonda.
"And...what's that place supposed to be?" asked Flora.
"It's long to explain," said Faragonda. "Since there's a lot of history behind it. I'll start from the beginning...many thousands of years ago-"
"Wow, when you said 'start from the beginning', I didn't expect it to be literal," interrupted Stella, earning a disapproving stare from the headmistress. "Sorry, continue."
"As I was saying, many thousands of years ago, when the first inhabitants of the universe had just discovered magic, one of the first uses they thought of was to enchant items. However, you are aware of their many limitations."
Magic Items was actually an optional subject that Musa and Flora had taken in their senior year, so they, at least, were indeed aware. However, Faragonda decided to elaborate for those who weren't familiar with it.
"To enchant items has been, from the beginning of the times, a very difficult task. To infuse small items such as amulets or pendants with magic is easy, but it gets harder the bigger the item is. That's why you'll rarely see a magic sword," explained Faragonda.
"Besides, the magic energy vanishes over time, doesn't it?" asked Musa.
"Yes, since magic comes from life," confirmed Flora. Faragonda nodded.
"That's true. In fact, artisans still try to craft bigger magic items with no success so far."
"I bet that now comes the 'however'" Stella whispered to Bloom.
"However," Ms. Faragonda continued.
Stella grinned.
"A long time ago, there was a man who succeeded at this. His true name was unknown, but he's remembered as The Master Craftsman," she then looked at Tecna. "I'm sure that you've heard about him."
"Of course! The Master Craftsman was the founder of Zenith," said Tecna proudly. It was one of the rare occasions in which she talked about her home world.
"Wait, what does this guy have to do with that Forge of Wonders?" asked Sky.
"It isn't obvious? The Master Craftsman evidently created the Forge as well," said Timmy.
"Correct," said Faragonda. "The Forge was the place in which he and his few apprentices forged powerful magical items, and it also had the ability to travel through space, like a spaceship. As you can guess, many kings and warlords were interested in his work, and thus, he was able to amass a huge fortune. Using said fortune, he built a city around the Forge. Said city is actually the capital of Zenith."
"Wait a minute," said Tecna. "I've been in the capital of Zenith hundreds of times, and I've never seen such a place there."
"That's because it was moved," said Faragonda. "Not all of the people interested in the Forge, were willing to pay the excessive amount of money the Craftsman demanded, and tried to take his creations by force. When a place became dangerous, they moved it to a safer planet. The location of the Forge, used to be secret, but it was always found, no matter where they tried to hide it."
"That happened thousands of years ago, right?" asked Layla. "And what happened when the Craftsman died?"
"One of his apprentices became the new Craftsman, and one of his apprentices became the new Craftsman after him, and so on," said Faragonda. "But the secrets of his success in crafting magical items have always lain in the Forge."
"And...the map we retrieved marks the current location of the Forge?" Helia ventured to ask.
"Yes, but let me get there first," said Faragonda. "During the war with the Ancient Witches, the Forge became a key place. If either of the two sides equipped their armies with the weapons of the Forge, they would be able to overwhelm any enemy faction. In fact, the witches managed to capture it, and renamed it The Forge of Nightmares. Fortunately, the members of the Company were able to regain it."
The Forge of Nightmares – the place where the Sword of Bane and the Obsidian Slayers were created. Everybody began to understand the importance of the mission. Suddenly, Bloom remembered something.
"Hagen," Bloom began. "Did he...?"
"Yes," said Faragonda, guessing Bloom's question. "He worked in the Forge. In fact, your father's sword comes from it. Maybe Hagen could have been the next Master Craftsman."
"And what happened with the Forge?" asked Nabu.
"Feeling that the Forge was too dangerous, the Company of the Light decided that it was for best to get rid of it. The Craftsman made the Forge nearly indestructible, so the only thing we could do was to hide it, along with the planet that housed it."
"Wait, did you guys move a whole planet?" asked Riven in awe.
"We had very powerful wizards," was Faragonda's explanation. "They moved the whole planet to a new, secret place. Only one of the wizards returned. He then codified the location of the Forge in a certain item, and hid it somewhere. Until now, the Forge and its location have been in the shadows. But, apparently, there are people who want it for themselves, and worked very hard for it. Fortunately, they haven't succeeded so far."
"Wait, why didn't you tell us about this before?" asked Layla, suspicious.
"Because I didn't know where the map was," said Faragonda. "It was thanks to the information Mirta and Lucy gathered."
Mirta smiled shyly.
"Well, maybe I could ask my parents," said Bloom. "They were the founders of the Company. They surely knew where the map was."
"As I said before, Bloom, only one man in the entire universe knew the exact location. Not even your parents knew about it. It was for the best," Faragonda concluded.
"Hey, if only one guy knew the location of the map, how is it that he knew about it?" asked Riven, pointing at Marco.
"Because that guy was my grandfather's brother," replied Marco. "He told my mother about the map and the Forge before dying."
"Well, I think that you already know what you have to do," said Faragonda, but she told them anyway. "Look for the Forge, and make sure that it doesn't fall in the wrong hands."
"Well, first we need to decipher the cube," said Marco.
"Leave it to me," said Tecna. "It'll be a great chance to test my new codebreaker program."
"Well, that's all. You're dismissed. Although I think that it would be good for all of you to relax and rest a bit before embarking on this new mission."
Of course, they were going to follow Faragonda's advice.
...
Author's note: Well, now you know why they were looking for the Forge. By the way, I think that this was also a great chance of fleshing out some of Tecna's homeworld. In the future, I'll try to write more about Zenith and Tecna's past. In the show, practically everything is connected to Bloom, so I guess that it would be a nice change if the Forge would be connected to Tecna instead. I must say that I won't update this story for some weeks, since I'm going to be very busy. Oh, and thanks a lot to the people who revew this story and help me to improve it.