Okay, time for me to just go absolutely crazy and try to wing this to the best of my ability because I want to get things back on the Winx track while still maintaining the personal flare and keeping up my momentum. We are all aware by now that my winging it skills are like my greatest asset because usually once I get started, thins just work out…usually. Today we will see if it is one of those rare times that this entire things becomes about three thousand plus words of struggle. Hopefully you'll all love me regardless. I have a bit in store for this one chapter so hopefully it isn't too rushed or random but since I have this overly intense feeling that it might be, I apologize in advance. Enjoy this next chapter, hopefully (I'm saying hopefully a lot).

~Rolyn~


Chapter Seven: Heart


Rather than word spreading through the grapevine that the Hexes had managed to escape their prison on Harmony, the fact that the prison was going up in dark flames spoke for itself. The explosion that destroyed a good portion of the scarcely inhabited prison (no one really got into that much trouble on the planet of peace and harmony and even if they did, rehabilitation never took too long) shook the ground hard enough to cause Zion to pause.

She had just concluded a call to Jennifer and Jordyn explaining how Josh was on his way to give them details as well as tend to his own school and keep his own students on guard. Zion had instructed that Jennifer and Jordyn do the same. The witch headmistress had simply rolled her eyes, grumbling about how the Magix dimension always seemed to be thrown into chaos as of late. Jennifer on the other hand remained eerily quiet. Apprehension creasing her features at the mention of Darren. She had merely nodded and was the first to vanish from Zion's sight. The Queen hoped the former fairy godmother was alright. Darren may have been her friend but he was the father of Jenifer's children.

"What was that?" Zion asked stiffly as she stood from her seat in front of her vanity. Jocelyn, who has never left her side since her father had taken his leave charged towards the window, throwing it open and sniffing the air. She smelled the fire and the smoke along with the definite shift in quintessence. So much negative quintessence has never been loose in Harmony. It unsettled the wolf within her.

"I'm not sure, your Highness, but I assure you I am going to find out." she said firmly. "I will order the guards stationed outside your door to be on high alert in my absence. I will find Jason and take him with me. Our wolves will be much more focused in the presence of their alpha."

"Take one of my Hummingjays." Zion said before humming her short tune and summoning one of her bird-like musical sprites. "Send her back to me with news of what has occurred."

"As you wish, your highness." Jocelyn bowed before exiting the room, the small sprite flittering behind her, humming a high fast tune. Jocelyn gave the guards outside Zion's chambers their orders before scenting the air in order to find her little brother. Once she finally picked up his scent, she made a beeline for Zion's study which luckily wasn't that far. It was in the same wing of the castle as her chambers at least.

The Hummingjay perked a brow, humming lowly in question at the serious look on the female werewolf's face. Once they finally made it to the study, Jocelyn pushed her way in, nearly knocking over Ian who had been leaning against the door carelessly. He and Jocelyn shared a look before she zeroed in on her brother.

"We gotta go." she said austerely.

"God, what is it now?" Jason whined sounding much like the young wolf May had me two years ago. It almost made eh brunette smile, but she kept herself reserved. "I think personally I've dealt with enough today between imprinting and having to fight some mutt who thought he could challenge his alpha. Ya know, if I knew being alpha was going to be such a pain in the ass, I would have rejected it." he grumbled petulantly. Rolyn had not so discreetly turned away to hide her blush at the mention of his imprinting. They still had not discussed that little issue yet.

"Suck it up you pitiable pup. Something is wrong and the Queen needs us, or is that too much for you?" she cooed as though talking to a child. Jason's wolf bristled at the blatant disrespect and he was on his feet in an instant.

"W-What's going on?" May inquired.

"I don't know." Jocelyn admitted. "But we ae going to find out. The rest of you stay here, that's an order from the Queen." she said firmly before gesturing for her brother to follow. Jason rolled his eyes and trailed after her, the Hummingjay flittering around his head.

As soon as the door to the study closed, Jason crossed his arms over his chest and eyed his older sister suspiciously. "The Queen gave no such order, did she?"

"No, but I'd rather deal with this without a horde of teenagers getting in the way." Jocelyn retorted.

"We're all over the age of twenty."

"Same thing."

"You're only twenty five! That's only four years difference."

Jocelyn gave him an insufferable look as they reached the bottom of the stairs in the main foyer of the castle. "Shift." she said simply before doing so herself. For a lack of time, she didn't remove her scarce clothing before shifting which left them in shambles on the floor as her wolf took shape. She was a less bulky wolf than her brother with lighter fur and sharper eyes. Josh had mentioned on occasion that her wolf very much resembled her mother's.

Jason shifted as well, and since he was only wearing a pair of spare pants since his shifting earlier that night at the ball, he felt no remorse when they were reduced to shreds.

"You don't have to follow me because as soon as you get outside, you'll probably be able to smell what I picked up earlier, but at least stay close." Jocelyn's voice spoke firmly through Jason's mind. Wolves of the same clan had the uncanny ability to communicate telepathically while in their wolf forms, the only exceptions to this rule were alphas who were able to enter the minds of anyone in the royal guard and once a wolf imprinted, he or she could enter the mind of their mate. Jason pretended not to be disappointed that he could not do this with Rolyn because she could not shift.

"No promises," Jason chuckled back. "Everyone knows I'm the faster one."

Jocelyn rolled her eyes as best as a wolf could. "Just stay close."


"Finally!" Marissa cried stretching her arms above her head. "I no longer have to listen to that horrid, calming music." she shivered in disgust at the very thought of the near constant tune that had flittered into their cell if they so much as blinked in a way that looked "evil". "And we're finally out!" she added.

"I almost forgot what the sky looked like." Michelle commented as she popped her neck. "And now that we have free access to our magic once again, I think a change in clothing are in order." she grumbled as she glanced down at the off-white pajama-like prison clothing they had been provided. With a snap of her fingers, her clothing changed into a pair of black ankle boots, a tight pair of gray leather pants and a hunter green halter top. "Much better."

"I'll say…" Bryant muttered smirking wolfishly. Darren perked a brow at him.

"Ah, good idea Chelly," Marissa remarked, using the pet-name she knew Michelle hated. She began spinning, picking up speed easily and causing a small tornado around herself. Michelle rolled her eyes, muttering something about a show-off as the tornado dissipated and left Marissa standing thee in a tight maroon mini skirt, a burgundy halter top that matched Michelle's and a pair of black strappy wedges. "This is real clothes."

Jasmine rolled he eyes and snapped her fingers, replacing her prison clothes with a pair of white leather shorts, an icy blue tank top and gray ankle boots. "So…" she drawled, taking a step towards Darren. "You got us out, now what?"

"Now we head to Aquase and take into our possession the Heart of the Sea," Darren said as he clapped his hands together.

"The Heart of the Sea?" Marissa repeated in question.

"It's a gemstone that gives the power to control water. It's how the first fairy of water came to be and all other magical wielders of water after her." Michelle explained smartly.

"What do we need it for?" Jasmine asked, eyeing Darren carefully.

"All in due time, my dear. All in due time…but for now, let us take our leave." Darren announced as he prepared to conjure a portal for his newly acquired entourage to travel through, however an angry growl stopped him. The keeper of the Demon Fire sighed, slumping his shoulders. "I knew this was too easy…"

"Back for round two Alvarez?" Bryant taunted, taking notice of the large werewolf stalking towards them. His sister was not far behind, her own fangs bared as she took in the situation. The Hummingjay she had been given hummed a frantic tune before disappearing in a flurry of sparkles to return to her master and relay the turn of events.

"And here I wanted to just leave quietly…" Darren sighed. "Alright my newly formed band of misfits," that got him an annoyed look from Jasmine and Michelle and a scoff from Marissa. "Take care of the alpha and his sister for me. I'll have to send Josh a fruit basket when you're done as an apology. I didn't plan on wiping out his entire lineage in one go. Either way, show no mercy, prove yourself worthy of the cause."

"Oh, gladly…" Bryant rumbled before exploding into his wolf. Marissa whistled lowly, taking in the dark fur and the mint eyes that flashed red.

"Now that's a wolf I can get behind." she commented with a smirk just as Bryant pounced at Jason.

The alpha wolf opened his maw, ready for the oncoming attack. Bryant howled when Jason latched onto his paw, but he managed to wrench himself free and started snapping at Jason's neck. Jocelyn moved to assist her baby brother when an explosion of energy sent her careening back. Jocelyn shook her head, tiring to regain her bearings from the attack only to see Michelle smirking at her.

The female wolf growled deep in her throat but was given no chance to counter attack as a huge spire of ice erupted from the earth underneath her. She quickly jumped away only to get hit with Michelle's energy attack once again.

"Jocelyn?" Jason inquired.

"I'm fine," Jocelyn snapped just as Bryant received the upper hand. Marissa was assisting him against Jason and threw him off with a gust of wind that left the alpha open. "Focus on your own fight."

"Oh, this is great." Darren sighed as he watched on. "I really like having minions. This is just too fun."

"We're not our minions." Jasmine reminded him sharply.

Darren shrugged. "Okay, how about cohorts?"

Jasmine rolled her eyes before returning to her own fight.

"Make this quick, cohorts. We have a special gemstone to appropriate from the waters of Aquase." Darren called out, cupping his hands over his mouth and all.

Marissa cackled as she summoned enough lightning to take out a dragon and aimed it at Jason. Jocelyn's eyes widened, but even she wasn't faster than the speed of light, besides, what kind of help could she be with her entire body frozen to the ground minus for her head. Jason howled in pain when the lightning struck, while werewolves were very resilient, especially the alpha, even they had their limits. Bryant took this as his chance and took up the alpha by the scruff of his neck and tossed him like a rag doll. Jocelyn whimpered as she watched her brother's lifeless form roll across the ground, his chest barely rising.

"Alright children, that's enough." Darren breathed just as Bryant opened his jaws to go for the killer blow. No killing. We can't kill them. He had already conjured up the portal that should take them relatively close to the Heart of the Sea. Bryant growled dangerously, unwilling to let the fight finish without him actually finishing Jason while the three witches immediately pulled back at Darren's command. "Now, Bryant." Darren said more firmly. Darren's mark burned against the wolf's neck and Bryant shifted back into his human form against his own will.

"Wha…" Bryant trailed off looking at his human hands.

"Don't underestimate me Bryant." Darren said lowly. "When I give an order, you follow it." Bryant locked his eyes with the older man for a brief moment, silently wondering just what he had gotten himself involved with. No one could force a werewolf to shift against his will. No one. "Marissa, get the boy a pair of pants."

"Do I have to?" Marissa whined, giving Bryant a very obvious once over.

"Ugh…" Michelle groaned in disgust before snapping her fingers. Bryant glanced down at the new pair of pants that now hid his nakedness and Marissa pouted.

"Well, let's be on our way, children." Darren gestured for them to follow him into the portal and this time they all followed his lead willingly. None of them looked back and the portal quickly shut behind them.

With them gone, Jocelyn was free to call for help. She couldn't shift back into her human form in the ice. It was only because she was a wolf that she survived getting attacked and frozen like this, so she howled, long and loud. Responding howls echoed back to her, picking up on her distress and her urgency. She glanced at Jason again; he had not moved and his breathing was still dangerously labored.

"Jocelyn?"

The Queen's right hand lifted her head and felt relief at the sight of Christopher. She whined and whimpered, struggling in the ice and the other werewolf shushed her, running a hand down her muzzle, a calming notion for their kind.

"What happened?" That voice was Drew.

"We need to get her out of this ice." Chris said quickly.

"I got it." May's voice chimed in from behind Jocelyn. It was only seconds later that a rush of heat had reduced the ice encasing Jocelyn's body to a puddle around her feet. Jocelyn immediately shifted back into her human form and Chris offered her a blanket. He had known that in their haste she ad Jason had not thought to bring spare clothes so on his way responding to Jocelyn's call, he had snatched up two blankets for them to cover with.

"Ja…Jason…" she stammered gesturing to her brother a little ways off.

"Jason?"

Jocelyn mentally cursed. She thought on Chris, May and Drew were there.

She glanced over her shoulder just in time to see the princess rush past her and towards the limp alpha with her Alex friend not that far behind. "Where…Where are the rest?" Jocelyn asked.

"Back at the castle." Chris explained.

"The Princess of Aquase…" Jocelyn began but erupted into a coughing fit that wracked her entire body. That was the first time in a long while that she's taken such a beating. "S-Someone needs to tell her…t-the Heart of the Sea…D-Darren is after it."

"I'll get the message to her." Drew said quickly, his eyes narrowing at the mention of his father's name. He clenched his hand into a fist and when he opened him, in his palm was a small hovering robot. "My drone can relay the message."

"Jason?" Rolyn prompted as she kneeled next to him, uncaring the mud seeping into the knees of her jeans. Her hands hovered by his had before gently stroking the fur, pushing his ears down flat against his skull. When he didn't respond, she began to panic. "He isn't moving! Why isn't he moving? What happened?"

"Relax, he's breathing…" Alex pointed out. Her hands glowed purple as she assessed the werewolf's condition. "Despite my healing abilities being strictly more so for….let's say more human purposes, I can still see what's wrong. He's in pretty bad shape, but he'll live…" she confirmed.

"Jason's werewolf form is the only thing keeping him alive." Christopher deduced. "Werewolves can handle much more in their wolf form and heal much faster even though we do have enhanced healing in our human forms as well." he explained.

"What happened?" Rolyn asked again, this time a bit more loudly.

"Bryant….he's aligned himself with Darren. They…They broke out the Hexes to assist them as well." Jocelyn explained.

"He set Jasmine, Michelle and Marissa free?" May questioned, her face going ashen with panic. She was kind of relishing in the fact that she'd never have to deal with those three witches again. While Darren was definitely more dangerous than them, she'd have rather taken him on alone and now that he was the Hexes with him, it was double the headache.

"That witch of storms…she electrocuted Jason." Jocelyn growled, pulling the blanket around herself tighter. "A-And Bryant did a number on him with the witch as backup."

"I'll carry Jason back." Chris offered gently, placing a hand on Jocelyn's shoulder. The older werewolf smiled gratefully before nodding. She was in no place to shift and carry her brother, plus he was huge.

Chris wasn't a large wolf himself and that was proven when he shifted into the golden wolf before them. While Jason and Jocelyn's wolf forms had been familiar with the size of a large bear, Chris was more the size of a pony with big blue eyes and golden fur. His tail was longer than Jocelyn and Jason's as well.

He approached Jason and gestured with his head for the girls to move back. Rolyn did so reluctantly when Alex tugged her sleeve and watched as Chris nudged his muzzle under Jason ad managed to hoist his upper half on his back with some well-timed movements. Once he had Jason stable, obviously weighing him down a bit, he barked towards Jocelyn and took off.

"Where's he taking him? He wasn't going towards the castle." May pointed out.

"He's taking him back to the Crescendo Bridge between here and Rhapsody to take him back to home. Werewolves heal much faster in the place of their birth," Jocelyn explained. Rolyn frowned at this. "Trust me, he'll be fine. It'll probably still take hours for him to heal but he'll be better sooner than if he were to stay here, besides, we have bigger things to worry about."

"Like the fact that my father is after the Heart of the Sea." Drew breathed, crossing his arms over his chest. "What could he possibly want with it? I thought he was after the Dragon Flame."

"Doesn't matter," Jocelyn chided. "All I know is that we don't have time."

"I'll get us back to the castle." Rolyn murmured as she summoned the scepter of Harmony and conjured up a portal to the castle. Jocelyn was the first to pass through, then Alex and Rolyn herself. May moved to follow, but Drew took hold of her wrist, holding her back.

"Do you really think there is more going on here?" he asked lowly. May knew he was referring to his father.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure," she admitted with a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm not naïve enough to believe that Darren won't hurt me or any of us…but I still have this gut feeling, Drew. I can't explain it. C-Can you just trust me?"

"You know I trust you…" Drew murmured sliding his hand from her wrist and interlocking their fingers. May's cheeks began to burn when he brought her hand up to brush his lips over the back of her hand. "I do, I trust you with my life even…but I don't trust Darren. After tonight, I can't. I will follow your plans, May but I won't hold back against him." he promised.

May nodded. "Fair enough."


Okay, that honestly went in a COMPLETELY different direction than what I had in mind when I started this chapter. On the bright side, it wasn't as rushed and all over the place as I thought it would be! I had planned so much more for this chapter but then I got started and…this happened. Hopefully it didn't disappoint? I know there wasn't a lot of May and Drew and I tried to kind of make up for that in the end, however I enjoyed writing the stuff with Jason and Jocelyn. In all my other stories with them, they don't really work together so that was fun to write. Now that I did this, I know where I'm going. Next chapter the team splits up, half go to Aquase (well a little more than half) and some hang back to wait on Jason, but they'll join the others soon. MY BABY! WHY DID I HURT HIM?

Reviews would be so encouraging!

~Rolyn~