Chapter Six: The Last Nymph of Ethemera

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from the Winx Club properties by writing this story. This story is written for pleasure's sake. All rights reserved.

Fore note: The long awaited chapter finally arrives! Thanks to everyone who reviewed: sigourney, Ella Anders and thewanderingoutsider!


Politea regarded the destruction in the cove with her arms crossed. She was on the war path and the efforts of the Androsian navy that had been patrolling the outer reaches of the capital had been obliterated by her and Aristote. Their weapons could do nothing against the thick hide of the black beast and their watered-down magic was for the most part ineffective. She knew that somewhere in this city was the traitorous fairy princess.

Aristote scorched the decks of the Andromachus and crewman dove into the water to avoid the fire.

The Andromachus cracked in half and sunk down until the wraparound decks were submerged. It rolled to its side and groaned. Politea and her beast abandoned the ship, leaving it as a warning to those who would get in their way, and moved forward into the crescent cove eyeing the smaller ships. Some of them had been smart to aim for the sea and calmer waters but it also meant running into them. One ship treaded near the edge of the cove, just out of the corner of their eye. It was a rather large one, with three decks and drifting dangerously close to the rocky shores.

Aristote waded through the shallow depths, cornering it.

"Get away from them!" someone yelled.

Without warning, Politea saw six blinding white stars of energy shoot for her. Too late to counter, she felt explosions rocket sharp pellets into her and the light burn her.

The Serenian raised a wall of water to absorb the barrage of projectiles. Letting the barrier fall, Politea shook off her confusion and looked for the assailant. Aristote roared ferociously, loud enough to shatter bones.

A second barrage of white crystals and light came and forced them to retreat back out of the cove. They were not the fireworks from the fallen ships or any form of magitech weaponry. They were thoroughly made of magic, cold and sharp yet blistering with energy.

"Rippling reflection." Politea fluttered forward and conjured a wall of light to defend her dragon. She was pushed back by the barrage.

The assaults continued without end and rose to a crescendo in intensity. Just when she thought she might tire of the endless attack, the barraged stopped. Politea looked in the distance past the flickering white spots in her vision. Her eyes still trying to adjust, she saw an ephemeral vision of flowing beige finery that moved like sand washing up on the shore.

The vision wore the cerulean clothe of the nymphs. Her blonde hair had been pushed behind her ears and her face had been hidden behind a mask, like all the nymphs of Ethemera. Her wings refracted moonlight and gave her an enchanting glow.

"Dafne!" Politea called out, but tensed for an attack when she saw Dafne prepare a spell.

Dafne was raised her arms above her, exuding her great power.

The earth below the sea quaked and shook like nothing the capital city had ever experienced before. Coral and seaweed were dislodged and uprooted. The sea parted. Water swelled. Politea's eyes widened as she felt the majestic power. A viscous great power welled under the sand and rock. It stretched from one end of the cove to the other like the fire.

"Diamond defense!" the nymph called out.

A wall of crystalline rock rose from the ocean glittering like one million stars glued to a sheet of canvas and obscuring the view of the city like a stage curtain right in front of Politea. She came to a sudden stop before the wall. Aristote let out a sonorous growl of disappointment that had effectively blocked him from the cove and city.

A wall, no matter how tall, still was not going to stop them from finding Dafne.


On the other side, the cove's waters calmed. The wall prevented rogue waves from forming, letting the ships regain their bearings. The fires from the Andromachus still raged on both sides but they had been effectively cut down to small manageable flames.

Bloom, floating in the water with a shivering thirteen year old in her arms, regarded the immensity of the wall that had been grown out of the sea. She had thought that her mother and Dafne's magic was great, she could not imagine what the magic of the being that had conjured the wall was like.

The child in her arms coughed up more water as Bloom swam for the Androsian coast guard ship that was picking up survivors. Kicking herself out of the water, she carried the kid to the ship and left her in the capable hands of the crewmen. She was exhausted beyond belief. Ever since she had gained her Sirenix powers, her stamina to keep up her magic form had taken a nosedive. She always knew that her fire magic would not be most effective in the water, but simply keeping up the energy to retain her Sirenix form and resist the harsh environment of the sea was enough to make her feel faint.

Bloom marched on, returning to her task.

"Fire catcher!"

She glided over the chemical fires absorbed the flames into the fire in her heart reducing them to lifeless sparks. They empowered her and warmed her, but only slightly, only enough to keep her going.

"Bloom!"

Bloom turned to see Aisha's shimmering form racing towards her. The dark-skinned girl's face was harried with worry. Not far behind, Roy followed on his windrider. He had forgone his cape and helmet. His blond hair was stuck to his head, slick with sea water from an obvious recent swim in the ocean.

"Aisha, do you know what's going on?" Bloom asked.

"My father and King Neptune are trying to get everyone back into the city," Aisha said. "The mermen guards are trying to find people below." The dark princess was breathless, likely from running away trying to do her duties and help people.

"And the wall?" Bloom pointed to the glittering structure behind her.

"We don't know who did that."

"There must be another fairy or witch somewhere," Bloom said.

"Roy and I are going over the wall to get survivors from the Andromachus," Aisha said.

"Do you know where the other girls are? Did you see my parents? Where are Mike and Vanessa?"

"Stella brought them back to Domino's embassy. They're safe."

Bloom let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks."

"And where's Dafne? I thought you went to see her," Aisha questioned. "I thought that with her magic, she made the wall. Where is she?"

"She's with Oritel and Marion trying to get back to the embassy. Where are the other girls?"

"I'm not sure. I can't get in touch with them. I gave my communicator to Roxy. She's going to get whales to pick up survivors on the other side of the wall. We're going to meet her now."

"With that dragon-thing on the other side?" Bloom gasped.

"That's why we're going to meet her now," Aisha reassured.

"Then I'm coming with you. Morgana would never forgive us if something happened to her."

"I know."

The trio flew over the water. Bloom killed any of the remaining fires with Aisha's help along the way although the fire fairy was far from making an impact on the blaze that lit the sea red and orange. They ascended up the side of the smooth crystalline wall and sucked in a breath when their eyes fell on the shipwrecked Andromachus.

The Andromachus had been split in two and fire spilled from its sides. Then they looked on to the sea dragon that waded impatiently in the shallow depths around the wall. The heat was searing for Aisha and Roy but Bloom did not notice it.

"That thing isn't from Andros," Roy said, eyeing the beast. Aisha nodded in acquiescence, although she and Bloom had an idea of where it came from.

The beast looked like a creature that had come the deepest and darkest part of the Infinite Ocean. It oozed primordial power and looked like it had been carved from stone and smoothed by the ocean currents.

"I'll try to draw the monster away," Bloom said.

"We'll go help the survivors and Roxy. Be careful," Aisha warned.

"Right."

Bloom flew off. She approached the dragon carefully. She knew better than to attack it outright. She was not sure of what it was capable and she did not want to be the one to find out.

"The red hair is new. It's like your baby sister's," a cold voice said. The sound brought to mind the image of a glaciers.

Bloom shuddered, as if the chill of winter suddenly appeared. She turned looking for the voice's owner.

"Show yourself!" Bloom called out warily with balls of fire igniting in her hands.

A dark form revealed itself, as if the night sky had been its cloak. Splashes of red and white came to life and bioluminescent spots glinted off her like stars. Bunches of foam-like white silk gathered around her waist and fell to her ankles. Her dark hair had been pulled back into a high queue beaded with pearls.

She had piercing green gaze and pink lips curled into a smile that one could not forget.

Bloom saw the wings on the other woman's back. They were fin-like with protruding spines of red with black-rimmed white spots. They were the wings of a Sirenix fairy.

"Who are you?" Bloom asked. "What do you want?"

The woman's brow arched. She circled Bloom like a predator taking in its prey. "Do I really need to introduce myself?"

Bloom eyed the other woman thinking that she was supposed to recognise her.

The woman smiled. It was a dangerous smile that chilled the air between them.

Bloom dodged a wild spell and responded with a storm of flames. The new fairy flicked her wrist and the fires disappeared. Bloom tensed, sensing imminent danger. She did not like her odds against the new fairy.

"Fire is not going to do anything against me," the dark woman responded eyeing the fireball in Bloom's hand.

"Then try this! Blooming ice!" Bloom conjured knives of ice and launched them at the woman. Bloom retreated and tried to put some distance between her and her new attacker.

"You're not getting away from me!"

Before Bloom could turn, she felt a cold hard whip wrap around her leg and pull her back down to the sea. She beat her wings harder, trying to escape. A sinuous whip of water acted of its accord and threw her across the sky. Everything blurred by her as she was pulled back to the furious black and red fairy.

The dark fairy cast another spell and this time, ethereal rings of energy surrounded Bloom and closed in on her like ropes that tied her arms to her side and bound her wings still. They held her up to the dark fairy and kept her from falling. Bloom struggled, gritting her teeth, and felt the bonds tighten around her painfully with every squirm.

"What in the hell do you want from me?" Bloom spat out.

"I want you to pay for letting the Ancestral Witches into the Infinite Ocean."

"I didn't do anything!"

The strange fairy paused and then brought Bloom close. She raised a hand to Bloom's face, holding it in place with an iron grip. Bloom looked into the fairy's face, trying to recognise her.

The angry Sirenix fairy had eyes coloured like opals that made her soul shake. They were hypnotising and Bloom could see the colour change between green and blue like ripples in a crystal clear ocean. They were large and they had once been inquisitive like a cat's. Time had aged them and turned them into the gaze of a hungry tiger. They narrowed when they saw Bloom's blue eyes.

"You're not Dafne," the fairy growled.

Bloom stiffened. The red Sirenix fairy's name was on her tongue.

"And yet, you have Dafne's powers," she continued, smiling and arching a brow. "I can feel the fire of the Great Dragon in you. I know who you are."

The dark fairy circled Bloom in the air, examining her face, her wings, her form, even the crystal heart-shaped pendant around her neck. Bloom bared her teeth defensively when the red Sirenix fairy touched the pendant.

"What do you want?" Bloom questioned.

"I want the nymph Dafne. I'm told that Witches' curse on me was broken not that long ago. It should be the same for Dafne. Apparently, I spent twenty years as a dragon in a cave eating selkies while Dafne stayed at the bottom of Roccaluce as a ghost."

Bloom's eyes widened as her heart fell to her stomach. "Who are you?" she asked again, this time afraid. Recognition dawned on her mind as she remembered her trance in the Room of Faraway Reflections.

The other woman fluttered closer, smiling with bright white teeth. She brought a hand to Bloom's throat, her sharp nails tickling her. She held the red-haired girl at arms length in an iron-like grip. She saw horror of recognition on Bloom's face. "I am Politea, one of your sister's oldest friends. Now, tell me: where is Dafne, Little Laurel?"

"What makes you think that I'm Dafne's sister?"

"Don't think I don't know what Dafne did to save you. She poured all of the Great Dragon's magic into you before she sent you away to some random world. She left herself powerless and unable to defend herself or the Infinite Ocean. I know what the burn of the Dragon Flame is." Politea's voice rose sharply with ever word. "She did everything that was against her vow and chose to be your father's weapon of war and be your very best big sister. She made her choice. Now, she has to deal with the consequences," she said acidly.

"You betrayed Dafne! You let the witches curse her! She only tried to save her family!" Bloom shouted. "I wouldn't be alive if it wasn't for her! You don't know what she had to go through. You just left her to die!"

"Don't tell me what I did and didn't do. I was there!" Politea screamed, tightening her grip on Bloom. Politea's anger simmered and cooled, realising that her display was unladylike. "Now, tell me: where is the nymph hiding?"

A shiver ran down Bloom's spine at Politea's cool rage. The hatred in Politea's words burned her ears. Bloom struggled between telling a lie and telling the truth.

"You want a nymph?! You've got one!" said a voice from above.

A whisper of a willowy golden gown flashed by Bloom, pushing Politea out of the way and knocking Bloom out of the dark nymph's grasp. Bloom struggled, breaking her magical bonds, and fluttered her wings before she fell into the ocean.

Politea spiralled out of control in the air and tried to find her bearings. She straightened and set her sights on the golden nymph. She prepared a volley of blue lances and launched them. "Blue crush!"

"Dragon's embrace!" Bloom cast around her sister. The effort, which was herculean, drained her, but she felt tremendous, glad that Dafne had come.

The orange barrier encompassed Dafne and when it died, Dafne countered Politea's attack with one of her own.

Her sister wore a new form, a glorious golden form with wings that glowed. It was not the power of Sirenix but something sacred and nymph-like. Her blond hair was longer and fell like a fountain of waves. Her dress was different, long enough to have a trail but with a cut up her side that reached to her hip revealing her long legs. Drapped across her arms was a blue green scarf. The mask she wore was new, made of porcelain and painted with gold. She floated like a flower dancing on the air.

Politea clenched her hands and let out a roar of fury. "You! Omnia was wrong about you!"

Dafne did not answer. Instead, she summoned a dozen shards of light around her and launched them at Politea. Bloom whirled around the sky and bathed the sky in fire. The sisters traded blows with Politea, but Politea was tireless as was Dafne. Bloom on the other hand was not.

Starting to feel the full drain of her powers, Bloom's attacks became infrequent. She dodged attacks as they came. A hot blast of fire from behind told her that Politea's beast was still in action.

Aristote flared its fins and let out another blast of fire at Bloom. She knew that she would not be able to beat it down or befriend it the way Cordatorta had taught them. Instead, she ran, or rather flew away, leading it on a chase. Since she was smaller, she was much more nimble than the beast and could take sharp turns at any time.

She flew in any and every direction, trying to outfly it. She zigzagged, dodging blasts, and called up her friends on the wrist communicators given to them by Tecna.

"Roxy! Aisha!" Bloom shouted over the whirring wind. "I need your help! I'm trying to outrun a monster! Dafne and Politea are fighting just outside the wall."

"Politea? Who's that?" Roxy asked.

"Dafne's old friend and she's out to get her for something."

"On our way!" Stella and the others answered back without question.

Without warning, Bloom felt hot air tickle her wings. She turned and saw the beast with its wide jaws on her. She looked forward and saw the wall suddenly appear in front of her. She pulled eject on her manoeuvre and came to a stop before she smashed into the wall.

Suddenly, she found herself surrounded in a moist darkness and she realised her mistake. She heard a thunderous heart beat and a chilling growl. She was in the mouth of Politea's monster. It had swallowed her.

"Oh God!" she shouted as she forced her wings to keep her afloat and out of the thing's belly. The beast's tongue moved under her. Its horrid sulfuric breath made her want to wretch. It was something akin to stepping in a pool of rotten eggs. Heart pounding against her ribcage, she clawed her way forward towards what she thought were teeth long as her arms.

There, she could gasp for fresh air through the gaps

The golden nymph gasped. "Bloom!"

Politea gathered her dark hair over one shoulder and delighted in Aristote's catch. She let out a hearty laugh, never having imagined that such a triumph over Dafne.

The gold nymph let out a cry before letting her hands fall to her sides, glowering at Politea. "Let her go!"

"I'm sorry, but I don't take orders from you," Politea said, waving a finger.

"Why are you doing this?" Dafne asked.

"Did you forget everything in those twenty years at the bottom of Lake Roccaluce, Dafne? You made a choice. You made it very clear what you thought was important. Besides you, I am the only nymph of Ethemera left and it my duty to punish you for what you have done."

"How dare you call yourself a nymph! You attacked innocent people during a celebration. A nymph protects, not destroys. A nymph defends the innocent, not attack them at their weakest!" Dafne pointed to the burning scene around her. The diamond wall was behind her and just below her was the wrecked Andromachus.

"A nymph doesn't betray the good gods in favour for the witch gods either! I know what are precepts of the nymphs and I think I'm allowed to break a few rules to round up a traitor like you." Politea hissed.

The golden nymph kept silent.

"Dafne!" came from behind. It was Stella and she was not alone.

Six glowing fairies zoomed across the sky like glittering stars. They were five fin-winged fairies and a pink-haired green one. Stella flew to Dafne's side immediately and the rest flanked them in a defensive line.

"Where's Bloom?" Stella asked from the corner of her mouth.

"Bloom is with Aristote," Politea answered. Aristote, the sea dragon, let out a low growl as it waded in the water behind Politea. "He has yet to swallow her whole, and if you want her back, you'll do as I say."

"You! Who are you?" Aisha asked.

"I am Politea and I am the Guardian Fairy of the Infinite Ocean. I am the Protector of the World Pillars."

"You're the one that betrayed Dafne!" Stella shouted. "I know all about you! How dare you show your face around here! You are nothing but a fraud!"

Politea crossed her arm. "Is that how she tells the story?" she said in disdain. She turned to Dafne. "This boils down to your little darling sister again, Dafne. I'll make a deal. You in exchange for your sister."

"As if!" Musa hissed.

"How dare you attack my home!" Aisha said indignantly. "There's seven of us and one of you. You're not in a position to make demands."

Politea eyed the girls' audacity and shrugged her shoulders. "Fine. Aristote, eat her."

Aristote rolled his jaw, preparing to swallow.

"No!" Dafne cried out. "Don't! I'll do what you say! Don't eat her!"

The other fairies stilled for a moment. They had been prepared to fight but they stood awed by Dafne's sudden submission.

"What?" Stella whispered harshly. She caught the nymph by the arm. "You don't know if she'll keep her word."

"I know, but I don't want Bloom to get hurt either…." Dafne struggled to finish her words.

"But" Stella tried to continue.

Dafne approached the red and black fairy with her hands up in the air in supplication. She showed that her hands were free of magic.

Ethereal white bindings strong as iron appeared and surrounded Dafne. They crushed her arms to her side and clipped her wings.

"Let Bloom go," the nymph sputtered.

Politea flashed a smug smile. She turned to the dragon and signaled the beast to open its jaw. It dipped its head down and spat out a limp blue form into the water.

Aisha and Stella flew down to retrieve Bloom, hooking one of the fire fairy's arms around their necks. Aisha revived her with a spell. "Vital beat."

Bloom moaned. She looked around and saw her friends around her. "I'm so glad you guys are here. Where's Dafne?"

The other fairies pointed with their eyes at the tense exchange. Dafne was now Politea's hostage.

"No! What's going on?" Bloom asked. "How did Politea get to her? She'll kill her!"

Politea brought Dafne close to her. The nymph did not struggle when Politea brought a hand to her face.

The Serenian turned to the other fairies and regarded them with disdain. All but one of them wore the wings of a Sirenix fairy and they all eyed her as the enemy. "You come after me and I will destroy her on the spot," she threatened to the others. Politea whirled a finger and the bindings around Dafne tightened, making her cry out when the pain became too much.

Politea gathered her powers and opened a Sirenix gate behind her.

"I used to think that you were a good person in this mad chaos, Dafne. I really did," Politea reminisced coolly. Then, as if disappointed in herself for making a bad decision and burdened by its consequences, Politea sighed. "I wish that Omnia never gave you the powers of Sirenix and I wish I never consecrated you as the Supreme Nymph, Dafne. I can tell now that it was too much to ask of you. You aren't worthy of their traditions. A nymph wears her mask when she finally understands the nature of her duties to the gods, no matter how hard they are."

None too gently, the Serenian ripped the mask off of Dafne's face. Politea froze and accidentally dropped the mask into the sea. Her eyes widened when she saw deep brown jasper eyes stare back at her.

This nymph was not Dafne.

Everyone saw Politea's surprise and recognised the fairy in her clutches.

"Who are you?!" Politea shouted in horror.

The golden nymph regarded Politea contemptuously. "I am Diaspro, the fairy of all earthly wealth, the guardian of Eraklyon and her realms. And according to everything I heard, I am the real last nymph of Ethemera," she gritted.

Everyone stared on in shock. Bloom almost forgot how to fly.

"What is Diaspro doing here?" Stella cried out.

"If that was her, there where is Dafne?" Bloom clamped down on her dislike for the jewel fairy. This former-princess fairy had no place here. What was she doing here?

From behind, the Winx Club fairies heard the wings of Eraklyonite dragons. They looked behind to see a dragoon of dragons come down from above the high diamond wall in full armour. Sky led the charge atop his blue-scaled beauty Aurora.

"Sky?" Bloom asked astounded.

"What happened here?" Sky demanded, seeing Diaspro in Politea's clutches, as the rest of the dragoon charged for Aristote.

Just then, energy spewed forth from the Sirenix gate that engulfed them in pure white light. Everyone was blinded by the eruption of light and energy from the portal.

"Double eclipse!" Stella shrouded everyone in a shield.

The maw of the portal fractured. The sound it made sounded like glass breaking and it pierced their eardrums. Despite being airborne, they felt the energies of the world shake and falter. The edges of the aperture began to crack and break away, revealing an oddly shaped portal of light that began to drink in the sea of Andros greedily. Each crack shook their bones and pounded at their senses.

As the light abated, the Winx Club saw a tattered orange form swim out of the light. Behind it, a large mass of blackness followed. They saw teeth and scales and heard a roar that blasted them to the diamond wall behind them. A second dragon, equally big and terrifying as Politea's Aristote, was slowly making its way out of the Sirenix Gate and coming after the slender orange being.

Omnia came to an abrupt stop, nearly crashing into the Winx Club. She was bruised and battered. She was short of breath, huffing and puffing. The selkie guardian gathered her will and her powers, raising her hands up to the gaping Sirenix Gate. Then she began to push back the powerful energies of the Infinite Ocean back into the portal.

Her powers, vast as all the oceans of the magical universe, could move worlds and stars.

Sky moved out of the way of Stella's barrier and pressed forward towards the portal.

"Sky, what are you doing?" Bloom yelled after him.

"Getting Diaspro!" He had a sinking feeling. He could feel the power of the portal pull in everything. He urged Aurora to fly for Diaspro's shadowed form in the blinding light.

Brandon went after the prince without hesitation. Bloom hesitated for a moment before going after Sky as well. No matter how much she disliked Diaspro, the jewel fairy had traded herself for Bloom and Bloom could not ignore that fact, at least for Sky's sake.

Sky's mount hesitated but was reassured by his steely firmness to press on into chaos. They sped forward and Sky reached forward towards Diaspro with an extended arm. Diaspro could barely move with Politea's ethereal restraints on her wings and arms.

"Diaspro!" he yelled.

"Sky, you idiot!" she screamed back. "Go back!"

Out of sheer will, Omnia pushed Aristote and Platon, Politea's guardian beasts, back into the portal, regardless of their resistance. It was as if an invisible hand had picked them up and tossed them in. Politea's held the greatest resistance against the powers that pushed her into the gate and the powers that pulled her into it. She beated her wings as hard as she could until she was swept up into the portal, along with her captive.

"Omnia, what are you doing?" Stella cried out as the portal began to close.

"Sending Politea back," the selkie said.

"But what about Sky and—?" Stella said too late.

Suddenly, the light and the Sirenix Gate disappeared in a flicker of light.

Sky reached forward to catch Diaspro but she disappeared with the light. She was gone into the portal. The prince and his dragon came to an abrupt stop. Brandon and his mount Yseult as well as Bloom dodged Sky and halted, suddenly confusd by the disappearance of the Sirenix Gate.

The sky cleared up of its magic and the seas became calm. The fires still raged and the diamond wall still obscured the cove and the capital city of Andros. The pitch of the city's warning sirens reached them. As the Winx Club looked on in wonder and confusion at the sudden turn of events, Omnia lost her strength and suddenly began to fade into an immaterial state. The selkie closed her eyes in repose and disappeared, drained of her power.

"Sirenix Gate!" Bloom began to conjure the portal to the Infinite Ocean. She gathered her magic and created the portal. Hastily, light gathered in a ring but then it exploded into fire.

"Sirenix Gate!" Bloom tried again and her conjuration backfired again and burst into light and fire. The Sirenix gate was not forming.

"Sirenix Gate!" Bloom tried a third time but then her wings faded as she realised that she was no longer able to keep up her Sirenix form. Her wings disappeared completely and she started to fall.


Note: So, this is the deal maker or breaker chapter. Are you with me after reading this? Yes? Good!

I know everyone was not as developed and the POV changed a lot between characters. I know that there was a lot I could have done to improve this. I'm curious what people think I should have worked on. I know it was a collision of characters and a little (very) messy. However, it was either have this mess or never publish it at all.

What will become of Politea and Diaspro? What about the sisters Dafne and Bloom? And what was Diaspro doing in the middle of battle? Why did she risk herself for Bloom? What scheme does she have up her sleeve now? Next chapter: The Prince Regent.