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Speech Key:

"The" – Oral/Normal Speech

'The' – Thoughts

AN: This isn't a huge chapter, so don't expect too much.

Review, but if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all!

-Displaced-

oO~One Step Ahead~Oo

-Winx Dorm Room-

"So what do we do now?" Layla asked quietly. "If we're going to do what we need to, then we can't stay at Alfea."

"What do you mean?" Stella whispered.

"No Layla's right," Musa broke in solemnly. "Think about it, the Trix are after the Dragon Fire and they're coming here to get it. So if we leave, then Alfea won't be attacked."

"But Darkar wants the pieces of the Codex," Flora reminded them all. "He's going to find some way into Alfea to get it anyway."

"And Valtor…" Bloom spoke. "I don't know where in the Magical Universe he's in, but I wouldn't put it past him to want to get revenge or even come after me."

"The Wizards might come here, though," Tecna told them. "Despite Roxy being taken away from Earth, they'll do anything to find her."

"But she's safe here at Alfea, right?" Stella asked. "Ms. F is here and so are all the other teachers. They can put up that magical barrier that Ms. F put up when Valtor was loose in our world."

"But how long would it hold?" Musa asked. "The barrier went down because of Valtor, remember? How do we know he won't do it again?"

"Then we just need to make a stronger one," Tecna said as she punched a few buttons on her mini-computer.

"What?" the rest of the girls chorused.

"The charms we made for Rick and Roxy," Musa reminded them, catching onto Tecna's thought. "We anchored our protection spells and charms to the stones we used, remember? What if we do the same thing with a barrier for Alfea? We can anchor a barrier spell to the stones so that the only way to break the barrier is to destroy the stones."

"But we'd need really big stones for this kind of barrier not to mention the number," Flora reminded them. "The campus is huge and it'll take more than just a dozen stones to cover a place this big."

"We can take care of that!" Chatta chirped as the pixies floated in front of their bonded fairy. "Pixie Village is right near a huge cave with lots and lots of stones like that!"

"Wait," Layla stopped the pixies as they were about to fly out the window. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to go on your own like this…Darkar's going to be looking for the pieces of the Codex and he'll definitely take the chance to follow you there. I'll go with you." She shifted into her Believix form and activated her Zoomix wings before she and the Pixies disappeared in a flash of light.

"Okay, so we have the barrier plan going," Bloom spoke, "But what about the Codex? We can't let Darkar get his hands on any of the pieces."

"Well, we know the locations for all of the pieces, right?" Stella confirmed. "So why don't we get them before Darkar even has a chance to locate them? We'd be one step ahead of him!"

"That sounds like a plan," Tecna nodded. "But remember, we also need to retrieve the Water Stars from the Golden Kingdom."

"Stella and I can take care of that," Musa nodded.

"Now all that's left is to figure out where we'll be going when we leave," Tecna muttered.

-Pixie Village-

A flash of light startled the pixies of Pixie Village before it died down to reveal a Believix Fairy and six pixies.

"Is there something I can help you with?" the Pixie Village Elder, Ninfea, asked.

"We just came to get some stones from the cave that's near here," Lockette squeaked in reply.

"Layla," came Bloom's voice from her communicator.

"What? Did something happen?" the fairy of waves asked.

"We need you to get it while you're at Pixie Village," Bloom sighed. "I don't want to do this, but it's the only way to stay ahead of you-know-who."

Layla's eyes widened in understanding. "I'll do my best." And with that, she shut off her communicator.

"Girls why don't you go and find some good stones," Layla suggested to the pixies that were with her. "I need to ask Ninfea something something."

The pixies all cast a worried look in Layla's direction, but did as she said. Once the pixies were gone, Ninfea raised an eyebrow in Layla's direction.

"I'm going to show you something because I don't know if you'll believe me when I tell you, all right?" Layla suggested nervously.

Ninfea looked at Layla for a moment before nodding in acceptance.

Layla, still in her Believix form, close her eyes and placed a finger on the forehead of the leader of Pixie Village.

Images and thoughts flooded Ninfea's mind, and before she knew it, they over as quickly as they started.

"You want our piece of the Codex." It wasn't a question.

Layla nodded. "It's only until Darkar is gone for good, and then we'll bring it back."

Ninfea gave Layla a long look before finally nodding. "Very well, but you must take care not to let it fall into the wrong hands. I will send along a message to the rest of the Pixie Elders to give up their pieces of the Codex to an Alfea fairy that comes for it."

"Would it be helpful if I gave you their names?" Layla asked. "I don't know who's going after which one."

Ninfea nodded and took down the names of the rest of the Winx girls. "If you would close your eyes, I will retrieve our portion of the Codex."

Layla nodded and did as she was told. She opened her eyes when she felt something being placed into her hands. There in her hands sat Pixie Village's portion of the Codex.

"Thank you," Layla bowed her head.

Ninfea nodded and gave a gentle smile in return.

It was then that the Pixies returned, carrying a sack full of what had to be stones. "Layla look at all the stones we found!" Amore squealed. "Do you these are good enough?"

The princess of Andros opened the sack and peeked inside before closing it securely and hoisting it over her shoulder. "They'll do perfectly," she smiled at the pixies. "Now come on, we have to get back to Alfea."

"Thank you," Layla said to Ninfea once more before she and the pixies disappeared from the village.

"You're Welcome," Ninfea said softly, looking at the sky. "And good luck."

-Winx Dorm Room-

The girls all sat in silence, waiting for their last member to get back when a flash of light appeared as quickly as it disappeared.

"Did you get everything?" Stella asked when the flash of light died away.

"I have the stones and I got this," Layla put the bag of stones on the floor and opened it to pull out the piece of the Codex that Ninfea had given her. "Ninfea said that she's passing a message along to the rest of the Pixie Elders that we'll be coming to get the rest of the pieces."

"Well that makes things a lot easier," Flora commented.

"Indeed," Tecna nodded before going over to open the bag of stones. "But I think we need to get started on this barrier as soon as possible. We can't afford to waste any more time by staying here than necessary."

"Guys," Bloom spoke up after a bit. "I—There's something I want to tell you."

"What is it, Sweetie?" Flora asked gently.

"I want to go to Sparx," Bloom told them all. "I know it's a frozen wasteland right now, but it's the last place anyone would look for us, and I need to see Daphne."

The girls looked at each other for a moment before nodding. "We understand why you want to go there, B," Musa put a hand on her shoulder. "And you're right; no one would ever think to look for us in a realm that's been rumored to be dead."

"We'll go there," Layla said, "But I don't know how long we can stay there without someone tracking our trail."

"Thanks you guys," Bloom smiled softly. "Now let's get to work on those stones."

The girl worked through the night by carving into the stones, casting spells and refining them so that they wouldn't be destroyed so easily.

By the time they were done, it was already time for classes the next morning.

Ciao,

TsukiyoTenshi