AN: Firstly my sincerest apologies for how long it has taken to update this chapter. University has been pretty full on and it's only just the beginning, longer pauses between updates are to be expected but I hope that you will still follow along. I will try and update when I can but, like I said, real-life can be a pain sometimes.

I decided to split this chapter into two pieces instead of just one, mostly because I didn't want to leave you all hanging for too long.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far :) I can't thank you enough and another shout out to roxy fan 4 ever who has been a huge help in giving me support to continue the fic and get this chapter posted.

Enjoy.

Chapter 10

Face the Fear Part 1

"Let's kill this thing." Riven sounded so confident and before they knew it they were all rushing forwards into battle. When suddenly Layla and Tecna stopped and collapsed into the snow. "Layla!" Nabu called, rushing forwards, his eyes wide with worry. "Layla!"

"Bloom, Sky, distract it so we can get the others out of there!" Brandon commanded and they both raced ahead.

"Hey, ugly, over here!" Bloom mocked, flying overhead to distract the beast, making it turn to face her.

Riven knelt in the snow and quickly scooped Musa into his arms before getting back to his feet and running further away from the monster, Brandon closely behind with Stella in his. Suddenly Riven felt his eyes beginning to close and he fell forwards, dropping Musa in the process and landing on his stomach. "Riven!" Timmy yelled, lying Tecna down gently before rushing to his side. He looked to his eyes, twitching from side to side.

Musa's were doing the same, Tecna's as well. They weren't unconscious, they were dreaming. Quickly removing his personal computer he began to type, searching for anything related to the nightmare gargoyle and how it worked, a more detailed description that might help them all to beat it.

But when Brandon collapsed in the snow and Nabu followed closely behind, falling to his side, Timmy realised that they may already be too late. How could they possibly beat a beast when it was making them all fall asleep? He watched as Tecna and Layla's fairy forms both disappeared, the others returning to normal as well. It was sucking the magic right out of them.

Suddenly his computer beeped and Timmy peered through his glasses at the bottom of the computer. He quickly read it before Sky fell into the snow. "Bloom! We need to figure out a way to let the others know how to beat this thing!" He yelled making Bloom turn her attention from the beasts red eyes to see him yawning. "How do we beat it?" Bloom asked, releasing a yawn.

"If the nightmare gargoyle feeds off fear then everyone needs to beat the nightmare that they were placed..." He stopped as his eyes began to close.

"Timmy!" Bloom yelled making him shake his head and awaken slightly before continuing. "They need to beat the nightmare they were placed in, turn it into a pleasant dream so that it would have the opposite effect and weaken the gargoyle." Timmy's last word fell from his lips in a sigh before he fell face first into the snow and Bloom felt her own eyes closing.

The beast smiled; the slight glow that Bloom's skin began to radiate making its teeth gnarl in anticipation of receiving an extra large dose of magical energy. Bloom fell into the snow; her eyes closed, and she joined the others in the world of darkness.

Layla twirled her short little legs and arms inside the north tower of her castle. She was waiting for Anne to arrive and teach her Hip Hop for the day's lesson and was preparing herself by humming her own tune and getting ready. Her muscles warmed up and she felt alive once more, free even though the dress she was wearing was restrictive and squeezed most of the air from her lungs. Layla smiled as she finished and looked to the door, expecting to see Anne walking through.

Instead she saw twenty guards all enter the tower, surround her and force her outside. "Come along Princess we need to get you to a safe place." One ordered, taking a firm grasp of her hand and rushing her down the stairs. Layla followed, stumbling down the stairs and across the main courtyard when she heard a scream. She turned, saw a young man wearing a blood red cape and dragging Anne behind him.

"Anne!" She screamed, trying to run past two of the guards but they grabbed her instead. "ANNE!"

"Princess! Stop it we need to get you safe!"

"But Anne's in trouble!" Layla screamed using all of her strength to run forwards but a second guard took her other arm. "We can't do anything for her, the planet is under attack, and you need to get out of here!" One of the strongest guards took a hold of Layla and held her still while another pinched a pressure point in her neck, causing her to fall asleep. "Sorry Layla... Hurry and get her inside with the King and Queen."

When Layla opened her eyes she was standing on the shore, the homes surrounding the kingdom had fallen to pieces, the water churned uncontrollably and the sky had turned a dark shade of grey. Then she heard it, a laugh. The laugh that reminded her of her best friend. The laugh that brightened her day when she felt all alone; and it was above her. Anne floated above in the air next to Valtor with her arms wrapped around him. Layla stood there in shock as Anne placed a kiss on Valtor's right cheek and Layla resisted the urge to vomit all over the floor. Her best friend was lost forever.

Tecna opened her eyes to find herself lying flat on her stomach. In the distance she saw the other girls, walking through the forest and towards Alfea. "Girls!" She called, getting to her feet and running after them, but they kept on walking and grew further and further away. "Musa! Layla! Flora! Wait for me!" They didn't and eventually disappeared from her sight. Tecna's feet ran as fast as she could make them when she tripped and landed on the harsh ground below. "I'm all alone," she admitted, cuddling her knees to her chest. "I'm all alone."

"No you're not," spoke a voice from above making Tecna look to see who it was, the sun shining brightly above didn't help. They held their hand forwards and she took it.

Days later Tecna stood before a mirror wearing a black shoulder less dress that reached the back of her calves. It had spaghetti straps and a piece of dark fabric attached to the dress that fell from a strap around her right arm below the shoulder, forming a sort of cape. On her hands she had black fingerless biker gloves complete with spikes on the knuckles and was wearing a pair of black stiletto heels.

Releasing a sigh Tecna looked to her black eye shadow and dark purple lipstick before turning to see Icy standing at the door, leaning against the frame. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah."

The assault against Alfea had been brutal. Their defences made useless as people and buildings crumbled and fell. Tecna floated just before Timmy, who was lying on his back, propped up by his elbows and wearing a worried. "Tecna, why are you doing this?"

"Because Timmy," she sighed, generating a ball of magic in her right hand and holding it forwards. "They were there when you weren't."

Riven awoke to the sound of a machine beeping before he looked to see Musa lying deathly pale on the bed before him. "Musa," he sighed, his eyes filling with tears as he held her hand in his. "Not again. No, not again."

"You don't need her," an all too familiar voice spoke as they placed two hands on his shoulders. Riven stood to his feet and turned, looking them in the eye. "Darcy?"

"You don't need her, you have me and I'm not sick."

"I told you its over, ever since you played me like some kind of –"

"Puppy dog," Darcy smiled. "Oh come on don't pretend like there wasn't some kind of feeling there. My spell only works on bringing what is hidden in the mind to the surface; you love me, that's why you followed my commands."

"I don't care, get out!" Darcy closed her eyes and vanished making Riven release a held breath. Suddenly he heard the machine to his right beeping louder and faster. He turned to see Musa twitching and squirming on the bed. Quickly he reached for the help button only to find it blocked by something. Darcy appeared, Riven's hand now resting on her stomach as she leaned in and took his face into her hands. "You love me, Riven. Let her go."

"You're right," he sighed, his eyes returning to their tranced state.

"Good boy," Darcy commended, leaning in and planting a kiss on his lips, looking to see Musa's body stop twitching and the machines line become steady.

Nabu opened his eyes and found himself standing inside one of the palace's long corridors. "Layla!" He called when he heard her scream; he raced forwards, his feet pounding against the tiles below as he raced towards the source of the sound. "Layla!" He burst through the door using his shoulder just in time to see a figure cloaked in black insert a sword straight through her stomach and out the other side of her back. Nabu looked to Layla's eyes, watching as drops of blood dripped from her lips and onto the sword before she fell to the ground.

Removing the sword from her lifeless body Nabu charged ahead, pushing the person up against the wall behind. With rage in his eyes Nabu tore the top of the cloak off of the face of whoever caused the tragedy, when their face was revealed Nabu was in shock as he looked directly into his own face. The second Nabu smiling.

Smoke bellowed into the sky as Gardenia's stars were shrouded in smog. It was a hot summer evening, the humidity stung against Bloom's body making sweat appear on her brow. All had been going well that day but now, as she ran down the street, pushing past evacuated men, women and children, she realised that she had to get home. She had to see Mike and Vanessa.

Racing past Mitzi on her way she reached home to see it entirely eclipsed in fire. Quickly she burst through the door, ignoring the firemen's orders to stay back. The fire licked against her shoes as she ran down the corridor and then turned into their room. Then she heard a scream, coming from the lounge.

Bloom darted there. "Mike! Vanessa!" What she saw made her eyes water and her body stop breathing. Lying on the ground before her were two bodies, both burning alive; Bloom stepped forwards to try and extinguish the flames but another figure entered the room.

"Hello Bloom." They spoke when she recognised the being's glowing yellow eyes, their black winx outfit. It was Dark Bloom...she did this.

"BRANDON!" Stella's scream echoed through the hallways of Solaria's castle and Brandon was on his feet immediately. "Stella!" He called, running forward. "Stella where are you?"

"Brandon." It sounded again to his right and Brandon burst through the door only to be met with an identical corridor to the one before. "Stella!" He ran down this corridor, this endless corridor that seemed to get longer and longer the further he ran.

He stopped again when Stella screamed once more. "WHERE ARE YOU?" He yelled agonizingly, no response. "STELLA!"

When Sky opened his eyes he looked to his left and then right to see that he was in the throne room of Erakleon. He looked down to see that the guards had each of his friends tightly gripped by their arms. They struggled against their oppressors, their knees crushing into the cold tiles below.

Brandon and Stella's hands held each others, fear and desperation in their eyes as another line of guards stood before them, holding swords high in the air. Musa's lip trembled as she tried to make peace with the idea of her dying, seeing her father and mother again, while it took another guard to latch onto Riven to stop him from getting up. "KILL THEM!"

Before the first guard could bring his sword down to relieve Stella of her head a blast of orange magic hit the sword, knocking it from his hand. Sky turned to see Bloom standing at the door of the throne room. A smirked formed on his lips as he watched her collapse to the ground. "I was wondering where you were Bloom," He smiled, watching two guards apprehend her.

"What are your orders, sir?" One of the guards asked.

"Bring her before me," Sky declared. They nodded, lifted her body off the floor and dragged her feet along until they reached the base of the steps that lead to the thrones. Then they threw her onto her knees. "She looked up as Sky slowly walked down the steps and stopped right before her. "Any final words?" He asked, looking deep into her cyan eyes.

Timmy opened his eyes when he heard screaming. He looked down to see that sitting in his right hand was his orange sword. He took a step back to see that Tecna was lying on the ground below him, curled in a ball. Tears flowed from her eyes and he could hear her crying. "Shut up!" He yelled, making Tecna lift her head weakly. "Please, stop this Timmy." She called out with sadness in every word. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because you never shut up!" He rose his sword above his head, a smile tugging at the edge of his lips before the sword came flying down toward Tecna in a flash making her scream out in agonizing pain.

So many dreams, so many moments, so many heartbreaking scenes played out before all of their eyes as the nightmare gargoyle grew and grew, feeding off their fear, their power, and their strength. They didn't know what to do, Riven had told them that they could beat it but look at where he was now, face down in the snow, just as weak and defenceless as anyone else.

Some of their dreams were so vivid, so real, that the lines between reality and fantasy were blurring. They weren't sure what was real and what wasn't anymore. Then, suddenly, all of them heard the sound of a voice, resonating in their head. They closed their eyes, listening to the sound, trying to decipher what it said. "Face the fear," three words and suddenly they all realised how to beat a gargoyle.

If a nightmare gargoyle grew in strength from their fear then they needed to show none. If it fed off their power through the nightmares it created then they would have to change them into good dreams, think hard enough, fight against what it was telling them to see, to hear, to feel.

All twelve people's eyes snapped open as a new determination filled their hearts. It was time to face their fear.

AN: Thanks for reading and big announcement before I forget, thanks to those who have voted on the pole in my profile or through reviews, we find out who Petrine is related to in Chapter 13. I will close the pole and any voting on Chapter 12 and post the results at the opening of the chapter before revealing the answer :)

The next update probably won't be for about a week possibly two but, as promised, I won't give up on the story and will update a.s.a.p for both this and my Blood Wars story.

Response to Anonymous Reviews

Rocky: Thanks for reviewing :)

Nath: Well nothing died in this chapter but a few people got hurt ;) Thanks for reviewing and for wishing me luck!

Amp: Thanks for leaving a review :) glad you enjoyed the last chapter.