The Winx stared wide-eyed at the peculiar girl. The girl smiled sheepishly and whispered, "Sorry about startling you, but I need to get you guys out of here. The boys are at the base of the castle waiting for you."
Everyone, excluding the girl, looked at each other. After exchanging glances Tecna said, "How do we know we can trust you? You might be one of the Trix's spies luring us into a trap." The others pondered on the possibility and became even more wary of the mysterious person.
The girl was about to respond when she heard a groan coming from behind the Winx. She peered around the fairies and saw Flora on the ground, shaking and moaning in pain. "She's hurt and in need of medical help. You can either trust me and escape or you can stay here and let that man finish what he did to Flora."
That did it. The Winx glanced at each other and then one by one; they walked over to the girl. Bloom went first, followed by Stella, and then Tecna. Musa and Layla turned around and gently helped Flora stand up. They managed to walk over to the girl who was telling the other Winx the plan.
Once Layla and Musa were caught up the girl looked at everyone and said, "Ok any questions?"
"Umm yeah. What's your name?" Stella asked. "And where did you buy those clothes?!" The Winx and the girl all laughed at her remark. Typical Stella.
"I can't tell you my name right now. The Trix could be listening. For now you can call me Ms. Mysterious. And as for my clothes, I'm just not going to say anything." The girl replied once she caught her breath. "Now, you guys ready?"
The girls had finally stopped laughing instead they were completely serious. They nodded and began the plan. Musa put Flora on the ground again and walked over to Ms. Mysterious, who was crouching on one knee with her hands overlapping each other. Musa stepped on her hand and held onto her shoulders for balance. Ms. Mysterious have a strained grunt but pushed Musa up to the window ledge.
Ms. Mysterious tossed up a rock to Musa who in turn smashed it against the window. Little shards of glass sprayed everywhere. Musa tried to cover herself as best she could but some glass managed to cut her skin. Once all the glass had fallen, Musa brushed the glass off the ledge on the outside of the window, and then she checked herself for any serious injury. Luckily there were only small cuts and nothing serious.
She breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at where the others were. She gave the signal for them to continue the plan. Ms. Mysterious nodded and looked over to Bloom. Bloom and Ms. Mysterious did the exact same thing. Soon Bloom and Musa were crouching on the ledge, ready for everyone else to come up. Stella came up next followed by Tecna and Layla.
Then only Ms. Mysterious and Flora were left. Ms. Mysterious gently picked Flora up. She put the injured girl on her back, careful not to aggravate any of her injuries. Ms. Mysterious walked to the back of the cell and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes again. She ran full speed at the wall, her eyes glowing with adrenaline. When she was about to hit the wall she jumped up and ran up the wall. She took two steps before she was hanging onto the ledge with one hand. With her other hand she shifted Flora off her back and handed her to the other girls. Stella and Bloom took Flora's arm (not the hurt one) and hauled her onto the ledge. Musa and Layla took Ms. Mysterious's free hand and pulled her up onto the ledge too.
Ms. Mysterious rolled onto her knees and panted for a few seconds. When she look up she saw all the Winx staring at her. Slightly uncomfortable at being the center of attention she mumbled, "Come on. We have to keep moving."
Ms. Mysterious crawled to the other side of the ledge, which was above one of the castle's outer stairs. The drop was about twenty feet. "There's no way they can take the hit. There's got to be another way." Ms. Mysterious thought as she looked around. She looked back at the Winx who were staring back at her in anticipation.
Ms. Mysterious made up her mind. She turned back to the outer ledge and jumped. She hit the ground on her knees causing her to groan in pain. She slowly got up and looked up at Winx. "Jumped down. I'll catch you, I promise."
The Winx looked at each other uncertainly. Layla looked over at where Flora had fallen into a semiconscious state. Layla felt a few tears sting the back of her eyes as she imagined how scared and hurt Flora must feel. She tore her gaze from her best friend and jumped off the ledge. The rest of the girls gasped and crawled as fast as they could to the edge of the ledge. They saw Ms. Mysterious catch Layla and gently set her down. Ms. Mysterious nodded and held her hands out. Layla gave a thumbs up and smiled up at her friends.
Bloom looked down at how far the drop was. She took a big gulp and closed her eyes. She jumped off the ledge and plummeted to the ground. She felt the wind whip around her as she fell to what felt like her doom. When she was sure she was about to hit the ground she felt two strong yet gentle hands grab her forearms. She opened her eyes and saw Ms. Mysterious grinning at her. Ms. Mysterious gently put Bloom on the ground and nodded up to the rest of the group.
Tecna went bravely to the ledge and jumped. Musa and Stella looked at each other astonished. Tecna felt the same sensation Bloom did as she fell through the air. Ms. Mysterious caught Tecna by the forearms and set her down by her friends. Tecna gave a smile of thanks and hugged her friends. Ms. Mysterious looked down and smiled sadly at the ground. She shook her head vigorously then looked up at the two remaining fairies. She smiled up at them and nodded.
"There is no way I'm going to jump off this ledge! I'm to young to die!" Stella protested loudly. She backed up to where Flora laid and tried to hide behind her.
Musa sighed, "Stella you're not going to die. Look at the others. They made it down just fine."
Stella shook her head. "They were lucky! I can't die an early death!"
Musa sighed again and walked over to Stella. "Ok how about I go first. If I make it down safe then you have to jump. Deal?" Stella nodded her head but Musa knew she still wouldn't do it. "Ok come here and watch me make it down safely."
Stella crawled back over to Musa was at the edge. Once Stella was next to ledge, Musa said a quick apology and before Stella could say anything Musa pushed her over the ledge.
Stella screamed all the way down, praying to all the gods she knew. "Help me God! Help me Zeus! Help me Josh Hutcherson!" She was about to pray to her favorite fashion designer when she felt someone catch her by her forearms. She opened her eyes and saw Ms. Mysterious chuckling softly as she put Stella down. When she felt solid ground on her feet Stella looked up and started cursing Musa. If it wasn't for Bloom, Stella would've have cursed Musa to hell.
Ms. Mysterious rolled her eyes and nodded up to Musa. Musa was about to jump when she realized Flora couldn't jump on her own. Musa crawled over to Flora and gently dragged her towards the edge. Musa looked down and screamed, "What about Flora?"
Ms. Mysterious slapped her forehead. How could she be so stupid?! She looked back up to Musa and called back up, "Put her on your back and jump!"
Bloom looked over at Ms. Mysterious and asked, "You think you can catch them both?"
Without taking her eyes off of Musa she replied, "I guess we'll find out." Well that comforted Bloom. Not.
Musa gently picked Flora up and sat on the edge of the ledge. Once Musa could hold Flora comfortably on her back, Musa took a deep breath and slid off the ledge. Ms. Mysterious looked up at the falling figures and said a silent prayer. The Winx watched in suspense when Ms. Mysterious was forced to her knees as she caught both Flora and Musa. They all gave a sigh of relief and hugged Musa and Flora. Bloom took Flora from Musa and held her tight in her arms. Musa gave a smile of thanks and hugged her friends even tighter.
Only when they stopped hugging did they see Ms. Mysterious on the ground. She was till on her knees and both her arms were tucked under her stomach.
Layla walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you ok?" Ms. Mysterious could hear the genuine concern in Layla's voice. She looked up at her and gave a nodded with a smile.
"Yeah I'll be fine, but we have to keep moving." Layla helped Ms. Mysterious to her feet. The two started to jog down the stairs with the Winx hot on their tails. As they were running Layla noticed two things. One, Ms. Mysterious was slightly limping and two, she was taking off her black gloves. Normally Layla wouldn't have noticed the second thing but When Ms. Mysterious shove her gloves in her pants pocket she saw both hands were wrapped up tightly with bandages. The bandages on both hands started half way up her palms and down to her wrist.
Layla was about to ask Ms. Mysterious about the bandages when she said, "Don't ask." Layla was startled when she heard her talk. Layla was sure Ms. Mysterious didn't see her staring at her.
"She's definitely got some tricks up sleeve I'll give that." Layla thought as she ran side by side with Ms. Mysterious. The rest of the Winx had noticed the bandages by now, but a warning glance from Layla told them not to ask.
They had finally reached the base of the stairs. Ms. Mysterious looked spend while the girls caught their breath. She finally spotted the guys on the outskirts of the forest with their weapons drawn. They noticed her and gave her a thumbs up. She nodded back to them and turned to the Winx who had finally stopped gasping for breath.
"Ok we're almost out. We just need to get through the door and across the moat. There's a little passage way over there. We need go through there and find the fifth door on the right. The other doors are portals that will send you to a different realm. Once we get trough that door we find the ropes I've already put on the ledge and we propel ourselves down. Once we get down there will be a little strip of land. We land there and wait for the guys. They know what to do from there. Got it?" Ms. Mysterious quickly explained. She didn't know how long it had been since they had left the cell but she knew that the hour was almost up. The Trix would be at the cell any minute.
As everyone nodded Bloom felt something shift on her back. She twisted her head so she could get a better look and saw Flora waking up. Bloom told Flora not to say anything and that they were almost home Flora nodded and rested her head back on Bloom's shoulder.
They were about step into the passage when they heard a voice behind them. "What about us?"
The Winx and Ms. Mysterious turned around and saw the Trix Floating a little ways behind them. Ms. Mysterious stepped in front of the Winx protectively. "Leave us alone witches and I won't hurt you."
When Flora heard Ms. Mysterious say witches she immediately started to shake. She didn't want to get captured again. They probably would've let Kevin finish the job he had started. The thought of Kevin's hands roaming her body made Flea shake even harder. Bloom felt Flora start shaking and wrapped her arms around Flora's legs tightly.
Stella also noticed Flora. Stella shuffled over to her best friends and placed a comforting hand on Flora's arm. Feeling her best friends around her Flora started to calm down, but she didn't stop shaking.
When the Trix heard Ms. Mysterious threaten them they started to laugh. While they were laughing Ms. Mysterious whispered to the rest of the girls. "Ok change of plan. I'm going to distract them. You go to that balcony behind them and three of you raise one fist. The boys will have to figure it out from there."
They all nodded, slightly reluctant. They didn't want to leave the person who was risking their life so they could escape. It didn't seem right. But when they heard Flora moan in pain they knew they had to leave the castle.
"How are you going to distract them?" Tecna asked sadly.
Me. Mysterious gave them a sly but sad smile, "You'll see." She turned around and walked towards the Trix. "Alright Trix you've left me no choice. But I'm kind of surprised about something. You don't seem to recognize my voice."
This puzzled both the Winx and the Trix. Had the Trix met Ms. Mysterious before? If so, where? When? What happened?
Darcy was first to realize, "No. It can't be." Icy and Stormy looked over at their sister, still confused. "That's impossible." Darcy's face was paling fast. She looked over at her sisters who were confused at Darcy's behavior.
Icy and Stormy looked back at the girl. They stared into her stormy blue eyes and shock rippled across their faces. "No..." Stormy whispered.
Icy fell to the ground and landed on her feet rather ungracefully though. She stumbled back and crashed into the wall. Her sisters flew down and touched the ground, still in shock. Icy's already pale face was turning a ghostly white. Under different circumstances the Winx would be cracking up at that but they were to confused to laugh.
Icy stared at Ms. Mysterious's eyes and whispered just loud enough for the Winx to hear, "But... But you're dead."