Chapter 11: A Hard Recovery
Author's note: Special thanks to Robert Teague, my new betareader.
"Mirta, are you okay?" asked Flora.
But Mirta didn't answer. She only looked at them with her glowing eyes and face lacking any emotion while a red glow surrounded her hands. She positioned herself and was ready to attack.
"Mirta, what's going on?" asked Bloom, coming closer to Mirta.
The fairy of the Dragon Fire was silenced by a powerful bolt of energy fired by the hybrid fairy.
"Bloom!" said Musa in horror. "Mirta, what are you doing?"
Mirta attacked again. This time her attack didn't harm anybody, since Musa protected herself and the group. Mirta, however, kept firing powerful beams at them.
"Mirta, stop!" begged Flora. "We're your friends, remember?"
"Don't waste your breath, Flora," said Tecna. "It's obvious that she won't listen." She pulled out her scanner and activated it.
"What happened to her?" asked Bloom. "Why is she attacking us?"
"And why is she so damn powerful!" asked Musa, still holding her shield against the crazed Mirta.
"Scanning complete," said Tecna. "Just like I feared. Mirta's level of dark magic shot up dramatically from her usual level, and it's still growing. This sudden increase may have affected her mind and soul."
"Okay, so what can we do?" asked Bloom.
"We can't fight her," said Flora. "She's still our friend and we could harm her."
"Harm HER!" asked Musa. "That's what you're worried about?"
"We're too weakened," said Bloom. "She'd beat us in a blink."
"We should try to immobilize her first," said Tecna.
"Leave it to me," said Flora, taking a step forward. "Green Luxurious Ivy!"
Many ivy plants grew instantly from the ground and tied Mirta up. The half fairy squirmed, trying to break free.
"Okay, that will hold her for a bit," said Flora. "Anybody have a more permanent solution?"
"Well, if the problem is that Mirta's darkness is overwhelming her, she'll return to normal if that darkness is reduced," deduced Bloom. "And I guess that it won't decrease by itself so we'll have to use our fairy dust on her."
"Well, it's worth trying," said Musa.
"We'd better do it now; the ivy won't hold her much longer!" said Flora.
The four fairies flew above Mirta and circled her.
"Okay, let's do it!" said Bloom.
"Convergence: Fairy Dust Ring!" said the four girls in unison while pouring the fairy dust on their corrupted friend.
Mirta let out an ungodly scream when the dust touched her, so loud that it almost rendered the Winx completely deaf. Flora unsummoned the ivy that was holding her, but Mirta didn't try to attack them. She fell down on the floor and began to writhe in agony. It was such a horrible image that none of them would ever forget it.
"It's working!" said Tecna, checking the scanner,. "Her dark energy level is shrinking!"
Some moments later, Mirta stopped writhing, returned to her civilian outfit, and fell unconscious. They descended, and Tecna checked her.
"Is she okay?" asked a worried Flora.
"Yes," said Tecna. "But she's very exhausted. Bloom, heal her please."
Bloom did so.
…
In the aftermath of the battle, the three groups reunited. Sky, Riven and Helia rushed to hug their girlfriends upon seeing them, grateful that they were alive. Mirta's unconscious body, carried by a levitation spell, didn't go unnoticed either. Bloom assured them that she was okay, only very tired. They took her to the infirmary of the Prometheus.
They reported their success to Faragonda. The headmistress told them to stay there until the Magix Council decided what to do with the Forge. The fact that they would be staying there for almost for a week wasn't welcomed by anybody. They spent the next two days resting, and the fairies who were exposed to the black gemstone were checked intensively.
Tecna was the only one pleased with the idea of staying in the Forge for some days, although she was rather irritated that she had to stay in the sick ward. But finally all the tests said that she was very healthy.
She was afraid that, once their mission was over, they'd take the Forge away from her. But now she had the chance to take a better look at such a technological marvel. In fact, she had felt flustered since the first time she saw the magnificent building, even if it was from the ship's window. And now she felt like a little kid who was about to visit an amusement park for the first time.
However, she couldn't see what the Forge was able to do if she didn't find and activate its power source first.
…
In the Prometheus' sick ward, Mirta was lying in bed, still unconscious. Bloom, Stella, Flora, Musa and Aisha were in the room as well.
"How is she?" asked Aisha.
"She's okay," said Flora. "Tecna and I checked her, and her dark magic levels are back to normal."
"I know it's not okay to say this," Musa began. "But it's good luck that Mirta went berserk on those two witches, otherwise we would be dead right now."
"That gemstone," said Bloom. "It drained our powers and turned Mirta mad. And they were looking for it. "
"Wait, you said that the gemstone weakened you, but made Mirta much stronger. How can that be?" asked Stella.
"Mirta is still half witch," said Flora. "Maybe that part absorbed the attack."
"There's still the question of what's going to happen now," said Bloom. "We have the Forge, but now those guys have a weapon that can leave us powerless."
"Not just us," said Aisha. "Practically every fairy. Remember what Gaul said? They planned to kill every fairy in the universe."
The thought made them shiver.
"You forget about the fact that it boosted Mirta, which mean that it can be use to increase one's dark power," said Musa. "It's a double-edged weapon that will cut us in half if we're not careful."
Mirta stirred in her bed, but didn't wake up.
"We should let her rest," said Flora. "And hope that dark pulse didn't leave any scars on her."
…
Tecna entered in the Power Core Room, in the middle of which a large engine-shaped dome rested. It had lots of buttons and levers. One of them would activate the Forge. She found it in no time, a huge lever with a POWER banner on it. Barely able to hold her enthusiasm, Tecna pulled the lever.
The enthusiasm was replaced by disappointment when nothing happened. It was then when she realized that the Forge had been abandoned for decades, and probably didn't have any source of energy. And that was a big problem. However, Tecna realized something that amazed her even more: despite being abandoned for years, the machinery didn't have any dust or rust. In fact, it looked like it was recently made. A machine whose engines would never succumb to the ravages of time, how was that even possible? The genius of the Master Craftsman knew no limits.
That lead Tecna to the conclusion that the Forge could still work.
"Geez, if I had the blueprints of this engine, I could figure a way to make it work," she said to herself. "Come on Tecna, you're smarter than this. Think! If I were the Craftsman, how would I build this?"
Then it hit her. It was so obvious, that she felt ashamed of not seeing it before.
Tecna transformed into her fairy form, and used her powers to connect herself with the huge engine. Once she did it, she began to transfer her own energy into it. The Power Core responded, and it suddenly began to generate energy by itself, no longer needing Tecna. The room was suddenly illuminated by lamps, and the loud noise of running engines filled the room.
Tecna couldn't feel any prouder. Losing no time, she headed for the High Sanctuary where most of the Forge's controls rested.
…
Musa was in her cabin, resting, when somebody knocked her door.
"Come in," Musa said.
The door opened, and Riven entered the room.
"Hey Musa, I..." Riven began.
"Listen, Riven," said Musa, interrupting her boyfriend, "If you ask me again how I am or how I feel, I swear that I'll break all your bones!"
"Okay, okay," said Riven, backing off. "I'm sorry. It's that... well, since you told me that those witches almost killed you..."
Musa sighed, and came close to Riven.
"Sorry, I shouldn't yell you," said Musa, regretfully. "I know that you care about me but you're taking this too far. I'm perfectly fine."
"I know that I can be annoying," said Riven. "But when that guy said you were dead... I felt the world tearing apart. I wouldn't know what to do if something bad ever happened to you..."
"So, what are you going to do? Are you going to keep me barefoot and pregnant?" asked Musa, looking up at him.
"Of course not," said Riven.
"Then you should trust me," said Musa. "Like I trust you. And you don't even have magical powers to begin with."
"Well, our enemies got an artifact that kills fairies, not regular humans like me," said Riven. "All I'm saying is that from now on, you should be... a little more careful."
It seemed that Musa was about to yell again, but instead, she came even closer to Riven, and her expression suddenly softened.
"Riven, remember three years ago when Bloom was abducted by Darkar, and me and the other girls went to rescue her?" asked Musa. Riven nodded. "Remember what you told me before we went into Shadowhaunt?"
"I said," Riven began. "That I wanted you to tell me that you'll come back to me."
"And remember what I answered?" asked Musa. After some moments, Riven replied:
"That I didn't have to fear losing you. That you'll always come back to me," said Riven.
"And as of now, I've been loyal to my word, haven't I?" asked Musa, smiling.
"Musa..."
"Yes?"
Riven didn't say anything, and hugged Musa. Musa hugged him back.
"You'll never lose me, Riven," said Musa.
…
In the Omega Dimension, Gaul and his pupils were telling their master about the outcome of the mission.
"So we don't have the Forge?" asked the man in black.
"Those fairies were strong, master," said Gaul. "I'm ashamed, but I must admit that I underestimated them, even if I was aware of their power. But we recovered the Heart of Oblivion."
"A partial victory," said the man in black. "Still, you did a good job."
"A good job?" asked Gaul. "Neither my apprentices nor I were able to beat those fairies, and we lost the Forge to them."
"Don't feel ashamed, Gaul," said the man in black. "You're intelligent, cold and pragmatic, traits that I really appreciate. Unfortunately, that's not enough to beat a fairy. Fairies are usually very brave. They fear neither danger nor death. They rely on each other in combat, and they can make a formidable force that even the most powerful sorcerer would be unable to match."
"Then, what should we do next time we fight them, master?" asked Gaul.
"In order to beat a fairy, you have to break her will and her spirit. Drive fear and terror into their hearts. Make them doubt their strength. You'll need fear and intimidation on your side. Only then will you ensure victory."
Gaul made note of his master's words.
"But don't worry, the next time we engage those fairies, I myself will deal with them," the man in black concluded. "Mirage, find them."
"What about the Forge?" asked Neyra.
"The Forge can wait," stated the man in black. "First, I want to see if those fairies who killed Master Valtor are as powerful as you said."
Author's note: I really liked this chapter. Even if the action is minimal, a lot of things happened. I really enjoyed writing the vilalins' part. They're starting to become my favorite thing of this story.
Thanks once again for all your reviews and comments. Please keep them up, I love hearing back from you guys.