Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club. Trust me, if I did, Bloom would be going through some serious therapy after what happened back in season two.

One thing I'd like to address before moving into this chapter, Altivix works like Univix in reverse. If you go there, your powers will grow stronger and stronger. Until you leave. Then, every last scrap of magical ability is torn away from you. That's why it's so important for the Classix to find Eclipsis and force her through the portal back to the Magic Dimension. Just getting her here is only half the battle.

Now, back to abusing Artis!

The Classix could only stare at Artis in shock. A hundred years? They couldn't even imagine it.

"I'm leaving." Nyssa said, her wings forming behind her. "You guys are about to get way too sappy for me." She jumped into the air, oblivious to the glares being shot at her.

They turned back to Artis. "Tell us what happened." Dhalia asked, her voice soft. Artis just continued sobbing. "Please Artis, we're your friends. We want to help you."

"Artis, you're safe now." Perdi said, hugging the still-sobbing girl. "You can tell us."

Artis looked up, eyes full of tears. "I-I-I don't know how."

"Start at the beginning." Amelia said. "What happened after you cast your spell?"

Artis wiped her eyes and leaned back against the grassy wall of the hole. "I- I killed him." Her voice became hard and cold. "I killed that man."

"Ekroin?" Amelia asked.

"Yes. I killed him for what he'd done to us. To all of us. But especially for what he did to Perdi."

"How?" Reyva asked.

"I stabbed him. Over, and over, and over again." Artis looked back at the ground.

"Artis?" Perdi's voice was worried.

"I...I enjoyed it. It felt so good to repay him for what he did to Perdi." Artis looked back up. "And then, I brought him into my time, so I could watch him die."

"Artis..."

"I killed him. I was so angry that I couldn't stop myself." Artis looked away again. "I didn't even want to."

"Artis, he was evil. He-"

"Don't try to justify what I did Reyva." Artis snapped. "He was a person. And now he's not. And I'm the one who did it."

"Artis..."

"Why don't you tell us what happened next?" Dhalia said, trying to defuse the situation.

"Next? I knocked out the other four Ember Blades and destroyed their army. That took most of a day."

"And then what?"

"And then nothing. I kept waiting for the spell to end. It never did. I spent ten years waiting, using magic to create food and water. Nothing happened.

"Then I realized that the only way out would be for me find a way to disrupt the spell. So I started trying various counterspells. Nothing worked.

"I wandered Altivix for several decades, trying to find something, anything that could break the spell. I found nothing."

Artis paused for a minute, then continued. "That was when I began to lose myself. I'd already taken to talking to myself to pass the time, but then I started talking to myself without realizing it was me I was talking to. I'd have conversations with people I thought were there, people who were dead, people who were still alive, people I never even knew. I even started talking to a rock. I still have that rock actually." She pulled a small stone out of her pocket. "It was my companion. I'd talk to it everywhere we went. And sometimes it would talk back."

"Artis, how-" Amelia's face a study in confusion.

"How did this happen to her?" Perdi asked. "She was isolated for decades! It's amazing that she isn't completely insane!"

"Oh, I was Perdi. I was." Artis gave a weak smile. "For a time I completely lost my mind."

"What brought you out of it?" Dhalia asked.

"I don't think anything really brought me out of it. I just had a sudden realization."

"What was that?"

"That the only way out of this was to kill myself."

"What?" Four voices rang out in complete shock.

"Yes. It was the only way out. I'd tried everything else. This was my only option left."

"Artis..." Perdi's voice held boundless horror within it. How could Artis make that choice?

"I came back to where it all began. I would die beside the body of Ekroin."

"How did you..." Reyva asked, morbid curiosity getting the better of her.

"I used my magic to stop my heart."

"So that's why there was no sign of injury!" Reyva exclaimed.

"I guess so. It didn't really hurt. I just sort of fell asleep."

"And then I brought you back to life." Amelia said.

"I suppose you did. I just remember waking up, realizing I was still alive, and then Perdi calling my name."

"Will you be alright?" Dhalia asked.

"No. I'll never be alright."


Nyssa returned about an hour later. She quickly healed Perdi's shoulder, then left again.

"Why did she keep looking at Artis like that?" Reyva wondered as she ate her dinner.

"You noticed that too?" Dhalia said. "I thought it was just me."

"It's almost like she feels guilty about what happened." Perdi said. She had gone to sit next to Artis while the other girl slept.

"She does." Amelia said.

"How do you know?" Dhalia asked.

"I'm not sure, but I do."

"Alright." Dhalia glanced around. "I know this isn't the best time, but we need to talk about Sasha."

"She said she's going to kill us tomorrow." Reyva said. "I don't think she's lying."

"No, I don't think she is either," Dhalia said, "but what do we do about it?"

"We can't fight her head-on," Reyva said, "and I don't think we can out run her either."

"Then what can we do?" Perdi asked.

"We have to think of something that will give us an advantage." Dhalia said. "Something that will even the odds."

"What about the Ember Stones?" Perdi asked.

"They're not strong enough." Amelia replied.

"Maybe your earring can help?" Perdi asked, a little desperate.

"Maybe." Amelia said. "I actually have an idea, and I think it will work, but I can't be sure."

"And what is this idea of yours?" Dhalia asked.

"First, I need to prepare. It's a good thing we still have four Ember Stones, because I'm going to need one for this."

"And then what?"

"Then, when we meet Sasha again tomorrow, we surrender."

A/N: Well, that's promising. Amelia is clearly Up To Something, but just what does she have in mind? You'll find out next chapter. Either Sasha falls, or the Classix die.

Well, not much else to say, so I'm just going to end the chapter right here. See you all next time.