Tidal Waves Prologue: Tides, Ripples in the Creek


When Layla first met the Winx Club, she'd been in a tough spot. Darkar had captured the pixies, who were her only friends after her only childhood friend, Anne, moved away to a planet called Eros, a planet full of... frustrated love. It was a planet that had always disgusted Layla with its low morals and citizens so swept up in lust. When she was a child, she was heartbroken to find out that her friend had moved away to such a place.

As a result, having been regularly sneaking out of the castle in Andros, she took a bold move and got on a transport to Magix, where she found pixie village and befriended the pixies, bonding with Piff. She had made it home in time for a scolding, but made it a habit to regularly visit the pixies.

So, when Darkar captured them, she'd been a little more than distressed, but used it as a drive of determination to save them by any means.

That's why she was thankful she'd met the Winx Club. They'd helped her so much in saving the pixies, and not to mention Andros as well after Valtor invaded. They became her new friends, and helped her hone her fairy abilities. Her life had changed so much thanks to the Winx Club.

Sometimes, however, she just needed some space.

She'd been so alone during her childhood, that sometimes she found herself overwhelmed with how Stella could be overbearing, Tecna's lack of passion towards most things, the specialists and their rowdiness, or even Bloom sometimes for how she always wanted to help people with their problems. She found herself feeling this way when she first transferred to Alfea, and throughout most of the following year. Whenever it happened, she usually retreated back to her dorm room, to spend some quiet time with Piff (and occasionally the other pixies) and listen to her roommate, Francis, tell corny jokes.

After that year, however, she found herself opening up to Flora with her kindness and tea, or Musa during a dance practice, or even Nabu. Though, she'd always go back to Piff and the other pixies afterward for some alone time.

The pixies had been the ones she confided in as a child, and again whenever she felt insecure at Alfea. So, it was only natural that she was going back to pixie village to relax even now, a year and a half after Bloom restored Domino.

As she trudged through the forests of Magix towards Pixie Village, Layla thought back to what she'd been doing lately that'd been causing her so much stress.


She'd been spending most of the time since Bloom restored Domino on Andros, helping out. Initially most of the focus of the Winx Club had been on getting Bloom situated in life on Domino. When the Winx Club weren't needed for the process, Layla had returned to Andros to get her marriage with Nabu planned out and ready, and they were married by the time the Festival of the Marigold on Linphea had concluded that year.

Just a few months ago, however, the Trix had crashed the Alfea's beginning of the year ceremonies, and the ancestral witches were even involved. It had taken a lot of pixie dust and power, but the Trix were subdued. That meant, however, that they had to be transferred to a new prison, since they'd obviously been able to escape from the Fortress of Light. And so, they'd been transferred to a prison in the Mermaid Kingdom of Andros, the same one that Valtor had trapped Tressa's mother, Ligea, in. Since Valtor had used it, it'd been refurbished for use by the Mermaid Kingdom, and so it was where the Trix were sent.

As a result, nowadays most of her time was spent consulting with minor officials of Andros's court as well as the Mermaid Kingdom's court to come up with a back-up plan should the Trix escape. They'd also ended up having to help Ferdinand, a triton with... issues, but that's another story.

Riven had ended up joining her and Nabu in doing this when he found himself with nothing else to do. The others were just too busy and didn't need his help, with Musa teaching at Alfea, Helia finishing art school, Timmy getting a grand tour of Zenith with Tecna, Flora spending time with family, and the others worrying about marriages.

After Galatea had her birthday, however, Riven was back with spending time with Musa. He'd accepted a teaching position at Red Fountain, something he'd been disgusted with doing before. Layla suspected Musa had something to do with the decision. While wedding bells were not ringing yet, she predicted they'd be ringing sometime in the future.

The other person who'd been helping her out was Francis, her old roommate at Alfea. She was the fairy of laughter, and only a year younger than Layla. She'd actually just earned her Enchantix over the summer when returning to her home-world of Risus. When fairies couldn't earn their Enchantix during their third year, they typically returned for a fourth. The Winx Club hadn't needed to do this, but Francis had been fully prepared to return when she'd accidentally earned it over the summer. This occurrence is actually common at Alfea, and so a separate graduation ceremony was always held in November to let these fairies move on with their lives after honing their Enchantix skills for a bit.

Francis had been helping Layla out in Andros for the three months since her graduation ceremony, and she was a welcome presence. While Stella found Francis and her sense of humor downright annoying, Layla enjoyed her jokes. They were a refreshing change of pace from the Winx Club, and often helped cheer her up.

Jokes could only do so much to help, however, when there was a crisis happening.


Layla pulled back some branches to see Pixie Village, and immediately sighed with relief. Digit was outside, engaged in a conversation with Livy, and had spotted her first, "Hey! Layla's here!" she exclaimed.

Digit and Livy flew up to Layla, and the fairy of Morphix gave a weary smile as she said, "Hey, it's nice to see you guys."

Tune and Jolly had joined them upon hearing Digit's announcement, and the former had picked up on Layla's feelings and asked, "Are you feeling well?"

Jolly flew around Layla's head and said, "Oh! I can tell you a joke, it'll definitely make you feel better!"

Layla chuckled and patted Jolly on the head as she said, "Thanks, but Francis already tried that." She looked around and asked, "Is Piff here?"

Livy, standing on her scroll, nodded and said, "Yup! She's taking a nap in her new star pajamas, it's got bear ears and everything! I can go get her if you want?"

Layla shook her head and simply took a seat just outside of the village as she said, "I don't want to bother her, but do you guys have some time to talk?"

Digit nodded, and held up a finger as she said, "Of course! You know you can come to us whenever you're feeling upset."

Tune then asked, "What seems to be the problem?"

Layla took a deep breath and rubbed her temple before she said wearily, "Tressa's older twin brothers, Nereus and Tritannus, are in some sort of feud over who will succeed Neptune for the Mermaid Kingdom's throne." Jolly looked ready to interrupt with questions, confused with the situation, but Digit covered her mouth before she could say anything. Layla sighed again and leaned back, resting on her hands as she added, "At this rate, Tressa's worried that Tritannus might commit treason, but if that happens, we'll have to throw him in prison... and the only one with space available is the one the Trix are in."

With that, Livy winced, "Yikes."

Layla nodded solemnly and sat up, resting her arms on her knees as she said, "Yikes is right, if that happens, the Trix might use his anger to try and escape, or it could be the other way around. Either way, it'll be a disaster, and so we're trying to placate him and solve the issue without unleashing an evil force, but its hard. It feels like there's no way to fix it."

Jolly shoved Digit away as Tune asked, "So, is Nereus the one they're considering for king?"

Layla nodded, "He's more responsible and noble, and he's got good judgement, too. Tritannus can be more... unpredictable I guess. Plus, he can get really jealous and is just too chaotic for the throne. There's no way Neptune can announce Tritannus as the successor, but if Nereus or worse, Tressa, is announced then Tritannus will just be too angry to be reasoned with. It's really complicated politics."

Digit nodded in understanding, arms crossed and eyes closed, "I agree. No matter how you look at it, it's bad if Tritannus becomes a traitor, but there's not much that can be done to prevent the impending chaos."

Tune looked over at Layla in concern and asked, "How are they managing in Andros, without you?"

Layla waved it off and said, "I'm technically not queen until one of my parents dies, and I'm not a citizen of the Mermaid Kingdom, they'll be fine without me for the time being." She sighed and flopped onto her back as she added, "I just really needed to get away."

The four pixies exchanged worried looks before Jolly said cheerfully, "Well, if you need to take your mind off of things, they're showing movies for half price today in downtown Magix in honor of Valentine's Day!"

Digit nodded, and said with a wink, "Yeah, and after that's over, I can tell you some of my ideas for fixing the situation." She gestured to Livy and said, "Livy?"

Livy flew up and held up her scroll in front of her like an announcer of a royal court and said in an excited tone, "What about this? Whoever get's married first gets to be king! True love always quells evil!"

Jolly giggled and said, "You sound like Amore."

Layla slowly sat up as Tune floated over to her and said, "We'll help you any way we can."

Layla gave a grateful smile towards her long time friends and said, "Thanks, you guys can always cheer me up."

"Group hug!" Livy exclaimed, and the four pixies crowded around Layla in a hug.

This was the first time she had truly laughed in a while.