AN: Thanks again for all the reviews :)

Chapter 13

24 Hours, 24 worries, 24 reasons

Flora lay next to Musa on the ground, their hands connected in silence. She didn't know if Musa was asleep or not, her chest was moving up and down which gave her a good indication though she had closed her eyes. Maybe it was because she didn't want Flora to see what lay beneath; the soulless eyes that had taken their place, eyes that looked in no particular direction and held no emotion.

Really though Musa was thinking of her mother, how scared she must have been when it happened to her. Her mother hadn't escaped, no matter how hard they fought for her life she still lost. Her mother had collapsed on stage once, in the middle of a concert she was giving. She was rushed to hospital but the doctors put it down to exhaustion and told her to stay in bed for the next week or so. The problem was it only took a week for her to get sicker.

She remembered her father calling for someone, anyone, to come and see her but those who did only saw a fever, cold sweat and tiredness, the signs and symptoms of a common cold or flu. Nothing worked. When she lost her sight that was when they realised it was useless. She asked Hoboe to stop his trying and to let her go but he wouldn't. She eventually died, right before Musa and her father at home.

And their lives were never the same again. "Flora," Musa sighed weakly making the nature fairy lift her gaze and tighten her grasp. "Yes Musa?"

"I...I want you to leave." Flora sat up suddenly.

"What!"

"I saw a door before," Musa replied. "It's in the back corner of the room, past the bookcases. I'm sure you could just open it and leave."

"No!" Flora yelled. "No I am not leaving you!"

"Flora!"

"No!" Flora yelled again, placing her hands around Musa's neck. "No, no, no, no, I am not going to just leave you lying in here by yourself."

"Flora..." Musa's breathing hitched as if she was holding her breath. "I don't...w-want y-you t-to see me d-die."

"You are not going to die!" Flora yelled, partially glad that Musa couldn't see the tears that now streamed from her eyes. "Musa...you..."

"It's okay," Musa breathed, her lungs now gasping for breath, the fourth stage had just begun. "I... I'm going to be okay."

"Not happening Muse," Flora replied, placing her forehead onto her friends and holding it there as silent tears dripped onto the coble stone floor tickling her face as they went. "I am not going to let that happen."

"Thank you, Flora." Her breath released, her words slowly slurring into the air as her head became limp. "Musa? Musa no stay with me! Come on open your eyes!"

Layla lay in the sand looking to the sun shining above, almost laughing at her misery. She closed her eyes and heard Flora suddenly screaming making her eyes look at the screen. Tecna, Bloom and Stella all did the same when suddenly they heard something. It sounded like a loud explosion and made all of the girls turn their heads to try and find where the sound came from. "What was that?" Bloom asked.

Meanwhile Leon and the witches were enjoying the spectacle, each of them enjoying the look on the girl's faces as they reached a dead end and now Musa's stage four progression. It was something to behold alright, a moment that none of them would ever forget, and, possibly the best part of it all, was having absolutely no one to stop them.

Or at least they thought there wasn't.

The back wall of their small lair suddenly burst open, sending bricks from their confines and knocking the witches to the floor. Leon stood to his feet, looking through the haze, trying to identify the intruder...intruders? Standing at the door were four people; Faragonda, Griffin, Saladin and Coda Torta.

Faragonda, Griffin and Saladin all reacted quickly, shooting a convergence spell at the surprised dark lord making him fly across the room where he fell unconscious for the moment. Dashing into the room Faragonda looked to the series of portal's he had set up, each one showing a different girl. Saladin saw where the boys were being held and cast a spell at the portal. All of the teachers watched as the end pointed back to where they came from. "Do you need us?"

"We'll be fine Saladin go any find your students. Griffin and I can handle this." Faragonda explained making the two Red Fountain teachers move through the hallways with his staff guiding their way.

Faragonda looked to the screens, each one showing a kind of illusion spell. Then she saw Musa lying on the cold floor with Flora by her side, begging her to stay awake, begging her not to die. Her eyes looked to the clock, just two hours were left. "It's worse than I thought," she sighed before walking to Leon and lifting him up by the collar of his shirt and slapping him hard across the face with her hand making his eyes open. "What spell did you cast on Musa?" She demanded but all he did was slowly smile.

"You really think that I'd give the spell to you, after all your students have been through to try and get it. Tisk, tisk Faragonda, I think you've lost your touch."

"Tell me!" She yelled again, Griffin casting a spell on each of the portals, sending their coordinates to Saladin and Coda Torta, hoping they would find them in time.

"And what if I don't?"

"I'll kill you myself." Her eyes were fixed, gazing into his deep red ones without any sign of fear. Taking her hands into his he released her grip. "You know it's not going to happen right." His eyes flickered to the clock shown on one portal before he smiled and turned his attention forwards. Faragonda and Griffin now had their hands aiming forwards, ready to blast him into oblivion.

"You can leave," he spoke simply before hitting both teachers with a blast from each hand, sending them flying into the wall he had just come from. "Take your students and leave. I have no use for them anymore." Neither woman moved. "Look, it doesn't matter what you try to do to me here Musa is still going to die. Now I have given you a choice. Take your students and leave while they still can or have them die too. What's your choice?" The two witches looked to each other, breathing deeply. Mrs Faragonda turned to Griffin, her eyes begging for advice.

"Get the students outside and transport them back to Alfea." She spoke softly before standing to her feet. "I'll get the Hex."

Layla sat in the sandy ground; he hadn't had a drop of water for the last 3 days and was so thirsty that her Winx couldn't possibly work if it wanted to. Her eyes were tired, her body ached and she knew that even if Leon appeared before her right now there would be little she could do to help. She looked to the screen just one hour left to go on the clock, one hour until their lives would change forever.

Flora was tired but her eyes were kept on Musa, watching her chests quick and staggered breathing she prayed every minute that it would continue and that she would be okay. But she knew time was running out when Musa's hand slowly motioned towards her making Flora take it into her grasp and hold it against her face. They had talked about the virus being an enemy that could be defeated but it was obviously not going to be that simple.

Bloom felt even colder now, she could have sworn that she had caught a cold, the build up of fluid in her nose and the odd cough that released from her sore throat being a good indication. But she still sat, looking at Musa and Flora, it was the only thing they could do...until.

Head witch Griffin shot a green beam of magic straight at Leon making the illusion spell he had cast on all of the girls rooms suddenly disappear before Leon sent his own red magical attack right back at her. The Head witch flew backwards, hitting the wall with a bang before he held her neck in one of his hands. "You have no idea what you're up against witch. Nothing you can do is going to save the magical dimension from what I have planned."

"Which is," Griffin asked, trying to claw his hands from around her neck.

"Complete annihilation with only the best dark lords, witches and wizards at my side. But I'm afraid little witch, you are not one of them." His hands glowed red as her vision faded into nothing.

The desert sand, technology built world, icy cold cavern and darkness filled hall all disappeared leaving the girls inside small six-by-six meter brick cells; immediately all the girls began checking for an exit when Bloom heard it again. "Hello! HELP I'M IN HERE!"

"Bloom!" Yelled the magical voice of Sky from beyond the brickwork.

"Sky!"

"Don't worry we're going to get you out! Stand away from the wall!" Bloom followed instructions as a beam of light began drawing it's way around to create a door, the bricks fell and with a cough Bloom looked up to a worse for wear sky. He had dark circles under his eyes, his heroes' uniform had been ripped from the crash and the gash on his arm wasn't looking much better. Stepping inside he took Bloom into his arms, her shoulders quivering and lips tinged with Blue.

As they exited she heard a scream from Stella down the hallway before Layla walked with Nabu beside them, a large bottle of water in her hand. Tecna and Timmy were the last ones out and, apart from the shire devastation reflected in her eyes, she seemed okay.

It seemed that all things considered they were okay. But then they had realized that they were missing two members of their group. Bloom looked around, her body beginning to warm with Sky's. "Where's Musa and Flora?" she asked. Saladin's staff pointed them in the right direction and with Helia and Riven leading the pack they all rushed down corridor after corridor, searching for their lost friends. After five minutes of endless caverns and twists and turns they stopped at a door. It's wooden surface daring them to enter. Helia placed his hand on the handle, worried about what he would find on the other side but Riven didn't care. He barged straight through and into the room and knelt down next to Musa. "Musa?"

Her eyes slowly opened but tears were the only thing that escaped them. She couldn't see him. Her love had finally come to rescue her and she couldn't even see his face. "Riven?" she sighed, so softly that they almost missed it. "It's okay, we're going home," he explained, picking up the weakened fairy into his arms and holding her tight.

Helia held onto a sobbing Flora as the weak and tired group started running through the halls again. Saladin led the way until they passed the front doors and were met with the heat of the day shining on their heads. It was a welcoming sight to see the blue sky, the green grass, and the homes and to breathe fresh air but the other thing they saw scared them all. Faragonda held a wounded Griffin in her arms, looking to the terrified group. "Did she get it?" Saladin questioned but Mrs F just shook her head slowly from side to side before she stood and held her hands high into the air.

"Transportus-back-homus."

AN: Next chapter will be up in a few days time. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think.