Seven disgruntled fairies with sleep-tousled hair and groggy expressions slouched their way to the headmistress's office in the middle of the night. "What could be so important that my beautiful dream had to be interrupted?" Stella complained.

Instead of asking what her dream had been about like how she had once did, Bloom remained silent and continued walking. Her mind reeled. There had to be one reason only why Faragonda had called them all down to her office at such an ungodly hour; there was definitely news. And Bloom couldn't chase the gut feeling she was experiencing that it was bad news.

"Thank you for coming on such short notice, girls," the headmistress said, as they filed into the office. All of them were immediately awake, recognising the tone of worry in Faragonda's voice. She got to her feet as they stood before her desk, and began to pace, as she got straight to the point. "There's something going on in the Omega Dimension. The giant white serpent is awake, but it is out of control. It's freezing any intruders and smashing the ice prisons it created and thus releasing the prisoners."

"The white serpent?" Bloom gasped. "But it is the very essence of the Omega Dimension!"

Faragonda nodded. "The Specialists are there right now, and judging from their previous message, they're having a hard time. The prisoners have gone wild from their long years of living in exile and are very aggressive. Codatorta believes the white serpent is under some sort of spell, a hypnotizing one, but it is quite powerful and if the poor creature is under it for too long, it might, eventually, die."

This elicited a collective gasp from the seven fairies. "It can't die!" Bloom responded, eyes wide. "If it does, the Omega Dimension will cease to exist! And the magical universe will spiral out of balance!" Her eyebrows furrowed into a deep frown. "This has to be Valtor's work. Or that child he created."

"We do not know for sure," Faragonda said. "But for now, I am sincerely sorry, but you will not be able to get any more sleep tonight. You're going to the Omega Dimension to try to stop the serpent and the spell and get the prisoners back where they belong." She faced the youngest fairy. "You will go, too, Roxy. We'll need all seven of you down there. Good luck."

#

Icy and Stormy crouched behind a large block of ice, teeth gritted, hands balled into fists. The hammering of their hearts was so loud they were almost sure the white serpent could hear them. Darcy lay at their feet, looking unconscious, groans escaping her lips. Icy couldn't help feeling a little bad. It was true Darcy would find it hard hypnotizing a beast as powerful as the white serpent, but Icy had pushed her, using Aidan as a tool. Darcy had drained her energy, though the hypnotizing spell worked. The only difference being that Darcy was not in control of it. Which meant it would attack anyone and everyone, including the Trix.

"Can't we just destroy it already?" Stormy grumbled through her teeth. "I can't stand to keep sitting here while it..."

"Well, I'm open to ideas," Icy snapped, cutting her sister off. "Anyway, we did what we were told. It's wreaking havoc here. Wasn't that what Aidan wanted?"

Just then, in the midst of all its fury, the white serpent paused, tensed and seemed to be listening hard. Only Icy realised this change, as Stormy was mumbling profanities. The witch of ice peered over the top of the ice block to see the white serpent hurtling off towards another part of the Omega Dimension, its fury returning.

"It's gone!" she exclaimed softly. Stormy looked up, surprised. Icy cast quick glances around. The prisoners had fled, and they were alone in that part of the godforsaken dimension. "I think someone or something has just entered the place."

"Shouldn't we go?" Stormy asked, as Darcy began to stir.

Icy tried to conjure a portal, but nothing happened. She tried again and again, but still no portal materialised. "Argh!" she growled, her ire rising. "What's wrong?"

"Does this mean we won't be able to get out?" Stormy asked, in a small voice.

Icy looked up ahead at the icy tundra.

#

Aidan smiled widely, allowing himself to bask in his latest triumph. He remembered those days when he was only a boy, his father never praised any of his achievements. Time and time again he would receive that same cold stare. It was as though Valtor was not interested in seeing Aidan develop into a full-fledged wizard. The only ones who offered advice, praise and encouragement were the three Ancestral Witches. However, Aidan still grew up to be someone who expected only the best from himself.

The Winx girls were a huge hindrance. They were also a threat to his success and therefore had to be eliminated. He almost laughed at the thought that Faragonda had played a part in that, sending the girls to the dimension. All Aidan had to do was perform a powerful spell he had long mastered, one that would shut down the portal system of the Omega Dimension. The Winx were trapped. Layla would learn from the Specialists that 'Nabu' wasn't feeling well, and therefore could not join them on the mission. She would worry, but she would believe it. The Winx, however, would start to panic; and well, that was good. Beasts like the white serpent could somehow smell fear. It would locate them easily enough. Now he could carry on with his plan.

As he sat himself down on a chair in Nabu's chambers in Redfountain, he remembered something. The Trix. They were trapped there, too. Oh well. With a nonchalant shrug, he convinced himself that great triumphs brought great sacrifices.

But then a feeling of guilt began to envelop him.

Sorry for the late chapter!

By the way, if you think it strange that Aidan feels guilty when he's supposed to evil and all, that's because he's more human than Valtor.