Chapter 15: Meeting at the Blue Gazebo, Part 1

The two intervening days between my call to Tecna and our meeting seem to take forever to pass. I begin to fret that perhaps she will not show or that I am setting up Darcy, Stormy and myself for an ambush. There is still a lot of animosity that exists against us, the Trix, among the six Winx Club Faeries. I was even surprised when Tecna agreed to our meeting. Finally, when the day arrives, we all wake up early to get breakfast and then we take Stormy to the bath and scrub her and then Darcy and I scrub each other to within an inch of our lives. At midday, we have a light lunch (for it is not good to fly on a heavy stomach) and get Stormy and ourselves dressed.

I am wearing a sky-blue, knee-length dress with gold stitching about the hemlines of the sleeves which end at the elbow, the neckline and the bottom. I have on a pair of matching blue, low-heeled shoes also with a simple gold design stitched into them. I have put on the minimum of pale-pink foundation, a touch of natural coloured lipstick and my favourite amethyst highlighter along the edges of my ears from the tip of the tops to just short of the earlobes. I am thinking of jewellery but pass on my Gloomix talisman as being too much of a reminder of bad times. The silver etched dragon gorget with the inlaid bits of red sapphire for its eyes and the flames issuing out of its mouth I also pass on figuring that Bloom would most likely misconstrue its intent. I finally settle on a gold mesh gorget with a single large blue ice diamond in the centre and a matching pair of pendant blue ice diamond earrings mounted in gold.

Darcy is wearing a faun-coloured, pleated, knee-length Greek goddess style dress with royal-blue beadwork. As I am, her face is made up with the minimum of medium-pale foundation, a touch of lipstick and some natural coloured blush along the lines of her cheekbones. Her waist-length, warm brown and amber streaked hair she has tied back with a barrette which, owing to a generous donation from Alysoun, features two large indigo-blue flight feathers set in an inverted "V" mounted in silver. On her ears she is wearing a pair of silver earrings which, again thanks to Alysoun, terminate in a small fan made up of multicoloured down feathers. On her feet are sandals with greaves up to her knees.

When it comes to dressing Stormy, I put her into a simple dark mauve dress – dark mauve being Stormy's favourite colour and suiting her well – with silver trim. The hemline of her dress comes down to her knees and the modest yoke is above the bust line but still low enough to show her Whisperian crystal which is embedded into her skin just below her collarbone. The sleeves are short and puffy and the low-heeled shoes she has on match the colour of her dress. I have loaned her my red sash with the silver starfield which I have tied about her waist. Her now straight, blue-black hair I have coiffed so it is longish and shaped down the back of her neck and along the sides it covers part of her cheeks curling slightly under her chin. Her bangs I have trimmed to mid-forehead and, overall, the style is comely without making her look too much like that irritating brat, Chimera. I go to make up her face but stop because after her bath, the glow about her sweet woman-child's face is so radiant as to be angelic, and, unlike Darcy and I, her cheeks possess a natural blush and her lips are also naturally red. Add to this the soft blue lights in her eyes and she is breathtaking

"I guess we are ready," I say to Darcy and she nods.

Stormy has regained her ability to fly but still needs to be guided so Darcy and I take one of her hands each as we lift off from our balcony. We soon pass a tall conifer which has become our reference point and start a countdown. "Five... four... three... two... one...." closing my eyes. "Zero!" I feel a tingling as I hit the barrier and open my eyes expecting to find the three of us back at our apartment but instead I find that I'm outside the barrier.

"We made it, Darcy!" I cry. "Darcy? Darcy!" I call but she is nowhere to be seen but above me is a very surprised Alysoun and beside me is an even more so surprised Miss Griffin.

"What‽ What am I doing here‽" demands Miss Griffin.

"It looks like we are all destined to pay some Faeries a visit," I tell her, "specifically to have that cyborg Faerie, Tecna, assess Stormy's condition."

Miss Griffin floats in front of me with a stern, "Now just wait one minute here!" expression on her face but in her mind she must be doing some analysis of the situation. "Very well," she says aloud. "It would seem that this meeting with Tecna has been preordained. Carry on."

"Look for a blue gazebo in the middle of a park," I shout to Alysoun.

"Kirrrr Reeee!" screams Alysoun as she wings past us.

Alysoun is enjoying herself thoroughly as we make our way towards Alfea College. The Avian-Witch healer is a natural flier whose predator bird wings propel her swiftly and gracefully through the air. She is giving us a live demonstration of her aerial prowess by soaring, diving, circling, swooping to within inches of our heads and barrel rolling. "Crazy feathered showoff!" I yell good-naturedly to her as she swoops by us. "Kirrrr Reeee!" she replies as she barrel rolls once more as she takes the lead guiding us to Alfea College.

I would have never found the meeting place without Alysoun's help. Firstly, my conversation with Tecna was cut short before she could give me an exact location, and – as it turns out – there are a dozen or so parks along the perimeter of Alfea College. Secondly, on the ground, the gazebo is in the centre of a clearing but, from the air, it is partly obscured by the leafy boughs of several large trees nearby. It is on our second pass that Alysoun's eagle eyes catch sight of the gazebo and a ring of eight figures beside it. "Kiii-kikiii-kiiii Riii!" screams Alysoun from above which is the traditional Avian-Witch greeting and also a heads-up to those on the ground that someone is about to land and then she descends bull's-eyeing the centre of the Faerie ring.

The Faeries were expecting Darcy, Stormy and me to show and possibly Miss Griffin but Alysoun's surprise landing must have thrown a very large spanner into the works of any plans – if such plans had been made – for an ambush. To us Witches, Alysoun is our gentle, kind and beloved healer but to the Faeries, who do not know this, she looks too much like a hungry bird of prey armed with wicked talons on her hands and feet, a slashing, hooked beak, and the look of one who is deciding on which of these delicious buggy-wugs she will have first for her dinner. I float in with Stormy settling beside Alysoun and seeing the expressions on the Faeries and before Miss Griffin has landed to overhear or stop me I whisper loudly to Alysoun in Witchspeak, "Don't bother with them, Alysoun. They're squishy, taste horrid, and their fine bones will get lodged in your throat."

"Most likely so," chirps Alysoun with a trill of Avian laughter.

Stormy, who has not been outside of Cloud Tower since her ordeal in the arboretum, is beginning to panic being out in the open and surrounded by strangers. She has her arms about me in a bear hug and is hiding her face in my shoulder. "Easy, Stormy," I gasp, trying to loosen her hold on me. "These are Faeries," I whisper to her in Witchspeak, " just like your playmate, Wesle, only larger." I get her to release her grasp and turn around to face the Faeries but holding tightly to my hand. I notice that all the Faeries are in flight mode with their wings unfurled including, and much to my surprise, Miss Faragonda's which are typical butterfly shaped, white and with gold scrolling. There are the six Faeries who make up the Winx Club and lastly a dour middle-aged Faerie we only know as Grizelda whose dragonfly style wings are a somber brown colour which seems to match her personality. All are wearing dresses with the exception of Tecna who is wearing her mauve, skintight outfit with the comet-shaped headgear. About her waist is a utility belt bristling with gadgets and gizmos and she is definitely prepared to set up shop for business.

Everyone seems to be standing on ceremony but not knowing what to do or say next. I take the initiative that Alysoun has given us to introduce her to the Faeries. I reintroduce Stormy to the group as both "Stormy" and "Leffi" to which Stella, the blonde sunshine Faerie, reacts, upon realizing the Alfean interpretation of Stormy's new name as "Faerie of Light", by suppressing a giggle behind her hand and ribbing Musa with her elbow who is also smirking. All eyes are on Alysoun, now that I have calmed their initial fears of her by introducing her as our healer. Stella gives Alysoun the cold once-over and then looks back at me with an expression that reads: "Whom do you think you're fooling, Icy‽ If this bird-thing's a healer then I will swallow my Solaria ring after dunking it in skunk oil! She's just your muscle you've brought along in case there's a fight," and Musa's expression reads much the same.

I next briefly state our business here. Miss Faragonda gives Tecna the go-ahead and she steps forward. "I can do the scans for you, as I told you before," says Tecna, "but your healer here is going to have to do the analysis of the results."

Alysoun chirps and warbles a series of notes directed at Tecna which, although what she says is in Alfean Standard, it is so disguised by her alto recorder-like voice and strong Avian accent that Tecna can't make it out so I have to interpret: "She is asking if you have a palm computer and if so set it up for acoustic data receive. She is going to send you the data from her sound probes of Stormy as a guide for your scans. You have all better block you ears before she starts. This is going to be loud."

"Yes, I have one here. It will take me only a minute to set up," replies Tecna. And then looking around and seeing that none of her fellow Faeries are moving to cover their ears she says to them in High Alfean, "Do as Icy says and cover your ears unless you want to become stone deaf for a week," then everyone moves quickly to comply.

"Set," announces Tecna after a moment. I place Stormy's hands over her ears and tell her not to remove them until I say. I block my own and, seeing that everyone is ready, I give Alysoun the go-ahead. Alysoun opens her beak-like mouth and the shriek she issues is enough to send every living soul for a mile or more scrambling for their lives. This is followed with about three minutes of whining and whistling that although all have covered their ears everyone is reacting to – especially Musa who looks to be in absolute agony.

Alysoun ends her broadcast with three short chirps. Tecna's palm computer boops and beeps a few times and then announces in an authoritarian voice in Witchspeak, "Data transmission complete," which is shortly followed by a softer voice speaking High Alfean, "Assembling data." Within a minute, there is a three-dimensional depiction of Stormy projected above Tecna's palm computer showing her internals but with black hollows about her head and other parts.

Tecna is looking at the projection in awe with her mouth agape and her eyes about to pop out of her skull. "Impossible!" she gasps.