Chapter 17: Denouement

"What?!" I almost blurt in unison with the other Faeries but manage to hold my tongue and just listen.

"Muta?" says Musa, "but I've heard that name before. Remember, Stella, when we first came to Alfea for a pre-registration orientation to Alfea College with our parents? That is the first time the two of us met and became friends. Tecna and Flora were also there but we hadn't met each other yet. Anyway, while our parents were attending some parents and professors only meeting, the rest of us were taken by Miss Grizelda and some other chaperones on a shopping spree in Magix. You just had to see what was in one of those shops with the scarlet red and black dresses in the window so we strayed away from our group, entered the shop, and found ourselves on the Witch side of Magix and in one of their dress shops."

"What?" says Grizelda. "Stella, Musa, this is the first I've heard of this."

"Sorry, Miss G.," stammers Stella, "but I knew that you would be angry if you knew and by the time I got up the nerve to tell you, both Musa and I were on our way back to our home worlds."

"Very well," says Grizelda somewhat crossly, "what happened then?"

"Anyway," continues Musa, "we rush out of there and then find ourselves in front of the Hex Café."

"I know that dress shop now and you were ten blocks from it going in the wrong direction and heading towards Witch Central in Magix," gasps Miss Faragonda.

"We get there," says Stella, picking up the story, "when, suddenly, some raven-haired witch with a high ponytail comes flying out of the Hex Café, her eyes fixed mostly on Musa, and jabbering away in some crazy gibberish like a madwoman. We both took to the air, split up, and managed to escape to the Faerie side of Magix.

"Well, that still is not quite the truth of it all either," says Musa. "Stella, you escaped only because she was not interested in you, but in me, and I escaped only because she let me go. The truth is, that because I didn't yet know my way around Magix, she herded me into a cul-de-sac and through her was the only way out. She lands in front of me and I could see that besides the raven hair in the high ponytail, she had dark brown eyes and skin a somewhat lighter shade than Flora's and she was wearing a skintight outfit like Tecna's but just really witchy and really, really tough. She was speaking to me in some melodic language I couldn't understand and looking at me as though she were in love with me. It was way beyond freaky! She kept going on and the only things I came to realize were that her name was 'Isha' and the other name 'Muta' which she kept calling me. Occasionally, she would put her fingers to her temples and make a face as if she was suffering from a severe headache and then looking puzzled. Finally, I ask her what is it she wants in what little Witchspeak I know. She replied in Witchspeak that was terrible as if she were just learning it. She realizes that she is not getting through to me and tries Alfean Standard which is also dreadful with Oh's and Ah's in the wrong places as well as stress on the wrong syllables. She continues to call me 'Muta' until I shout at her that it is 'Mu-sa' not 'Mu-ta'. I guess it was then that she finally came to realize that I was not whom she thought I was and softly asks, 'Can we be friends, Musa?' I told her that there was no way I would be the friend of some wack witch and to let me by which she did. She points towards the second sun and says, 'You have to fly that way,' in broken Alfean. I walk past her and could see that she was crying. I never knew that witches cried. But she was with the look of one whose's heart was broken and that my words had dealt her a hard, emotional blow... but I didn't stick around to find out anything more."

I feel tears coming to my eyes recalling that day and I turn my back to Alysoun, Stormy and the others so they wouldn't see them trickling down my cheeks. "Yes, you broke my heart that day, Musa, and again when you sided with Bloom against me during the time when I thought Bloom had stolen my sliver of the Dragon Fire. But, still I cared for you. Who do you think was watching your back during all those conflicts, Musa? Haven't you ever wondered how it was you had so many narrow escapes and why it was I never used offensive magic against you but only defensive magic to shield myself from your attacks?"

"Are you saying, Flora," asks Bloom, "that Icy has bonded with a Faerie named Muta? Perhaps the dark-haired Witch who chased Musa that day was also Icy. "Isha" sounds to me like "Icy" said with a thick accent."

"That was what I was about to ask too," adds Tecna, "and the manner of dress and hairstyle is very much Icy's former trademark."

"Professor Wizgiz taught us how to change our hair colour during his very first lecture to us and, although it took me a week to learn how to do it, (and Stella giggles), I did do it," recalls Bloom. "Witches can do the same too, I'm sure, and if hair why not eyes and skin colour? It seems to me that the dark-haired Witch was Icy and Musa happens to look like another Faerie she once knew named Muta. I think maybe Icy really has bonded with a Faerie in much the same way we have bonded with our Pixies. There is nothing to say that it cannot happen."

"It seems to be a great deal more than mere bonding of a Witch with a Faerie," picks up Flora, "but more like the elements of a Witch and those of a Faerie are like two kinds of metal that have be alloyed to produce yet another. It is like when you mix gold and copper to get red gold or copper and zinc to get brass. What now occupies Icy's body has the spirit of a completely new kind of creature."

This has even me scratching my head and looking as confused as the other Faeries and everyone else except for Stormy who doesn't seem to be paying any attention to the conversation but has her attention fixed on Flora. Stormy, seeing that her favourite Faerie is becoming more and more distressed and frustrated trying to explain our new natures to her comrades, leaves my side and starts marching purposely towards the circle of Faeries. I move to stop her and bring her back but then Alysoun stops me and chirps quietly into my ear, "Let her go. I think she is about to perform some magic of her own."

"Pretty Faerie needs huggies?" she asks Flora with a frown creasing her woman-child's forehead, her arms held open, and her eyes bright with soft blue light. Flora takes Stormy into her arms and folds her Enchantix wings about her like a mother bird protecting her chick while Musa's expression turns into an angry, outraged snarl.

"Musa!" shouts Layla, no longer able to contain her anger. "You shame us! How dare you think evil against this child! Yes, I heard you and Stella talking."

"This child, as you call her," shouts Musa in return, "is no less than an evil witch who attacked me and my dad. She still owes me pay-back, big time. And so do those other witches, Icy and Darcy."

"You have received your pay-back from all of us, Musa," I'm thinking. "I have never carried out a personal attack against you. It was Darcy and Stormy who were attacking you all this time. The personal attacks you thought were from me were really from Darcy disguised as me. The two of them came to realize very early on that I held some special feelings for you, so, when they were angry with me, they kept hitting on you to try to get back at me. I knew this was going on but I let it be because you are so much like Muta that I knew that you were tough enough to take it and to dish it out too. For if Muta ever taught me anything about Faeries it was that they are not wimps. But when Stormy attacked your father, that was crossing the line, and I decided this had to stop. I got word of what Stormy had done even before she got back to Cloud Tower. When she showed up, I was waiting for her and I kicked her sorry butt four times around the perimeter of Cloud Tower: once for messing with my Faerie, twice for picking on an old man, who had no means of defending himself, and for not having the guts to face me who was the real source of her anger, a third time for allowing you to beat her, and, a fourth time because I was fuming about the first three things, for good Witch form, and because I could. Then I got both Stormy and Darcy in one place, knocked both their heads together, and slapped them silly, and told them point-blank that if they dared to pull any more such stunts – they would not live to rue the day. And luckily for them, no cats, black or otherwise, crossed my path that day for I would have probably kicked them too. And the pay-back you extracted from me, if you wish to see it so, is the pain you put in my heart the day you spurned my offer of friendship."

"Is being reduced to a woman-child not cruel and unusual punishment enough for you?" asks Layla of Musa. "She is as Flora says: an innocent child with nothing more on her mind than eating, sleeping, and playing with her friends. The woman-child before you is no longer 'Stormy' but 'Leffi' and, even without wings and only one heart, she is far more a Faerie of Light than a Witch. Are you that vindictive, Musa, to want to punish a child for something her mother did years ago now? I thought not."

"Ouch!" I whisper to Alysoun whose Avian ears are also picking up on this. "I knew she had it in for Musa and Stella but I had no idea she was that ticked. She makes any pin-back from M'Trika sound like the mewing of a fluffy kitten," and Alysoun makes a short whistle of agreement in reply.

"Stella, you have no reason to stand there smirking either," says Layla, fixing her gaze upon the sunlight-haired Faerie. "You keep going on and on about how Icy trapped you, how Icy stole you Solaria ring how Icy did this to you and that to you. Newsflash for you, Stella. We all suffered at the hands of Icy and the Trix and Bloom even more so than you ever did yet she does not dwell on it all the time and allow it to fill her full of hate and anger. You amend you attitude now, Stella, before it turns you into someone as black-hearted and wicked as we accuse the Witches of being. And if you need some incentive to make that change, Stella, I promise you that the next time you start up on Icy and the Trix, then for your sake, (and shaking her fist at Stella), I will deal you a loving, sisterly, and royal princess-to-princess rap in the mouth – then you will have something to really gripe about!"

There is a pause as Layla looks around at all and even the two matriarchs are looking shocked and taken aback. "We all are very good at talking-the-talk," says Layla in calmer tones. "Oh, yes. We love to brag about how perfect we all are and how good we are, yet, when it comes to walking-the-walk we make a pitiful showing. It is time we put our Faerie pride and honour down where our collective mouths are and show all that we can walk-the-walk as well. And we can start with the Trix. The Trix are finished: Icy is no more, Stormy is no more and Darcy is locked up in Cloud Tower where she can do us no harm. How long are we going to keep kicking an enemy that is defeated and crawling on the ground? It is high time that we show them some magnanimity for we cannot pass up the chance to accept these new creatures and welcome them with open hearts and arms as our new Sisters. Do you not agree, Musa? Stella?" However, when the pair of them only stand there in silence with their eyes cast downward, Layla continues, "I will take that to mean 'yes'. What about you, Tecna?"

"It is the only logical way to go," replies Tecna.

"And you, Flora," says Layla, turning to the Faerie of Nature, "I know that you agree because, of all of us, your spirit is the gentlest and most peace-loving."

"I do," replies Flora shyly, "and thank you, Layla."

"Bloom? What do you say?" asks Layla.

Bloom hesitates for a moment and then, just as she is about to reply, Miss Griffin uses her authority as Headmistress of Cloud Tower to step into the circle of Faeries and announce, "Bloom, you shall be coming to Cloud Tower to receive training on using the Dragon Fire. You Faeries may have lost all your manuscripts on the Dragon Fire when the Ancestresses froze Sparx but we Witches have all of ours and Icy has made it her goal in life to read all of them and train herself to be the Witch Guardian of the Dragon Fire. She is now the only expert on the subject so she will be training you."

"This is true, Bloom," confirms Miss Faragonda. "You are on sabbatical leave from Alfea College for as long as it takes for you to complete your training at Cloud Tower. Afterwards, Icy will be spending time at Alfea College to learn of our ways and our kind of magic. Knowing Icy's reputation, she will be an excellent student and she may even achieve a new type of Enchantix."

"Whoa!" I'm thinking, as much taken by surprise as the Winx Club Faeries and Alysoun. "I wasn't aware that this was in the works but still I'll look upon my training at Alfea College as a challenge. And then I laugh to myself thinking how my presence at Alfea College as a student is going to tie knots in so many Faerie wings.

"There you go, Bloom," says Layla, smiling at the red-headed Faerie. "Training from the expert on the Dragon Fire. What more could you ask for?" and Bloom smiles while looking in my direction.

Layla breaks from the ring of Faeries and heads towards me but before she reaches me, a light glows about her, and she achieves Enchantix form just seconds before she takes my hand and kisses my temple. "I welcome you, my new Sister," she says softly into my ear.

«Thank you, Layla,» I tell her telepathically while kissing her temple in return. «You have restored my faith in Faeries. From now on and no matter what happens, I am your Witch. Let anyone dare harm you or those you love or speak evil of you or them and I will personally cut out their lying tongues, sever their right hands from their bodies and suffer them to look on as I cast them to the dogs to be devoured.»

«Spoken like a Witch, I guess,» replies Layla, smiling with her eyebrows slightly arched. «I think that is a bit harsh but I appreciate the sentiment behind it. Thank you. But how did you know, Isha, that I could hear you?»

«A guess,» I tell her honestly.

Then, I feel a hand taking my other hand and turn to see Flora standing beside me. Then Bloom takes Flora's other hand and Tecna takes Layla's other hand and finally Musa and Stella take hands to complete the circle. And, so we stand for a long time hand in hand in a circle looking like seven silver charms affixed to a silver bracelet.