Hello, everyone. As we approach the Incident, more and more twists will grow. Get your seatbelts on!

Previously on AUP…

Musa turned towards Chen. "What exactly is happening in Melody?"

"The portal to Omega has been broken open," Chen said urgently. "Melodian authorities are trying their hardest to contain it, as well as minimize civilian damage, but we do not know what the situation is as of now. And no one knows why or how it happened."

"Oh, no," gasped Musa. "That… that's horrible. What are we going to do?"

"Just stay put," Chen said. "We're doing our absolute best to have the situation under control."

-o-o-o-

"The whole Omega thing's taken interrealm media attention," Musa answered, "The news-crews are tryin' ta enter, but the Melodian government has banned them. Even UR Defense forces have been banned from entry. The king's got real 'tude, that's for sure. I spoke ta Galatea, and even she doesn't know why things are like this."

-o-o-o-

"This letter is from King Jun," Musa gasped. "Melody is gonna be destroyed by the portal!"

"When Valtor used his Dragon Fire to tear it open, it created a massive imbalance in energy," Faragonda explained, sounding grave. "The icy energy of Omega and sonic energy of Melody are at a collide. In forty-eight hours, the portal will explode. You must do everything in your power to save the realm. I truly believe you are the only people who can do anything about it, if at all."

"I don't understand," Flora frowned. "Why do you think we're going to be able to fix this? If the best sages in the world couldn't, how can we?"

CHAPTER 21: DEFENDING MELODY

The flight to Melody was miserable. Flora sat back, wishing Tecna was here. She should be the one steering our flight... But she knew Faragonda had been right to make her stay back. She just wasn't well enough to come.

"I can detect the sonic energy of this realm beginning to self-destruct," said Musa, sounding near tears. "This entire realm is going to implode on itself unless we can do something."

"Look over there," said Stella, pointing. "All of the traffic in this realm is going out!"

So it was. In fact, they were the only people attempting to enter the realm. Musa looked anxiously around and asked, "Where's the UR forces?"

"They've given up," said Layla flatly, turning the ship away from a cloud. "They're only here to aid people out. We're the UR forces now."

Flora didn't like the sound of that. Oh, Linphèana... Staring down, she voiced her fears. "What if we're too late?"

"Oh there you go, being a pessimist!" Stella shot at her. "It wasn't enough that you had to lie to us, was it? Do you have to ruin our chances of saving the realm before we even start?"

"Yeah," added Bloom. "Do you want this realm to be destroyed?"

"No," said Flora, feeling near tears. How could they even say that? Musa glared at her.

"Well then, keep your stupid opinions to yourself!"

After that, Flora didn't even bother to open her mouth. It wasn't hard; no one was even speaking to her, anyways. Though no one else wanted to say it, least of all Musa, she could tell they were just as scared as she was. She didn't want to start another squabble, not when things were so tense. We have to save the realm. I can feel sorry for myself later.

"Get ready!" Layla shouted from the helm. "It's going to be a rough ride down!"

The girls screamed as wind battered the ship, virulently opposing its entrance into the realm. Staring out the window, Flora saw a funnel of energy over a Melodian island, bursting out-of-control. Oh my… She put a hand to her mouth.

The funnel was like that of a tornado. It seemed to split the very sky apart, fueling dark clouds and violent thunderstorms. Lightning swarmed out and slammed into the sky. No wonder there's so much wind around here. From the looks on the others' faces, they were just as horrified as she was. She lowered her head, unable to bear looking a second longer.

They flew towards the Melodian palace. What had once been a thriving cultural center was now a dead, arid desert. The city of Symphonia was completely deserted.

"Oh no," whispered Musa, a hand to her mouth. "There's nothing here." Her eyes began to water.

"Musa," began Layla, placing a hand on her shoulder, but Musa shook it off.

"There used to be flags of all colors and people all over the streets, vendors in the bazaar and the smell of spice everywhere – and now there's nothing. And there's no music, either. And the sight of that portal" – She buried her face in her hands. "This – this is stuff from a horror movie. This has always been my worst nightmare."

"Well, we're not going to let that happen," said Layla, squeezing her hand comfortingly. "Melody will thrive again."

The ship landed. Layla pressed a control and opened the latch of the main compartment. "Let's go."

Flora was about to follow them when she saw a girl flying out of their ship. A girl wearing a glittering purple suit and neon green wings – she gasped in horror, and shouted out. "Tecna!"

"What?" Bloom was by her side. "Where?"

The girl was standing on the side of the street, staring at them defiantly. Musa ran out of the ship, with the other girls following her. "What's going on?" she demanded.

"I snuck out," Tecna said. Her old spirit was back, but it was replaced with something much more dangerous, Flora noted with horror – dangerous in the sense that it was illogical. Oh, Tecna... "I hid in the cargo and flew with you the entire time. Maybe you should've thought of that before you left me behind." She crossed her arms.

"Well, you can't be here," Musa declared. "It's too dangerous."

"It is not," Tecna snarled, and Flora stared at her fierce eyes. She looks like a caged animal! I've never seen her like this before!

"It's my realm!" Musa shouted. "I would've been the princess had my dad not given up his crown! So I say who can come and who can't, and I say you can't!"

"Don't be such an idiot, Musa," Tecna retorted. "You're not leaving me behind" –

"Are we going to waste our time arguing or get on with it?" Bloom suddenly asked. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not letting this realm suffer the same fate as Domino! We have to move on!"

"Agreed!" Stella said. "Let's get to the palace and" –

The wind threw them off their feet, and the girls fell to the pavement. Flora gasped as she hit the concrete, tasting blood in her mouth. Shakily, she pulled herself to her feet, whirling around. Someone's behind us… She gasped as soon as she saw who it was.

King Jun and Queen Li of Melody stood in front of them, their arms crossed. They were glaring at the girls.

"Lady Musa," said the queen coldly. "What is the meaning of this?"

Musa frowned nervously. "Um… hi, Your Majesty. We were sent by Ms. Faragonda to help defend the realm."

"You girls are to leave immediately," King Jun answered. "Do not even hope to think you can do anything. The entire army is gone, and only the palace guards remain. We waited here until we were sure all of our citizens complied with the evacuation orders; we are only just heading out now. As of now, the realm of Melody no longer exists."

"Don't say that!" Musa snarled. "We are not giving up! I'm not leaving our realm!"

"So be it." King Jun turned towards his guards, who were behind him. "Guards, arrest these girls and make sure they get out of this realm!"

The guards ran towards them, spears pointed. Bloom yelped in alarm, and jumped out of the way.

"Let's book it!" Musa yelled, transforming. The girls flew away, the guards running behind.

"I think we're gonna have to use my scepter to escape from these guys!" Stella grabbed her ring.

"Wait!" Layla stopped her. "Don't you remember that transporting spell we learned in Enchantix class?"

Flora remembered. All Enchantix fairies had the power to teleport themselves, provided they were transporting within the same planet and going between areas that weren't non-transportable. Only extremely learned magical-beings, such as Valtor, had the power to transport between entire realms.

"We're gonna head to that rock-formation over there." She pointed to the sea. "You ready?"

"Ready," Musa said. Flora grabbed Tecna's hand and Stella grabbed Bloom's.

"Transportus!" they yelled. A spear slammed into the spot where they'd been just as they disappeared, morphing into a white light.

They appeared behind the rock, panting. The sea was ahead of them, its waves rising higher than Flora had ever seen. Musa dusted herself and turned towards the other girls.

"Okay," she said, her voice shaking. "So let's go towards the portal."

"But how are we going to close the portal?" Bloom asked. "Don't we need a plan?"

Musa growled, and Flora could tell how frustrated she was. "Well" – Suddenly her eyes lit up.

"I know!" she said. "Teboc the Wise lives in one of these caves. He's one of the men who created the portal, the only one still alive. Galatea said he's on the evacuation-order list, which means he's still here. He's the only one who can help us!"

"Perfect," said Bloom. "Let's go find him and" –

The ground below them began to shake. The girls screamed as the sea churned below them, a wave nearly hitting Stella and pulling her into the water. Five mermaids flew out of the sea, their eyes glinting.

Flora stared at them in horror. Oh no... Valtor must have done the same thing to the mermaids here as he did on Andros! The mermaids advanced on them, their eyes glittering.

"On second thought, you two go!" Musa yelled, pointing to Tecna and Bloom. "The Enchantix Squad can handle this. Come on!" She grabbed Layla and Stella's hands.

Flora followed them, grabbing her pouch from her neck. Let's free them... But no matter how close she tried to get to them, the mermaids darted away. A spell slammed out of one of the mermaid's tridents, and hit her to the ground.

No! thought Flora desperately. I don't want to hurt them, but we can't let them stop us! She flew towards the mermaid, who roared again, flying to strike Musa –

And was hit by a stroke of a sword. The mermaid collapsed, falling into the ground.

Musa turned around, and gasped. "Your Majesty!"

The queen was standing with a sword. Behind her was a group of guards, who ran to immobilize the mermaids. The mermaids snarled as they were hit, trying to escape but failing.

"Thanks, Your Majesty," said Musa, at a loss for words. "You saved me."

"No, it was you who saved me," the queen answered, smiling. "Because of you, I now know not to give up hope, that we can do this together. While my husband oversees the evacuation orders, I will remain here, fighting for Melody with my last breath." She nodded to the mermaids. "Can we dust them and turn them back?"

"We're on it!" Stella flew into the air, grabbing her fairy-dust. Flora and the others followed her, each girl taking a mermaid. Flora sprinkled her green dust over one's head, and Queen Li sprinkled lilac dust over another.

She could see Stella's yellow dust, Musa's pink dust, and Layla's purple dust shining, creating a beautiful rainbow together. They converged their magic together... A flash of self-pity came over her as the mermaid stared at her like she was a goddess.

"Thank you," she breathed. "You saved me."

"Get into a ship and leave," Queen Li ordered. "A precautionary measure only," she said at the look on Musa's face. "Now we must focus all our energy on stabilizing the portal."

"Right," Layla said, her eyes flashing. "Let's go find the others, and put an end to this mess."

I don't know how… She stared at the portal, which was, if possible, even more out-of-control than when they'd first landed. How are we going to contain that portal? She swallowed, wondering if even Bloom's Dragon Fire could stop this.

Please, Linphèana, we need a miracle about now…

The stakes are getting higher and higher every moment. What do you think? Are they going to make it or not?

Next chapter:

- Bloom and Tecna try to convince Teboc to help them.

- The Winx head towards the portal, working together to secure it.

- Bloom uses her Dragon Fire and tries to close the portal.

See you Saturday with the next part!