Hello everyone, it's me again. I hope you're all doing fine despite coronacation (and that chapter I just posted). We're going back to Flora's POV as usual, and we're going to see today what happens in Alfea after Tecna disappeared into the portal.
CHAPTER 23: BATTLE AT CLOUD TOWER
"I can't believe she's gone," Bloom sobbed.
The girls were in their apartment. It had been a long day, but none of them had the heart to sleep. They stayed awake, wide-eyed and trembling.
"She was so brave," Stella whispered. "I don't think I could've done that for my kingdom."
"And it wasn't even her kingdom to sacrifice for," Galatea added. The Melodian princess had joined them in their apartment, and was crying along with the rest of them. "But that didn't matter. She... she just gave her life for it."
Flora stared at them, bleary-eyed. The tears that had fallen after she'd witnessed Tecna fall into the portal would not come now. She felt drained and exhausted, her grief as bottomless as the chute Tecna had fallen into – there was no end in sight.
"She was so brave," Musa whispered. "Brave, when the rest of us couldn't be. She gave her life not just for my kingdom, but for all of us, so we could live."
Odd, Flora thought, that Musa didn't mention how they'd banned Tecna from coming in the first place. Odd, that she didn't mention how Tecna had deteriorated so far in the last months. Odd, that she didn't realize this had been coming for a long time. Those thoughts hung unspoken in the air.
"Is it true?" a voice whispered. Flora looked up and saw Chatta flying in through the window, followed by the other pixies. "Is Tecna really… gone?"
"Yes," Musa whispered. "I'm afraid so."
Chatta let out a wail. Flora rushed forward and cradled her pixie in her arms. "I'm sorry, Chatta," she whispered. She looked over at the other pixies, who were all hugging and crying along with their bonded fairies.
But it was Digit who was grieving the most. She had collapsed by herself, and no amount of persuasion would lift her up the table. Flora reached over to Digit and carried her next to Chatta; the two pixies held one another, sniffling.
"What are we going to do now?" Stella wailed.
The door opened, and Faragonda came in. "Girls, I wanted to check on you," she said, gently shutting the door behind her. "How are you doing?"
"Horrible," Layla whispered.
"We'll feel a lot better once we pay Valtor a visit!"
Everyone looked suddenly at Musa, whose eyes were flashing. Her mouth was in a thin line as she glared at Faragonda. "We've let that bastard destroy all of us – first he took our realms' treasures, then our friendships, and now, our girl Tecna! And we're not letting him get away with this! So I say we all storm Cloud Tower now and finish him off!"
"Yes!" Bloom, Stella, and Layla said together.
Flora stared at them uncertainly. This can't be a good idea... She knew there was absolutely no way they'd be able to finish off Valtor. For one thing, he would be expecting them, and for another, their bond together was completely severed at this point. The Winx no longer existed in any form but in name.
And even if they did kill Valtor, it wouldn't bring Tecna back. Nothing would. She was gone, just as gone as the portal to Omega.
"You girls are not going anywhere," Faragonda said. "No one is leaving campus for any reason. The magical barrier will remain permanently up."
"Do you expect us to just sit here after what he did to Tecna?" snarled Bloom.
"Tecna made her own choice," Faragonda said somberly. "She knew she wouldn't make it home, but chose to come along with you anyhow. In that moment, her fate was written for itself. And there is nothing you can do about it."
"You know, I kind of liked you better when you were a tree, Ms. F," Stella said suddenly, glaring at her. "At least then we could do whatever we wanted."
"You girls have already left campus without permission twice!" Faragonda shouted. "You're not leaving for a third time. I understand you are grieving, but I cannot lose the rest of you, too, not when you are our only hope against Valtor. You can hate me all you want, but you are not leaving the school. I will not allow it." She turned the lights out.
"Ms. Faragonda, I don't want to stay here tonight," Flora suddenly said. She had no desire to stay in the apartment, not when so many ill memories lingered here. "Galatea, can I come to your apartment?"
Faragonda looked to Galatea, who nodded. "Sure. I'll be sleeping in Nova's room tonight; I don't want to go to bed alone either."
"As you wish, Flora," Faragonda answered. "Now, off to bed. You girls need your sleep."
Flora followed Galatea down to her apartment. Mirta and Nova were waiting there, red-eyed and confused. Mirta held Flora tightly and whispered, "What happened?"
"Tecna's gone," whispered Flora. "She gone and she's never coming back."
Then she broke down, completely and utterly. Cold grief poured down her cheeks, and her knees capsized. She was only barely aware of Mirta's warm hand leading her to the bed, and collapsing next to her girlfriend amid sheets and pillows.
The next day dawned cold and grey. Breakfast was a solemn affair; by now, everyone knew what had happened to Tecna. Many of the other seniors were crying as they all sat at their tables.
And for the first time in weeks, Flora sat with her friends. Bloom had called a group meeting, and they all sat together at the usual table, the table she'd sat at before they'd all fought.
"So here's the plan," Digit said, fluttering in front of them. Her eyes were still red, and Tune gently held her hand as she spoke.
"Faragonda has sealed off everything, including the tunnels," she said. "Nothing is there. But I upgraded the barrier-breacher, and we're going to use that to get in."
"So, here's what I'll do," Mirta said, taking charge. "I'll use my illusion power to make Lockette, Chatta, Amore, Tune, and Piff look like you guys, because we know Faragonda and Griselda will be checking your apartment. And then you guys and Digit can go."
"Wait," Flora protested. "I never said I was going."
"What?" asked Layla indignantly.
"You have to," Musa declared. "Don't you care about avenging Tecna?"
"This won't help anything," Flora protested. "She wouldn't want us to do this."
Stella glared at her. "Well, we're going, even if you're not. So stay back and help your precious girlfriend if you want, but don't tell us what to do!"
Flora saw Mirta wince, and knew her friends were still sore about the secrets she'd kept from them. She put her arm around Mirta.
"Don't insult Mirta," she told Stella. "If you're mad, be mad at me, but not at her. She's done nothing to hurt you."
"Look, Flora," said Bloom, "are you coming with us or not?"
Flora didn't want to. She didn't want to go on a pointless raid which would do absolutely nothing to bring Tecna back. But she knew if she didn't go, the girls would forever label her as a coward. She took in a breath.
"All right," she said. "I'm in."
"Time to go," Digit said.
The girls were at Cloud Tower. Flora stood behind the others, following her friends as they flew up to the windows.
"Go!" Bloom screamed, and they slammed the windows with their powers, fire, sunlight, music, and Morphix hitting the panes. Glass splintered to the ground as they landed in the castle, glaring at the witches in the dining hall.
"Tell us where Valtor is," Bloom ordered.
"All hail Valtor," they chanted. "All hail Valtor!"
"Okay, that's just creepy," Stella said, looking disgusted. "I don't think we're getting anything out of them."
"Digit, can you scan and try to find where the power is concentrated the most?" Flora asked, feeling a wave of grief come over her. That would usually be Tecna's job... Digit nodded and turned on her digisensor.
"There're two places," she said. "One, near the dungeons. The other, in the headmistress' office."
"How about this?" Musa asked. "Layla, Stella, and I will go to the dungeons. Bloom and Flora, go to Griffin's office."
"I'll head back," Digit said, turning around and escaping through the window.
"Sounds good," Bloom answered. "If we find him, we'll send you a signal!"
"So will we!" Stella said, following Layla and Musa. "Come on!"
Flora followed Bloom, a bad feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. Something is terribly wrong... But it was far too late to back out now.
She swallowed, gazing around the castle of Cloud Tower. The place where Mirta had gotten her Winx. The place where, also, after completing her transformation, Mirta had fallen very ill. She swallowed, remembering how scared she'd been for her that night…
They had just fallen from the tower after failing to stop the Trix from taking the Codex. Dusting herself off, they flew back into the castle, ready to tell Griffin the terrible news.
"Where is she?" Stella wondered as they searched the castle. "She's not in her office, she's not in the Great Hall. Where has she gone" –
A scream suddenly filled the air. Flora jumped in horror, staring around. Musa's eyes went wide.
"That's Lucy's voice!" she shouted.
The girls ran down the hall towards the sound of the scream. Flora cried out as soon as she saw what was going on.
Mirta was lying on the floor, wearing a orange-and-blue Winx outfit. She got her fairy transformation at last… But her body was writhing and convulsing. Lucy cried out again in horror.
"We have to get her medical help!" she shouted.
"We need you to carry her out of the tower," Griffin ordered the Winx. "I already called the hospital, but no ambulance is coming within a hundred meters of Cloud Tower. Get her out of here!"
Layla created a Morphix stretcher, and Flora gently pushed Mirta onto it. "Here," she whispered, staring down into the girl's face.
She had never seen an expression so horrified or distraught. She couldn't believe that, after what had clearly been a moment of triumph, she was in such pain afterwards. I need her to be okay… Layla levitated the stretcher as they flew down.
As they flew, Flora could hear Mirta's wails, stronger than ever. She couldn't bear hearing her in such distress, or in such pain. As they flew out of Cloud Tower, her wails became even worse. Against her better judgment, she looked backwards and gasped.
Mirta was convulsing more than she'd been before. Her body was now twisting, and her fairy-wings seemed to be tying themselves into knots. But it was her eyes that terrified Flora the most. The whites of her eyes were as wide as the moon, completely agonized.
I can't take this anymore. She walked towards Mirta, placing her hands on her chest. "What are you doing?" Bloom yelled.
"I need to do something to help her!" Flora cried. "I can't let her be in such pain!"
"There's nothing you can do!" Layla shouted. "Do you want to make the situation worse? You could hurt her even worse than she is now!"
Flora stepped back, defeated. Behind her, she could hear the sound of sirens, the wails piercingly loud; even then, they weren't as loud as Mirta's. The ambulance parked, and an EMT came out.
"We'll take it from here." He hoisted Mirta onto another gurney, and carried her into the ambulance. Before Flora could even ask to go with them, the door was already shut, and they were off. The ambulance spurred dirt in Flora's eyes, and she cried out in pain.
We failed. They had failed to get the Codex, and now, there was no chance Mirta would ever recover. She lowered her head.
We failed our duty to save the world.
And now, they were flying towards the top of the tower. Flora saw Bloom's mouth set in a thin line, determined, and thought that part of her determination came from how they'd failed in Cloud Tower. She doesn't want the same thing to happen again…
They slowed down as they reached the headmistress's office. Valtor was there, his back turned to them.
"It's over, Valtor!" Bloom screamed, and she shot her powers at him, Flora along with her. Flora concentrated all the energy she had, shooting Valtor with an ivy spell.
But Valtor turned around and contained their magic, simply sending it back to them. Flora screamed as she hit the wall, vines constricting her.
"You're strong, Bloom," Valtor smirked. "Just like your father, Oritel."
"Don't you even dare," Bloom snarled. "I know all about it. You went after him because you were jealous that you would never be king."
"Yes," smirked Valtor, "but I'm also the only person who knows about them. And I know how much you desire knowledge. If you were prudent, you'd listen to me."
Flora broke free of the vines and sent them after Valtor, her mind raging. He's not hurting Bloom... But Valtor effortlessly broke them and turned around, smirking at her.
"I recently visited Whisperia," he said, "and I found a spell I think you'll find alluring. They love darkness." He shot a web of power at her, which she tried to dodge, but screamed as a dark haze enveloped her. Total darkness covered her vision, and she fell to the ground.
"Yes," Valtor's voice rang, but then he stopped. Flora could feel the heat of Bloom's dragon fire hitting him, and he gasped.
"Do you want to hear about your birth parents, or do you want to fight?"
No! Flora willed. Don't listen to him! But it seemed to have worked, for Bloom growled. "I'm listening."
"I faced both of your parents on Domino, sixteen years ago," Valtor said silkily. "I first trapped Miriam with a spell I'd learned on Eraklyon, concealing her in a rock prison. Of course my foolish brother came to her rescue, just as I knew he would. Oritel was very powerful; I could never have defeated him unless he'd lowered his guard to save his wife. And while he used his magic to save Miriam, I used mine to destroy them for once and for all."
Flora could feel Bloom's magical energy bursting with anger, flames rising above her. Oh no... She listened with fear, knowing this couldn't end well.
"And that's how it ended for both of them," Valtor said, and Flora could hear his smile. "Oritel and Miriam, the great king and queen of Domino. I'm so glad we could share this talk."
Bloom exploded. An immense dragon soared out, flying forward to hit Valtor, a power surely meant to kill. The room seared with the heat of a thousand wildfires, and Flora drew back in horror.
But just like that, the room became ice-cold. Valtor simply deflected her fire and froze her with an ice-spell, one that could've only come from the realm of Omega. He let out a charred, bitter laugh.
Suddenly, Valtor was slammed into the wall. As the spell faded around her, Flora stared in disbelief as Faragonda and Griffin entered the room, followed by Stella, Musa, and Layla. They freed Griffin from her prison!
Valtor glared at the women and girls. "Stop!" he shouted, slamming the two headmistresses. The two hit the wall, and Valtor let out a laugh.
But then they flew up, cornering Valtor and attacking him with all the energy they had. He yelled as he hit the wall.
"Okay girls, it's your turn!" Faragonda yelled, as Valtor slammed her back, momentarily preoccupied with the headmistresses rather than the girls.
Flora, Stella, Layla, and Musa focused their fairy-dust, showering it over the iceberg. The ice melted and Bloom collapsed on the ground, gasping in pain at the cold.
"Come on girls, let's get out of here!" Faragonda yelled.
"No!" Bloom cried. "We're going to kill him right here and now, for Tecna and Miriam and Oritel!"
Faragonda growled. "I'm sorry, Bloom, but not today! We're getting out of here right now!" She concentrated her powers on the girls.
White energy filled the girls as Valtor slammed all of his dragon fury at them. But just before the fire hit the girls, they disappeared, and everything went black.
"This is it," Bloom said solemnly, as the girls centered in the apartment.
A week had passed since their failed revenge on Valtor, under which time the five of them had been under tight surveillance. Their professors were keeping a tight eye on the girls, as was Griselda. No punishment had been meted out, because what had transpired was the worst type of punishment of all.
Once upon a time, there had been five girls. Five girls with a promise, to work together and become the strongest fairies they could, all the while fending off evil. And above all, they'd all been great friends, the best friends anyone could ever ask for. And when Layla had joined the group, that promise hadn't changed; if anything, it had become even stronger than before.
But that time was gone. From the moment Tecna had refused to come to the Princess Ball, their friendships had soured. Or maybe they had just fallen out of love. After all, there was no such thing as divine friendship, just the same as there was no such thing as divine love. Maybe they were never meant to be at all.
"I'm going to Pyros, the Island of Dragons," Bloom continued. "I have to go there now; it's the only way I'll get my Enchantix and tune in with my powers to defeat Valtor. But before I go"... She turned to the other girls.
"We have to disband," she said quietly. "It's over. Nothing's gone right this year - don't you see? We can't be the Winx anymore. We weren't good enough to save Tecna, and we can't save ourselves now."
"I agree," said Stella.
"Me too," said Musa.
"Me three," added Layla.
All eyes turned to Flora. She swallowed, knowing this had been coming for a long time, but at the same time, unwilling to break it off. But then she nodded. "It's over."
"Goodbye," said Bloom sorrowfully, standing up. "I'm leaving to Pyros tomorrow. I'm either coming back with my Enchantix or not at all. It's a long journey, and Ms. Faragonda told me I may die along the way. So if I don't ever come back – well, don't forget me. That's all I ask."
And with that, their unofficial club leader disappeared, leaving no one to keep the group from falling apart. Having no one to talk to anymore, Flora retreated to her dorm room, feeling more and more alone.
"This is it," she whispered. "It's all over."
And it seemed, as the twilight closed over her, that it had never existed to begin with.
Yes, I know you all want to know what happened with Tecna, but patience! It will happen soon – the next upload, in fact. Her story is not over yet – not by a long shot!