Chapter 11

Jealousy Part Two

- What's the problem? -

The peremptory tone of the witch of ice did not disturb Darcy at all.

- I don't know what you're talking about. - she said, trying to move on.

Icy blocked her way with her arm.

- You're not going anywhere until you talk. What's wrong with Lzzy? Does it bother you that she can be by my side more than you? -

She regretted those words immediately after saying them, but it was too late. And then, she seemed to have guessed right from Darcy's angry and hurt look.

She wasn't kidding. She wouldn't let her out until they clarified. Throughout the afternoon, Darcy had done nothing but try to embarrass Lzzy with exercises that were too complex for someone who had just discovered their powers, levitation had only been the beginning. Icy could have exaggerated with that phrase, but she had endured her jabs up to that point and her patience was now sub-zero.

- So? - she urged.

- It was you who pulled away Icy, you kept us all away. - Darcy hissed.

- I tried to pick up where we left off but you... -

- WHAT? Have I tried to protect myself? Is that what you're scolding me about? - snapped the witch of darkness, making Icy wince, she did not expect that reaction from her sister. - And if you really want to know, until this morning I had nothing against Lzzy, I even asked her to stay with you as much as possible when I realized that you opened up a little more with her. But after the Bonding... Damn it Icy, you're bound! Bound! - she stopped to catch her breath, her eyes shining. - I thought we were bound. -

Icy felt the knot in her stomach that was familiar now. Was her little sister really foolish enough to believe that their friendship would end because of the Bonding?

- So this is it? Darcy, we are bound! I could never turn my back on you or Stormy after everything we've been through! -

Darcy turned her back to try not to let her see the tears that were starting to fall down her cheeks. Icy ran two fingers over the witch's back, along two almost invisible scars that she knew very well: they were the same as those on her back.

- We are also bound by this... -

- Would you have told her? -

Icy pretended not to understand.

- What? -

- Today, when she asked you when you first transformed, would you have told her you were a fairy? -

Icy hesitated.

- …No. -

She saw the scene again, clear in front of her eyes: she and Darcy in Magic form side by side while Stormy, already a witch of her own, stood a little apart. The three Ancestral Witches had been clear: they could not maintain that form.

Belladonna had signaled to Icy to move forward and the fourteen-year-old had obeyed, trying not to tremble. She was the older one, she didn't have to look weak. The three ghosts had begun to spin around her, and Belladonna had positioned herself behind her. She had hurled a spell at her and Icy had screamed. She had fallen to her knees, plugging her mouth with one hand while, bent over herself, clutched the other around her body. She felt an unbearable burning where her thin white wings touched the skin. Then she felt them fall and the pain slowly subsided. The sleeveless shiny dress turned into her dark blue suit, the half-finger gloves changed shape and color and so did the boots. She had felt the cool cloth of her cloak covering her back, but she hadn't had the strength to move, neither Darcy and Stormy had dared approach her or speak to her. Suddenly she heard Darcy's cry of pain and closed her eyes, imagining her friend's rounded wings falling like hers. She had been huddled by what had seemed an eternity, then Stormy had shaken her, calling her worried ("Icy! Open your eyes!"). Trembling, Icy had straightened up and opened her eyes, turning immediately to look for Darcy. Just behind her, the girl was getting to her feet, her body swathed in purple overalls. Helped by Stormy, Icy had approached her and, without saying anything, the two had embraced.

Twenty-one-year-old Icy blinked to ward off those painful memories and focus on the present.

- No, I wouldn't have told her. But sooner or later I will do it, she would find out anyway. -

- You can exclude her from that part of your mind. - Darcy told her.

- Once, maybe twice, or even three times. Not forever. - Icy answered, to then continue: - I care about you Darcy, you know it's true and you also know how much it costs me to say it. I will not allow a damn magical bond to interfere with our friendship, but I can't do it alone! Please, can you try to accept it? -

Darcy bit her lip, still showing Icy her back. She had never deluded herself of having a Bonding with Icy, among them there was that bond that unites two little girls who have known each other before learning to speak. She had deluded herself that nothing could ever overcome it. She turned around. Only a shiny trail that started from the right eye betrayed the passage of tears.

- I'll try. It will be better for her that Lzzy is worth as much as you. -

Icy smiled, making the salty line disappear from Darcy's skin with a spell.

§§

Lzzy threw herself on the sofa. It had happened very rarely to her to feel so exhausted, magic was damn hard! For Icy it was enough to snap her fingers to freeze anything and she didn't even know what her powers were made of. Really a good start! What's more, she had the impression Darcy didn't like her that much anymore.

"I hope she and Icy don't fight because of me, I don't want to be responsible for a break between them" she thought.

Joe dived beside her on the sofa, making her jump along with the cushions.

- So, how's our budding sorceress? - he asked cheerfully.

- In pieces. - she answered.

If she had run three hours straight, she would surely have had more control over her body than she had at that time. She didn't even have the energy to sit up.

Joe waved a bottle of beer before her eyes.

- Mhmh. Does this make you feel a little better? -

- Not until you open it. -

- First get up. -

Mumbling, Lzzy obeyed.

- Couldn't I have tequila? - she asked.

Joe chuckled as he opened the beer.

- Let's not exaggerate now. There. - and handed her the bottle.

Two sips returned to the girl a good part of her vitality. She passed the beer to his friend.

- Thanks. - she said, - I needed it. -

- Welcome. -

They went on like this until the bottle was empty, then Lzzy let herself fall on the sofa again, her hands behind her head.

- Goodness, it seems like a century has passed since this morning. I developed a culture about non-polar spells! -

Joe ran his hand through her hair. One look was enough to understand. Lzzy smiled and, as if it were an ok signal, Joe kissed her, first gently, then with more and more passion. Lzzy dug her fingers into the boy's soft dark hair, but then reluctantly pushed him away, remembering a detail.

- We can't. - she said.

- Why? - asked Joe.

- My powers are instinctive, remember? They follow my feelings. - At least they understood that. - I don't want to risk hurting you. -

Joe had a disappointed expression and Lzzy was convinced that she had the same one printed on her face. She wanted it as much as he did.

- I see. You're right, better not risk it. But I don't know how long I will be able to resist you, so learn in hurry baby. - he said, smiling at the end.

- Ah, certainly more than me. - laughed the girl before kissing him again.

After a week, the Winx returned to Alfea a few days early. Even the Specialists have returned to Magix since the courses in Redfountain begin earlier. Lzzy learns to use her powers, but to control them is another matter: she continues to miss some involuntary spells, fortunately harmless. Among these one in particular amuses the boys of the band: when she sings, she often changes clothing and hairstyle according to the period in which she wrote that song. She hasn't decided yet whether to be a fairy or a witch and her relationship with Icy is constantly evolving. No other problems have arisen between her and Darcy, though the witch avoids being left alone with her. Arejay does not miss the tension and tries to dissolve it in his own way: he proposes to spend an evening all together at the H.Q. the last Saturday before the lessons at Alfea. Everyone accepts, curious to see what the Hale siblings have in mind, since they've promised to think about fun.

- Actually, I'm slightly worried. - Tecna was saying as she beat Timmy's record once again for their favorite video game, - Nothing to say, for heaven's sake, but... Arejay's concept of fun scares me a little. -

Behind her Stormy laughed.

- I would worry more about Lzzy honestly. - Icy said, barely holding back the laughter, - The other day she asked me which is the lightest alcoholic drink here in Magix and she didn't want to tell me why. -

- Now I'm afraid too! - laughed Stormy.

- Free exit for all! - exclaimed Bloom from the entrance.

Since "the evening" idea of Arejay had turned into a sort of sleepover, she had gone to ask the principal for permission to spend a night out of college about half an hour before, but Faragonda hadn't let herself be convinced so easily.

- Saturday evening we can go out, provided we return by the beginning of the opening ceremony on Sunday. - she said, appearing in the bedroom of Tecna and Musa, where she had heard laughter.

She looked at them: Tecna behind her desk, Icy next to her keeping an eye on the scores, Stormy on the fairy's bed intent on putting on the nail polish.

- Where did the others go? - she asked.

- Darcy and Stella are in the boutique as usual, Flora is in the shower and Aisha has dragged Musa to jog from here to the White Horse. Yes, I've finished the level! - answered Tecna.

- Forty points ahead of Timmy. You didn't work very hard. - observed Icy, leaning on the desk.

- No, in fact. How could he beat me again otherwise? -

- Oh! - was all that the witch managed to answer, hiding her face in her arms.

Bloom smiled and headed for his room. She sat on the bed and wrote a message to Sky.

"Faragonda is okay with it, convince Codatorta ;) Call me tonight"

Then she thought back to the scene she had just seen: one of her greatest friends quietly sitting next to who had been their greatest enemy. It still had an effect on her to see the Trix, but above all Icy, in such a different light. And she knew that she and the others would be the only ones to see them that way once Alfea had filled up again with students. Who knows what effect they would have had on Icy. She had seen how she put herself on the defensive when they met someone on the streets: she kept her gaze fixed on the ground, she tried to get herself noticed as little as possible so as not to feel the looks of people on herself. But she could not avoid their classmates. The fairy made the list that Faragonda had given her appear. They were more than she expected, she didn't know many of them. The only name she was happy to see was that of Mirta: the former witch had not had any problem with the presence of the three witches before the holidays, although to tell the truth they had not often been found together. Amaryl, on the other hand, with her temper would have been a source of trouble, she was sure of it. Then, who else was there? She knew only Yomi, a Hesperian fairy, by sight. Adelaide, Cassandra, Francesca, Giunia, Ioanna, Rebecca: these names meant nothing to her. "Let's hope for good" she thought, making the list disappear again.

§§

- Late. Late, late, LATE! How the hell can I always be late?! -

To complain was a girl with brown hair gathered in a high tail that came just below her shoulders. She closed the packed suitcase and pulled back the tuft of hair that covered her right eye. The phone vibrated for yet another message. It was Giunia, of course.

"Cass, please tell me you're out"

"No, two minutes and I'm there"

She miniaturized her suitcase and bag and put them in her pocket. Her first year as a graduate fairy in Alfea would start in a few days and she couldn't wait to get back. Within five months she had moved from Enchantix to Bloomix (she was still surprised at how easy it was, it was just a reconfirmation of Charmix) like her friends, and they would have followed the same courses as the Winx. If she thought about it, she almost couldn't believe it! It was too real to be a dream.

She returned to reality. If it was late before, now it was very late. Cursing to herself, she ran down the stairs.