"What do you mean she left Alfea?!" Griselda asked.

Flora eyes widened.

"Well…she…she left without saying anything probably shortly after we were all transported into our beds by the Headmisstres and when we woke up she was just gone…we don't know where she is…" The girl stammered with bright red cheeks. "The only thing she left was a letter…"

Griselda marched towards the student and snatched the enveloppe out of her hand. With a rough gesture she opened the letter.

"Dear Winx…" She started to read out loud. "What on earth is a Winx?"

She glanced towards Flora who got even more nervous.

"That's…that's how we call ourselves…some kind of name for our dorm…"

Griselda huffed and resumed reading.

"Sorry for just leaving like this but I can no longer bring you all in danger. The Trix…"

Griselda glanced towards the fairy once again.

"That is how the three witches call themselves." Flora said quickly.

"The Trix are clearly after me. By leaving I hope they will leave you all alone. "Sorry but this is the only way. Love, Bloom."

Griselda stopped reading.

"Do you have any idea where she might have gone to?" Faragonda asked.

"Uhm…well…"

"Just spit it out lass." Wizgiz said.

Flora looked at the floor. "Stella thought she knew and…also left." "We promised to give her until half past nine to come back before we would warn the teachers…"

"WHAT?!" Griselda yelled. "Two students just left the school without permission?!"

"That is the least of our problems right now Griselda." Faragonda said. "Bloom is alone and in danger, more than she might know."

"Three witches are after the power of the Dragon Flame…" The apparition of Griffin said. "Sounds a bit too familiar to me."

"Indeed." Faragonda said. "If the Trix find Bloom and get the power of the Dragon Flame, the entire magical dimention is in danger."

"What is keeping them so long?" Musa asked. "Do you think Stella was wrong and she didn't find Bloom at her parents?"

The fairy of Music was pacing around in the livingroom of her dorm.

"She seemed pretty sure of herself." Samara said.

"What if the Trix found them?" Musa asked. "We should have gone with Stella."

"No she clearly said that we needed to stay here." Tecna said. "And she was right, it's no use to team up on Bloom, she needed some space to think."

"How do you know that, she didn't tell us anything." Musa said annoyed. "She just wrote a crappy letter and left in the middle of the night."

"That's what I think…" Tecna muttered.

"She hasn't even told Sky anything, not even a note or text message." Samara said. "He's worried sick…"

Musa stopped pacing around and fell on the couch between Samara and Tecna.

"Well I know one thing for sure, I'm glad I wasn't the one who has to deliver the news to Faragonda." She said.

"Yeah poor Flora, but she did pick the shortest straw." Samara said.

Suddenly the door of their dorm opened. Everyone expected to see Flora walk in, but it was Stella, followed by Bloom. Both girls looked absolutely miserable.

"What happened?" Samara asked.

Bloom started to cry.

"The Trix…they got to us." Stella said.

"They…did they…?" Musa asked uncertain.

Bloom nodded. "They took the Dragon Flame from me!"

The three fairies got off the couch and hugged their friends.

"They ambushed me…" Bloom sobbed. "They threatened to hurt my parents, I…I had no choice…"

"It's okay, you're safe now…" Samara said. "We should probably go to Faragonda."

The red haired girl nodded and the group made their way to the office. As they entered, Flora immediately hugged Bloom.

"Oh thank goodness you're safe!" She said.

Bloom didn't respond but looked at the headmistress.

"They found me…" she said.

"They gave us no choice." Stella said. "They threatened to hurt Bloom's parents."

"I see." Faragonda said sadly. "But I am glad that you are unharmed."

"What do we do now Faragonda?" Dufour asked. "If those witches really possess the power of the Dragon Flame…we're all doomed."

"Don't be so ridiculous, we will defend ourselves!" Wizgiz said.

Faragonda nodded. "There is a high change that they will go after the three schools first, we need to prepare ourselves."

Suddenly there was a lot of noise coming through the apparition of Headmistress Griffin. Said witch's face looked shocked.

"What is it Griffin?" Faragonda asked.

"They're here!" Griffin said. "I need to go, to protect my students!"

And with that the connection was broken.

"We need to help them!" Flora said.

Suddenly there was a lot of commotion outside. The teachers closest to the window looked down on the grounds. The fairies that had been outside were running towards the frontdoor, shielding themselves from raindrops that were falling out of the dark clouds.

"Are they running away from the rain?" Dufour asked.

"No, that's not rain." Palladium said. "Look!"

The puddles that were forming on the grass were now starting to move.

"What is that?!" Dufour asked in disgust.

"Monsters!" Wizgiz screamed. "Monsters attacking the school!"

"Everyone outside now!" Faragonda ordered.

The Winx and the staff did as they were told.

Samara stopped dead in her tracks as they stepped outside. The sky was almost black and purple raindrops fell out of it. As soon as the drops hit the ground, they transformed into small creepy insects, which on their turn, gathered to form huge monsters.

"Ew that is disgusting!" Stella said.

"Let's get a move on!" Tecna said.

Magic Winx!

"How do we tackle this?" Musa asked.

"Just hit what you can hit!" Stella yelled as she swung her scepter wildly around, smacking several insects away from her.

More and more students came to their aid and soon the entire square was filled with fairies on the ground and in the air.

"They keep on coming." Musa grunted.

More and more rain started to fall down, creating even bigger monsters. Samara saw professor Wizgiz turning into an elephant, crushing the insects with his heavy body. The fairy of the Moon kept launching attack after attack but it seemed like it didn't make any difference. At some point during the fight, she found herself back to back with Tecna.

"We need some kind of strategy." The fairy of Technology said. "This is just chaos."

"Okay…I can come up with something…" Samara said.

She looked around.

Alright then…battle strategy 101…divide and conquer. We have the small insects, the big monsters on the ground and the weird flying monsters…and then there's the rain, the source of it all…Seems being the princess of the best military planet finally payed off.

Flora, Musa, Bloom and Stella ran towards their friends.

"What's the plan?" Bloom asked.

"Okay, Tecna I need you to find professor Palladium and Wizgiz and the other fairies that were a member of team Shield, you need to create a shield around the school to keep the rain from falling down on the school grounds." Samara said.

The fairy of Technology nodded and flew away.

"Musa, find some other fairies that have similar powers to yourself and use your soundwave attack to destroy the big monsters in the air and on the ground."

Musa gave her a wink and flew off as well.

"Okay than we have the small insects, Flora gather other fairies of plant and flower based powers and use your vines to crush them as soon as they hit the ground."

"And what about us?" Bloom asked as Flora ran towards Daisy.

"Me and Stella are going to use our light magic to break the dark clouds." Samara said. "I bet if we can get the sun to shine through, the rain will stop."

"But what about me?" Bloom asked.

Samara and Stella gave each other a quick look.

"I'm sorry Bloom, but I think it is best if you stay clear from all the fighting." Stella said. "Just until we find a way to get your powers back."

Bloom grunted but understood the situation.

"Okay let's get into the air before team defense closes everything off with that shield." Stella said.

She kicked off with force and flew into the air. Samara looked up and gulped. Somehow in her plan she had forgotten the part where she had to fly up into the air…as high as possible…

"What are you waiting for, GO!" Bloom yelled.

Samara saw how on every rooftop a green light started to shine. The shield was about to go up. The fairy of the Moon kicked off as well and flew as fast as she could. She had to dodge a flying monster and saw how an electric shockwave destroyed the monster just behind her. A fairy with bright orange hair dressed in a yellow sparkling dress flew past her, sending another electric shockwave towards a group of monsters. Samara gained more speed as the shield started to close around her and managed to fly high enough just in time.

"Let's shine a little light on the situation shall we?" Stella said as she raised her scepter.

Light of Solaria!

She threw the scepter down and a beam of sunlight cut through the dark clouds.

Moonlight shower!

Samara raised her hands in front of her and a flash of white light drew the clouds away for a bit.

"It's not enough!" Stella said.

"Is there any other fairy with powers of light?" Samara asked.

"No…we're the only ones." Stella said. "And I know about every girl on our school."

Samara looked around and felt panic build up inside her. The rain was falling down fast and all the monsters were now at the border of the shield, ready to burst in at the smallest sign of weakness.

"Where are those senior fairies when you need them?" Stella grunted. "They can hoard all the pudding during lunch but have our backs during a monster attack is asking for too much?"

Samara laughed. They kept on launching attack after attack but the clouds didn't budge. After a while Samara noticed that it was harder and harder to keep flying. Stella was also breathing heavily.

"I need a break." Samara said.

"Me too but where can we land?"

Samara looked down. The shield was holding but around it it was completely black of monsters trying to get in.

"Come on, one last attack, together!" Samara said.

Both fairies raised their hands towards the dark clouds and were gathering the last of their strenghts when suddenly…

"The monsters, they're retreating!" Stella said.

All the monsters that had gathered around the forcefield were now slowly walking through the forest.

"They are heading towards Cloud Tower." Samara said. "That's where the Trix must be."

Both of them slowly flew towards the ground.

"Phew not a minute too soon." Stella said as she transformed back to normal.

Samara followed her example. The forcefield slowly vanished and the girls walked onto the school grounds. There were groups of fairies everywhere and they all looked tired. Samara and Stella saw the other Winx standing at the frontdoor talking to Faragonda and the teachers.

"How are you holding up girls?" Faragonda asked.

"We tried to break through the clouds with our light magic, but it was no use." Samara said disappointed.

"How did it go down here?" Stella asked.

"Pretty good all things considered." Musa said. "Thanks to your excellent strategy Samara."

"Yes the forcefield we created did its job." Tecna said.

"And we got rid of those nasty insects pretty fast." Flora added.

"Yes truly remarkable." Faragonda said. "But we're not clear yet, I have received word that Red Fountain is completely destroyed, Saladin, the students and teachers are on their way to Alfea right now."

"Any news from Cloud Tower?" Bloom asked.

Faragonda shook her head sadly.

"We saw those monsters head to the castle." Stella said.

"Than that's where the Trix must be." Bloom said. "We have to go after them."

"Are you mad, those witches have the power of the Dragon Flame!" Tecna said. "We can't compete with them."

Bloom was about to respond but everyone turned around when they heard some commotion at the gate. The people of Red Fountain had arrived. Samara ran off the steps towards the group of specialists.

"Sky, Brandon?!" She yelled.

"Over here!"

Samara ran towards the hand held up above the heads of the boys and flung into her brothers arms.

"Oh thank goodness, I heard the school got destroyed." She said.

"Yes it was, but we're all okay, just a bit beat up that's all." Sky said.

"It takes more than a few monsters to get us down." Brandon said.

Samara let go of Sky to give her friend a proper hug as well.

"Where is…" Brandon started.

"Here we are!"

Stella flew into Brandons arms and Bloom hugged Sky.

"How were things down here?" Sky asked.

"Your sister was amazing, she came up with a good defensive strategy and really got all the fairies to work together." Bloom said.

"Really?" Sky asked looking at his sister. "So all those military history lessons finally payed off huh?"

The five of them walked back towards the frontdoor. Faragonda was speaking with Saladin in worried whispers.

"What's wrong?" Samara asked.

"It seems that Magix is now a ghost town." Tecna said sad.

"Which means Alfea is the only place around here that is still holding strong." Flora said. "Red Fountain is destroyed, Magix a ghosttown and we don't know anything about Cloud Tower."

"But now the fairies of Alfea and the specialists of Red Fountain are together." Musa said. "That means that we can join forces against the monsters."

The Winx sat down on the steps in front of the door. They looked around and saw that the teachers were walking around. Palladium was handing out small vials of potion to those who had minor injuries. Daisy the flower fairy , Riven and Timmy had joined their group. Samara watched as she saw how the fairies and specialists were huddled close to each other. Flora and Daisy were too shy to sit close but Samara saw how their hands were intertwined. Samara sighed and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Musa asked.

"Just walking around a bit, I can't just sit here doing nothing."

The fairy of the Moon ignored the suspicious face of her brother and walked towards the gate. She leaned against the wall and stared into the sky.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Samara turned around to see Palladium look at her. His clothes were a mess and he had some scratches on his face, which actually made him look even more handsome.

"I uh…" She stammered. "…was just looking at the clouds."

Palladium nodded and stood next to her.

"The forcefield seemed to work well." Samara said.

"It did, Tecna told me it was your idea." The elf said. "That was some amazing work you did."

"Thanks…" Samara said feeling her face burn with a mixture of excitement and shame.

"How are you?"

Samara forced herself to turn her head towards him. Their eyes met and Samara had that strange feeling again that something was different.

"I'm fine…I guess." She said. "What about you, you look pretty beat up."

Palladium took a quick glance towards his clothes. "Yes I took the majority of a pretty nasty attack, the monsters were trying to break into the infirmary through the walls, couldn't let that happen."

Samara stared at him with concern.

"But luckily Wizgiz the elephant came to my rescue."

Samara laughed. "But you weren't seriously injured?"

Palladium shook his head. "But we're not clear yet, the witches can send their army of monsters out again any second."

Samara nodded and took a quick look around. There was no one around them. Should she take her chance and confess how she felt? Or just leave it be? Her heart started to pound a bit faster and she felt more nervous than during the entire fight.

"Uhm…you know…there is something going on between us." She started.

Palladium sighed deeply. He was just about to say something similar and she beat him to it.

"Yes there is." He said. "I've been trying to deny it for the entire schoolyear but that doesn't make it any less true."

"I just thought it was because we share so many similar interests." Samara said. "But I can't get you out of my head."

She frowned as she registered what she had just said.

"Sorry, that was wrong of me to say, you are a teacher and I can't say things like that…"

She turned around, away from the gate. "I need to find my friends."

At that moment Palladium abandoned all his insecurities and doubts. He grabbed the girl by her arm and pulled her close to him.

"Professor, what…"

He cut her off by pulling her in for a kiss. Samara's eyes widened by surprise but she kissed him back. It was short and quick and as they stepped a bit apart from one another Palladium felt his insecurities rush back right away.

"I uh…I'm sorry it's just…" He stammered.

"I know." Samara said. "I feel the same."

Suddenly they heard footsteps coming towards them.

"Professor Palladium, Faragonda requests your presence in the simulation room." "Samara you too."

The three of them made their way to the simulation room as fast as they could. Faragonda, the Winx, Sky and Brandon were there already.

"Ah professor, listen we do not have any time to lose, we need to open a portal to the planet Domino." Faragonda said.

"Domino?" Palladium repeated.

"Bloom needs to connect with her past in order to get her powers back." Faragonda said impatiently. "Can you create such portal?"

"Yes headmistress, I'll see to it right away."

The elf sat down behind the control panel and got to work. Samara walked to her friends.

"What's going on I leave you alone for a few minutes and all of the sudden you're going to the most desolated planet in the magical dimension?"

"Faragonda said that I need to connect with my past in order to get my powers back and the best way to do that is to go to my birth place." Bloom said.

Suddenly the ground underneath their feet started to shake. The doors to the control room opened and Saladin ran inside.

"The monsters, they're back for a second attack!"

The Winx wanted to follow the old man but Faragonda stopped them.

"We need to finish this." She said.

"We can't all leave now." Samara said.

"Alright, I'll go to Domino, you guys defend the school." Bloom said.

"I'm coming with you Bloom, you don't have any powers." Stella said.

I'll go to Domino as well, I have a full scan of the planet on my computer." Tecna said.

"So… we split up?" Flora asked uncertain.

"Just for now." Bloom said. "We'll be back before you know it."

Samara turned towards her brother and best friend and gave both of them a firm hug.

"Stay safe." She said.

"You too sis." Sky said.

Another blast sounded and the ground shook even more.

"Come on, no time to lose." Samara said.

She, Flora and Musa ran to the front door. They all stopped when they saw an army of dark creatures literally at the gate of Alfea. High above them, on three thrones sat the Trix.