Chapter 38

A Pixie's Prophecy

After leaving the clothing store, Walter had suggested to go on together in the afternoon, and the two girls had agreed. Stella's presence, and above all her loose tongue, had canceled the embarrassment that Walter and Darcy would otherwise have taken, turning a peaceful and relaxing afternoon into an unpleasant situation. She had gone out of her way to make them never feel uncomfortable and had used all the means at her disposal: in addition to never letting the conversation languish for too long, for example, she had dragged them to a costume jewelry store and at that time she was wearing glasses that were simply ridiculous. They were party glasses, with mirrored lenses and a bright pink star-shaped frame that was exaggerated to say the least, covering half of her face.

Without caring about the laughter of the two, the fairy walked in front of a mirror and, hand on her hip and posing as a diva, said:

- I'm really mar-ve-lous, don't you think? -

Then she turned, her hair and skirt fluttering, and lowered the glasses to the tip of her nose, looking at Darcy and Walter from above the frame. Darcy was literally doubled over with laughter, like the Specialist. Stella laughed with them, but for a while.

- Put them on you too, come on! - she said, looking at the other models.

Walter laughed even louder, while Darcy started looking for a pair of glasses.

She also chose huge glasses, but with an octagonal and golden-brown frame, while the round lenses were emerald green. Before putting them on she turned to Walter and saw that he too had taken a pair of glasses and had already worn them. The lenses were the classic black lenses of sunglasses, but the multicolored and glittered frame was really unwatchable.

- Put them on Darcy, I want to take a picture of you. - said Stella taking the cell phone from the bag.

- I will allow you to take a picture of me with these only if you are in the picture too, so you will not use it as a weapon of blackmail. - replied Darcy.

Stella shrugged and posed next to Darcy, hesitating for a moment.

- Walter, come along too. - she said, making the witch's heart jump.

The boy stood behind them, both hands on Darcy's shoulders. She tried to remain indifferent but could not prevent a veil of sweat from forming on the palms of her hands and this annoyed her. She had no reason to feel embarrassed, after all Walter was now considered a friend... friend? He wanted to be more for her, it was clear, but did she want him to be more? She had no time to answer, Stella had taken the photo and she had to start breathing again normally. She took off her glasses and looked around, she felt like she was being watched.

- Something wrong? - asked Walter, fearing he had annoyed her.

- No, all right. - she said, letting go of her feelings.

Maybe she shouldn't have done it, because Amaryl was spying on them outside the store. She had been following them for a while, surprised to find those two unbearable girls with her boyfriend. At least, who she wanted her boyfriend to be. She had often tried to show off with him, but for Walter she was invisible, made of air, non-existent! Seeing him with Darcy made her so angry! Walter felt something for the witch, it was obvious, but she couldn't understand how he could have fallen in love with someone so false, slimy and treacherous, especially when he had someone like her in front of him!

"Seeing someone get something they don't deserve is a horrible feeling, isn't it?"

Amaryl winced. The mellifluous voice that had resounded in her head spoke again. "Don't worry, I don't want to hurt you. I have only one proposal for you... you might find it very interesting" "Who are you?" she asked. Perhaps telepathy would have avoided the babble. The voice grinned. "Avoid unnecessary questions, please. Are you interested in a little revenge or not? I don't have all day, fairy ..." "What do you need me for?" Amaryl asked again, going straight to the point this time. "I have a certain card to play, but I can't use it from afar. I need someone to use it for me." The fairy bit her lip, undecided. "Don't be so scrupulous, you won't kill anyone by helping me out. This card is a kind of distraction, a diversion. Nothing particularly interesting, you have my word" The little group burst out laughing again. Trusting him was crazy, but if Darcy had disappeared from circulation maybe Walter would have noticed her. "What should I do?" "Excellent choice. A few meters in front of you, on a windowsill, is a white enamel bottle. You have to find a way to give that filter to the Trix and to those who are on their side" "I will" "Good" " What will happen?" Amaryl asked again, but Valtor no longer answered. The girl turned, walked a few steps and found the bottle right where she had been told. It was a simple porcelain bottle, no one would have thought it could hide a magic filter. Taking care that the contents did not leak out, Amaryl put the potion in her purse and headed for the bus stop. She had to think of a plan.

§§

Meanwhile Bloom, Icy and Lzzy had teleported to the Gloomy Wood forest, in a clearing not far from the Pixies village. Bloom was leading them through the trees and Lzzy had almost forgotten why she was there, busy holding her breath waiting to see this fairy village.

- We're there. - said Bloom, climbing over a root that protruded from the ground by almost half a meter.

Lzzy followed her, curious as never before. She stood open-mouthed at the sight of all those tiny little houses nestled between the roots and the branches of the trees. Yes, in the branches: in fact, many houses were hung like lanterns, and also had the shape of lanterns, but nevertheless Lzzy could not see one that was the same as the other. Each house varied in shape and decoration, while retaining yellow walls, a red roof and green windows. How could she not have seen any of this? It certainly could not be said that the village was camouflaged!

- The root marks the limit of the spell that protects the village. - explained Bloom when Lzzy expressed her doubts aloud, - But come on, I want you to meet someone. -

- You're in toy land, aren't you? - Icy asked Lzzy, amused.

She was glad the bad mood had gone away and she hoped that Bloom could distract her as long as possible.

- Oh yes. This place is wonderful. - replied the girl, admiring the tiny doll-sized lanterns that were neatly arranged in the lawn between the houses.

A movement to the limits of her field of vision made her gaze shift, and she was astonished again to see the tiny little girl flying quickly towards Bloom, calling her by name.

- Lockette! How are you little one? - said Bloom hugging the Pixie, as far as her size would allow it.

- I'm so happy to see you Bloom, I've missed you. - replied Lockette.

- I didn't come alone. There is someone who wants to get to know you and the other Pixies. - said Bloom, motioning for Lzzy and Icy to come closer.

Lockette looked at the witch with a certain awe, then focused on Lzzy. She was wearing a style a little too dark for her, but the sweet smile inspired confidence, so she took courage and introduced herself.

- I am Lockette, the Pixie of the thresholds bound to Bloom. Who are you? -

The soft voice with which she spoke fit perfectly with the general delicacy of the Pixie. The tiny rounded wings, the green flower-shaped clips that held her mauve hair, her pink dress, her green eyes, enormous compared to the rest of her body, which barely dared to look at her for she was so shy, all contributed to giving to the little Lockette a childish and very sweet air.

- I'm Lzzy, a friend of Icy and Bloom. Nice to meet you. -

Lockette was about to say something when another white voice, much more combative, was heard:

- Here spaceship, sighted unidentified subjects! Let's proceed to the check! -

A Pixie riding a black and orange wasp to say the least huge was pointing towards them, followed by other Pixies with a more calm attitude. The "spaceship" stopped a few centimeters from Lzzy's face, so she could see the purple-haired Pixie standing on top of it. The yellow glasses did not leave many doubts about her identity.

- You must be Zing, right? I heard about you. - Lzzy said, casting an amused glance at Icy, who was staring at the wasp with her arms folded.

- Identification please. - said the Pixie, in a martial tone.

A Pixie dressed as a jester stood in front of her.

- Don't pay attention to her, she's obsessed with spaceships. I'm Jolly, Pixie of pranks, and they are Amore, Tune, Livy, Digit, Piff and Chatta. -

- Hi. I'm Lzzy. -

A third Pixie came closer. She looked younger than the others, she wore a sort of pink pajama with a bonnet, and her skin was darker.

- Tooota. – she said, and a Pixie with long pigtails and trendy clothes hurriedly translated:

- Piff says you have a strange name. -

- It's a nickname actually. -

- Tota? -

- She asked what your name is. - Chatta translated again.

- Elizabeth, but nobody calls me that anymore. -

A Pixie with a gown and a heart-shaped beauty mark on her cheek said:

- Oh, it's such an elegant name. -

- That's why it doesn't fit her. - Icy giggled.

- That is very impolite of you, Icy. - Tune said, but Lzzy defended the witch.

- She's right, and I need a remarkable and easy to remember name in my job. Elizabeth is a pretty name, but very common, Lzzy is unique. -

- What's your job? - Chatta asked, curious as usual and not at all scared of Icy.

- I'm a singer. -

Before Chatta could speak again, Digit intervened.

- Sorry for interrupting, but we must warn Ninfea of their presence. -

Bloom bit her lip. Ninfea, the village's Pixie, had to be informed of whoever entered her domain, it was the rule. It could have ruined everything: Ninfea could have told to Concorda about Lzzy, Concorda to Faragonda, then... wait a minute, the Pixies didn't know that Lzzy and Icy had a Bonding yet! With a sigh of relief, Bloom put aside all the apocalyptical sceneries her mind had already created. "Be careful you two, don't let them understand you have a Bonding" she told them telepathically. Meanwhile, Livy volunteered to bring Ninfea the message, which however, as usual, she couldn't memorize.

- I have to tell Ninfea that there's someone in the village. I'm on it. -

- Wait, this way she'll think we don't know who they are. -

- You're right Amore. Then I have to tell her that the Winx and the Trix... I mean, there's Bloom and Icy and a friend of theirs... I think so, I'm sure but not totally sure... I have to tell Bloom that there's Icy and Ninfea and a fr... no no, I have to tell Ninfea that... -

Digit rolled her eyes.

- Don't worry Livy, I'll go. - she said.

- We'll wait for you at the tree of stories! - Lockette said.

Digit gave her a thumbs up to show that she had heard her. Lzzy, who followed the whole scene without laughing (the blonde Pixie had an evident short-term memory and she was too cute), asked:

- Tree of stories? What is it? -

- It's a big tree where we get together to tell stories. - explained Chatta, flying through the village with the others, carefully choosing an easy path for their big guests.

Lzzy noticed that Livy looked sad, she flied rather slowly with her head low and arms down.

- Hey, are you ok? -she asked.

The Pixie shook her head.

- I'm a disaster. I'm the Pixie of mails, I should be good at memorizing things, but the simplest information becomes super complicated in my head... I'm a disaster! I don't remember messages, addresses, I lose everything, I'm extremely messy and I remember the most useless things. -

- I'm sure it'll get better. You know, I used to have trouble memorizing what I studied when I was younger, and you know why? -

- Why? - Livy asked looking up at Lzzy.

- Because I tried to remember things instead of understanding them. If you don't understand something, it's hard to remember it. As for being messy... Well, I'm sorry but there's nothing you can do about it. Says the one who's been trying to make her brother tidier for more or less twenty-eight years, with zero results. -

The Pixie laughed.

Meanwhile, Zing, always riding her wasp, was flying in circles around Icy, who started to get nervous. Buzzing insects were one of the few fears that accompanied her since her childhood, probably because she had faced a beehive when she was four... "Bloom please get her out of my way" pleaded the witch. The fairy of the Dragon Flame, despite finding the situation very funny, felt pity for Icy and thought of a way to distract the Pixie of insects, and she had an idea.

- Jolly. - she called softly, and the Pixie flied near her, - What if... - she whispered, so that only Jolly could hear her.

Once she finished, Jolly winked at her with a smile, then she rubbed her hands and materialized two small transparent spheres. It had been a long time since she used those while the Winx searched for the key to Obsidian, and if that time she had ended up being chased by the spheres, it wouldn't have happened now. Thus, while Zing made the umpteenth circle around the witch of ice, she found herself followed by Jolly's explosive spheres, which she knew quite well.

- They're attacking us! – she screamed, making her wasp climb and starting a vertical ascent.

The spheres followed her, even when she started zigzagging between the branches in an attempt to leave them behind.

- What was that? - Icy asked.

- Explosive spheres. They don't hurt, but they're still annoying. - Jolly said, proud of her toys.

- Why annoying? - Lzzy asked.

Right then they heard two blasts that startled Icy. "Valtor" she thought, only to think how stupid that was when Zing came out of the trees covered in glitter.

- Could you lend me one or two of these spheres? - the witch asked.

- Who would you prank? - asked the Pixie, distrustful.

- Her brother. - Icy replied, pointing at Lzzy.

Bloom laughed, while Lzzy looked at the witch with admiration.

- Hell yeah! Nothing like vodka instead of water! -

- What?! - asked Bloom and Icy at once, rather confused.

Lzzy laughed and said:

-We really did it. Well he started it, but we switched Arejay's water with vodka, and it would've been the perfect prank if it didn't end up with our bus driver using it to make coffee… -

- I can't believe it. - sighed Icy massaging her forehead.

- Yikes, vodka-flavored coffee! - said Bloom instead.

Chatta, who was in front of the group, slowed down until the three humans reached her.

- We're here. - she announced, pointing at an enormous tree, its reddish trunk wider than twenty meters and even higher. Long knobby branches sprang for its entire length and made it impossible to see the top of the tree, the lowest branches had no leaves, and some had colored lanterns on them. The roots twisted and turned around the trunk, and in a recess a sort of small throne had been carved, its color lighter than the rest.

There sat two of the four Pixies of the Codex, Ninfea and Discorda. The second one was there exceptionally, she didn't particularly love the sunny colors of the village nor the company of other Pixies, she preferred her shadowy and lonely Cloudtower, but she never refused tea or playing cards with Ninfea. They were in the middle of a game when Digit came to inform them, and Ninfea thought it was appropriate to show herself to her guests (also because she was losing, in Discorda's opinion). Although, she had to admit that she was curious to see Icy to witness herself the change that principal Griffin thought had occurred. Sure, she and the witch had only met once before, but Cloudtower was Discorda's home and through the castle she knew all the witches it housed, with no exception. And the young, presumptuous, egocentric witch she remembered was completely different from the quiet and reserved one who was sitting under the trees of the Gloomy Wood forest. Above all, she was more patient than what Discorda remembered. Zing kept mumbling behind her, but Icy didn't even seem to hear her and ignored her, paying attention to the conversation of Chatta and her friend. Only when Zing said something particularly rude Icy stuck out her tongue, which however was a totally different reaction from that she would have head years before.

While Discorda was lost in her thoughts, Lzzy took advantage of Chatta's patter to learn something more about the past of the Winx and the Trix. The Pixie told an anecdote after the other without resting, jumping from how Aisha had tried to free them from a red skeleton to a weird Halloween night, passing by their first encounter with Amentia. Lzzy welcomed these information with a great interest since her friends rarely spoke of the years they spent fighting each other, and she understood that, but at the same time she felt that those moments were fundamental to understand what forces were now playing and what their goals were, who she could trust, why others were enemies.

When the Pixie got to Valtor's liberation from the Omega Dimension, the girl suddenly turned to Icy.

- Why did you free him?! - she asked.

Icy shrugged and said, defending herself:

- The Pixie misses some pieces. Some guardian snakes were chasing me, Darcy and Stormy, we thought of using Valtor as a distraction and nothing more, we had no idea who he was and we could never guess that after years of imprisonment he would have been able of destroying those snakes. -

- What makes the snakes so dangerous? - asked Lzzy.

Even if they were poisonous, she thought they weren't such a big deal for who can fly. Digit projected a hologram of a guardian snake in comparison with a human.

- Size aside? They turn into ice anything that goes near them. - she answered.

Lzzy widened her eyes. Could something so enormous actually exist?

- It's not like your lake snakes, is it? - Icy asked sarcastically, rising an eyebrow.

- Definitely not. -

- It isn't even the biggest monster we met. - Bloom said, - If I'm not wrong the Kraken was bigger, and some of Mandragora's bugs were too. -

- Who? That cockroach witch? - Icy asked with a look of superiority.

Bloom nodded and said:

- But don't let size fool you, sometimes the smallest creatures are the most dangerous. Once, in Solaria, in one day we risked to be devoured by spiders and bled by leeches. -

- I missed that one. - Icy said, while Lzzy tried to keep herself from laughing.

- Sorry for laughing, - she said, - but I'm starting to believe that you look for trouble! Come on, you can't be that unlucky! -

- It wasn't properly misfortune. - Amore intervened, - Stella's dad had organized the Princess' Ball to introduce her to her royal duties, but an envious girl, Chimera, turned her into a sort of giant frog. The king, under Valtor's spell, didn't recognize her and ordered the guards to get her, so she and the Winx run out of the palace and sheltered in underground galleries to escape. There, once they escaped the spiders, they dove in an underground lake filled with leeches, but Stella managed to take the others away from that place. -

- We've been through a lot that year, no one of our enemies gave us more trouble than Valtor. - Bloom said, - It took us months to free Stella's father from that spell, and it wasn't easy. -

A shower of sparkles rained on the tree of stories. It was Jolly.

- Let's not talk about it, the past is past. Lzzy, would you want me to read your cards? -

- Well, why not? - answered the earthling.

She didn't believe that kind of things at all, but maybe in a world like Magix even tarots had some power. When Jolly kneeled down mid-air in front of her and materialized her cards, Lzzy understood that it was something serious. The cards moved in circles around the Pixie who, with her eyes closed, first raised then put down her arms. Three cards lowered between her and Lzzy without showing their figures, while the others disappeared. Jolly opened her amethyst eyes and turned the first card, on which was the picture of a stormy sea and a sailing ship, its moorings broken by the waves.

- The adrift ship. It means you're entering a difficult moment, and that the danger will come from those you didn't expect. -

"Those I didn't expect? Maybe the troupe… they could talk with somebody! Oh, oh please no..." Lzzy thought, frowning.

Jolly turned the second card. The figure was much simpler, a geode broken in half that showed its precious inside.

- This one means that even in the hardest times you'll be able to find new, precious friendships. - Jolly said to then turn the third card, displaying two roses with their stems intertwined in a spiral.

The Pixie put a hand on her heart.

- Oh, you have a big heart if you can love two people like this. The twin roses indicate two big passions living together, although usually one of the two surrenders to let the other grow blooming. -

Lzzy thanked Jolly, even though her prediction made her worried. She knew perfectly who her roses were, and she couldn't help but ask herself which one she would give up on. By her side, Icy was still thinking about the first card.

- Lzzy, you should go back home and make sure your friends don't screw up to your damage. - she said.

Clearly, she had followed the same reasoning as her. Lzzy grimaced.

- Do I really have to? -

- Jolly's predictions may not be fulfilled if you act soon. - Bloom said, - I experienced that. -

Lzzy sighed.

- Fine, I guess I have no choice. -

§§

- It was awesome! When the goblins captured the boy… and then the battle to get out of the caves! Amazing movie! -

Alec smiled while Aire imitated the characters' lines.

- So do I chose good movies, you distrustful witch? - he asked.

At the beginning of the movie Aire wasn't a fan of his choice, but she had to revalue her opinion.

- Thus I was right, that director is a genius. - Alec gloated.

- He should cast well-known actors though. -

- Here we go again! Look, you can have the best actors in the Magic Dimension working for you, but if you don't have a good story for them your movie will still flop. -

- Brick head. - mumbled the girl, referring to Alec's hair color.

The Specialist sighed and rolled his eyes, giving up to her stubborn attitude.

- We could have something at the cafè? – he asked, just to change the topic.

Aire accepted, with the condition that he wouldn't pay for her.

- What if I want to though? - asked the boy, with the exact intention of getting on her nerves.

- I wouldn't have anything. - replied the witch crossing her arms with excessive superiority.

- Ah, women. - he sighed again.

§§

On another planet, someone else prayed for one particular woman to come back home. It was almost nine now, and Arejay, Joe and Josh were beginning to worry. The three of them were sitting on a couch, too nervous to do anything and too much on Lzzy's side to have company.

- Hey there. - said a sad woman's voice, startling them.

Lzzy could barely close the portal in the corridor behind her before Joe pulled her in a suffocating hug.

- Joey... -

- I'm sorry I didn't say a thing Lz, I should have defended you... - Joe said.

Lzzy freed herself from the hug.

- Joseph Hottinger, you have nothing to be forgiven for. - she replied sweetly but firmly, - Indeed, forgive me for going away like that, I couldn't stay. I felt all those negative emotions and I feared they could take me over. - she continued.

- We understand, Lzzy, - Josh said, - but you'll have to face them again tomorrow. -

- I know. I hope that some sleep will make them think straight. -

Arejay intervened:

- Josh and Joe can tell you, after you left I was about to eat them alive, but after all, it's normal that they're scared. Do you remember how you cried when you found out you had powers? It was hard to accept it for you in the first place, give them time to get used to the idea of that. -

Lzzy stood silent for a moment, recognizing the truth in her brother's words.

- You're right Jay, but right now I care more about not spreading the news, and I have no control over it, I can't keep them from telling anyone. -

- Trust, Lzzy. It's the only solution. - Josh said.