Chapter 41

Useless

Being received by the head of the family wasn't hard, it only took a few words from Selim, but judging on his sly look having his help wouldn't be as easy. Kalid Amer had the air of a man used to take advantage of anyone, who had never been turned down when asking for a favor and who knew perfectly he was the one in control. He was old, wrinkled, his lips were subtle and dry, but that didn't make his words any less authoritative. Indeed, they sounded even harsher than needed.

- Nothing is given for nothing in the desert, Mustakar, you do know it. - he said in a low, monotone voice after the wizard had given voice to their request, - I will be glad to help you, if you will help me. -

- Make your offer. - replied Selim, holding back from insulting that old vulture.

- A few nights ago, thieves entered my palace and stole my family's seal, of inestimable value. Bring it back to me, and I shall give you what you ask. -

There was a brief exchange of looks between Selim and the others, then the wizard said:

- We have a deal. -

Kalid smiled mockingly, enjoying their impotence.

- Good. The thieves have their nest on the mountains east of the city. They are a rather famous group, impudent enough to leave a sign of their passage. - he clapped his hands and instantly a page came, holding an embellished pillow with a golden feather with an iron tip on it.

Kalid took it and passed it to Mustakar, who took it and examined it.

- The Rocs. - he surprisingly said.

Kalid nodded, abruptly.

- Bring back what is mine, foreigners, and you shall have your cure. - he repeated, before exiting the room and having them escorted outside his palace.

Once out, Selim surprised the others diving into a series of insults.

- Vulture son of vultures, old shriveled up mummy, leech! - he grumbled, before switching to his native language and more colored insults.

Darcy interrupted the wizard.

- We have no time for this! -

- He really framed us! - Vanir murmured.

- Yeah. - agreed Cassandra.

- Let's go back to the Owl, quick. - Tecna said, - We must come up with a plan. -

On the Owl, once the other group was informed and hurricane Stormy died down, Selim explained the guys who the Rocs were.

- They're a group of ravagers that always take what they want and then disappear. Their continuous successes made them so shameless that they attacked people even more powerful than the Amers. They say that many of them have magical powers, and that they know how to inhibit their opponents' powers. -

- Not bad as a curriculum. - joked Roxy.

Tecna projected at the center of the cabin a tridimensional model of the mountain chain addressed by Kalid. It was awfully huge.

- How do we find a group of outlaws in there? It's like looking for a four-leaf clover in a clover field. - said Francesca, disconsolate.

- Well, we know they hide in caves. - said Tecna, - Satellites don't register human settlements on the mountains, so their hideout is surely inside of them... - she typed something on her computer and a dozen of mountains showed cavities that were hundreds of kilometers deep, - And this allows us to narrow down the options. -

- It's not enough, we must be reasonably sure of where we want to go. - said Walter, - Only reaching the mountains takes six hours, we can't explore all the caves. - He pointed at one of the "hollow" mountains, then one at the other end, - Between these two there are about three hours of flight, too many to not be sure. -

Cassandra intervened:

- A group of people needs a lot of water, right? So their hideout shouldn't be far from an underground lake or river. -

- Good point, I'll cross the data. - said Tecna.

Three mountains showed their secret lakes and rivers. Misha pointed at one.

- In this one the caves are small and not very deep, too far from the water. -he said.

- In this one instead the entrance seems to be only accessible by flying, since it's on an overhanging. - Flora said, - Even though some of them can fly, not everyone can. -

- Camels don't fly either. - mumbled Selim, - They use those to move. -

The last mountain had a rather easy access, the caves were directly linked with two underground lakes and their galleries run for kilometers in the stone.

- It seems like we found them. - Takeshi said.

Stormy had an idea.

- Mustakar, do you still have the golden feather? - she asked.

Selim took it out of his belt and gave it to her.

- What do you want to do? - Darcy asked her.

- With the right spell the feather could tell us where it comes from. This way, once we're inside we won't get lost. - answered the witch of storms.

- It's a good idea. - agreed Vanir.

- We could use it like Arianna's thread to get out as well. - Cassandra said, while the Specialists looked at her questioningly.

- Whose thread? - Walter asked.

Darcy chuckled, while Cassandra said:

- Arianna... oh, it's just a legend. -

- Then it's settled, we're going. According to my data, we should be there in twelve hours. - Tecna said.

Vanir turned to sit at the pilot seat.

- Good. Get com… Damn! - he exclaimed.

The landscape was gone, substituted by golden waves of sand that crashed on the shuttle, taken up by a violent, impetuous wind.

- It's a sandstorm. - said Selim, used to such sight.

- Please, tell me the Owl can still fly! - implored Cassandra.

Takeshi shook his head and Misha said:

- Right now we'd risk a damage to the engine, and we'd be screwed. It's better if we wait for it to stop. -

Darcy couldn't believe her ears.

- Wait? Wait?! It could take days! We can't wait! -

- We have no choice. - said Vanir, kind but irremovable.

Darcy didn't reply, she turned suddenly and headed for the back room, where Icy and the others were still asleep. Walter tried to follow her, but Stormy stopped him.

- Not now, let her calm down. -

- Stormy, can't you do something to stop the storm? - asked Francesca.

The witch shook her head.

- I can mitigate it, not stop it completely. If it were a thunderstorm it would be different, but this is a natural event that falls only partially under my control. -

- Well, let's not waste this time. - said Cassandra, - Let's think about what we'll do when we get there. – "If we ever do" she thought.

§§

Valtor observed lazily as the two individuals who had accepted to meet him, or rather, to meet the person whose name he had stolen got closer. Both of them weren't powerful enough to be a threat for him, were they to refuse his proposal (he doubted that would happen), perhaps they were magicians of fourth or fifth level, but he would gladly avoid killing them. The demise of two members of the Council would make the Fortress of Light very careful and suspicious, and then he would have had to give up on his plan. When the two got close enough to recognize him, he dismissed the spell that kept him invisible.

- Noble Givelian, noble Yerka, I am glad that you accepted my invitation. - he smiled, amused by their surprised and alarmed expressions, - You can probably understand now why I wanted to meet you in such an isolated place. -

"Isolated" was a euphemism, that area of the Gloomy Wood forest, close to the swamp, was only visited by insects and amphibia, not even crowrats went there.

Givelian clenched his bony hand around his cane, discharging on the wood the tension he removed from his voice.

- I completely understand. What do you want, wizard? -

Valtor clenched his teeth for a moment, irritated, then said:

- What you want, that the Trix disappear forever. We have the same objective, we can cooperate... -

- Why should we do that? - asked Givelian with disdain, but he was frozen at once by Valtor.

- Oh, don't make me say that. I know you're not afraid of getting your hands dirty, it's a feature we have in common. So, before I explain my plan, are you with me? -

The two stood silent for some minutes, they were likely consulting each other telepathically.

Impatient, Valtor added:

- If I speak and you don't accept, I will have to kill you. -

- It won't be necessary. - hissed Yerka, - We're listening. -

- Excellent. It would have been quite irritating to look for someone else inside of the Fortress of Light, nobody would be as motivated as you are. -

- Get to the point, why do you need us? - Givelian interrupted him.

"I'll have to collaborate from a distance, or I'll end up killing him before the time comes" Valtor thought. He found that man extremely unbearable, he gave him a disgusting idea of grease.

- Because, - he replied, - in the Fortress there's something to which not the fairies nor the witches could get close to without someone on the inside of the monastery. A portal, to be precise, a portal for another universe. -

The two got pale, shocked by what Valtor was suggesting.

- You mean... -

- The Mermaid's Portal. - Valtor nodded, - It won't be easy to come back from it, given that they even survive. However, I'll need time before this little trip happens. I need to make sure that when the Portal is open, a precise person is there… or else, that she's already dead by then. -

- Who? - asked Givelian.

Valtor sniggered.

- If everything follows my plans, you will meet her soon. I will let you know when and how to take action. - he concluded, disappearing and leaving Givelian and Yerka with their load of questions.

He didn't need them to know, they were nothing but puppets, puppets whose threads converged in his hands. He teleported in his refuge, in a wide hall decorated only by his throne, from the subtle column on which was his sphere and six cauldrons. The flames burning in one of them caught his eye. They danced sinuously, they stretched and knotted, running up. They were ambitious like he was, like the Trix were when they were his allies. But the three witches had always put up an act, their ambition was just smoke and mirrors for him and the Ancestral Witches. The performance had been perfect, but the three of them would pay for their acting ability.

- Sphere, show me the Trix. - he commanded, to then walk to the sphere.

He raised an eyebrow, surprised by the luck that, for once, was favoring him.

- Look what we have here, a sandstorm. This diversion could be useful after all, I didn't expect that. -

Gloating, he tried to divine Icy's mindmate. He didn't expect to succeed since the spells that protected her followed her everywhere she went, while those which protected Winx and Trix were mostly geo-localized, so it was with a certain surprise that he managed to see Arejay. He wasn't his target, but he was uncovered and he allowed him to see where he and his company were. He had a surprise for them as well.

§§

Sky pushed the engine of his windrider to the limit of legal speed. The distance between him and Alfea got shorter and shorter, but not fast enough for him.

Pushed by the continuous insistence of his friends and his hearth, he decided to try to fix things with Bloom and as soon as classes were over, he had gotten on his motorbike without even grabbing lunch. He couldn't foresee Bloom's reaction, but he hoped with all his heart they could make peace. It had been a month since their quarrel, and Sky missed her too much. Moreover, thinking again and again about what happened in Downland he understood he was wrong and that he didn't act like the sovereign he was supposed to be, but rather like a scared kid or a stubborn mule. A bit like his parents, after all. Blinded by his own beliefs he refused to consider other hypothesis, putting the result of the mission and people's lives at stake, to the extent that he didn't acknowledge the inner change of the witch of ice, which he had actually accepted already. Once he was done with Bloom, he would have looked for Icy in order to apologize, and the other two Trix too, even though it would have been hard to swallow all that pride at once.

Finally, the Specialist reached Alfea's enchanted gate, which opened automatically and then closed after him. Dodging the benches, the well and a few students walking around, Sky got to the main entrance and parked the motorbike. He hurriedly took off his helmet, not even noticing that it fell down, and run into the building. He was almost on top of the stairs that led to the dorms when a familiar voice called him.

- Sky! -

He turned and saw Dafne running to him from the opposite stairs, which led to the teachers' apartments and Faragonda's office. She looked extremely worried.

- Are you looking for Bloom? - she asked.

As if he could be looking for someone else in that school.

- Yes, do you know where she is? -

The nymph lowered her brown eyes, then spoke.

- She's in Altaduna. There was a new attack and... -

When his heart suddenly stopped beating, Sky could feel his blood slowing down in his veins until it stopped. A sense of dizziness forced him to lean on the handrail, he almost thought he'd faint, then, weakly, the heart restarted pumping blood around. The buzz that broke into his ears vanished, with the result that he now understood everything the nymph said instead of three words out of five.

- ...Sadly they're stuck because of a sandstorm and they can't do anything but wait. - Dafne stopped briefly, - You better wait for their return here in Magix as well. - she added.

Sky looked like he would open a portal to the Omega Dimension in that instant, if he could do that.

The boy took a deep breath and nodded.

- Fine. I'll go back to Redfountain. -

- Are you ok? -

- No... Yes... Well, I'll get there safe and sound, if this is what you mean. - he mumbled before walking down the stairs with excessive caution.

He felt like his legs couldn't stand his weight.

- I'll wait out here for a while. - he pointed out.

Dafne, ready to stop him in case he really got on his bike in those conditions, discretely sighed in relief.

- If you want to talk, I'm in my classroom. - she said, before walking down to the atrium and disappearing in the corridors.

Perhaps she looked for something to help her sister in the books that encumbered the classroom of History of Magic. Sky wanted to do something too, at least to avoid feeling so useless, but how could he help? He had no magical books to read, there were no monsters to fight or distractions to create.

Sunlight welcomed him with unexpected coldness. The temperature kept going down regularly from a week or so, and the rays of the sun couldn't warm the planet like they did up to that moment. Was that the same thing that happened to him and Bloom? Did they cool down, were they unable to encounter each other the way they did before? Why didn't she tell him? "Because we haven't spoken to each other for a month, that's why" he answered himself. He would have done the same. Maybe the two of them were way too similar, like two lines that travel in space, but not parallel: they cross, they run close to each other for a certain amount of time and then they move away again. Given what people say, that's pretty much the end of all love stories that start when you're fifteen or sixteen years old, it's not a news. Who knows why they deluded themselves thinking they were two lines that, after crossing their ways, fuse and continue their journey together...

§§

Eight hundred and ninety-eight, eight hundred and ninety-nine, nine hundred. Nine hundred seconds thus fifteen minutes thus a quarter of hour and she still didn't hear the roaring of the engine, they were still waiting for the storm to mitigate, they waited doing nothing. Darcy bit her lip and clenched her fists until her knuckles turned white. A new wave of tears run down her cheeks.

It was anger. She was crying out of anger, just like when she was a child and she couldn't have something even if she asked "please". As a child she asked for simple things: one more piece of cake, a toy, a pair of shoes, the permission to go to a party. Now she asked to help her friends, and it was different. She didn't even know who to ask such a thing. To nature, that had chosen the wrong time and place to cause that sandstorm? To one of the deities of one of the hundreds of religions of the Magic Dimension, or maybe to all of them? Perhaps to fate? And why would they listen to her? And even if they did, why would they satisfy her request? Like strict, but just parents, they would answer with a dry "no", because nobody gets special treatment and sooner or later everybody goes through that feeling of impotence that pushes you to ask, and if you please one person then you must please every person, and not fate nor a god nor nature can please the entire universe. So, Darcy stayed sitting there, in a tiny spot in the back room of the shuttle, crying quietly and pouring out her anger of feeling useless.

Suddenly the door opened. Automatically, Darcy wiped her tears in an attempt to look normal. Understanding how useless that gesture was (she had been crying for fifteen minutes, rubbing her eyes could only increase the redness), she turned to face the wall, hoping the newcomer would check on the five sleeping creatures and ignore her. Idle hopes.

- Are you feeling any better? - Walter asked timidly, stopping by her side.

- How could I? - the witch asked bitterly, clearing her throat.

- Right. Sorry, it was a terrible question. -

Darcy was tempted to turn when she felt him sitting by her side, too close perhaps, but she resisted.

- Is there a way I can help you that isn't turning on the engine and making it explode? - Walter tried again.

Darcy remained silent for a few seconds.

- Talk to me. Keep talking to me. - she said.

Walter raised an eyebrow, surprised by those words. He expected to be asked to leave, since the witch had decided to be there alone, but he wasn't sorry.

- Uh... my name's Walter, I'm twenty-one years old and I'm from Linphea, I'm studying in Redfountain since seven years now and my parents believe I should get out of there. I'm a lone child, I like spending time with my family, I'm allergic to hazelnuts and I don't know what else to say because you already know I like rafting and I'm good at imitating professors. -

Darcy couldn't hold back a little laugh.

- That seemed a speech for an AA meeting. - she said.

- I know, - Walter giggled, - but I didn't know what to say. I didn't want to get straight to the point and ask you if you want to talk, instead of listening to me. -

His voice had suddenly turned sweet and thoughtful. He was trying to push her to trust him, but he didn't know it was pointless: he already had her trust since the ball. However, the silence lasted long enough for Walter to think he had missed the target. He was about to try again when Darcy said, finally turning to look at him:

- Doesn't all of this suck? All this pain, and the confusion, the blackmails, the fact of being used and depending on something we can't control. Doesn't it suck? -

Walter couldn't believe that Darcy's voice could sound so trembling, it made him want to hug and protect her.

- Yeah, it really sucks. -

- And it's all my fault, or ours if you prefer! It all happened because we're alive and we hoped for something not better, but normal. Just normal. But even that is too much for someone like me. -

Even though she tried to hold back, Darcy broke out in a new series of sobs. Normally she would have been ashamed of showing her weaknesses like that, but she couldn't wear her mask anymore, it was too tight. She needed someone who listened to her and let her pour out.

Walter decided to risk passing an arm around her shoulders. Darcy didn't seem to notice, she kept her gaze still on her hands.

- I'm tired of battles, I want to be a girl like the others, I want that normalcy I tasted this summer, before Valtor returned! It almost felt real, you see, I was this close to the finish line and then they pulled me back making me fall! -

- You're not like the others, you aren't normal, you are yourself. And you're beautiful this way. You deserve living your own life and you will, I promise, but now you need to hold on for a little more. If you want, I can help you. -

- If you help me, you could die. -

- Do you think I don't know it? -

Darcy looked at him right in the eyes. The yellow lenses of her glasses were wet with tears, Walter gently caressed her cheeks. They were so close…

- I only want to be by your side Darcy. If you will allow me, I will always be by your side. -

Darcy felt her heart beating faster in her chest. It was too early! She hadn't answered her questions yet, she could burn herself, she was acting too impulsively! But if she refused, Walter could have never repeated the question again and she would have lost him… lost? Can you lose what you never had?

Faced with the witch's lack of reactions, Walter looked down, mortified. He was about to let her go when she whispered:

- Thank you. -

Then she kissed him softly, barely resting her lips on those of the boy.