Chapter 48
Determination
If she had to express her state of mind in one word, Icy would have defined herself as "bothered".
Anticipating the agitation that would have accompanied the preparation of the Tournament, the Expression test had been anticipated, which it wouldn't have been a problem for itself if Icy didn't think she had more important things to think about rather than choosing two songs that represented her past and her present.
Everything felt so futile in that moment. The Expression classes, the Literature ones, the Tournament… what did she need those for? They wouldn't prepare them to real dangers, but to a world based on diplomacy and petty quarrels. In a way, that's what fairies were for, Guardians of their planets and maidens of rulers when needed, or straight up princesses.
Cloudtower was different. Or at least less abstract, more involved in the Real. Goodness, how did she speak? She was giving rise to philosophy. There, maybe Literature classes were of some use. But she needed to be active on a more pragmatic level, even just to not feel like a dead leaf hit by an avalanche. Luckily, Lzzy would arrive to exercise any minute now.
§§
The now familiar vortex of green light opened in front of Lzzy. She crossed it, anxious to get to Alfea, but instead of calmly going through the regular tunnel that linked Earth to Magix she was sort of sucked in a secondary, more unstable gallery, without a chance of opposing it.
The portal threw her on the ground roughly, taking away her breath. She hit her head and her sight got foggy for a few seconds, during which her hands revealed her that she was laying on a field and grass was under her fingers. Nothing like that had ever happened before.
Lzzy got up on her feet, ignoring the surely grass-stained jeans and observing the pink wall that enclosed the campus of Alfea. The wall inside of which were all the protection spells of the Winx. What happened? Why didn't she get to the apartment like usual?
- Finally, we get to meet each other. - said a warm, soft voice, almost sensual.
Lzzy didn't waste time to turn and look for the owner of the voice, she just started running in the direction of the school, knowing that she wasn't powerful enough to contrast Valtor.
The wizard shook his head and ended that desperate attempt with a globe of dark energy. It hit Lzzy in the middle of her back, kicking her down again and making her cry in pain. The strength of the spell made her understand that Valtor had no intention of playing with her. There wouldn't be transformations or poisonings. He was there to kill her.
- I hoped you would give me some trouble, you know? At least half of what Icy always gave me, but it is obvious, I overestimated you. - Valtor mocked her, getting closer.
Lzzy lifted herself up on her arms and turned to look at him, a mixture of hate and terror in her eyes.
- You were so worried of being left alone, but you'll be the first to go. Ironic, don't you think? - the wizard said, again mocking her.
- Don't cry victory too soon. - Lzzy warned him, even though she didn't know what that sentence was based on since she barely managed to get back up.
- Oh, right, you are the singer. I always wondered if you were good at dancing too. - said Valtor throwing a new globe at Lzzy, who avoided it by a whisker flying up.
She attacked as well and was surprised seeing the intensity of her fear, which painted her powers blue. Valtor didn't even try to dodge the beam, he just deviated it with his hand leaving the girl speechless.
Lzzy looked around. She didn't dare turn her back to Valtor and fly towards Alfea anymore. She was surrounded by the trees of the Gloomy Wood forest, which could have offered a little advantage if she managed to disappear between them, but she wasn't quick enough, and she knew it. She was trapped.
Valtor attacked again and she responded in the same way. The two beams canceled each other in a sizzle of sparks.
"Icy! Icy help me!" Lzzy called desperately.
§§
"Icy! Icy help me!"
Lzzy's mental scream pierced the temples of the witch of ice, who put a hand on her head. She looked for Lzzy with her thought and, as soon as she knew where she was (on the back of the school, a few dozens of meters from the barrier) she transformed and stormed out of the apartment without giving the others the time to ask questions. In the corridor she raised a hand towards the closest window and opened it with magic, while some students squealed like mice seeing her transformed, then she flew outside and headed fast for the point where her mindmate was.
§§
Valtor began using her as a moving target and Lzzy knew she couldn't dodge his hits much longer. Suddenly, a snowflake-shaped shield appeared in front of her, followed by the witch who evoked it.
- Stay away from her. - exclaimed Icy landing in front of Lzzy.
Valtor frowned.
- You aren't in the position to give orders, witch. -
Icy clenched her fists, a cold blue light concentrating around them.
- I wouldn't be so sure. - she said, right before unleashing a vortex of snow against the wizard and turning to Lzzy.
- Run, Mae. Call the others. -
The earthling hesitated. She didn't want to abandon Icy, but she would have had more freedom of movement and moreover she had to warn the others, so she turned towards the school again. But this time Lzzy was stopped by a big maimed hand which, evoked by Valtor, emerged from the ground and grabbed her, preventing any movement and clenching more the more she tried to break free.
Then Icy began to attack Valtor repeatedly, trying to hit him to make him lose focus and cancel the spell, but uselessly: each and every blow got diverted, avoided or disappeared in a vortex of snowflakes. Icy kept attacking, not giving him time to react, because she promised Lzzy that nothing was ever going to happen to her and she had to keep her word.
Soon enough Valtor got tired of that game that risked to make his plan fail and ordered the hand to tighten the grip even more, counting on the fact that two creatures united by Bonding feel each other's pain. Ad he predicted, as soon as Lzzy felt a too strong pressure on her lungs Icy stopped for a second, enough for Valtor to knock her out.
Too close to defend herself, the witch bumped on a tree and fell down. She tried to get back on her feet right away, but at Valtor's gesture the roots and branches of the tree moved to imprison her, making her unable to move.
- So, what now? - asked Valtor, almost gloating.
- You're so pathetic. - replied Icy while the branches and the roots that held her still turned into ice and then fell shattered to the ground.
Flora would forgive that outrage to the vegetal world.
While the fight continued harsher than before, Lzzy tried to telepathically contact the other girls. Sadly, telepathy wasn't her strong point, plus in that moment she was panicking because the ghostly hand held her so tightly that she could hardly breathe. But she absolutely had to break free. She had to make it for herself, for Icy, for Arejay, for Joe, for Josh, for her parents, for her friends and for everyone she knew and for who she didn't know too. She began concentrating on her powers, but the grip tightened again and she thought it would crack her ribs. Nonetheless, she forced herself not to scream to let Icy focus on the duel.
- Give in, Icy. You can't defeat me on your own, you were never able to. - Valtor was saying.
- Actually, I never tried. I may have a surprise for you. - replied the witch throwing an ice prism at the wizard, finally hitting him.
That was too much for Valtor.
- Enough. - he said.
He felt many auras getting close, he had to be fast. He sent a ray of black fire against Icy, striking her so hard that she bounced three times on the grass. Then he focused on Lzzy. With her mind clouded by the pain of both her and Icy, Lzzy hardly understood the danger. Valtor raised a hand, on which a sinister sphere of dark magic shone, growing more and more and sending out sparks of electricity.
- Your betrayal was the gravest, Icy. The Ancestors saved you from a mediocre destiny, giving you the means to submit the entire Magical Universe, but you miserably failed and then you let the Winx destroy them. -
- The Ancestors robbed me of the possibility of having a normal life. - hissed Icy, hardly lifting herself on her arms.
The last strike was unexpectedly powerful.
- And now you think you can have that possibility once more, don't you? I know that she - and he pointed at Lzzy, - symbolizes that hope for you. They say hope is the last one to die, but she will be the first. So watch her die! -
Valtor let go on the sphere of magic, now bigger than twenty inches. Icy was too weak to stop it and could do nothing but scream:
- Elizabeth! Nooo! -
A blinding silver light forced her to close her eyes, but she felt no pain. She was indeed surprised by Valtor's scream, as if he was the one hurt. When the light faded away, she could see him teleporting, while Lzzy fell down on her knees. Worn-out, but alive.
- Mae! - Icy whispered running to her, her legs still trembling.
She looked up and made a little smile.
- I'm fine. - she said weakly, - I took advantage of his sermon to fight back. I just needed a touch of determination. -
Icy couldn't believe it. Lzzy had just caused Valtor to fled and she was making puns!
- I was scared that I'd... that you... - she stuttered holding her in her arms, almost trying to make sure that she wasn't a ghost.
- Me too. Me too and I'm sorry I couldn't call for help, I was terrified and... -
- It doesn't matter. You're alive, that's all I care about. - Icy said, going back to her civilian clothes right before the Winx, Darcy and Stormy arrived with Daphne, Avalon and Faragonda.
Unlike Darcy and Stormy, she didn't understand immediately what it meant, she needed to hear the vaguely exasperated voice of Faragonda asking for explanations. Then she put herself together and looked at Lzzy, a shade of panic in her eyes. Lzzy was scared too. Icy had to be strong for her, she had to demonstrate she could handle the situation. After all, there was nothing wrong with having a Bonding. The problem was that she shouldn't have been alone that night nor use magic if not for self-defense, which was what had happened in the end but the fact that the people involved were earthlings made it much more complicated…
- Icy, I demand an explanation. -
The witch got a grip once again. All she had to do was tell the truth. They worried for nothing, they weren't wrong, not this time. She got up, helping Lzzy to stand up as well, and she turned to Faragonda. Part of Lzzy's brain noticed that Icy kept holding her hand.
- This is Lzzy. Valtor tried to kill her because we have a Bonding. -
Ten minutes later the infirmary was definitely overcrowded. Lzzy fainted for a few seconds, but nothing serious luckily: Palladium had visited her and attributed it to stress and the big dispersion of energy. Meanwhile, Icy answered the headmistress' questions, with the support of the Winx. On the way to the infirmary they had agreed on a common version of the story: Icy wasn't alone in that street, but with the girls and the Specialists. However, she had been the first to notice the gun and acted instinctively, and the rest was history. Apparently satisfied with the story, Faragonda was now contesting the fact that they didn't say anything up until that moment.
- We thought it was nothing serious, and that it wasn't worth it to report it. - Stella lied shamelessly, displaying a contrite and worried expression that seemed authentical.
She acted almost as well as Darcy.
- It was rather irresponsible of you to keep it a secret, especially given Valtor's return. He could have tried to Separate them! - Daphne scolded them.
Yes, Daphne and Avalon were still there, and this was quite annoying to Icy.
- What do you mean? - Bloom asked her sister.
Icy and Lzzy were always apart since they lived on different planets, and an attempted homicide (more than one actually) seemed to her much more dangerous and irremediable.
- I know it's said that the Bonding is infrangible, but it isn't. There is a curse able to break the bond and it has terrible consequences. It hasn't been practiced for centuries, and many don't know it exists. I know about it because I'm a nymph, but Valtor might know about it because he was around before it was banned. - answered Daphne.
Suddenly, Icy wasn't that annoyed by her presence anymore.
Finally free from Palladium's attentions, Lzzy intervened:
- He tried to kill me less than one hour ago, I think he doesn't care for that curse. -
- She's right. - Tecna agreed, - If his goal is to cause pain, Separating them would be less efficient than... well, we all know it. -
"Than forcing one of us to live without the other" Icy thought, shivering. She felt that losing Lzzy meant losing a big part of herself.
- What is going to happen now? - asked Lzzy, walking to the witch of ice.
- I know what you're thinking, - said Faragonda crossing her arms, severe, - but no one will prevent you from being together. Indeed, as much as I'm concerned, Icy can go wherever she wants as long as she is with you, with the condition that she is on time for classes. -
- Excuse me, what? -
Icy was sure she misunderstood.
- It's my last word. Now, if there's nothing else you should tell me, you may go back to your rooms. -
The girls couldn't believe their ears, but before the headmistress could think twice about it they quickly walked out of the infirmary and headed to their apartment. They waited until they saw the door to rejoice. The calmest ones were Icy, Lzzy and Darcy. The first two were emotively and physically exhausted, the other one was thinking of the original cause of all that ruckus.
- Girls... - said Lzzy falling down on the sofa, - How could I make him go away? I am far less powerful than you guys are, I'm barely at the second level. I don't get it. -
- In extreme situations, sometimes one can cast spells that are on a superior level. We felt yours from afar. - replied Aisha.
- We also saw it. What's silver? - asked Musa, knowing that Lzzy's powers had a different color according to the feeling they expressed.
- Determination. It was too soon to go. ...Have you ever done that? I mean, going beyond your level. -
- It happened. - replied Bloom.
- Yes, just a few time times to you. - Stella mocked her.
Bloom shrugged.
- It was a stroke of luck that you weren't at a higher level, Lzzy. You see, the more you progress the less magical potential you have, while in the first levels everything is still, in fact, potential. -
- Like in physics? - Lzzy asked.
It was the first sensed thing she heard about magic.
- Yes, exactly. -
§§
Valtor reappeared in his hideout, furious. He was that close and he let a newbie beat him! Unacceptable! He had considered a possible intervention of witches and fairies, after all he was attacking in their territory, but he didn't expect such power from Icy's mindmate. Evidently, they did have something in common. Trying that move again would have been useless, he was just going to risk yet another burning defeat and he was tired of losing. He was going to disappear for a little while, his allies had got him the perfect occasion to enact his plan. He only had to wait and she, them, would have died. Valtor smiled, tasting his vengeance.