Chapter 53

False Step

Beth Hale didn't expect to find her daughter outside the door. First, because she rang the bell despite having the keys. Second, because she thought she was in another State. But it was a pleasant surprise.

- Lzzy! What a surprise, how come you're here? Oh, come in, come in. Who is your friend? -

Icy felt examined for a second. Lzzy had insisted that she didn't change her haircut nor hair color, so she understood the tan lady who was letting her in her home: she must've looked strange in her eyes.

- Her name's Icy, she's a friend. - Lzzy replied awkwardly, overlooking the reason of her visit.

She was extremely tense. She feared that her parents would reject her like her coworkers did, that they would look at her scared or horrified or both.

- Nice to meet you, Icy. Your hair is fantastic. -

Icy shook hands with the host. She felt uneasy as well, mostly because Lzzy wasn't at ease and she passed it to her through their bonding.

Roger Hale was in the living room and he was reading a book, sitting in an old armchair. Even though he was sitting down he was clearly taller than anyone in that room, his hair and beard were white. His wife wasn't as thin and sharp, she was blonde and her resemblance with Arejay was incredible. Lzzy, instead, was the carbon copy of her father, who welcomed her warmly just like her mother, and hugged her.

Lzzy's heart shrunk at the thought that that could've been the last hug she ever received from her father.

- I came to tell you about a very, very important thing. - Lzzy begun, after introducing Icy to him.

- Are you pregnant? - Beth asked abruptly, a hand on her chest.

- What... no! No mom, I'm not pregnant. -

- Well, with that worried look of yours it's the only thing I could think of. - the woman defended herself.

Lzzy sat on the sofa and tangled her fingers, looking down. She couldn't find the words to tell them, it was too hard. Maybe she made a mistake going there. She looked up towards Icy, who encouraged her with a nod.

- I have... I have magical powers. I use magic. - said Lzzy, hesitating and hardly taking out words.

- Sorry, I don't get the joke. - said her father.

- There's no joke dad, I'm serious. Magic exists and I can use it. -

- Explain yourself. - said Beth, with the look of who doesn't fully trust their interlocutor's mental abilities.

Lzzy looked at Icy again, searching for her support. It wasn't going well.

- Show them. It'll be easier. - suggested the witch.

Lzzy was prepared for that scenario and she decided that metamorphosis spells were the best choice: her powers weren't like Icy's or Flora's, they didn't have something that visually expressed what they were about.

- Do you remember a few years ago, when my hair was long and black? - asked Lzzy.

Her parents, confused by that change of topic, nodded only to be startled when Lzzy's hair grew longer, down to her hips in long black waves.

- How did you...? - whispered Roger, his eyes squinted like he was trying to bring an elusive image into focus.

- It's part of my powers. It's rather common actually. -

- C-common? -

- Yes, there's lots of people like me. Not on the Earth, but they exist. It seems crazy, I know, but it's... just how it is. I was born this way, magic is a bit like when boobs grow during summer: they show up at some point in life, but they've been there since the beginning. -

Lzzy timidly looked at them. Both Roger and Beth were clearly having a hard time taking it in.

- Since... since when? - asked Beth.

- August. Perhaps I should've told you earlier, but I didn't know how, and I wanted to have better control over my powers and then a lot of things happened... -

Icy interrupted her with a cough. It was better not to let her parents know anything about Valtor, it wasn't worth their worry.

- Do you also have these... powers? - asked Roger, newly conscious of Icy's presence.

- Yes. To tell the truth, it's kind of my fault that Lzzy developed her own powers, but it was still going to happen at some point. -

- At least this way you can teach me. - said Lzzy while her hair went back to normal.

Icy didn't reply.

A heavy silence followed, and Lzzy couldn't stand it.

- Don't just stare at me! Say something, anything! Kick me out if you want, but don't just quietly stare at me! - she shouted suddenly.

Icy was about to calm her down, but Beth burst out laughing.

- Kick you out... and for what reason, silly? You didn't kill anyone. - she said.

- You thought we were going to be so scared we'd push you away? I'm almost offended! - added Roger.

- Do you not think I'm a monster? -

Both denied, as if the idea was totally absurd.

- You're my daughter, what matters is that you're doing good. You're good, aren't you? - said Beth.

- Well, yeah. More or less. The crew didn't take it as well as you, and the situation is quite tense, but I have Arejay and the boys, so I can take it. - replied Lzzy, relieved.

Icy stopped listening, lost in her thoughts. She was happy that Lzzy's parents reacted that way, although now strange and melancholic thoughts wandered in her mind. It was really foolish of hers to compare their reaction to that of her grandparents because their families had totally different situations: Lzzy had been loved and encouraged in her choices while she had been tolerated and unwillingly suffered. It wasn't surprising that Lzzy was able to make her feel at home, protected and loved: she had learnt that from her parents.

- Icy, are you ok? - Lzzy called her.

- Yes, sorry. I was thinking. -

- How do I explain the Bonding? I mean, saying that we live in each other's mind all day long seven days a week is only clear if you know how it is. -

- Yes, I admit that I didn't think it was like this before meeting you. I wouldn't know how to explain it, though, I can only be more technical than you. Sometimes magic is hard to put into words. - she said, as a sort of excuse.

They stayed for a few hours, during which Roger and Beth asked Lzzy any kind of question about her powers, to which Lzzy answered as thoroughly as possible, but above all they cared to know how she was handling it, if she needed help or if she was able to hold the pieces together.

- You're an adult now, I know you can do everything on your own, but it doesn't mean you have to be alone. - said Beth, holding Lzzy's hands, on the front door again.

- Thank you. You have no idea how lucky I feel to have parents like you. - replied Lzzy, hugging them both.

Then she walked away with Icy towards the isolated street where they would open a portal to Magix.

- Mae, - said Icy when they were far enough from the still open door, - you have fantastic parents. -

- Yeah, they're incredible. But you aren't saying that randomly. What's up? -

Icy shrugged.

- Nothing, just... I thought of how different things could have been for me. -

- Oh. -

Lzzy didn't say "I'm sorry" because Icy didn't want to hear her say that, she knew it. Her being sorry wasn't going to change a thing.

Finally, they turned in the street, but before opening the portal Lzzy pulled the witch closer and kissed her. Surprised, Icy pulled away.

- It's late, they're waiting for us. - she said softly, as if fearing someone could hear her.

- One more minute won't make a difference, and I know I can't hold you like this once we cross the portal, so I do it now because we both need it. - replied Lzzy, not stopping to hug her.

Then Icy hugged the woman back.

- You're right. - she whispered before kissing her.

§§

- Do you think they had problems? I'm starting to worry. -

- Don't worry, Aisha, it's something delicate and it's normal it's taking them longer than expected. -

- And if it's Bloom saying that, you can trust her. - joked Musa.

Icy and Lzzy were late but there was no reason to worry, they were just slightly late. Besides, they both knew where the H.Q. was and they could get there on their own, waiting for them at the gate was useless. Flora pushed the iron shutter, which opened with a protesting creak.

- We should oil it. Well, welcome to the H.Q. . - she told Xavier, Donnie, Andrea, the witches and her classmates.

- This place is far bigger than I thought. - said Maria, observing the building enclosed by the trees.

- You won't believe how many rooms are inside. - Stormy said.

- Why, how many are there? - asked Donnie.

- Well, there's the attic, at the second floor there's five rooms and a bathroom, at the first floor two more rooms plus the kitchen and dining room, then in the basement there's the simulation room. - answered Stella.

- Nothing much, uh? - commented Rebecca.

- Hey, the latecomers are here. - said Musa, nodding in the direction of Icy and Lzzy, who were at the gate.

- How did it go? - asked Tecna.

- Oh, it couldn't go better. Look. - answered Lzzy, evoking a sphere of energy.

Her happiness was so intense it painted her magic of a sunny yellow.

- Great! Have you written it in your notebook already? - said Bloom, referring to Lzzy's emotions' notebook, which she began writing in the past weeks.

Every time her powers picked up a new color and she managed to identify it with a feeling she wrote it down in the notebook, which she always brought with her.

- Not yet. -

- I'd like to have a look at this notebook, if it isn't personal. - said Xavier.

Lzzy agreed.

Once they got in the basement, a little squeezed together in that small space, Xavier dove into a series of questions on the machine's functions. Unlike that of Palladium in Alfea it could be connected to all networks and it had countless random exercises of different levels, with a wide choice of settings, opponents and dynamics. Tecna and Timmy had been very meticulous and had tried to recreate many situations that Winx and Specialists had faced, like Arcadia's labyrinth or the shadow realm. While the professor listened to Tecna, who was very happy that somebody gave the adequate attention to her work once in a while, Andrea and Cassandra left with the excuse of getting some fresh hair.

- So, is there any progress? - asked Andrea once they were upstairs.

- No, I'm completely stuck. I can barely levitate objects. -

- Damn... look, I'll go right to the point: the problem is all in your head. What happened to you made you lose sight of something about yourself that you had clear before, or it made you insecure somehow. What do you think it is? -

Cassandra thought about it for a while.

- I don't think it's just what happened in Altaduna. That was just the tip of the iceberg, the breaking point. For a while now I've felt like I'm not part of the world around me anymore, and I don't understand if it depends on me or on others. -

- Probably both. What do you think has changed? -

- The way I act, more decisive, not keeping my head down low. And others in general are scared. -

- And how does this affect you? -

Cassandra sighed.

- I can't trust others anymore, and after my transformation I can't trust myself either. -

Andrea reflected on what she heard.

- You really should trust yourself, instead. If you didn't change, if you didn't transform into a witch, it probably wouldn't go well for you. Your subconscious knew well what it was doing, it just didn't have time to explain it. - she said then, with a little irony.

- So, you think I should just let my subconscious, or my magic, "do its thing" without trying to control it? - asked Cassandra.

Andrea shook her head and made a funny face.

- Nah, subconscious on its own just makes a mess. Give it some space, but not too much. And don't give up on standing your ground. You're strong, you can't let anyone step on you. Try to consider all of this like a deleted file: you may have lost years of work, but the only thing you can do is to restart working on it. - she smiled, - You'll go back to flying around soon enough, you'll see. -

Cassandra smiled back at her, grateful to whatever brought her to know such a wise and nice girl. It was like having met an older sister and the way Andrea seemed to have taken her under her wing made her feel less out of place than usual.

- He wanted to see the catalogue of opponents? -

- Yes. -

- Clearly, he didn't know what he was in for. -

- Indeed. He was really surprised. -

Helia laughed. He was walking with Flora in a park illuminated by small street lights, in another section of Magix City. They decided to allow themselves a dinner at a restaurant that night and, given the mild weather, they were happy they did. Helia stopped laughing and asked:

- And tell me, what exactly surprised him, the sphynx? The Red Tower's guardians? Or that alien monster we found on Andros? -

Flora laughed too.

- To be honest, I forgot about the last one. It's been so long, Nabu was still with us... -

They weren't laughing anymore.

- Yes... I miss him sometimes. Riven too. Nex is great, but Nabu was Nabu. It would've been nice to have him with us in Downland, he would definitely get rid of the crystal monster in the blink of an eye. -

Flora held his hand gently.

- It's normal that you miss him, you were pretty close. He got along with everyone. -

- Yeah, it was hard not to love him. Who knows how he would've reacted to the Trix's trial. -

- He would've made friends with Stormy, for sure. -

- Yeah, I think so too. - Helia agreed.

They kept walking quietly for a few minutes.

- So, was the professor just surprised at how many monsters you faced today? - asked Helia, going back to the original topic.

- No, we also did some exercises. Nothing demanding actually, he just wanted to learn to use the simulator. Did I tell you he wants to teach me how to control rocks? -

- Really? -

- He says that, as the fairy of nature, it's possibly part of my abilities. I have indeed done something similar sometimes, but always leaning on plants more. -

- I'm sure you can do it Flora, I trust you fully. -

- Thank you. - said Flora, holding him closer.

He put an arm on her shoulders.

- I really hope everything will be over soon, I missed spending time with you without worrying. -

- We can do it more often. - said Helia.

- Aren't you guys busy with the preparation of the Tournament? - asked Flora, knowing that despite not taking part to the competition, Redfountain always helped with the arena and the materials for the tests.

- Yes, but it's less work than usual. It seems that part of the tests will be recycled from those of the last edition, which means part of the materials is already there. The next two weeks will be busy, but after that we'll be free. -

- Don't let Codatorta hear you, or he'll double your turns just because you thought that. - Flora mocked him.

§§

Mirta was anxiously waiting to hear Amaryl's disgusted shrieks. She was sorry that Lucy couldn't sneak in to assist to the prank, but she really couldn't wait no more to enact her vengeance and they planned everything perfectly. Amaryl was about to take a shower and Mirta had placed the mud filters she bought at the Joker's Bazar a few minutes earlier. For a spoiled child such as Amaryl, seeing mud come out of the shower was like a horror movie.

Mirta forced back a devilish smile when a high-pitched scream echoed in the apartment and most likely in the corridor too. She forced herself to act calm and run to the bathroom, where Yomi was already insistently knocking on the door, instead of just opening it with magic. Amaryl herself opened the door, wrapped in a towel. Behind her, a thick brownish liquid dripped from the shower (maybe putting all three filters together was an exaggeration) and Laughter's signature sneer floated in the air.

- That's it? Such a scream for a stupid prank? - Mirta scolded her.

- I'm going to the principal right away! The Trix did this, I'm sure they did! - shouted Amaryl.

- But the responsible is right there, the signature... - said Yomi, trying to talk some sense into her.

- It's fake! Everybody knows about Laughter and they took advantage of it to get revenge for the potion! - continued Amaryl.

Mirta frowned.

- What potion are you talking about? -

Realizing her mistake, Amaryl suddenly shut up, but Mirta had already done her math: the Winx said the animal's spell was caused by a potion, she heard them talking to Daphne about it.

- You did that?! -

Silence.

- Do you even realize what you've done? We are so talking to Faragonda! -

- I don't think so, and if you try to tell her I... -

- You what? - asked Stella from the apartment's door.