Chapter 61
The Dream Emporium
They hadn't seen anything from up high, if not the shadow of a far steppe. They had flown for a while towards it, but then they had landed again to continue walking. It was harder and it would take them longer, but they couldn't use all their magic to reach the bushes.
- Come on girls, we're close now. - said Stella, trying to cheer up the other two.
The true problem was not to get there, it was what to do once there. To be in a never-ending plain or in the mid of some bushes didn't influence their ability to find the others. Musa heard a noise in the distance, like a swish. She turned.
- Someone's coming! - she warned.
It was true, in that nothingness a sleigh was coming towards them, faster than normal. It would have gone past them, but the operator must have noticed the fluorescent colors of Stella's outfits and turned the sleigh in their direction. Nothing was pulling the sleigh. As it came closer and closer, the operator turned out to be an old man wrapped up in a coat with fur neck, his head covered by a fur hat and a short white beard. The old man slowed down until he stopped near them.
- Ladies, ladies, I am Red-Nose Frost! - he said, chanting like it was a rhyme.
Little icicles hung down his beard and mustache. Musa and Stella were surprised.
- Well, his nose sure is red... Ouch! - Stella complained when Francesca nudged her to make her shut up.
- Hello Frost, you're very kind to keep us company. - said the earthling.
Frost seemed pleased.
- Say, foreigners, what takes you to this uninhabited land? The nearest village is many days ahead. - he asked.
- We don't know how to go back home. Could you show us the way, mage Frost? - replied Francesca, always in a very kind voice.
The two Winx looked at each other, stunned. Francesca was absolutely sure she was talking to a mage, and she seemed to know him!
- Say, did you come through a portal? The exit is the same. - said Frost, amused.
The girls nodded with energy.
- Can you show us where it is? - asked Musa.
- I can't travel to the portal, but I can take you to someone who can. Get on my sleigh. - he said.
The three girls hurried to thank him and get on the sleigh. Frost offered them warm covers, then they left. "How did you know?" Stella asked Francesca. "That of mage Frost is a Russian legend, my mom used to tell it to me when I was younger. If you treat Frost with kindness he will help you, otherwise he'll turn you into an ice statue" replied Francesca. "Luckily you were here! We couldn't have recognized him and we'd never go back home, without you". Francesca smiled at her.
- Mage Frost, where are we? - asked Musa.
- Near the arctic. The portal often opened here, but it hadn't happened in years. There aren't many travelers of universes, lately. -
- Are we in a parallel universe? - Francesca asked, shocked.
- If that is how you call it. -
- And does the portal usually open in different places at the same time? There were many of us going through it. - intervened Stella.
Frost nodded.
- Oh, yes, there are many passage points between our worlds. In fact, I was here to go check on one that activated together with yours, more West. Perhaps your friends are there. But get comfortable: the journey is long and there are many things you need to know. -
§§
Flora, Stormy and Cassandra had been happily welcomed by Vera, the young woman who had let them in.
They had gone back to their civilian forms and the host had offered them a warm tea, and was now showing them the precious treasure her home guarded: rows and rows of dreams in any color, enclosed in bottles big or small and with the most varied shapes, in a special room with blue floor and black ceiling, entirely occupied by shelves full of dreams.
- This is the Dream Emporium, the great warehouse that for generations has been kept by my family. We distribute them in the world every night and every day we bottle new ones. You were lucky to find me at home, I just came back from the Land of Dreams. - was saying Vera, creating teal butterflies fluttering around them every now and then.
Her guests looked around charmed. It was incredible and surreal. Flora reached out to a bottle inside of which a lilac dream drew a spiral. The gaseous and luminescent substance shone a little brighter under her touch.
- It looks like the room where Harry Potter finds the prophecy before Sirius gets killed. - commented Cassandra in a low voice, her nose still up in the air.
That whole thing about the dreams was familiar to her and she didn't like at all to find it in front of her eyes, very similar to the one she knew.
- I don't know what you're talking about, but the comparison isn't very reassuring. - said Stormy, looking at the shelves.
Vera continued chatting to herself with her high-pitched voice, talking about how, in moments of boredom, she liked to try some dreams of her collection herself.
- Try this one, it is my favorite. - Vera said, picking up a medium-sized bottle with the crooked neck, inside of which a blood red cloud moved.
With a snap of her fingers she materialized a thin black trumpet, she opened the bottle and began pouring the dream in the trumpet.
"The red ones are nightmares, it's a trap! We must run!" Cassandra exclaimed telepathically. "How? We almost can't stand side by side between the shelves, besides, how can you be so sure?" replied Stormy.
Vera took the trumpet to her lips, ready to blow, but was left stunned when the trumpet disappeared only to reappear in Cassandra's hands. The earthling blew the dream towards Vera, who tried to shield herself with her arms while a red cloud enveloped her.
- NO! - she screamed in terror.
The butterflies turned into bats the color of blood that stormed towards her, ripping her clothes and clawing her long air. Vera run away screaming, under the shocked looks of the girls.
- Point yours. - said Stormy.
- How did you know that was a nightmare? - asked Flora.
- This place is similar to a book I loved as a child, about a giant that captured dreams and dispensed them to children. But the nightmares where the only ones that were red and he kept them locked up so that they wouldn't disturb their sleep. - replied the girl, holding tight on the trumpet.
- Who knows why she set up a trap. - sighed Flora.
- We could ask her. - joked Stormy.
In that moment they heard a ringtone. Cassandra pulled her phone out of her jacket. It really was a videocall.
§§
- Cassandra's phone works! - Andrea exclaimed happily.
The professor's villa was once again crowded, the Specialists and their intruders had arrived safe and sound in the Wildlands despite the storm kept getting worse by the minute. In the valley there was a heavy, incessant rain, while the mountains had started being covered in snow.
They had tried more than once to reach the Winx, but for some reason their phones were offline, even Tecna's, then Andrea had tried to call Cassandra in an extreme attempt, but she had just picked up.
- Andrea? You have no idea how happy I am to see you! -
- Same here. Are you okay? Where are the others? - asked Andrea, hearing the others gather up behind her.
Except the professor, of course, who stayed a bit apart.
- I'm fine, but I don't know where the others are. I'm with Flora and Stormy, but we have no idea of where we are and we can't contact the others telepathically. - replied Cassandra, only to be corrected by Stormy:
- We do know where we are. At the Dream Emporium. Where that is, that's another story. -
- I thought you were at the monastery. - observed Sky, worried.
- We were sucked into a portal Sky, that's where we lost the others. - explained Flora.
- Probably Givelian's trap. - added Stormy.
- How's the situation there? - asked Cassandra.
- It's snowing like crazy, it's raining like crazy in the valley and it keeps getting worse. They're trying to power up the climate spell, but we still know nothing. - replied Donnie.
Xavier intervened.
- What happened before the portal opened? - he asked.
- It didn't just open, it was a magical passageway like the one that links Andros and the Omega Dimension. It was in a sculpture, but I don't know what it was. - Stormy answered.
- A sculpture with a mermaid with her head low? - asked Xavier.
They confirmed and he covered his eyes with a hand and took a deep, desolate breath before saying:
- It's always "go big or go home" with you, really. You fell into the Mermaid's Portal, it links two parallel universes and people rarely came back from it. We know very little of what's behind the portal, those who made it back had gone crazy. -
- Sounds great. - commented sarcastically Stormy.
- Are you saying we're in a parallel universe? - asked Cassandra.
- Precisely. - confirmed Xavier.
- Why does my phone work if we're in a parallel universe? -
- What should I know? Just bless it, if it didn't work, we wouldn't even know where you are. -
- Try to keep it charged, okay? The Winx are unreachable and I don't have anyone else's number. - said Andrea.
- Sure. -
- We'll call you back as soon as we have news. Be careful. - said Helia.
- You too. - replied Flora.
§§
Meanwhile, Aisha, Maria and Rebecca found out they got incredibly lucky when they were rescued by the Flying Dutchman's crew. The captain of the ghost ship, in fact, wasn't the cruel pirate the two earthlings expected: he had greyish skin and shone, like the vessel, of an unsettling white halo, his clothes were worn out and he had quite a collection of guns on his belt, but he had no intention of hurting them. He was more interested in getting were he had to go to meet a mage, he had told them, even though seeing the portal opening on the Northern Sea he had slightly changed the route to fish the unfortunate travelers, which was them.
- I have a message for the old icicle and the only preoccupation me and my crew have is to bring it to him and get paid. - he had told them, receiving signs of approval from the crew.
He had rebuilt the crew on his own after that crazy wizard had cursed his ship, causing the shipwreck that had left him alive for eternity, alone, doomed to never touch lend again. He had gathered monsters, exiled, relics of society and with them he sailed the seas at speeds unimaginable for any other ship. He had decided he would bring the girls up to where he was going, then they would've left and would've thanked him for not asking anything in return.
The rest of the crew had gone back to its everyday chores while the captain, Falkenburg, explained his guests that it wasn't the first time he saw the portal opening.
- The last time was forty years ago, it was South of Spain. A fat bureaucrat dressed like rich Asians. We dumped him on the coast and have no idea what happened to him. - he told with his deep and raspy voice.
The description was enough for the girls to figure out that someone else in the monastery had their same bad luck.
- I don't really know how one goes from a world to another, you should talk with a mage to learn that. Not just any mage, one that knows his craft. There's a dozen of them watching over the major passage points around the globe and luckily for you I have to meet one of them. He might even decide to help you, although I'd ask to get paid... -
- Captain, the scouts are coming back! - shouted one of the men that had rescued them, the one with dark skin.
- Good job Scar! Did you hear him? Make room on the deck! Maze, put away that barrel and you, Melesio, keep the ship's girl away from the deck for the next five minutes! - shouted Falkenburg.
Melesio, one of the satyrs, hurried below deck while the man with the ponytail, Maze, moved a barrel. In a few minutes they started hearing a sequence of regular thuds. Then they could distinguish the outline of a dragon, different from both those of Pyros and those of Redfountain and Eraklyon. Much to the surprise of the girls, the dragon landed on the deck of the vessel, which swayed noticeably under its weight, and a man with black hair and beard striped with grey hopped down of it. The newcomer walked up to Falkenburg while the dragon put its head into a barrel filled with drinkable water.
- Frost hasn't yet come, captain. We might have to wait. - he said, glancing at the three guests.
Falkenburg was annoyed. It was hard to moor a ship condemned to perpetual motion. They had to reduce the speed.
- You go back there with Wavecutter in a few minutes. - he said.
- Aye. - relied the man, walking away.
Maria noticed his right hand only had three fingers.
§§
Desirè and Lzzy carefully observed Darcy from a corner of the cell. Since about ten minutes the witch had been floating over the floor, her eyes glowing purple and absent, lost in the ghost world. She hadn't moved a muscle since she started the séance and they were really starting to worry, she had never been in trance for so long with Xavier and they were afraid of waking her up.
- Do you think this is fine? - Desirè asked Lzzy.
- Yeah, I think it is. There must be a lot to know. - replied Lzzy, faking confidence as best as she could.
Actually, she was very worried, not only because Darcy was taking much longer than they anticipated but also because every minute that went by it was more likely that they got caught by a guard. And until Darcy was in trance they couldn't use telepathy to avoid interfering.
The witch's purple aura intensified and the two had the impression that the light in the cell diminished for a few instants, then Darcy's eyes went back to normal and she landed on the floor. She looked very tired, she was pale and her hands were shaking. She tried to get back on her feet and stumbled up to them. Now she was shaking from head to toe.
- Are you okay? - Lzzy asked her.
- Yes, everything's fine. -
- Don't lie, you are extremely tired and scared. I can feel it. - replied Lzzy.
Darcy glared at her.
- And does that make things better? We are in a parallel universe and the only way we have to go back to ours is to find the twin portal to that of Roccaluce, in a submerged island miles away from here. Not to mention we don't know where the others are yet! -
- Doesn't sound like the worst thing you've been through. - said Lzzy, taking Darcy's hand before she could reply.
- What are you doing? -
- I take some of your fear and pass on some faith to you. We won't go back home seeing the glass half empty, Darcy. Now you're gonna sit down, take a deep breath and tell us what you learned, okay? -
Darcy would have gladly avoided physical contact, but she had to admit that she already felt calmer and more lucid.
- Okay. Then you find Icy and tell her everything. -
§§
- I completed the scan, finally. Technology seems to not work well here. -
- We totally didn't notice, Tecna. - Bloom mocked her.
Tecna had never had so many difficulties with her gadgets. They had waited for an eternity, staying in the same spot in fear of getting lost. Icy was also afraid that at some point they'd run out of oxygen.
"Icy, can you hear me?" "Lzzy! Are you okay? Where are you?" "I'm fine, don't worry. I'm with Darcy and Desirè, we're in a city in southern Spain. Where are you? Are you alone?" "No, I'm with Bloom and Tecna in a catacomb. We're trying to get out" "Okay, listen, before leaving you must…" "Wait" Icy interrupted her. Bloom and Tecna were moving.
- Girls, I'm talking with Lzzy. - she said.
The two of them looked at her, waiting.
"Go on Mae" "You need to find a key in the catacombs. Darcy said the ghosts weren't very clear, it should be some sort of copy of the portal and it's also a hint, but they didn't know much about magic" "Why do you think it's here?" "They said that a portal always opens in the catacombs. There are thousands, but that one always opens due to the key" "We'll look for it. If anything happens, reach out to me" "I will. Listen, Darcy is pretty sick. She spoke with the ghosts for a long time, I thought she was just tired but she seems really ill. It's not like she admits it or complains about it, but…" "She probably used too much magical energy in a short time. She needs to eat and rest" "It might be harder than it should, we were thrown in a cell. We can easily get out, though" "Be careful" "Don't worry, it's really easy to get out of here. The problem is where to go once out" "You'll make it. I have to go now, we'll look for the key and get out of here" "Good luck".
Icy reported what she just learned to the two fairies. Tecna started thinking of a way to find the key right away.
- So, a portal's key surely emits magical energy, so we can use spells to locate it. -
- What if it isn't that easy? - objected Bloom, - It might be too weak to be perceived. -
- Weak, the energy of the thing that's supposed to take us home? I don't think so. - replied Icy.
If it activated a portal like that in Roccaluce, this key had to have a great magical energy.
- You're right. Let's try. - said Bloom.
- I just hope it isn't in a skeleton's hands. - Icy murmured.
- Are you scared? - the redhead asked her, surprised.
Normally witches went hand in hand with creepy situations like that one. Icy shook her head, irritated.
- I'm not scared, I just feel like I'm in a cage. Again. And I don't like dead things. -
- We'll be out of here before you know it. - Bloom reassured her, to then cast the research spell.
- It isn't far, let's go. - she said, walking through the corridor of bones.
- At least it's in the same direction as the exit. - Tecna sighed, following her.
- If you say so... How did you scan the galleries? - Icy asked.
- I analyzed the temperature and air currents. - answered Tecna, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.