Flora awoke on the ground of Neruman's lair, groggy and disoriented. It took a moment before her eyes adjusted to the darkness, to find the rest of the Winx Club unconscious on the ground.
"Girls!" Flora cried out as she reached for Bloom, who was closest to her, "Bloom! Bloom, wake up!"
"You know she can't hear you, right?" Flora whipped around to find Neruman, still casually sitting on that throne of his, though he was clearly surprised at the turn in events. "She's my prisoner, she can't escape my power!"
Flora decided to ignore the taunts of Neruman and decided to attempt to wake Bloom up. "Bloom, it's an illusion! Wake up!" The fairy cried, jerking Bloom's shoulder vigorously.
"Enough!" Neruman roared, ordering a shadow monster to attack Flora. The fairy barely had time to turn and put up a basic shield as it rammed into her, throwing her violently against the wall of the lair. The wind knocked out of her, Flora could only sink to her knees as the shadow monster readied itself to attack her again.
Building up a bit of energy, Flora shot out a small ball of energy towards the monster, which promptly dissipated right before it rammed into her again. Exhausted, Flora could only steady herself against the wall as she stared at the terrible display of the Winx Club writhing from their nightmares.
I have to save them. If I can do it, so can they. They just need some help. Flora built the courage in her heart as she tried again to free the Winx.
"Bloom!" Flora bellowed out once again, "Listen to me! You're in a dream! It's just Neruman's shadows!"
Miraculously, just at Flora's last words, Bloom woke up from her nightmare, just as exhausted as Flora, but managing to pull herself up to her knees. Relief filled Flora's body as a burst of energy exploded inside of her, giving her the strength to sprint over to her friend. "Are you okay? I tried to help as much as I could!"
"Thank you Flora!" Bloom gasped gratefully, "Neruman's illusion is now just a bad dream…" Bloom was cut off as Neruman began chuckling, grabbing the attention of the two fairies.
"Your willpower is admirable girls" he started, as he raised a hand towards the rest of the Winx, "But your friends are still under the influence of my power!"
Bloom was still too exhausted to even consider assisting her friends, but Flora found the strength to run up to each of the Winx to help them conquer their fears.
"Tecna, we all love you...and so does Timmy, he loves you and would never hurt you!" Flora comforted Tecna, as she battled her fear of becoming more robotic.
"Stella! Please listen to me, you're not alone, we would never abandon you!" Flora reassured Stella, who fought against her abandonment issues.
"Riven loves you Musa, and he always will! Don't believe the illusions!" Flora reminded Musa, as she was reminded of her relationship issues.
There was only one fairy left, and as Flora ran towards her sleeping form, a sense of dread filled her, nearly knocking her over. There was only one thing Layla regretted more than anything in the universe, and Flora shook with the thought of helping the fairy confront it, she wasn't even sure if she can.
"Nabu...Nabu I'm sorry!" Layla cried out.
Of course Layla was battling her guilt over Nabu's death in her nightmare. Flora wrapped the fairy of waves around her arms as she soothed her. "Layla, my sweet Layla… you shouldn't feel guilty, you are not to be blamed for what happened! No one is!" Flora was at a loss for words as Layla appeared to make no progress, her face still twisted up in obvious pain.
Flora looked around to the rest of the Winx Club, who were still unconscious, and writhing from their nightmares. Bloom looked positively drained , unable to cope with the suffering surrounding her. A wave of rage filled Flora as she stood up, ready to confront the wizard responsible for their pain. "Neruman! Free my friends from the spell or else—"
"Or else what?!" Neruman interrupted, "Perhaps you believe you're immune to my powers? Have you not wondered why you're in the same condition as your friends?"
Flora took a step back, almost unable to process what the wizard was suggesting. She freed herself from the nightmare! So why was she unable to free most of her friends from their own? Was it because she was trapped in another nightmare, a dream within a dream? Or was it because she's the way she's always been, she was…
"You're weak, insecure Flora!" said Neumann, perfectly reflecting her panicked thoughts. To her horror, Flora stood absolutely frozen and defenseless as a beam of dark magic shot out from his fingers, "...And it's giving me strength!"
Flora didn't even cry out as the spell, once again, knocked the wind out of her. Absolutely drained, Flora couldn't help but fall into Bloom's arms. She felt completely worthless.
Cradled in Bloom's arms, Flora whispered to her leader, "I'm sorry Bloom, I'm too weak to defeat him!"
"I'm still too weak to fight! Don't be afraid, you can beat him!" Bloom assured her.
Flora looked into Bloom's eyes, searching for any indication of lies, of skepticism, of any reason for Flora to disbelieve Bloom's words. But for as long as she searched, Flora could only find the truth in her eyes, and Flora knew that she had to believe Bloom's encouragement, and believe in her own magic, and use it to defeat Neruman. His dark magic didn't scare her anymore. His lies didn't affect her anymore. She was the only one responsible for her power, for her confidence, for her strength.
Finding the strength to stand up on wobbly legs, Flora focused all of her magic to shoot out of her palms, "Autumn Wind!" A beam of wind magic exploded from her palms towards Neruman, only to instantly dissipate with his counterattack.
"The power of nature is useless in the shadow realm!"
Flora and Bloom collapsed under his attack. "I'm sorry Bloom." Flora couldn't help but apologize weakly.
"No matter! You beat your fears, you were great!" Flora was fatigued, but Bloom's words lit a bit of a flame within Flora. After all that occurred today, she did defeat her fears. Dark magic no longer affected her like it once did. Her magic was weak in the shadow realm, but it was still powerful, especially with her friends.
She needed help. Not because she was weak, but because they were more powerful together.
Just as Flora rebuilt her resolve to save her friends, she heard Neruman laughing as he gained his body once again. Great , she thought bitterly.
Standing up, once again Flora and Bloom were face to face with Neruman's new (or old) body. "Oh no!" Bloom cried out, surprising Flora, "Now that he has regained his body, he will return to The Fortress of Light, and we'll be stuck in this dark prison!"
Flora was temporarily shocked by Bloom's sudden negativity. "No Bloom! Don't succumb to your fears! We can't lose hope! We must have confidence in our friends! I believe in them, they are our friends and I know they will find the strength to wake up from their nightmares! You have to believe in them too!"
Miraculously once again, just as Flora spoke her belief in the Winx Club, strobes of magic encircled the girls as they began to wake up from their nightmares.
"Girls!" Bloom and Flora cried, running over to their colleagues to give them a hug! "You're awake!" Flora laughed.
"Thank you Flora, Even under the influence of Neurman's power...I still felt that you were close, you saved me!"
"It's true! Your words got through to all of us and saved us!"
"I heard your words and they gave me hope Flora!"
The Winx Club continued to clamour compliments to the nature fairy, as tears began to well up in her eyes. The relief Flora felt was immense. For the first time, against all of the odds, with limited magic, she wasn't the weak one. She was able to save all of her friends.
She made a difference.
"NO!" Neruman's roar rudely interrupted the Winx reunion. "I have regained all of my ancient power, you won't be able to defeat me!"
"Girls! Let's combine our powers into one attack!" Bloom ordered. The Winx Club all fell in line as they converged their powers. With the help of her friends, Flora finally felt her powers rise in strength, becoming almost overwhelming to her.
"The Heart of the Dragon!" The Winx all cried, as they combined their attacks into one large blast of bright magic.
"Nooooo!" Neruman bellowed as the blast hit him. Unable to fight the magic, Neruman crumpled instantly within it, his body eventually dissipating away into pieces. Moments later, all of Neruman's shadow monsters disappeared into the air. The evil was gone from the shadow realm.
"Yay!" The Winx cheered, forming a group hug!
"We did it!" Flora yelled, deliriously happy from Neurman's defeat.
" You did it! "Bloom said. "You saved all of us Flora!"
"Three cheers for Flora!" Stella bellowed.
"Hip Hip! Hooray!"
"Hip Hip! Hooray!"
"Hip Hip! Hooray!"
As the Winx held their mini celebration, Flora couldn't help but laugh at the turn of events. Just hours ago, Flora was a meek, tiny fairy, afraid of her own powers and unsure of the love her friends held for her. But now, after experiencing one of the worst days of her life, she couldn't be more secure. She knew where she belonged, and it was right here with her friends and family.
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