Happy Leap Day, everyone!

Since this is such a short chapter, I'm going to post Chapter 8, the Tecna chapter, along with this as well. I'm thinking of starting to post the pairs together each time I update.

Guest: That is an interesting analysis. The way I see Mirta's transformation arc, it's very similar to a transgender person's desire to have reassignment surgery – they don't have to, but if they feel more comfortable that way, they can. The reason why I have Mirta become a fairy is not because she wants to fit in, but because she feels more comfortable in a fairy's body. However, she still retains quite a bit of her witch magic, just expressed in a different form. I also don't like to think of fairy-magic as "light" or witch-magic as "dark", as the series made it out to be. It always bugged me how in the first season, the witches were out to attack the fairies just for the sake of being wicked. In my fics, I like to make a case that the witches aren't inherently evil; it's just part of a millennia-long conflict between fairy-beings and warlocks, in which neither side is innocent. To me, the Trix are radicals within the warlock diaspora, as are Darkar and Valtor. I agree that Tecna/Timmy is one of the better relationships in the series. I really don't like Musa/Riven – either they should've made Riven grow up by Season 3, or have Musa ditch him by Season 2. I also saw your review to my post about 4Kids – thanks for reaching out. Out of curiosity, do you post your fics online, or do you keep them to yourself? I'd love to read them sometime – if you're comfortable, that is. Let me know!


CHAPTER 7: THE CORAL SCEPTER

"What are we going to do?" Stella demanded.

The six girls were standing together on the beach. Flora stared at Layla in distress, stunned at what she saw. How are we going to break this spell? She closed her eyes.

"Soothing pollen!" she said, sending her magic into Layla's eyes. She concentrated all of her energy on healing them, grimacing and pointing.

"Stop!" yelled Layla. "You're making it hurt even worse!"

"It's going to take more than just Winx to get her eyes back," said Tecna, and Flora sat back, defeated. "I don't know what we're going to do."

Musa looked towards the shore in alarm. "Um, guys, incoming!"

Three mutants were approaching them. Their eyes were menacing, and they had wide, feral teeth. They opened their mouths and flew towards them, pointing their spears.

"RUN!" Musa shouted, grabbing Layla's hand and flying her away. Stella shot an attack towards them. "Take that, you jerks!" she yelled.

But nothing happened; the mutants didn't seem at all fazed by their attacks. If anything, they just made them angrier. Stella stared back in horror.

"How is that possible?" she yelled.

"I don't know, Stell!" Bloom answered. "Come on, let's get out of here before" –

THWACK! A discus slammed into the mutants, felling them and forcing them to the ground. A pink-haired man caught the discus, and turned towards them with a smirk. "Miss us?" he asked.

"Riven!" yelled Musa. "Am I glad to see you!"

"What did you do?" Bloom asked, staring at the mutants.

"He stunned them," Brandon answered. "We found docking for the ship near the palace, and spoke with some of the guards. Turns out those mutants are actually merfolk, spelled by this wizard guy to turn on their own people!"

"What?" cried Layla. "My own people? Valtor's done this to them?"

"Oh, so that's his name?" Riven snorted. "He's a nasty piece of work, if you ask me. We should've never let you girls go out by yourselves – clearly you couldn't handle him."

Musa glared at him. "Never mind, I take that back"…

"Princess Layla!" a voice called. Layla turned in the direction of the voice, wincing.

"Princess Tressa!" she called. A red-haired mermaid appeared at the surface of the water, gasping.

"What happened to your eyes?" she gasped. "Did Valtor spell them, just like he did to everyone else?"

"Yes!" cried Layla. "What's happening, Tressa? What can we do?"

"Well, Valtor's taken the Realm Wide Web down," Tressa answered. "He created this horrible storm that kills wildlife and creates havoc. Then, he turned the merfolk into his servants. We estimate about one hundred civilians and half the Royal Guard are under his command" –

"Where's King Neptune and Queen Ligea?" asked Layla.

"My family's imprisoned," Tressa said sadly. "I'm the only one who escaped – oh!" She threw her hands over her eyes.

What? thought Flora. What's going on? She stared as Tressa let out a wail.

"I'm a coward," she wept. "I fled when I was needed the most! I failed to save my brothers, my parents, everyone" –

"Don't you worry, Tressa," said Layla. "We'll get them back."

"We sure will!" added Bloom.

"Let's go and find them," added Stella.

Flora stared at them in alarm. "Wait, guys, we need a plan! I don't like the sound of this!"

"What do you mean?" Musa frowned at Flora.

"We got overconfident before," said Flora. "Because of that, he was able to put the spell on Layla's eyes."

"That's what I said before, and no one listened to me," Riven added. Musa hissed at him.

"Cut it out!" she yelled. "Flo, I don't see what plan we can come up with."

"Actually, Flora's right," Tecna said. "An unplanned ambush is thirty-three-point-five percent more likely to fail than a planned one."

"He blinded you completely?" Tressa asked, staring at Layla in wonder. "Well, once we free my mother, she can heal them. She has a coral scepter with healing powers. Don't worry, she'll heal you in no time."

Just then, the mutants woke up. They turned towards the Winx, snapping and snarling.

"Okay, Flora, here's our plan!" Bloom said. "Specialists, you fight the mutants. Winx, let's go find Queen Ligea!"

"Get going, girls!" Brandon yelled as he drew his sword.

This can't end well, Flora thought uneasily as Layla created water-repelling bubbles for their heads. They swam down into the water, following Tressa into the sea's depths.


Swimming was a lot harder than flying. Flora continually gasped for air as she burrowed down into the depths, wincing at the coldness of the water. Will our attacks even work down here?

"There's the palace," said Tressa in a hushed voice. "But the Kraken… it's there."

"Kraken?" asked Flora, puzzled. "What's that?"

"It's an undersea monster," said Layla, "used by royal families of undersea kingdoms to keep guard of their kingdoms. It looks like the Kraken has turned against the family and gone under Valtor's command."

That can't be good, thought Flora nervously. Her heart beat wildly as the ground began to shake.

A monster with twelve tentacles appeared, bellowing menacingly. It had plum-colored skin and tongues the color of vomit. Stella let out a yell.

"Eww!" she said. "Tressa, I don't think mermaids have good taste in guard!"

"The Kraken is only summoned in times of need!" Tressa protested. "It's never summoned like this. I – oh, no!"

The Kraken lunged at them, grabbing Layla around the waist. Layla let out a yell as she was dragged into the sea.

No! Flora stared at it. You picked out the weakest one of us! That isn't fair!

"After her!" Bloom yelled.

"Wait!" cried Tressa. "What about my family?"

"You go and free them," Bloom answered. "We'll buy you some time and keep the Kraken busy!"

The Winx swam furiously into the water, but the Kraken was much, much faster. They panted as they swam, rushing towards it.

"I can transport us there!" Stella said, grabbing her ring and transforming it into her scepter. "Take us!" The Winx appeared in front of the Kraken, glaring at it.

"Sonic blast!" yelled Musa.

"Digital zap!" cried Tecna.

The spells momentarily stunned the Kraken; other than that, they did nothing. The Winx stared at each other in horror.

"No way!"

"Layla, we're not giving up on you!"

Layla was struggling and yelling. Flora closed her eyes, and concentrated her power.

"Ivy barrier!" she yelled. Ivy began to shoot up, blocking the Kraken's exit. It let out a bellow and tore at the barrier.

"Digital web!" added Tecna, blocking the Kraken's mobility. It let out an even fiercer bellow.

Flora watched in horror as the ivy vine and web broke apart. The monster advanced on them, snarling.

"Oh no!" yelled Stella. "Looks like it wants us next!"

"Fire arrow!" yelled Bloom.

But her dragon-fire was noticeably much weaker underwater, and it had little effect on the Kraken. In fact, all of their powers were weak. The Kraken advanced on them, glaring and snarling.

What are we going to do? thought Flora helplessly. Are we all going to become Kraken food now? Is this it?

"No!" a voice shouted. A mermaid, carrying a sword, was charging towards them. She slashed off three of the Kraken's tentacles, including the one that was holding Layla. Flora, being closest to Layla at that moment, swam forward and grabbed her hand.

"Tressa!" the girls shouted in relief. "Queen Ligea!"

The queen smiled at all of them. "Thank you for your bravery," she said. "If it wasn't for you girls, my Tressa would've never found that bravery within her as well" –

The cave began to crumble. Flora looked up in horror as rocks began to fall, narrowly missing them. She darted to the side as one large boulder nearly fell on her and Layla.

"I say we get outta here before this cave goes bust!" Musa yelled. "Let's go!"

The Winx all sped up through the cave's opening, fighting against gravity as they fled upwards. Flora held firmly onto Layla's hand, pulling her close to her.

"We're not letting you go again," she said protectively.

They all made it out of the cracks just as the rocks fell. Flora breathed a sigh of relief. Okay, now we can get to the shore…

"My mother promised she'll use her healing coral gem for you," Tressa said.

"Thank you, Queen Ligea," breathed Layla. "But what about King Neptune, Prince Nereus, and Prince Tritannus? What happened to them?"

Queen Ligea smiled sadly. "It'll take more than just the eight of us to free them. They are guarded much more heavily than I, by mutants and the Kraken alike. The king of Andros will have to sponsor a mission to free them. But in the meantime, we must hurry to cure Layla's eyesight. I know of an island that is not yet inhabited by thunder-clouds, but will be by tomorrow morning. But we must go now, for we only have until the last rays of twilight. Once the clouds take over the entire realm, the sun will not rise on Andros for a good few months."

"Then we'd better hurry!" Panting, Bloom pushed herself through the water, with Stella, Musa, and Tecna following close behind. Flora and Layla swam at a slower pace. Tressa and the queen were faster swimmers, being mermaids, but they remained in the rear to watch out for any danger, as their attack spells were strong underwater.

Flora looked up and saw the surface ahead. "Is that the island right there?" she asked.

"Yes," affirmed the queen. "That's the island we're looking for."

"Stella, do you think you can transport us there?" she asked. "It's close enough, right?"

"It sure is!" said Stella, grabbing her ring. "Good thinking, Flor" –

Suddenly, a roar sounded from below. Flora and Layla gasped in alarm. "What is that?" cried Layla.

THWACK! Something hit Queen Ligea in the back. She gasped, her body shuddering as she fell through the water.

"Mother!" cried Tressa, swimming down to grab her. "No!" Flora looked downwards, and saw what it was.

It was the Kraken, freed from its enclosure.

"Winx Convergence, now!" yelled Bloom. The six girls, including Layla, joined hands underwater, focusing all their energy on the Kraken. The Kraken shuddered once, and then fell to the bottom of the sea.

"The Kraken isn't dead," said Layla. "Now that ring of yours would be a good idea, Stella!"

Stella expanded her ring into the scepter. "Transport us!" she yelled. In a matter of seconds, the seven girls and mermaid queen were transported to the surface.

Queen Ligea was right – the island wasn't taken over by darkness. But only a few sun rays shone from the horizon, and it would only be a matter of time before the sun disappeared completely.

"The wound the Kraken dealt is fatal," Tressa sobbed.

Flora looked over and saw the queen with alarm. She was slowly dying, her breath becoming shallower and shallower by the minute. Layla took the scepter from Tressa and held it.

"I can feel there's only enough power to heal one of us," she said. "I'm going to heal the queen. She's more important." Her blind eyes flashed. "Even if darkness descends all over Andros and I never get my eyesight back again, I will not let Queen Ligea die. Fear not, Tressa. Your mother will live!" She held the coral scepter high in the air, then held it to the queen's heart.

Queen Ligea gasped as color began to return to her face. The wound on her backside disappeared, and she began to breathe normally again. She opened her eyes, and faced Layla.

"Thank you"… she murmured.

"You saved her!" cried Tressa. "Thank you so much, Layla!"

As she spoke, a white light began to descend on Layla. Flora gasped as Layla let go of her hand and was drawn up to the sky.

"What's happening?" gasped Stella.

A blinding flash shined over her. The Winx gasped, closing their eyes at its brilliance. When it was over, they stared up, amazed at what had just happened.

Layla was hovering in midair. She was wearing a green, pink, and yellow top with purple highlights, and a striped green, pink, and yellow skirt. A lime-green band had wound its way around her throat, with a purple-and-pink pouch. She wore lime-green barefoot sandals, and her hair had been done up with a pink net. She had lime-green wings, more colorful and ornate than they'd ever been before.

"Layla – you got your Enchantix!" Musa gasped.

"Way to go!" Stella cheered. "We've only had a week of classes, and you kicked that final exam's butt!"

But Flora could tell something was still wrong. She frowned as she stared up at Layla's eyes, her milky white eyes. And then, she knew immediately what the problem was.

Layla's transformation hadn't healed her. To her, everything was still dark.