Hello, everyone! How are you all doing today? I hope you're ready for the next chapter!

Previously on AUP…

"In 730 of the Age of Blood," said Abuela, "Zenith staged the Linphean Invasion, killing a sixth of Linphea's population. The priestly families were attacked the most, as they were the largest group of intellectuals. And we could do nothing about it, for without our trees, we were completely powerless to fight back."

-o-o-o-

"I've been thinking about what Abuela said about Zenith," Flora said to Mirta. "Even after all it's faced, Linphea has been going on a steady trajectory upwards. But Zenith… it's never recovered from its problems."

"That's because of its current system of government," Mirta answered. "In Zenith – there's complete censorship, complete lack of freedom. Nothing matter except how many robots they produce."

"That's so true," Flora agreed – she'd never thought of it that way. "And the people there are so robotic too. Sometimes I worry so much about Tecna, because she's just so closed from the rest of us. Even after all these years, she still can't fully express herself."

-o-o-o-

Flora smiled at Tecna. "Well, whatever's going on with our respective nations, I'm glad it hasn't come between us."

And, like last time, Tecna found herself smiling back. In that moment, an incredible wave of relief came over her, relief that Flora didn't hold her realm's actions against her. Only one question remained: would their friendship hold through the test of time?


CHAPTER 19: EVE OF A WAR

Another week passed. Bloom, Stella, Musa, and Layla continued to avoid Flora, no longer inviting her to hang out. She no longer ate in the dining-hall with them; instead, she, Mirta, and Chatta sat together at their own table. The other girls, jobless as they were, were quick to notice, particularly the freshmen and sophomores.

"Of course they ditched you," Eris had jeered to Mirta while they were sitting alone, at a small table. "No one would want to hang out with a witch. I'm telling you, it was only a matter of time."

"Leave them alone!" Chatta snapped, glaring at the fairy. She had loyally stuck by Flora's side the whole time, even when the other girls had turned against her. "We're tired of you always getting in our face, not leaving us alone" –

"Let it go, Chatta." Mirta didn't even look up from her plate.

"What?" Chatta fired up. "If you think I'm gonna just let them push you around" –

"Let it go," Mirta repeated. Chatta sighed and flopped down next to Flora, picking up her own miniscule plate.

And with that, everything just became harder. There was no Musa to play them music, no Layla to spice up their lives with dance, no Stella to fall back on for her humor, no Bloom to inspire them all. They were there, but at the same time, just weren't there at all.

Now that the girls weren't talking to her, Flora focused all her energy on Tecna. She tried to speak to her, understand her more and talk to her. But there was no way to get through to her anymore. Tecna seemed adamant on her computer program, whatever that was.

It's killing her, Flora realized. Everything was hurting her – Alfea's coursework, the Winx's efforts to help, and whatever it was that was so important. She was just doing too much.

But that wasn't all that was about to befall the girls. Even Flora was not aware of how dire the situation had become, until one day, she received a frantic call from her father.

"Flora!" he shouted. "Have you seen the news?"

"No," Flora said, instantly on alert. Her father sounded frantic, which was very unusual – he was always playful and good-humored. "What's wrong, Papá?"

"Check it!" her father cried.

Heart pounding, Flora turned on the Magix Modern Matrix. What could it possibly be? I mean, nothing's happened. Nothing –

And then she stopped straight as soon as she saw the screen, her eyes wide with horror.

BREAKING NEWS: LINPHEA DECLARES WAR ON ZENITH.

"No!" Flora cried out. "I can't believe this – no!" The newscaster began to speak, his voice rapid.

"Yesterday, Zenith launched a deadly attack on a Linphean army base, on the remote planet of Apo. Zenith believes that Linphea was hiding information on the base, and Linphea declares that the attack was unprovoked."

No, Flora thought, her head spinning. Not Apo… how could they do that? Apo was the most fortified, most important military base they had. I can't believe it… Tears fell down her cheeks as she stared at the screen.

"Under the Treaty of Militaristic Prevention, Linphea and Zenith have both alerted all other UR realms of their status, and the other realms have declared neutrality. The UR War Intervention Council will perform a thorough investigation, to determine whether any crimes were committed."

They won't find anything, Flora thought frantically. Or rather, they probably would find evidence against Zenith, but wouldn't release it. After all, Zenith practically ran the UR.

"It's been a terrible shock," her father continued. "The entire village is in shambles. We all gathered together last night for a vigil, and Mamá led a prayer-session this morning. I wanted to make sure you're okay, Flora."

Flora wasn't paying any attention. Queen Isabel of Linphea had appeared on screen in front of her, and she put the phone down.

The matriarch's face was somber. She wore a simple gray dress, her expression sorrowful as she gazed down at the crowd below her.

"My fellow citizens," she said, "yesterday is a day that shall forever live in infamy. On Decemensis 16, 999, the Queendom of Linphea was suddenly yet deliberately attacked by Zenith, in a move that was clearly unprovoked. It is with great sorrow that I announce, as Queen of this country, that Linphea will go to war."

So it's official, then, Flora thought. This war may not end for years… decades, even… She closed her eyes. My sister will have to grow up in a country torn with war… I'm so sorry, Miele…

"Flora?" her father asked. "Are you there? Flora" –

But Flora had already tossed the phone aside. She ran into Tecna's room, her eyes wide.

"Tecna!" she shouted. I have to talk to her… she has to know…

She turned on the lights and stared at Tecna. The girl was lying in bed, tired but not sleeping. She looked worse than Flora had ever seen her before.

Black circles were above her eyebrows. Her skin was deathly pale, and when Flora touched her, she felt… cold. Even though the heat was on.

"Tecna"… Flora whispered.

"Go away," Tecna croaked. Her voice was barely a whisper, and she turned her head. "Your people hate me. And I don't blame you if you do, too."

"How could you even say that?" Flora cried. "Do you think I'm going to turn my back on you because of this? I would never – Tecna!"

The girl wasn't paying attention. She stared down at her bed, her voice listless and weak.

"I should never have come to Alfea."

"No"… Flora stared at her. "You can't mean that."

"The war is coming," Tecna said plainly. "I can't stop it. No one can stop it."

"I can't believe that," Flora declared. "You have to keep hope, Tecna. We can solve this."

Tecna remained silent. In distress, Flora sat down next to her friend, listening to her shallow breathing and tired sigh.

I can't believe things are like this, she thought. How could everything have escalated so far out of control?

Things were never like this before. In fact, the two of them had been close friends last year, even confidantes. In fact, they'd even worked together not too long ago…

"Tecna?" she asked quietly. "Do you remember our Convergence Project?"

"Yes," Tecna said blandly, her voice not betraying any interest. "I do."

"Do you remember how we took down that monster together, even when it seemed unbeatable?" Flora asked. She closed her eyes, remembering how she'd felt that day, when they'd worked together to master this skill so pivotal…

It was in class. Tecna and Flora had teamed up to work on the convergence project, which they were unsuccessful at.

"What are you doing?" asked Faragonda.

"I got a magivine," Flora explained, "which Tecna's going to control using her laptop. We're going to use that to open the box." She pointed to the blue treasure-chest in front of them.

"Nature and technology usually have a hard time working together," Faragonda said, "but go ahead."

Flora and Tecna linked hands. A swirl of green and orange energy formed around them, and they concentrated on the box in front of them. Flora focused her energy with Tecna, trying to connect it with the essence of her friend's power…

"AAH!" they screamed.

The box hadn't opened. The laptop had sent electricity through the vine, but rather than accepting the transfer of energy, the vine rebelled. It lay on the desk, limp and destroyed.

"I told you," Tecna said, glaring at Flora. "Nature and technology are too incompatible to work together."

Flora felt defeated. But I thought we'd worked something pretty good out… Was Tecna saying that she didn't believe in their friendship?

The rest of the convergence boxes were unsuccessful as well. Faragonda frowned and addressed the class.

"We'll be having a test tomorrow," she said, "in the Magical Simulator Room."

"What?" Stella gasped. "Already?"

"Sometimes convergence can only occur under extreme circumstances," Faragonda said. "You will be in groups with your closest friends. Now practice as hard as you can tonight."

Flora sighed. I'm not too sure about this… She felt defeated. If their magic wasn't working together in a stable environment, why would it work in an unstable one?

She glanced over at Tecna, who was stubbornly avoiding her. Looks like she's under a lot of stress right now… She sighed and lowered her eyes to the ground.

The next day, the girls got up bright and early to get to the Simulator Room. Palladium and Faragonda were there, giving crisp, clear instructions.

"You will find yourself in a village, on a bright summer day," Palladium said. "You will have to use magical convergence to get out. However, you cannot use any spells." He gazed at them. "Are you ready?"

"Ready!" the girls said, though not in unison. Flora saw Layla sigh and gaze at the floor.

The simulator blacked out. For a moment, the girls were staring at nothing but black, empty space. Then, the world brightened around them.

But it wasn't light. Rather, they were in a gloomy forest, mist all around them. Musa stared around.

"Where the heck are we?" she asked.

"Um, 'village? Bright summer day?' Please," Stella snorted.

Flora shivered, staring around. "Why would she send us here in these outfits?" she whispered.

"Look!" Layla was pointing to the sky. Trees dotted the landscape.

"Why does the sky look like there's a forest on it?" Stella added.

"Uhh… I think that's because it is a forest," Bloom said. "But… then where's the sky?"

It was then that Flora looked down and realized where they were. The ground beneath her feet was not actually ground, but air. And… they were suspended right above a forest.

"Look out!" Musa yelled.

Trees shot up from below them. The girls gasped as they shot right through the air, flying up straight past the trees.

And then they fell.

Flora gasped as she hit the ground, grimacing. That hurts… What's going on?

"This must be a system bug," Tecna declared. "There must be something wrong with the chamber's operating system!"

"Girls!" Palladium's voice sounded from the air. "I'm going to insert an exit code into the software, but I don't know what form it'll take. If you can get ahold of it, you can use it to exit the software, okay?"

"Fine!" Stella said, rolling her eyes. "Ready when you are!"

"Ahh!" Musa gasped, backing. Flora turned and saw, to her horror, that a monster was headed their way. "Ya might want to hurry with that exit code!"

The monster puffed up, its eyes gleaming. Its dark fur magnified.

And then it shot straight towards Stella.

"Stella!" Layla shouted. Without warning, she tackled Stella to the ground.

The monster hit a tree. Grimacing as she pulled herself up, Stella put her arm around Layla and smiled. "First convergence!"

A sphere of light shot past Flora. She gasped, staring at it. "Look!"

"That's the exit-code!" Tecna declared.

"So let's get out of – ahh!" Bloom stopped.

A hologram of a witch appeared in front of them. Flora stared as she saw Darcy's figure appear in front of them.

"Not that witch!" Layla cried.

Darcy laughed. "No exit code for you."

The hologram of Darcy turned into the monster. Without warning, it opened its jaws and swallowed the light whole.

And then it began to grow.

The girls screamed as the monster became taller and taller. They jumped back, and Bloom clenched her fists.

"Let's get it!" she declared.

The girls immediately transformed. Bloom glared at the monster, growling. "Let's get our exit-code back!"

"Sonic blast!" Musa yelled lifting the sphere in her hands and hurling it at the monster. It had absolutely no effect; if anything, it incensed the monster even more.

"Magic won't work on the monster!" Palladium shouted. "You'll have to try something else!"

"What?" gasped Stella.

"First of all, let's hide," Flora said, looking grimly around. "There's a tunnel right there!"

The girls flew into the tunnel. The monster let out a roar as it realized it couldn't follow the girls into the hole. It began to angrily pound over their heads, and the girls winced.

"If it keeps doing that, the tunnel will collapse!" Musa declared.

"Then we'd better hurry!" Bloom shouted. "I say we use convergence!"

The others stared at her. "Bloom, are you out of your mind?" Tecna demanded.

"He said magic won't work!" Musa added.

"I know," Bloom said, "not direct magic. But if we enchant a physical object, then we can take it down."

"Using convergence?" Layla gasped.

"Yes," Flora said, "I think Bloom has a point."

The others turned around to stare at her. Heart pounding, Flora turned towards Tecna.

"I know we said technology and nature usually don't work together," she said, "but that doesn't matter right now. After all convergence doesn't rely on the compatibility of our powers; it only relies on the compatibility of us as people. And I think the way we paired up in Faragonda's class proved our compatibility."

"But we weren't able to do the project!" Tecna pointed out.

"That doesn't matter," Flora said, finally understanding the genius of Faragonda's exercise. "We figured the weakness of our mistakes back in class, so that we could learn from them for a simulation like this. And we weren't under duress during class – but we are now."

"So what are you saying?" Bloom asked. "We keep our original pairs to fight this thing?"

"Yes," Flora said. "We need to create something that'll keep the monster at bay, so that we can escape and get out of here."

"You mean like… a replica of us?" asked Layla.

"A replica of the Winx Six," Stella grinned. "I like it. Totally couture – AHH!"

The monster had broken through the tunnel. The girls screamed as rocks fell down on their heads.

"Layla and Musa, you first!" Bloom yelled.

The two girls zoomed ahead of everyone else. Flora, Tecna, Bloom, and Stella followed close behind. Layla and Musa linked hands, shouting.

"Morphix formation!"

"Rhythm steps!"

Purple-and-pink magic shot out of their hands. Flora watched in fascination as a purple-and-pink female mannequin formed out of Morphix, with rhythm in her step. She walked rather unsteadily, looking as if she was about to collapse.

"She needs a skeletal support!" she gasped to Tecna.

"And neural networks," Tecna declared. "Let's go try it out!"

The two joined hands. For a moment, they smiled briefly at each other, and Flora saw the doubt erase itself from Tecna's eyes. I know we can do this… She focused her energy.

"Skeletal ivy!"

"Digital networks!"

Green-and-orange magic shot out of their hands. A green vine snaked around the mannequin, and orange electrical wires shot through the inner part of her body. She began to walk more steadily, using Layla's structure and Musa's rhythm.

And in that moment, Flora felt more in-tune with Tecna than she'd ever felt before. She could feel her magical essence; likewise, she knew Tecna could feel hers, too. I've never felt like this before… It was a powerful feeling, one that transcended far beyond friendship and anything else they'd known.

"Now us!" Bloom and Stella linked hands.

"Solar sight!"

"Dragon's strength!"

Now red-and-yellow energy shot out of their hands. The girls watched in fascination as the mannequin, which could see the monster now quite clearly. Using Bloom's dragon essence, it zoomed towards the monster, lifting its hands. It reached into the monster's mouth. Flora gasped as she saw the sphere in the monster's hand.

"All right!" Musa cheered.

"Now incant a spell on the exit code!" Palladium shouted. "Do it so you can get out of the test!"

The six of them held hands together, in a circle. Flora smiled at Tecna, who smiled sheepishly back. It's Winx Convergence time… They focused their power on the sphere.

"With the six of us here, together as one,

"Open the door so this test is done!"

Red fire shot out of Bloom's chest, as did orange electricity from Tecna. Then came Stella's yellow sunlight, and Flora's green ivy. Last, Layla set out purple Morphix, while Musa shot out pink sound-waves. The six chains of light formed together, a beautiful arc.

A Winx rainbow, Flora realized. It's so… beautiful. The six of them gasped at awe, amazed at the power of their convergence as it hit the ball of light.

The sphere glowed beautifully, enveloping them in brilliant colors. A white flash shot across the plains, so intense that Flora had to close her eyes. It was intense and awesome and heart-melting, the way their powers joined together.

Then the Magical Simulator Room appeared. Flora sank to the ground, weeping with relief. We're safe… I'm so happy. Palladium and Faragonda rushed out from the control panel.

"Are you okay, girls?" Palladium asked.

"Yes," Tecna's voice rang out, and Flora gazed up at her friend. The technology-fairy extended a hand to Flora, and the nature-fairy took it. "We faced many struggles, but we're through now. And we learned so much as a result."

"Yes, we did," Flora agreed, feeling much lighter. I know what we were missing now. Although nature and technology came from different realms, they both were ultimately used to support people. They'd combined ivy and electricity to support that mannequin, the same way plants supported so many life-forms, that computers supported so many people. And we know how to do that now… She smiled at Tecna.

And we're going to bring Darkar down.

Flora wished she could keep that optimism in the present situation, so they could work together and defeat Valtor. It won't work… The Winx were in too much disharmony to have any hope of another Convergence Rainbow; no thanks to her, of course. Feeling defeated, she stared at Tecna.

"Look," she said, "I know you don't want to talk now, but I want to remind you how I felt. That day, I felt a strong connection between the two of us. It filled me with so much hope, that no matter what happens between nature and technology, we will always – are you listening?"

"I'm not," Tecna whispered flatly. "This isn't possible."

"You have to believe!" Flora protested. "You have to believe this is going to work out. We'll find a solution! I promise you, Tecna, I won't give up on you." She reached for her friend's hand.

For a moment, she thought she saw Tecna's electric-blue eyes glimmer with something. Is that… hope? But she must've imagined it, for the Zenithian fairy released her hand, murmuring, "Goodnight."


The next week saw no improvement with the Winx group; if anything, it all became worse. What with the recent developments on Melody, Musa was in a state of anxiety all throughout the week, and not even Layla could comfort her. Flora wished she could help her friend, but knew that the other Winx would be furious with her for interceding.

Tecna kept to herself, speaking only in monosyllables to Flora. The others avoided Flora as much as they could, not even bothering to talk to her about the war. Truth to be told, it probably wasn't even in their minds; since Melody's predicament was so unprecedented and terrifying, the Triple M was only reporting about that. Now, there was dead silence in the apartment the few times Flora was around.

No… she thought, staring down at her bed. This can't be happening now… My friends, my sanity… my realm…

She didn't know when she'd ever be able to return back to Linphea; no commercial flight would take anyone to a war-zone. Her family hadn't managed to get out, and she knew they wouldn't want to leave Linphea, either. It was their homeland as much as hers, and they would stick it out, regardless of what happened.

Zenith hasn't laid siege to our village yet… but it's only a matter of time. And when they did, their realm would never again bloom, just like the flowers Mirta had given her.

She gazed at the pot which she'd planted them in. They were drooping from lack of care and kindness, something which she'd never done to any of her plants before. I'm so sorry... But she knew she couldn't do anything about it.

Just like how she couldn't do anything about the final, absolute loss of all she held dear to her heart.


This was what I would call an important filler-chapter – it doesn't have much action, but provides important information. The real stuff comes next time.

Next chapter:

- The Winx (minus Tecna) meet with Faragonda.

- Disastrous developments occur on Melody.

- Tecna and Timmy have a painful conversation.

I can't say much more without giving it away, even though I'm sure you all can guess. Just stay tuned for Saturday's upload!