CHAPTER 3 :

ALFEA: 4 days later

The rest other members of the winx, along with prince sky have just arrived at ALFEA and are meeting with Headmistress Faragonda in her office.

Faragonda was clearly quite distressed as she ran over the details of what had occured.

"The situation has turned a lot more complicated in the past 2 days, Tecna "returned" in a critical state, she is in the school hospital. And we have also made contact with previously unknown people associated with this incident. I will provide you more information at a later time. And please try to be gentle when you meet Tecna, she has been heavily traumatized by her mission "

As they left the office, the winx and prince sky wondered what could have been so dangerous that could have done such a number to Tecna

The winx were not their bright and cheery selves, the air was cold with unease and tension as they walked towards the hospital.

"Well i hope that it is not another one of the Trix new ... MGGGGHHHH!"

Stella tried to make a light hearted comment but was cut off when Musa quickly covered her mouth.

Bloom with Prince Sky alongside her, turned and faced Stella with a stern expression on her face. Blooms face was wrought with frustration as she glared at stella.

She new Stella meant well but she had no time for that, not when something this serious was afoot.

"Please, Stella not now, this is not the time to joke around!" she loudly remarked, barely containing her urge to shout at her.

"Sorry... " Stella replied, sulking heavily.

This experience had left a harsh impact on the winx and prince sky, however this would pale in comparison to the shock that they would experience upon learning the full truth of what had happened to Tecna during that mission.

When the winx reached room that Tecna was recovering in and are about to enter:

"Nurse Ofelia, how is her condition? " Bloom asked with a voice clearly filled with worry

"I am afraid it is deteriorating rapidly, she is heavily injured and she does not respond well to healing magic at all. And her mental state is not much better, although i would say a full recovery is possible though it may take a fair amount of time. "

"OH WHY WHY, WHYYYYYYYYYYYY " came an intense sobbing from the inside of the room, while Bloom and Prince sky were talking to the nurse, Stella and Musa had rushed in first without hesitation.

As the rest of the winx entered the room they were greeted with a truly shocking sight. Tecna was lying on the hospital bed, unconscious but it was clear that it was by no means a comfortable situation.

Through her thin hospital gown, it was clear to see, deep lacerations and gruesome bruises across her whole torso. Her legs were bandaged but one could clearly see red patches where the bandages had been unable to stop the bleeding completely.
occasionally she would gasp and let a cry of pure terror and convulse violently before settling.
There was also a weird collar attached to her neck, which gave off an ominous feeling.

Stella and Musa were crouching and leaning against the bed frame, with their hands covering their faces and tears streaming, sobbing uncontrollably.

Flora and Aisha stood together in shock, with eyes wide open and barely repressed tears welling up as they hugged each other for comfort.

Bloom and Prince Sky were deeply worried but had maintained some measure of composure.

Eventually, the rest of the members of winx and Prince Sky left the room, leaving only Bloom and Tecna in the room.

Bloom tried to peer into Tecnas' mind to see her memories. Several memories flashed through her mind but before she could discover any more, Tecna jolted awake in pain, and Bloom was forced to stop the spell.

"STOP, NO MORE NO MORE, PLEASE NO MORE PLEASE STOP! " Tecna screamed in terror, her face pale with fear. She pounded madly at nothing with her fists, as if trying to fend off some sort of beast attacking her.

"It's me Bloom, CALM DOWN, please! " Bloom cried as she hugged her in relief.

For the next few minutes Tecna just stayed in Blooms' embrace, overcome with a sense of relief and happiness.

Tecna then recalled her experience to Bloom, She told her how she had been shot out of the sky by a group of large people using armor and weapons she had never recognized before.

A collar that would cause her great pain and eventually kill her if she attempted to use magic, or if anyone tried to use magic on her was then put on her forcibly to prevent her from resisting.

After that she was knocked out and interrogated harshly by two of the people.
Tecna could not remeber much from her experience as the trauma caused her to lock away those memories.

The last thing that she could recall was one of the armored people picking her up and throwing her like a cannonball back towards Alfea. And the painful crash landing afterwards.

That night, in a meeting room in Alfea:

The winx, and Prince Sky, alongside headmistress Faragonda had gathered to discuss the days events in private.

"I can not believe what i just saw, her injuries were simply too horrific and i could not contain myself!" Musa said while covering her eyes in fear when she remembered what she had saw earlier.

"I agree, what i saw was too much to bear" Stella replied

The rest of the winx nodded solemnly.

"I thought that it could not be this bad, not until I saw the truth for myself, when I looked into her mind h Bloom replied, her voice turning serious.

"Well then, please tell us what you saw in her mind" replied Faragonda

Bloom explained everything she saw in Tecnas' mind, as well as Tecnas' own story. It painted a truly disturbing story, a unknown group of people had mysteriously appeared on Magix which who were willing to brutally kill or injure anyone or anything that stood in their way. It almost seemed that they had come straight out of a nightmarish battlefield.

But far more disturbing was the sheer disdain and unquenchable hatred that they seemed to display to someone that they had just met.

Prince Sky, stood from his seat, his eyes glowing with determination and rage over what had occurred.

"As a prince, this incident is far too serious for me to ignore, i simply cannot allow my friends to get so severely injured. I will hunt these savages myself."

"Calm down, now is not the time for violence!, you must find another way" Bloom pleaded with Sky.

"But what if this continues, what if more get injured or die, I simply cannot sit idly by while ... "Prince sky replied, his voice filled with rage.

"AHEM!" Faragonda loudly cleared her throat.

Bloom and Sky instantly stopped their conversation, which would have devolved into a full argument.

"This all fits too well... " Faragonda muttered to herself.
"What are we missing? " The members of winx replied as one

"By now you should all know how things played out, Tecna went out to investigate and got captured, she was subsequently interrogated and then sent back in a horrible state " Faragonda explained

"Well a message also came alongside her ". Faragonda pulled an envelope marked with a wax stamp with a skull motif and placed it onto the table.

Headmistress Faragonda opened the envelope and a piece of folded parchment fell out. It was heavily crumpled.

"Why does it look so strange, it looks like someone tried to fold a crumpled piece of paper?" Stella inquired.

"When this message first reached me, it was crudely crumpled into a ball and simply stuffed inside its envelope, I have since folded it properly and put it back into its envelope "

It was a picture of the barrier mountains(roughly A4 sized btw), with forests in the foreground, seemingly taken from a high altitude. On the picture was a big red X with the words "MEET YOUR LEADER HERE, BE THERE WITCH!"

"We leave tomorrow morning at 10am, thank you for attending this meeting and please have a good nights rest "