Helloo, it's me again! :) I'm back with another Winx Club fanfiction. This time, I wanted to highlight the relationship between Valtor and Icy within the canon. That is to say, that their relationship doesn't progress farther than being allies. The perspective is Darcy's, as I thought that she would be the most observant person and thus have a good feeling on how these two were feeling.
I hope you enjoy this little character study ^^ Have fun reading and as always, reviews are very welcome and appreciated ^^
Love
Lady Athena of Olymp
An end without a beginning
When Darcy first met Valtor she immediately realized two things. First, he was the living definition of danger and the prime example of a dark wizard. And second, he fed off his pride, more so than her own sister and Darcy had always thought, that Icy had to be the most prideful person in the entire universe.
Darcy had been a tad bit apprehensive when Stormy had suggested that they freed Valtor and Icy agreed. The dark magic that the wizard had exuded was palpable even through the thick ice that held him hostage. But she trusted her older sister and after the complete failure that Darkar was, they needed a change of scenery. So, when the ice witch freed Valtor, Darcy realized another two things. One, he was even more powerful than his magic aura had let on. And two, a potential alliance was either going to carry them to the top of the world or flop even more than whatever that had been with Darkar.
And Valtor did not disappoint. Seconds after his newly acquired freedom, he destroyed the ice snakes, that had chased them through the caverns of the Omega dimension and proved his point as a wizard not to be underestimated. Darcy felt her hopes rising, seeing as he seemed to be much more powerful than Darkar. Still, her apprehension never left her body. After Valtor crudely set the tone and wanted to be the boss, tensions rose quickly when Icy made clear that this was never going to happen. Never again. They were not servants; they were allies and were to be treated with respect. Once Icy had declared that, it seemed as if Valtor agreed, and together they'd searched for the portal to Andros.
That's when Darcy noticed another thing. Valtor was interested. Interested in them, but especially in Icy. Not romantically. Darcy asked herself many times if witches and dark wizards were even able to produce romantic feelings. However, he was interested in Icy as a person, as a witch, and as a potential ally. Darcy quickly understood that this relationship was going to be interesting.
And she had been right. Throughout the whole year, that Valtor, Darcy, and her sisters had worked together, the group dynamics shifted more times than Darcy could count. Valtor first made sure to keep them at a distance, to not let them gauge his plans and guess his cards. That was until her older sister stepped in and argued that allies would discuss plans together. When Valtor actually listened and started telling them where he was going, if they could join and why they needed to do certain things, Darcy saw the magnetic field starting to form around Icy and Valtor. Their opposite powers and skills would every so often pull them together, but their similar characters and attitudes would push them apart again. Their relationship had soon become marked by a push-and-pull dynamic, closely connected to frequent tension.
One moment Darcy clearly remembered, when those said tensions had piqued, was when Valtor had saved Bloom on Andros, destroying Icy's victory. God, how her sister was fuming. She was absolutely out of her mind. She remembered needing multiple covers the night of that day because even late into the evening after Icy threw the first fit and almost attacked Valtor, her sister was still so angry that the temperature in the cavern fell below 5°C (41°F) throughout the night.
What had angered Darcy even more than Valtor saving Bloom was the reason why he did it. He claimed that the fire fairy would make a great ally. Darcy had nearly spit her tea when she heard that. What absolute nonsense. As if they'd ever work with a fairy, much less Bloom. This was one of many moments, where she realized that he still wasn't being candid with them about the whole expanse of his plans. A conclusion to which Icy came to as well and she saw her sister being visibly upset about it.
Nonetheless, Darcy watched how her older sister let herself become more entangled with Valtor. He seemed to favor her. Complimenting her style, asking for her opinion, and giving her a lot of room for her own decisions and actions. And Icy seemed to appreciate that. She liked having her freedom and more so, his attention. Yet one thing remained that had bothered Icy as much as her sisters. Darcy realized that Valtor never chose Icy. He favored her, sure, but favor was fleeting. That much was apparent when he came back from planet Chill and gifted Darcy the golden bracelet or when he gave Stormy new powers and sent her on a solo mission to Linphea. At first, Darcy wasn't sure what kind of game Valtor was playing with them. It seemed to her as if he gave each of the sisters a time period where she was the star and center of his attention. First Icy, then Darcy, and lastly Stormy. Darcy had soon picked up on the scheme. He was toying with them, fueling the competitive drive in each of them.
But he underestimated one, crucial thing. Darcy and Stormy swore their loyalty to Icy, not him. They would never let something as unimportant as a man invade their close-knit circle. Or so she thought…
Valtor, after all, was far from stupid and to the disadvantage of the three witches an excellent judge of character. Even if his scheme and way of playing the sisters against each other didn't go unnoticed by them didn't mean that they were immune to his tactics. His charm was convincing. After decades of experience with manipulation, deception, and women, yes, the man did have his fair share of…escapades…he knew just how to make them dance to his rhythm, how to get them to fight and follow his every command.
Darcy remembered days when she physically wanted to rip each hair by itself out of her sisters' heads, scream to let her alone, and have Valtor all for herself. Without a doubt, Icy and Stormy had shared that sentiment.
Losing to the pixies and having to face Valtor's unapologetic humiliation and reprimand, had made the sisters collectively realize something. Firstly, as fairy-like as this would sound, together they fared much, much better. Secondly, they were behaving like lovesick little teenagers…a behavior that was so much below theirs. And thirdly, Valtor was a chauvinistic piece of shit. Admittedly handsome, but still shit.
After that…the events tumbled over themselves. The red tower event was supposed to give Icy the necessary advantage to finally throw Bloom to the dust. Instead, mister great dark wizard didn't move a finger to assist them, his plan failing as gloriously as the witches. The escape of Griffin and her students led to them fleeing Cloudtower and seeking refuge in yet another musty cave. A circumstance that had Icy reeling in fury.
When Valtor announced his supposedly masterfully crafted plan of making Cloudtower disappear in a show of his supremacy and have the headmasters of the three schools battle each other into oblivion, Darcy thought that maybe, maybe this was the breakthrough they'd been waiting for.
Wrong. So incredibly wrong. Darcy didn't even get to see this plan unfold before Icy finally had enough of this clown show. When the three of them provoked Valtor by questioning his power after he, quite obviously, slumped on his chair and looked like a shadow of his usual, composed self, the dark wizard made his biggest mistake yet. And his last one at that. He hurt them.
Darcy and her sisters weren't petty. Or plaintive. But being ruthlessly thrown into a cold, meter-thick cavern wall with your back open and unprotected did take it too far even in their book. Supposed allies didn't hurt each other that way, not even in a fit of anger. Sure, occasional throws of magic, curses, vulgar language…that was part of being a witch and part of the deal. But certainly not this. And with them being all too aware of what Valtor was capable of, they knew immediately that he was able to, and probably would kill them.
To their horror, it didn't stop at just this. Valtor started glowing in a dangerous, magical red aura. His fingers started elongating into claws, his biceps bulging into thick arms, his chest ripping his attire to shreds, and his face transforming into the ugly visage of a demon. Suddenly, what was once the handsome, charming dark wizard, was now a seething demon that Darcy quickly categorized as "ugly to the point of triggering my gag reflex".
Darcy had shared a frightened, shocked look with her sisters. Not just his appearance was less than ideal. Their situation was neither. Darcy did not doubt that his physical strength had doubled, if not tripled.
When he yelled at them, Icy took the lead and excused them, saying they'd better leave him to his planning. That's what you call a strategic retreat. After that, Icy exploded. Having had enough of men who order them around like maids, so-called allies who didn't keep their word and weren't better at winning than the three of them, she called quits on this alliance. Grabbing some of their stuff back in their rooms, they had exited just in time to witness him losing pitifully to Bloom and her winged friends. Disappointed, embarrassed, and hurt in their pride (and backs), they had said their not-so-well-meant goodbyes.
Darcy sighed loudly. Another failed attempt. And just as she thought in the beginning, this alliance was either going to carry them to the top of the world or flop even harder than the one with Darkar. To their extraordinary luck…it flopped. Badly. Horribly.
Later, when Darcy replayed this last scene of them all together, she noticed how Valtor had looked at them while they were leaving. There was anger, hatred, disappointment, and disgust. But hidden deep beneath the icy blue lakes of his eyes, she believed to have seen pain and regret. Emotions directed at Icy, because she was the last thing he saw before the cave had tumbled down on him.
She remembered what she had said to him after he had given them their new powers.
"She won't be loyal for you to respect her then. You're going to have to respect her and she'll be loyal then.", Darcy had explained and watched how defiance clouded his eyes much as it did to the reason that was trying to etch its way through his mind. And there she had seen that he would realize too late what he had to do to keep her by his side. He would know once she was gone.
Ultimately, his pride chased her away. Ironic, since she had heaps of it. Yet his calculations were faulty, and he knew. Darcy had seen as she was leaving, that he finally unlocked the meaning behind her advice.
Perhaps he wouldn't have lost if Icy stayed. Stayed to protect him from the flames that licked at his boots now and were threatening to consume him alive. But here he was, paying the price for his pride, for neglecting her needs.
As Darcy now passed Icy's room in their shared apartment with the door open wide, she saw her older sister practicing an ice spell he had once taught her. How bitter an end, Darcy thought, to something that hadn't even begun yet.
