"Well done my witches." A dark voice cackled in the shadows. "Two pieces of the Codex in my possession."
"Thank you Lord Darkar." Icy said.
"And that is not all, it seems that our fairy has made her way in." Darkar continued.
"I still don't understand that part of the plan." Stormy said. "I thought we only needed the Codex and the power of the Dragon Flame."
"All will be clear when we have the other two pieces in our hands." "Now leave, I need to speak with my spy in private."
The three witches bowed and left. Darkar summoned his crystal ball. A face appeared.
"My Lord."
"Tell me my spy, have you succeeded?"
"I'm afraid not yet my lord, the elf seems more strong than I thought."
"We need to hurry!" Darkar screamed. "We have two pieces of the Codex, the fairy is taken care of." "What about the other piece of the puzzel?"
"All will be handled on time my lord I promise you."
"It better be, for your sake!"
Faragonda stared at the seven girls in front of her. They were all staring at their tables.
"Come on girls, you did your best and there is nothing more we could have asked from you."
"Darkar has two pieces of the Codex and that is our fault." Bloom said. "We should have stopped the Trix."
"Why couldn't we?" Tecna asked. "The first time we were split up but this time we were at full strenght."
"Were we though?" Stella asked. "I felt off the second we walked into Cloud Tower."
The others agreed with her.
"There is one good thing that came from your visit to Cloud Tower." Faragonda said. "One of you has earned her Charmix."
Her eyes fell on Layla. "My what?"
"Charmix dear, the next level of fairy transformation."
"So that's why she had that purse and jewel." Stella said.
"Exactly, Charmix allows a fairy to use more powerfull magic." "It has to be earned by facing your fears."
"It appeared suddenly while I was walking through the dark corridors of the school all by myself." Layla said.
"So we all can earn our Charmix by facing our fears." Bloom said.
"Yes but give it time." Faragonda said. "It will come in the right moment."
"So what now?" Musa asked.
"Darkar and the Trix do not know where pixy village is." Faragonda said. "So we must assume that their next target will be Alfea."
"We can't let them win again." Layla said.
"The defense of the school has been upgraded already." Faragonda said. "Bloom, I want you to show the other Winx where the Codex is hidden, it is important that you all know."
"Headmistress, is our schoolwork from Cloud Tower already been graded?" Flora asked.
The rest of the Winx sighed.
"No not yet Flora, I will grade it later this afternoon." Faragonda said. "Now I suggest you all go down for lunch and afterwards Bloom can show you where the Codex is hidden." "We will discuss our next step later."
The fairies nodded and left the room.
"So how does it feel to have your Charmix Layla?" Musa asked.
Layla took some time to think. "I feel…different." "It's hard to explain."
"We will find out soon enough Musa I'm sure." Bloom said.
The canteen was crowded and the Winx had to sit at the end of one of the tables.
"We should start working on our defensive spells." Tecna said.
"Maybe we could ask Palladium and Wizgiz for help." Flora said. "What do you think Samara, you're the best in defensive spells out of all of us."
"Yeah I don't see why not." Samara said right before she took a bite from her salmon salade.
"Ah there he is right now, professor Palladium!" Stella shouted across the room.
Palladium stopped in his tracks and looked their way.
"Miss Stella could you please keep it down." He said as he walked towards them.
"Sorry but we wanted to ask you something."
Palladium looked surprised for a moment.
"And what might that be?"
"We really need to practise our defensive spells." Layla said. "And we were wondering if you and professor Wizgiz could help us with that."
"Of course, you can use the simulation room at the end of the afternoon." Palladium said. "I'll be there too so I can assist you."
"That'd be great professor thank you." Samara said.
Palladium glanced at her for a second. "Yes well uhm…I have to go, I have a class to teach now."
He bid the Winx farewell and walked out of the canteen. The girls finished their lunch and then left as well.
"It's this way." Bloom said as they walked through the corridors of Alfea. "You have to look at a painting of the corridor itself, there is a door there but not really there, but when you walk to the same spot it actually is there."
"That was the most unlogical sentence I've ever heard." Tecna said.
"You'll see what I mean." Bloom said.
They walked on for a bit until Bloom suddenly stopped. "This is it."
She walked towards a painting of a corridor with a single door. Then to the opposite side of the corridor.
"So…the door should be…here."
"How did you find that door in the first place?" Musa asked.
The Winx walked through the door and entered a small library. Immediately a pixy came flying towards them.
"What is the meaning of this?!" She squeeked. "This is a secret archive as I told you miss Bloom!"
"We have permission of Faragonda to be here." Tecna said.
"Yeah we need to know where the Codex is to help you protect it." Layla said offended.
The pixy huffed. "I detect dark magic around you girls, I doubt the Headmistress would give you permission to be here."
"Dark magic?" Samara asked "We're fairies, we don't have dark magic."
"Maybe there is still some energy from Cloud Tower on us." Flora said.
"Bleh!" Stella groaned as she rubbed her dress clean.
The pixy made a circular motion with her arm and a magic mirror appeared. The face of Faragonda appeared in it.
"Yes Concorda?"
"Is it true that the Winx are allowed to be here?" The pixy named Concorda asked.
"Yes indeed, don't tell me you are refusing to let them in?"
"No I just wanted to be sure."
"Very good, but yes they have my permission." "They are there to help you."
The pixy nodded and the mirror disappeared.
"So now that that's cleared, show us where the Codex is hidden." Samara said.
"No need to be so demanding." Flora said glaring at the fairy of the Moon. "Can you please show us where the Alfea piece of the Codex is?"
"Of course I can." Concorda said as she flew up.
Samara watched as the pixy grabbed a book from one of the top shelves. She waved with it and the book changed into a piece of the Codex.
"It's right here, safe between regular books."
"Which book is it?" Samara asked.
"You don't need to know that, you know where it is now." Concorda said.
"She's right, we know where it is so we can start planning our defense." Bloom said.
"But we have to know!"
The other Winx stared at Samara, who realized her tone had been a bit too loud.
"I mean…if things go wrong one of us needs to be able to take the Codex and make a run for it." She explained.
"That's a good point." Musa said.
"Fine, it's named the biography of Gwendolyn Gates." Concorda sighed. "A fairy famous for her transfiguration skills."
"Thank you." Samara said.
"I could make a detection charm." Tecna said.
"Than I can add an alarm so loud that anyone who will enter will be completely…"
"Let's discuss this when we arrive in the simulation room, we're already late." Bloom said.
The Winx thanked Concorda and left the archive.
"I'm not so sure it was a good idea to know exactly which book it was." Flora said. "What if Darcy can read our minds?"
"I agree with Flora, the less people know about the whereabout of the Codex the better." Tecna said.
"We can take Darcy down no problem." Samara said.
"But it won't only be Darcy though, the Trix will come at us with full force." Layla said.
"Nothing to do about it now…" Bloom said.
They walked towards the west wing.
"Ah there you are Bloom!"
The Winx turned around and saw professor Avalon walk towards them.
"Did you forget about our appointment?"
"Our…oh yeah…I am so sorry professor!" Blooms cheeks turned red.
"Well I've set everything up and I still have some time." Avalon said.
Bloom looked at the rest of the Winx. "I am sorry girls but I have to go, it's important."
She said goodbye and walked out of the corridor with Avalon.
"More important than this?" Musa huffed. "I don't think so."
The six remaining Winx walked on and soon Tecna knocked on the double doors leading to the simulation room. They walked in.
Palladium was standing at the controls, his back towards the fairies. A smile krept up Samara's face.