Chapter Three – Quite unusual

It was late at night when Bloom awoke. She opened her eyes, and saw the Winx and the specialists sitting around her bed. Stella, Brandon and Flora were sitting on her left while Timmy, Techna, Musa and Riven were on her right.

She asked the first question that came to her mind. "Where's Sky?" Her friends, who had been gloomily looking at each other and hadn't noticed she had woken up, were startled.

"Bloom, you're awake!" Bloom saw them all breath a sigh of relief before Brandon answered her question. "Prince Sky awoke some time ago, he's fine. He's with his parents now, they wanted to see him."

Hearing Sky was fine was a relief for Bloom, but her mind didn't rest. "And Phoenix?" Bloom's friends looked uncomfortably at one another before Techna answered. "Phoenix just woke up, a few minutes ago. Faragonda and Saladin took him to Saladin's office. He seemed…unharmed."

"What do you mean unharmed?" Musa decided to answer this one, before Bloom asked a more difficult question to answer. "He wasn't injured. Not one scratch. He just jumped off of the bed and walked away, like he does this every day."

Now this was weird. Bloom started to contemplate the matter when a sharp pain seared through her head. She breathed in deeply, and when she exhaled the pain was gone. But she decided not to worry about the matter too much until she was up and about again.

"What about the demonstration?" Flora suddenly smiled, which Bloom found intriguing, while the other Winx-girls hung their heads. "Well, since you weren't there, we held this free-for-all. The crowd seemed to love it."

"A free-for-all? Who won?" Flora's smile widened when the other Winx pointed at her. "I was just lucky Stella took out Techna with a Sun Shower. Taking out Musa was tough, especially since she kept using her Mega Bom Blaster. But I managed to get her all tangled up in my algae. And since plants love the sun, Stella was already at a disadvantage."

Stella suddenly looked up and smiled. "Yeah, well, it sucks to lose but I'm happy my friend won." Musa and Techna agreed with Stella, and the three of them congratulated Flora with her victory.

Suddenly Brandon looked up and started. "Miss Faragonda," he said, greeting the headmistress of Alfea and warning the others about her presence at the same time. "Boys, headmaster Saladin wants to speak to the three of you. And I do want to congratulate you on a job well done at the demonstration today. You have shown great skill, and have brought honour to the name of Red Fountain."

The boys thanked Faragonda and said their goodbyes before exiting the infirmary. "Girls, Nurse Greta feels Bloom can be moved into her own bedroom and right now I feel that would be the best course of action. I want you girls to arrange it, and I also want you to keep an eye on Bloom."

"Why?" Stella asked the question just as Faragonda turned around to leave. "You will see soon enough, girls. All in due time," Alfea's headmistress said without looking back. She started walking, but suddenly stopped and glanced back. "And congratulations on a wonderful demonstration as well. You all did a fantastic job."

And with that, Faragonda walked out of the infirmary and left the Winx in total confusion.

Sky walked to the student dorms, contemplating what Saladin had just told him and the other specialists in his unit. He was confused. First of, he still didn't understand how Phoenix had knocked him out during the demonstration. And now he had been told Phoenix would be joining his unit.

Sky went over what had happened in the arena again and again, but he still didn't understand. Before he realized, his feet had carried him to Phoenix's room, which he had heard from Saladin was one floor beneath his.

The door was open and he saw Phoenix standing by the closet, arranging some clothes. "Hi," he said slightly timidly, not knowing what else to say. The green-haired boy looked at him, and continued arranging his clothes.

"Saladin told me you'd be joining my unit as of tomorrow," he continued. Phoenix completely ignored him, and Sky was at a loss. He had wanted to start a conversation with the boy before asking him about the events in the arena.

When Phoenix continued settling in without even so much as a glance at Sky, he decided to go ahead. "Look, I just want to know what happened this afternoon. I mean, it's not something I have experienced before."

Again, Sky got no reaction from Phoenix and he started to despair. "Why aren't you talking to me? If we're going to be in the same unit, we need to learn how to work together. I didn't get along with Riven at first either, but now he's a good friend of mine and…"

"Listen, Prince Sky, and listen closely. I didn't ask to be assigned to your unit, nor do I care to be your friend. I'm here for one reason and one reason only, and you have little to do with it. And if you hinder me even slightly, I will not hesitate to use the power I have demonstrated today against you again. And this time, you won't wake up."

After his last word, Phoenix lifted his hand again and emitted the waves of yellow light to telekinetically slam the door in Sky's face.

Headmistress Griffin barely arrived at Cloud Tower when one of the witches on the teaching staff ran to her, terrified. "Ms. Griffin, there's someone in your office waiting for you."

Griffin wasn't expecting anyone, and the witch's behaviour worried her. "Who is it?" The witch standing before her seemed to become even more petrified. "I…I don't know, Ms. Griffin. But he's…strange…scary. We told him that he should come back tomorrow, that your return would be at a late hour and that you probably wouldn't be in the mood to see anyone. He just…walked into your office and sat down. He hasn't moved an inch since then."

"Nobody is allowed into my office if I'm not there. Why haven't you removed him from my office?" The witch became pale and started stuttering. "We tried, Ms. Griffin, we tried. But he countered our spells without even moving a finger!"

An eerie feeling settled in the pit of Griffin's stomach as she determinedly walked up the stairs towards her office. She reasoned that two inexplicably strong and skilled boys on the same day were too much of a coincidence, and she prepared herself for what was to come.

As she opened the door to her office, a vision hit her and she realized she wouldn't be victorious today. When the door opened, all she saw in front of her desk was shadow.

"Come in and close the door, Ms. Griffin," a voice suddenly cracked, but Griffin couldn't see anyone. She walked into the office, and the door closed behind her. "It is an honour to meet you, headmistress Griffin. Your reputation has preceded you."

Griffin walked to her desk and sat down, since she didn't know what else to do. The shadow intensified right before her desk and became human-shaped, but did not solidify.

"I am here to ask something of you. As a reward you shall receive from me immense power and endless knowledge." Griffin, though not evil and power hungry, was still interested in the proposal.

"What could I do for you? From what I hear, you are powerful enough to do anything without help." The shadow intensified even more, and Griffin thought she could see glowing red eyes.

"I have power, yes. But you know how best to use power. I wish for you to teach me." Griffin was surprised. "You wish for me to do what?" She couldn't have heard it right. "I wish for you to teach me how best to wield my power, here at Cloud Tower."

"Why here? Why me?" The red glow of the eyes in the shadow grew stronger. "There are three that are great. But were the other two are I can't show my face yet. That leaves you." Griffin's mind worked rapidly: So there's something at Alfea and Red Fountain which he's afraid to face.

"I'm sorry, but no. Cloud Tower is a school for witches, for girls. You are clearly not a girl. I demand you leave my office now." As the shadow grew and spread throughout her office, Griffin summoned her power to fight it.

She threw an orb of pink light at it, but the shadow just absorbed it and kept growing. "You have made a great mistake, Ms. Griffin. If you don't help me willingly, I will force you. But help me, you will!"

The shadow had barely said that when it suddenly sped forward. Before Griffin could react, the shadow shot into her through her nose and mouth. Griffin fought, but she lost control of her own body. She was powerless to stop her body from running toward the window, and when she jumped through it all became dark around her.

T.B.C.

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