Posted October 24, 2021.
CHAPTER 5: TAKEOFF
Gardenia, Italy
"What are you talking about?" Roxy yelled.
Musa stared forward, seeing the nervousness in Roxy's eyes. She wanted to say something, but couldn't. Layla picked up the iron disc, staring at Roxy. "Why are you so afraid of iron?" she asked.
"Because I'm allergic to it!" Roxy cried. "I have been since I was a kid. I can't eat anything with heme iron, which is part of the reason why I'm vegetarian."
"But I wasn't giving it to you to eat," Layla answered. "Why were you scared?" Her eyes gleamed. "Accept your destiny, Roxy. You have magical powers. You just used your magic to stop the iron from hitting you."
"That's right!" a voice called out. "And you did a great job, too!"
Musa jumped, startled. Chatta was flying towards Roxy, with excitement in her eyes. "Shoot that spell and stop the disc! Rah! Rah! Rah!" She punched the air.
"Chatta!" Flora shouted. "Not now!"
"We're gonna make her believe!" Chatta shouted. "She's a fairy! Magic blossoms at her feet! She's" –
"Chatta, go find the other pixies!" Musa yelled. "You're not supposed to be here!"
But it was too late. Roxy was staring at the pixie with horror in her eyes, taking a few steps back. "What. Is. That. Thing?" She spoke very deliberately. Even her dog seemed terrified.
"We're pixies!" Chatta continued to speak, very loudly. "Companions to fairies, we are!"
"You can see her?" Layla asked, very surprised.
"See it?" Roxy shrieked. "I'm going crazy, aren't I? There's a talking doll with – wings – right in front of me!" She stared at the pixie, looking horrified.
"Roxy," Bloom said, gently, "I know this is hard for you to understand, but you have magic deep within you. It was hard for me too, believe me. I was raised on this planet, but I am a fairy. And so do you." She tapped Roxy on the shoulder, who jumped back.
"This is crazy," she said, looking at Musa. "Hui, tell me this is all a joke. That they're just messing around!"
Musa stared at Roxy, whose deep blue eyes bore into her. She was the only one of the Winx who Roxy trusted, and yet, she couldn't help her. I can't save her from her fate. She lowered her head.
There was a silence. Then Roxy stood up angrily, glaring at Musa. "I can't believe I ever trusted you. You're all insane!" She turned to Artu. "Let's get out of here!" The two ran out of the grove.
Musa turned towards Layla, glaring at her friend. "You had to scare her away," she snapped. "Why would you do that? Iron is fatal to fairies!"
"I'm sorry!" Layla threw her hands in the air. "Did any of you have better ideas? We needed to unmask her, and we had to do it quickly!"
"Chatta, you're supposed to be with the other pixies!" Flora said sternly to the golden-haired pixie. "Why did you come here? Why did you follow us?"
"I wasn't gonna say anything," Chatta protested, "but then I saw that girl didn't wanna believe in fairies, so I thought I'd convince her!"
"Yeah," Musa said sarcastically. "Great job."
"What did I miss?" Tecna burst out through the trees, staring at the women. "What's going on?"
"We just found the Last Fairy on Earth," Layla said. "She kinda ran away."
"We have to go after her!" Musa insisted. "We have to save her!"
"I think we should just let her cool off," Stella answered. "Let's find her another time. I'm not too keen on getting ripped apart by that dog."
Musa glared at her. "Yeah, but" –
"You won't believe what Timmy wasted my time on," Tecna burst out, looking extremely irritated.
"What?" Flora asked. "What did he find for you?"
"A helicopter!" Tecna threw her hands in the air. "Tell me where we're gonna use that!"
The women gasped. "Where did he get the money to buy one?" Bloom cried.
"Sky sold some precious stones from Eraklyon," Tecna groaned. "Timmy talked him into buying the thing. He barely knows how to fly it! Apparently he somehow passed the pilot-test on the first try, which makes absolutely no sense. He almost rammed us into a tree." She shuddered.
Musa sighed. The entire mission was looking absolutely futile now. She couldn't believe that they were stuck on something so stupid as this, something that they were really going to lose over. She let out a sigh.
"What happened?" Tecna demanded. "Why are you all looking so downcast?"
"We found the Last Fairy on Earth," Layla said. "Turns out Musa met her a few weeks ago. She's also got this really rude dog that barked at us. We were just about to convince her to believe in us, but then Chatta had to reveal herself. When that girl saw her, she totally freaked." She glared at the pixie, who huffed.
"Hang on a minute," Tecna gasped. "She saw Chatta?"
"So?" Stella answered. "She's a fairy, right? Can't fairies see magical creatures?"
"I don't think that's it," Tecna answered slowly. "I think that, deep down, she does believe in magic. We just need to get her to find her spirit inside!"
"So, what do we do now?" Layla asked.
The Frutti Music Bar loomed ahead of her, a beautiful winery that had been founded many years before. It had been her father's business since before Roxy was born, and according to rumors she'd heard, her mother had helped him set it up. Not that anyone remembered Roxy's mother, of course – she'd disappeared many years ago. She didn't care for me, of course. Anger filled her heart as she gazed forward.
She entered the door, gazing around. It was fairly empty, but that was to be expected, especially since it wasn't time for aperitivo yet. A tradition in Italy, it usually took place in the late afternoon and evening, before dinner. The bar was almost always full then, with adults ordering wines and the minors having smoothies and juices. It was especially popular in the summer.
She gazed forward, feeling nothing but anger and sadness in her heart. Fairies – as if! What kind of idiot did people take her for around there? Was she really that useless – that gullible? I'll never fall for that again –
"There you are!"
Roxy looked up, startled. Her father was standing in front of her, his arms crossed. He spoke in furious Irish, demanding, "Where have you been?"
She glared at him defiantly, crossing her arms. "Why do you care?" she snapped. Her father lifted a sheet of paper in his hand.
"I just received a note from your English teacher," he snapped. "You're close to failing English class. We spoke about this before!"
Roxy glanced around, rather relieved that no one was in the bar at this time. The other staff-members were cleaning the floor, and not one of them cast a glance in their direction. This was a very common occurrence at around this time, and since they all feared her father, they kept their mouths shut – he paid them well, after all. But Roxy wasn't about to let her father get away. She glared at him, anger in her eyes.
"Why should I waste my time on stupid school?" she snapped. "I'm not gonna be a teacher or a writer when I grow up. Who cares about English class?"
"That is beside the point," her father said coldly. "You speak English well when you want to. Your math is excellent, too. And yet, I'm seeing very low marks in them. How do you think you're going to do in high-school if you can't do well now?"
"I don't want to," Roxy began, but her father wasn't finished.
"And while we're on the subject," he added, "I heard from the locals that you've been fighting with Ana Rodriguez. I thought we were past this!"
"Why don't you tell her that?" she shot back. "She taunts me to no end. If school's so important, why don't you tell them to make her bug off?"
"You haven't done anything to modify your behavior, either!" he yelled. "How many times to tell you? If they try to bother you, ignore and move on! I shouldn't have to tell a fifteen-year-old this!"
"Um, Daidí, news-flash?" Roxy asked icily. Next to her, Artu tensed as she glared up at him. "They don't stop when you ignore! They only stop when you show them who's boss, when you beat them down" –
"This is exactly the problem!" he thundered. "You keep wasting all of your time on this nonsense, and spend zero time on the things that matter! How're you going to have a future? Have you ever thought of that?"
"Oh, so if I don't become a great businessman like you, all is lost?" Roxy snarled. "When will you understand that I don't care about that?"
"I can't talk to you when you're like this." Her father shook his head. "Come back for your shift later."
Her blood boiled. "Bye," she spat out, whistling for Artu. The door slammed shut behind them as she ran forward, her cheeks angry.
It was still broad daylight. Cars were shooting past the road, and the people were happily chatting on Main Street. She ran down the street, panting in fury. Soon she was in the park again, a quiet, isolated spot far away from the grove she'd met those insane women. Sitting down, she stared furiously at the grass.
"I just can't stand Daidí!" she fumed as Artu sat next to her. "Why does he always have to act like this? Why do I have to do whatever he says? Why can't we be happy?" She sighed. Gazing upwards, she froze.
The sky above them had darkened. A dark cloud had appeared, much closer to them than normal – they seemed inches from the ground. She let out a gasp. Down the dark alleyway, a figure was moving towards them.
Immediately, Artu began to growl. "Easy, boy," Roxy whispered nervously, staring at the shadowy figure in the alley. It soon came to light – a wavy-haired girl with brown eyes.
"Krithi?" Roxy gasped, immediately taken aback. "What's going on?"
In response, Krithi gestured for her to follow. Roxy nervously followed the girl, walking down the dark alley. They soon reached the end, and Roxy let out a gasp.
Four men were standing in front of her, wearing long white cloaks. They held orbs of some sort in their hands, shimmering and transparent and white. The blond man strode up to Roxy, who stared in terror. She let out a cry, realizing who they were at once.
It was the four men in Krithi's sketchbook.
"Good job, Krithi," the redhead praised. "We finally got her."
"W-what's going on?" she stammered. "Who are you?"
"Your worst nightmare," he laughed, and she stared, mesmerized, as he lifted a dark sphere in his hands. Impossible… He hurled it straight at the ground.
Roxy backed up in fear. She could see the man's cruel face, his eyes full of malice as he smirked down at her.
Roxy turned to run, but it was no use. She screamed as the blond man grabbed her by the wrist.
"You're not going anywhere," he jeered. "You're ours now."
"Go away!" Roxy shouted frantically. She tried to move, but the other three men surrounded her.
"It's time," the redhead said, his eyes flashing. "Let us open the White Circle!"
Roxy stared as the men surrounded her, linking hands. Artu barked wildly as they stood together, and a horrible energy filled the plaza. She screamed as she saw a white tornado erupting, filling her with pain.
She screamed as she was lifted up into the air, her own energy draining from her body. Her entire head was spinning, and she felt as if her stomach was churning. Pain coursed through her body, and she cried out. Please make it stop, make it stop…
Suddenly, the funnel vanished. Looking down, she saw that Artu had bitten the redhead's hand, and they'd all let go. Falling to the ground, she tried to run, but the brown-haired man snatched her. With astonishingly quick steps, he held his hand to her mouth.
"Make one move," he shouted, "and we'll rip that dog apart!"
"Let me go!" Roxy howled. I'll face a thousand Giovannis rather than this! "Please, don't make me" –
"Looks like she doesn't want to go with you, Anagan," a voice in front of her snarled. Staring up, Roxy looked and saw the five women standing in front of her, with a sixth addition – a pink-haired woman. The yellow-haired doll was flying above them. Musa's face was the angriest of all as she glared at the men.
"Wizards!" Ogron thundered. "Let's finish them off!" Releasing Roxy, Anagan ran straight towards the women.
Immediately, the women darted out of the way. They fought with their fists and martial arts' techniques only, not giving in to the fight. But… that's… She stared in disbelief as Bloom and Aisha battled Ogron, Chiara and Iris took on Anagan, and Hui and the doll fought Gantlos. But then where's – She let out a scream as someone pounced on her.
She fell to the ground, struggling, as a wolf clawed into her sides. Unlike the animals she knew in the park, this one was far too fierce for her. She let out a sob, trying to push away, but it was too strong. Artu howled, launching himself at the wolf –
"No, you don't!"
Someone punched the wolf, and she lay on the ground, stunned, as the wolf transformed itself into the pink-haired man – Duman. Hui ran in front of her, blocking her from the wolf.
"I've got you, Roxy!" she yelled. "Don't worry – I'm here to protect you!"
"As if!" Ogron snorted. "The Wizards of the White Circle are immune to" – he broke off as Aisha hit him squarely in the face. The redhead gasped as he fell to the ground.
"I'm sorry, you were saying something?" she said smugly. The man growled in fury, sending another light ray at her.
But she was quick on her feet. Dodging the blow, it shot straight into the wall behind. Roxy grabbed Artu and ran behind a trash-can, panting in horror.
"I can't believe this," she whispered. "I must be dreaming! Fairies don't exist!" But there was something about this that just felt so real, something she couldn't deny. Collapsing to the ground, she stared around as she saw the men leering over her.
"What's going on?" she heard a shout. Turning around, she gasped as she saw people crowding in the park, looking startled and confused. "What's going o" – They stared at the women with their combat skills, and the men with their magic. They let out shouts.
"Is this – magic?" one woman cried.
"Why does it feel so real?"
"How can those men actually – fly?"
Then she felt a hand grab her. It was the pink-haired woman, grabbing her arm. She tried to resist, but the woman held tight. "Let me go!" The woman shot her a death-glare.
"Shut up!" she hissed. "I'm trying to help you!" With her free hand, she pulled out a cell-phone. "Timmy?" she yelled into the phone.
"What is it, Tecna?" the voice called back.
"Now would be a good time to help us," the woman hissed. "We've run into a bit of a problem. Get the others here, okay?" She slammed the phone shut, and not a second too soon – for Duman, this time an eagle, flew at them.
Quickly, she picked up a trash-can and threw it. Roxy stared as it hit the Duman-eagle down, sending him to the ground. She winced as shards of metal broke, nearly hitting her in the eyes.
"Let go of me!" she cried. "I don't want any part in this, okay? Just LET ME GO!"
"Gladly!" A white wave overcame her, and she screamed as she was separated from Tecna, falling straight to the ground. She hit her back on the hard road, wincing as she stared up.
The other women had all fallen. Ogron was standing over Roxy, smirking at her and Artu. He turned around to face the other women, a leer on his face.
"You let us to the fairy," he said, "and for that, we are in your debt. For that, we'll let you live – humiliated, defenseless, and on your knees – but alive."
Roxy stared at the women, realizing they had greatly weakened. No… She fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands.
"Fairies don't exist!" she cried. "I'm not a fairy! This can't be happening!"
"It is, Roxy!" Hui called. "You have to believe in us – believe in yourself! That's the only way we can defeat them. We defeat them through our combined strength and power!"
But I don't have any strength! How could she do anything, when she was just a rebellious freak who always got into trouble? "I can't do anything!"
"This is the end of the line, Winx!" Ogron laughed. "It's time for us to activate the White Circle!" He lifted his hands, joining them with his comrades –
Suddenly, a blast of light shot at Ogron, shooting him backwards. He let out a shout. Roxy stared upwards, wondering what in the world was going on.
A helicopter was streaming across the sky, straight towards them. It had colorful paint on the sides, and its fan was spinning beautifully. Roxy stared, openmouthed, as it hovered in the air above them.
Four men and one woman leapt out of the chopper, straight towards the Winx. They flew down on translucent blue discs, holding magical weapons in their hands. She stared, openmouthed, at their colorful clothes and weapons, which radiated some kind of light. The purple-clad warrior turned towards Aisha.
"Think it's about time we joined?" he asked.
"Get them!" Ogron howled. The men flew at the warriors, sending white rays at them, but they were ready. Roxy stared, stunned, as they battled the men effortlessly, not tiring at all.
"You never learn, do you?" a female warrior said, landing behind Gantlos.
"If you mess with the Winx, you mess with us!" A blond-haired man landed right in front of Duman, challenging him for a fight.
"Timmy!" Tecna stared up at the pilot, her eyes narrow. "When I said get over here, I didn't say bring the helicopter!"
"You need it," Timmy responded. "Now is as good of a time as ever. You and the Pixies have to get her to safety."
"Winx," Bloom said, facing the other women, "I think it's safe to say that our time undercover has come to a close. Is that right?" The others nodded.
"We're gonna have a new flight-plan, so to speak," Tecna agreed, grabbing the female warrior's blue disc and zooming on up. Timmy zoomed out on the blue disc, holding something that looked suspiciously like a gun in his hands.
"We'll catch up with you later," he said, giving his disc to Hui. "We'll divert the Wizards long enough for you to get out of here!"
Roxy didn't understand what was happening until Hui grabbed her hand. She let out a yelp as the Asian woman dragged her onto the disc, flying towards the helicopter. "I'm not going anywhere with you!" she cried.
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice!" Aisha was holding onto Artu, who growled ferociously in her arms. She winced as the dog bit at her, nearly taking flesh out of her cheek. "Come on, we have to get you to safety."
"This is the Gardenia Police!" a police-officer shouted from the street. His eyes wide with fury, he glared at the warriors and the creepy men. "Surren" – He broke off as Ogron blasted him with a white wave, shooting him to the ground.
"Come on, we've got to get out of here, quick!" Bloom called, hopping onto the blond-haired man's blue disc. Iris and Chiara shared the disc from the brown-haired man, zooming up towards them. The people let out shouts of amazement as they saw them fly into the air.
"This can't be happening!"
"How is this possible?"
Hui shoved Roxy into the helicopter, and she slammed into a seat. The Asian woman buckled her seatbelt, sitting right next to Roxy.
"Get ready," she said grimly. "It's going to be a rough ride."
Roxy stared as Gardenia disappeared under her sight, the helicopter zooming into the sky. The faces of the stunned people, warriors, and men disappeared under her sight. She let out an involuntary sob, burying her face in her hands.
"I can't believe you, Hui," she whispered. "I trusted you. I trusted you to help me!"
The Asian woman sighed. "Let's get moving, and then we'll talk." Tecna floored the engine, and then they were off.
The helicopter was now sailing over Italy, far away from Naples. A few Italian planes had followed them, but were unable to match their speed. They were travelling to the north, without a clear idea of where they were going.
They had just finished telling Roxy their real names and their birth-planets. The pink-haired girl wasn't taking it well – if anything, she looked even worse. She glared at them, looking undeniably furious.
"You'll never get away with this," she snarled. "The police will be on your tails in two seconds flat. You'll be arrested and sent to court, like the sickos you are!"
"Ungrateful, no?" Chatta asked, her nose in the air. "In case you haven't noticed, we just saved your life!"
Musa felt her throat clench at the word "sickos". Somehow, she felt horrible that Roxy would ever see her that way – for reasons she couldn't understand.
"A doll just scolded me," Roxy repeated. "I'm going crazy."
"We're not dolls!" Digit shouted. "We're pixies, okay? And we've got some awesome powers!" She lifted her gadget. "I'm the Pixie of Nanotechnology, and I specialize in binary-code and computer wavelengths" –
"Digit, not now," Tecna sighed, seeing that Roxy looked even more confused – and petrified. "You don't need to" –
"Well, I think you're being very rude!" Tune said indignantly to Roxy. "As the Pixie of Etiquette, I'm gonna teach you some manners! That's very" –
"Pixies!" Stella shouted. "For the love of Solare, would you all just shut up? You're giving me a headache!"
The pixies shut their mouths, looking rather affronted. Roxy was still staring at the Winx, startled.
"I know this isn't easy to accept, Roxy," Bloom said gently, "but you have to come with us. You're a fairy – don't you know it? You have magical powers. As the Last Fairy on Earth, you have a mission to uphold – you have to save all of your kind from imprisonment. This is the only way."
"What if I don't want a mission?" Roxy yelled. "What if I don't care? I just want to be a normal kid, okay? I'm sick of everyone putting me up to stuff I don't want!"
"You don't exactly have a choice," Layla answered. "In case you didn't notice, there're a bunch of Wizards out there who want to kill you! You have to do this, Roxy. You have no choice but to go with us!"
"So I'm the Last Fairy on Earth?" Roxy threw her hands up in the air. "I'm not even human? Do you have any idea how ridiculous this sounds? All of my kind disappeared centuries ago?" Her voice became bitter. "I'm officially the biggest weirdo in the world – apart from you guys, of course."
Musa took her hand and stared down into Roxy's eyes.
"There's nothing wrong with you," she said roughly. "Listen to me, Roxy. You cannot let Ana get into your head. You're so much better than her, so much stronger than her. And you have a mission ahead of you."
"How?" Roxy asked, and her voice changed. She now sounded petrified. "How do you expect me to do all that?"
"By building up your powers," Layla answered. "We will teach you how to harness your magic, to strengthen it. We are fairies ourselves."
Roxy stared at Layla. "Wait – but I thought you said fairies disappeared" –
"We're not from Earth at all," Tecna said. "We're from various other planets in the dimension, and we have different powers."
"O-kay," Roxy said, her eyes flashing. "Alright, so let's say you're aliens from the next galaxy. Then if you're fairies and all that mumbo-jumbo, where are your wings?"
"We – we can't use our powers now," Bloom said awkwardly. "We got into a fight with these Wizards, and they somehow blocked our magical-flow. We're going to find a way, though."
Roxy laughed, her malicious tone nearly knocking the breath out of Musa. "You expect me to believe that? You sound like pathetic posers. Anyways, if you're so strong, why don't you take down these Wizards yourselves?"
Musa saw that they were fighting a losing battle. Roxy clearly had no desire to face her destiny, nor did she want to do anything to save herself. She glanced around at the Winx, and saw that they'd all given up.
But I won't. She walked forward, placing her hand on Roxy's head. Roxy jumped, but Musa stared down at her.
"I know this is hard for you to accept," she said. "But you've known all your life you were different, haven't you? This is nothing new. Now is the time for you to accept. We're not here to hurt you – we're on your side. I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure those Wizards don't so much as slap your head." She saw the other Winx cast her a glance. She spotted the Book of Fay on the table, and held it out to Roxy.
"This belongs to you now," she said. "It will help you through this difficult journey, as well as us. But only if you accept."
Roxy stared at her. Musa thought she could see Roxy's emotions – fear, confusion, worry, anger – but also determination. She took the book from Musa's hands.
"Fine," she said, her voice irritable as ever. "I accept." She lifted the cover open, and a dazzling white light shot from inside.
Next chapter:
– Bloom looks for the Sword of Light in the city of Findias.
– The Winx head to Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Ireland.
