Chapter 35: I'm fine

He could only watch and do nothing as his elf friend was sprayed in the face by a rare poisonous plant. The latter he had created and placed there himself, against his will, waiting for his colleague to pass by during his weekly hike in the forest. His mind was screaming to his own frozen body, ordering it to try and catch his coworker before he hit the ground unconscious. But it had been a while since his muscles did what he told them to do. Sometimes with a bit of luck and perseverance he could escape the control for a few minutes. When the controller himself was too focused on his plan or the Trix's report, his body would be able to feel freedom for a few minutes, as long as he didn't distance himself too much from his controller so that the Dark Lord wouldn't notice. An hour ago, he had used the opportunity where the Dark lord was too focused on the Winx's whereabouts, to teleport discreetly without moving an inch of his body, and place a few remedy herbs in Palladiums backpack with a note explaining how to prepare them and enchant them. Because yes, he saw Palladium as a good friend that didn't deserve any of this.

"Palladium!"

Dimitri instantly recognized Wizgiz's abnormally high-pitched voice. The little man came running in the clearing and kneeling next to his poisoned friend while never noticing the lone figure hiding behind a few trees just a few meters away. Darkell could easily see the panic on the leprechaun's face especially when he got a glimpse of the flower responsible for all of this. Dimitri felt even worse when Wizgiz called the messenger Fairy. The little blond pixie flew around the two teachers.

"I can go get the universal antidote of Pixie Village. It's the only way we can save him!"

She left in a hurry, ignoring Wizgiz's protests and warnings. Everything was going according to Darkar's plan. Including Dimitri's body, because five seconds later he was flying on the tail of that reckless pixie leading him to the fourth codex's location. While he levitated in the air, all his thoughts were about Palladium's recovery. He was just hoping that Flora would find his note in time to save his friend.

A few dimensions away from Magix, the Winx were all having a good time sunbathing on a beautiful white beach. Spread in front of them was the bright blue sea. They could hear the boys racing on their bikes in the distance. Stella was showing off her new red swimsuit to Bloom and Tecna. While Musa and Layla were talking about a new rising pop star in Magix they both liked. However, their conversation slowly died down when both noticed that their flower fairy friend was alone on the side not participating in any of the talks around her. She just sat there on her towel, arms around her folded legs, chin on her knees staring into nothingness with a sad look upon her face. All the girls had noticed their flower friend's unusual mood lately, going from a very quiet sad state to an obvious forced smile. Thus, none of these resembled even remotely the beautiful and kind fairy they all loved.

The two girls looked at each and nodded in agreement, they had to do something to help their friend. They stood up and went to sit in the sand right next to their quiet friend. The latter didn't even react. The first one to speak up was Musa, while Layla gently placed her hand on Flora's shoulder.

"Flora, you have not been acting like yourself lately, is something wrong?" The girl just shook her head, all while avoiding eye contact by staring at the ground.

"Come on, Flora, you can't just keep it to yourself, it's not healthy. We're your friends, you can trust us."

Layla tried to make her open up.

"You're always the one listening to our problems now it's our turn." Musa added.

But all their words seemed to be useless. Flora stood up and put on her forced smile that they all hated.

"I don't know what you are talking about girls, I'm fine now let's go, we need to start preparing lunch."

She walked away ignoring her friends' sad expressions behind her back.

Darkell was zigzagging between the thick forest's trees on the pixie's tail. Well his body was, all the rest of him was trying everything to make it stop. He flew between two branches, he tried to grab on to one of the branches, but his arm wouldn't move the way he wanted to. He just kept on flying, the pixie still in his sight. He knew that they were getting closer to their destination, the closer they got the closer Darkar was to becoming the most powerful being in Magix. And that meant nothing good.

Suddenly something shifted among the dark powers controlling him, it was weakening slightly around him. That could only mean that Darkar was distracted by something else, probably another one of the witches' reports. This was his only chance, however he had only access to a tiny amount of his powers during the next ten seconds. So he did the only thing he could. He sent a sleeping hex at the pixie, hitting her right in the back of the head and knocking her out to the ground. Flora would probably hate him for being so brutal to the little thing but it couldn't be helped. They had to slow down Darkar's plan before it was too late. How ironic, he was the one trying to save Magix instead of destroying it.

But of course, things got complicated and didn't follow his original plan. Because Darkar's powers came back even stronger wrapping around his body. They stopped him, leaving him hanging in the air. He didn't even have time to assess his situation and attempt to free himself before the eldest Trix appeared in front of him, sending one of her famous ice spells in his direction. And everything went black. Icy just took a few minutes to enjoy the sight of the obnoxious mage incased in her ice before she turned around and went to wake up the stupid pixie.