- Edited -

Icy slammed her fist down onto the table with a growl. "How hard is it to find one, measly fairy?"

"Chill out, sis," Darcy leaned back on the bed with a sigh. "We'll find her. She can't have gone very far."

"Trust you to say something like that, Darcy," Icy spat. "You actually liked her."

Darcy shrugged. "So what? She was cute."

Stormy walked in and leaned against the doorframe. "I wouldn't say 'cute' exactly." She snorted.

"Fine then," Darcy snapped. "She was adorable."

Stormy rolled her eyes and groaned. "You sound like a child mooning over her cat."

"Enough," Icy growled, whirling to face the two. "I don't care what you have to do. Find the little wretch."

Darcy stood. "Maybe I can draw her out."

"Like how you let her go?" Stormy demanded. "I think I'd rather let her roam free."

The purple witch ignored her and stepped toward Icy. "I can give her some nightmares about her first year with us." She offered. "I'll appear in those dreams and tell her that the only way to ease the pain is to surrender."

Icy pondered over the idea for a moment before nodding. "Do it." She smirked. "And we'll soon welcome the little fairy back where she belongs."

Rhythma opened her eyes to a stony room and groaned. It was seven days after the Trix had taken her from Alfea, and each beating they had given her was solely for their entertainment - or that's what they wanted her to believe.

They had told her where she was, too. It wasn't Cloudtower. After Icy had nearly strangled her that day, the ice witch had explained that she was too wild to be in Cloudtower. Instead, she was locked up in a dimension called the Dungeon Dimension.

An inescapable place.

Over the last week, Rhythma had barely moved from her spot on the cold stone floor. The witches would come every day and beat her, but after that, she was always alone.

Footsteps.

Rhythma gave a small whimper and rolled over to face her tormentors - surprised to see only Darcy and Stormy standing beside the portal that led to Cloudtower. Where was Icy?

"Get up, little fairy," Darcy said in a sickly sweet tone. "You've been very good over the past few days, so you get to move out of this place and into our dormroom." Her face twisted into a sneer. "Unless you want to stay here?"

Rhythma shook her head and stood up slowly, staggering when one of her legs failed and sent her crashing to the ground again.

Darcy scoffed. "Poor little thing is so weak she can barely stand." She smiled. "Stormy, should we help her?"

"Nah." The magenta witch shook her head, watching through her aqua eyes as Rhythma struggled to a standing position. "See? She can do it."

Darcy grabbed one of Rhythma's arms while Stormy grabbed the other. Together, the witches led her through the portal and into their dormroom.

"Welcome home, little fairy." Stormy sneered, promptly releasing Rhythma's arm and causing the girl to trip.

Rhythma hit the ground with a squeak and lay there, not really wanting to move. That is, until Icy walked in. She smirked down at Rhythma and crouched in front of the fallen girl, touching the top of her head and forcing another whimper from the young fairy. "Hello there, tiny wretch." She said sweetly. "Welcome to Cloudtower."

Those words were the ones that shattered any hope of Rhythma ever getting back to Alfea.

"Stand up." Icy commanded, stepping away from Rhythma and crossing her arms.

Despite the pain she was in, Rhythma did as Icy told her, getting unsteadily to her feet.

Icy smirked. "Good. Now go sit down on the couch over there." She put her hand on the side of Rhythma's face, an evil look in her eyes.

Again, Rhythma obeyed, trudging slowly toward the couch and sitting down. At once, Darcy and Stormy were on either side of her, arms draped around her shoulders to keep her where she was.

Icy cackled cruelly and walked over, the evil grin still on her face. Rhythma cowered back, but seeing as she couldn't go anywhere, she had no choice but to allow the ice witch to stroke her hair.

Looking into Icy's eyes, Rhythma saw that there was no escape. There never would be. She was trapped forever with the three witches inside Cloudtower.

And just like that, the image faded until Rhythma was surrounded by a bunch of colors. Dark colors. She whimpered and stepped back, feeling the ground shake beneath her. A second later, a familiar purple witch stood in front of her, smirking.

Darcy.

And somehow, Rhythma knew that it wasn't dream Darcy.

She took another step back, gasping when Darcy landed a few paces in front of her. "Relax, little fairy." She said, a grin on her face. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here to give you a warning."

Darcy fixed her golden gaze on Rhythma's and chuckled when the fairy whimpered again. The witch took a step forward, bringing her to a halt a few inches from Rhythma. With a smile she took the fairy's head in her hand, cradling her cheek.

"I'm here to tell you that these nightmares are going to keep happening." The witch told her, smirking. "Unless you surrender."

Rhythma stepped away from the witch, but Darcy just laughed and took three steps toward her, trapping the girl against an invisible wall.

She cackled. "You have exactly three days to meet us at the Great Oak and accept your fate. If you don't, we'll destroy all of Magix until we find you." Darcy then proceeded to grab Rhythma's chin and tilt her head up. "And don't forget about little Pipsqueak." The tiny blue duckling appeared in Darcy's hand, crying.

Rhythma gasped. Pip! She narrowed her eyes.

Nobody hurts her baby.

With a screech unlike anything Rhythma had ever mustered, she lunged forward and punched Darcy right in the face, causing her to release Pip and stagger back.

Rhythma was about to turn around and run, but she was suddenly blinded by a ray of light. That was the moment Darcy evaporated and Rhythma closed her eyes, allowing the whiteness around her take over her mind.

Rhythma jolted awake with a growl, her claws out. It took her a moment to realize that she was no longer in her dream world, and she promptly relaxed, only to stiffen when she felt something move at her side.

She turned her cat eyes upon the tiny blue shape snuggled into her fur, breathing softly. A moment later, the cat's heart melted.

It was Pip. And he was okay!

Rhythma purred and licked the blue duckling's head, causing him to wake up.

He stared at her for a moment, and Rhythma flinched, half expecting the baby duck to freak out at the sight of a cat. But he only broke into a grin and wrapped his tiny wings around her neck. "Mommy!" He cried. Rhythma purred.

Suddenly, the door to their room opened and Michael walked in with Sky, Brandon and Timmy all following. He gave Rhythma a small smile and picked her up, surprise lighting his eyes when Pip gave a quack of rage and struggled to cling to her tail.

"Oh my." Michael chuckled. "It seems you have a friend."

Sky came forward and took Pip away from Rhythma's tail. "It's alright, little one," he said softly. "Let me hold you for now."

Michael gave him a grateful nod before looking at Rhythma. "Miss Faroganda is here." He told her softly. "She is waiting for you."

Rhythma broke into a purr. She was going to get her powers back!

Michael walked out of the room once Sky had given Pip back to the cat. The three of them made their way to Saladin's office, where they were greeted by four young girls.

"Rhythma!" A girl with yellow hair screamed, lunging for the black cat in Michael's arms. Instead of actually grabbing her, however, the girl tripped and fell flat on the floor.

Rhythma blinked down at the girl with amusement. It wasn't until the girl stood up and gazed at her with green eyes did the young fairy-cat recognize her. Humora. Her heart skipped a beat, and she let out a meow of happiness as she jumped from Michael's arms into hers.

The other three girls joined the embrace, tears falling down their cheeks. Rhythma was able to recognize Statica, Flava and Lula immediately.

After a moment of the embrace, someone cleared their throat. Still in Humora's arms, Rhythma twisted her head to see a familiar white-haired woman standing beside Saladin. She smiled warmly at the black cat. "Hello Rhythma. I believe it has been a long time."

Then, without warning, the Headmistress of Alfea sent a burst of magic at Rhythma, forcing Humora and the others to drop her. The black kitten landed on the ground, feeling her entire body swell up.

She opened her eyes, shocked to see that she could somewhat look into the woman's eyes.

And then she spoke. The first words she had said in two - almost three - years.

"Thank you."

Rhythma put a hand over her mouth, tears of joy in her eyes. She was free! I can talk! I can transform!

She was no longer a victim of the Trix.

Faroganda smiled and lowered her head. "It's quite alright, dear. But I have a few things to tell you."

Rhythma felt Flava and Statica tighten their grips on her arms. "What's that?" She asked, her voice hoarse after years of dormancy.

"For one," the Headmistress began. "You are not completely cleansed. I fear that there is just too much darkness inside of you."

The fairy bowed her head slightly. "I understand."

"And second," Faroganda continued. "I do not have enough power to completely remove the spell of a cat. From now on, you will be able to change from fairy to cat at will."

Rhythma looked down at her hands. That was kind of cool. "Alright." She said. "I can live with that."

Suddenly, Pip lunged off of Michael's shoulder. "Mommy!" He wailed, joyful at the sight of Rhythma back in her normal form. She laughed and held him close to her face, snuggling close to the little duckling.

Humora giggled happily and wrapped her arms around Rhythma. "I can't believe you're alive!" She cried. "I thought you were dead."

"I wish I was." Rhythma told her old friend softly. "The witches did unspeakable things to me."

Lula walked over and put her hand on Rhythma's shoulder. "We can talk about it later. For now, let's get back to Alfea."

Rhythma nodded and turned to face Michael, who had been standing in the doorway behind her. She smiled, and he returned it. He walked forward and took her hands in his own, his eyes bright.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it.

"Rhythma," his voice was soft. "I just want you to know that these last few days with you have been the best of my life."

Rhythma looked down, blushing. "I feel the same way." She whispered.

Michael pulled her into his chest. "Now that I'm a part of Sky's group, I believe we will see each other more often."

Darcy's POV

She was seething with anger. How dare the little wretch punch her? The fairy hadn't done that since the first day.

Darcy paced the room, while an amused Icy looked on with her ice-cold eyes. "Chill out, sis."

"I think somebody is going to need a rereview on the rules once she comes back." Darcy spat. "I'll make sure she suffers from it."

Icy smirked. "I can't wait to rip off her wings." She said. "Listening to her screams as the stove burns into her face and my hands tear off those sparkling things slowly, with her struggling and begging me to stop."

"I can't wait to watch that." Stormy walked into the room, a smirk on her face. She glanced at Darcy, who scowled and paced some more. The magenta witch laughed. "Is someone still mad about being punched by a little fairy?" More anger, and Stormy decided to hit the nerve. "In a dream?"

"Shut up, Stormy." Darcy ground out, her eyes flashing.

Icy - still leaning against the doorframe - rolled her eyes. "You have to admit, it does sound kind of stupid."

Darcy turned away from them, her golden eyes fixed on a spot outside. "When you come back, little fairy, I swear you won't want to breathe without my permission. I will beat you that bad."