Hello, people. Thank you for your amazing reviews, as usual :) Sorry about my lateness, last week was crazy since I came back to Paris and I wanted to see everything while also having some time to write. I'm thinking that updates will return to being two times per week.
Okay, so there are two very important things that need to be mentioned: first, many people noticed that there wasn't much detail on Will's death and I can tell you that there is a reason for that. We'll be having more flashbacks in the following chapters and one of them will explain that. Second, winxkate said :How is it possible that Flora had a wedding ring on Alfea? He was from James? The answer is: Yes. The ring belonged to James. Flora kept it with her as a reminder of why she ran away in the first place and once she got engaged to Helia, she was going to throw it away. (see chapter 6 if you don't remember what this is all about)
Another thing maybe wasn't so clear: The Winx and Specialists aren't exactly returning to the past, because the place Flora used to live in was another reality, another Earth. However, it is almost the same as Earth on the book, cause whoever wrote it lived on this place and sort of copied it into the book. I hope that's clear.
Okay, now on with the shoutouts:
zezily: Yes, it was exactly like him. He's a complex character, they all are, and he has views of the world that differ from Flora's and sometimes Catherine's mostly because he was raised in the royal life. I guess you'll have to wait and see.
LostMirage: I'm glad you liked it. :) I didn't think it was as good as I wanted it. Maybe it's because I had to diminish a few scenes and cut down others. Yep, I am the queen of unexpected. Just wait cause there are more plot twists to come. Yeah, don't get your hopes up though cause those two are gonna have trouble. Specially because of the reason Catherine brought them back to the "real world".
winxkate: I already answered most of your questions, so... Thanks for reviewing! Ah, you got that right. Now it's gonna be interesting, cause they're in a world where they can't use magic, so they'll have to find other ways to fight and survive. Kinda like back in the last episodes of Season 2.
Belle: First of all, I'd like to thank you, it's always nice to find new readers. Now, I think you might have misunderstood some things: the person who killed Claude didn't have blue hair, I didn't give you his appearance. The person with blue hair is the one in Nostradamus vision in chapter 15. I said FXH fans should get ready because of James and Flora's romance. I'm glad to see you like Fantastic Beasts, I'm still working on that fic.
Also, points to you for noticing the part when Catherine gets mad at the picture of Flora and Helia. The reason for that was because she thinks that he's the one who'll kill Flora. Once again, thanks. :) I do hope that you'll enjoy the rest of the story. There's a lot more to go.
Windrea: I can see you're freaking out and that's exactly the kind of reaction I was expecting to the last chapter. Is there anything that wasn't clear to you?
"Ouch!" Screams and moans were heard as the Winx and Specialists were thrown across a large field. Unable to control their fall, they all fell on their back. Catherine gracefully landed on her feet as she stared at them with a satisfied expression.
"Is everyone alright?" Bloom asked as she sat up by Sky's side. She looked around at her fallen friends in concern.
"We're still alive at least." Stella said as she frowned while touching the back of her head, which she had hit hard on a rock. She could feel some blood falling out. "Damn! This hurts." She complained and Brandon gave her a worried look.
"What hurts? Are you injured?" He asked her worriedly.
"Is anyone else worried about where the hell we are?" An angry Aisha screamed as she was standing up with Lana in her arms and Nabu by her side. The two of them plus Flora and Helia were standing up and looking around with panicked expressions. Another groan prevented anyone from responding as Musa finally woke up. She blinked a few times before staring at Riven.
"Hey, Riven." She said and he let out a sigh.
"I'm so glad you're okay. I was worried there for a second." He helped her sit up and Musa's expression turned to worry.
"What the hell?" She asked everyone.
"This is impossible!" Came a response from Tecna as she stared at her phone in horror.
"Tecna, what's wrong?" Bloom asked her worriedly and the technology fairy frowned.
"I can't get any signal here, my phone isn't working." She complained and the others were surprised.
"Yeah, mine neither. What kind of place is this?" Timmy added with a frown.
"Hello, not to break this conversation of yours, but I'm bleeding here." Stella shouted, turning their attention back to her.
"Of course, I'm coming, Stell." Bloom said as she approached the sun fairy quickly. She was about to use her magic to heal her injury when Catherine spoke for the first time since they got there.
"Don't even bother." She said, a bored expression on her face.
"What?" Bloom asked back and it was Flora who answered.
"There's no use in healing Stella. Magic doesn't exist here." Everyone looked back at the nature fairy. Her expression was pure horror and her face was paler than when she had been poisoned. She was clearly not alright, but they were more worried about the fact that she had clearly been lying to them.
"What are you saying?" Stella asked and Musa and Aisha shared a look.
"She's saying that we can't use our powers here. But why?" Aisha asked and Catherine answered this time.
" Because I made sure of it. I couldn't have you flying away, I need you here." Her tone was cold, but not evil. She was unlike any villains the Winx had known, she had actually managed to get them to a palce where they couldn't use their powers. She was smarter than even Valtor.
"Why are you doing this?" Flora asked, her tone desperate and sad. Catherine gave her a sad smile, but she said nothing.
"Great! So if we can't use magic, how are we going to get out of here?" Stella complained, her head was starting to hurt by now and she felt lightheaded. Brandon held her tightly, almost as if he knew that.
"Just because they're saying we can't use magic, doesn't mean it's true. She's clearly crazy and Flora's lied to us about so many things, so why not this." Aisha said as she stared angrily at her best friend. Or was she even? What else had she been lying about? Flora lowered her head and avoided eye contact.
"Aisha's right. We should try it." Daphne said and she attempted to transform. The Winx hoped that it would work, but nothing happened. "Nope, they're telling the truth." She sighed and the Winx were starting to get desperate.
"So what now?" Thoren asked and no one had the answer.
"Now you're going to stay quiet, because you're starting to get on my nerves. Teenagers." Catherine eyed them sternly. Musa was about to argue with her, her anger building as she realized that she was the one responsible for their current situation, but she didn't get the chance to say anything.
"Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, I might know where we are." Bloom said as she walked around the field they were in. As they did the same, they realized that they weren't actually in a field, but a park. In front of them was a huge building that Bloom recognized.
"You do?" Musa asked, confused.
"Yes. See that building over there?" The redhead pointed at the building in front of them. "I think that's Notre Dame church. I've been here before." Her statement was met with hopeful expressions and Flora's eyes widened.
"But of course, you would know Paris." She said and the others gave her confused looks.
"Paris? What's that?" Sky asked and Tecna's face lightened up.
"I know that. Paris is on Earth, right?" The technology fairy asked. Having great memory, she remembered clearly when Bloom had taught them a bit about other places on Earth when they had first come there.
"Yes, it is. But why are we here?" Bloom said and Aisha added frustratedly.
"And why isn't there magic here? We brought magic back to Earth, didn't we?" She asked unsurely and the Winx had thoughtful expressions on their faces.
"We did, but this isn't the Earth we know. It's the 16th century." Flora told them and Catherine cast her a look.
"Flora, dear, you need to be more careful with what you say. You're giving way too much information." Flora gave her another desperate look, not recognizing the woman in front of her. What had caused her mother to work with Selina, with the Trix and try to murder her friends? Why was she doing this?
"They're my friends, they deserve to know where we are." Flora said simply, attempting to contain her anger. Catherine laughed bitterly.
"Honey, they're not your friends. You've been eluding yourself for a while now, but it's time for you to come back to reality." At those words, no one could hold Musa any longer.
"What the hell are you talking about? Who the hell are you even?" The fairy of music screamed at her and Tecna and Aisha facepalmed while Flora and Bloom looked terrified. Catherine remained calm as she answered.
"I am Flora's mother and therefore I get to decide what's best for her. And right now I'm thinking that you're not that." Catherine responded coldly and the Winx widened their eyes.
"She's even crazier than we thought." Aisha said and Musa added.
"And what's with this Flora's mother idea? We know her mother, her name's Alyssa and she's really nice." Anger crossed Catherine's face, but she didn't act on it.
"You silly children. You have no idea who you really are, do you?" She questioned them and they gave her confused looks.
"Mother, stop this, please. What you're doing isn't right." Flora pleaded and Catherine didn't even move.
"I'm doing what's best for you, what's best for our family." Flora shook her head vigorously as a few tears began cascading down her face.
"No. You're only thinking of yourself. I was happy there and you brought me back here. And for what?To teach me a lesson?" Her anger was building and she knew that soon she would explode and she didn't want her friends to be there when that happened. They had never seen her blow up, she usually was the calm one.
"I brought you here to perform your duty, Flora." Catherine said firmly while she approached her daughter. "Or did you forget that the fate of two nations is relying on you?" Flora ignored her words as she turned to her friends.
"I'm sorry. I truly am." She begged for their forgiveness and they wanted to grant it, but first hey needed to get all the details, understand what happened.
"Flora, please explain what's going on because this is too confusing and with each minute that goes by I'm finding it harder to trust you." Bloom spoke up and Flora was about to reply when she was interrupted by the sight of two huge carriages with brown horses approaching them. The Winx and Specialists stared at them curiously, not used to seeing horses since these animals lived on Earth only. A smile came to Catherine's face.
"Finally!" She said as the carriages stopped by them. A man stepped out from the first one and Bloom almost screamed as she recognized him. She recalled seeing pictures of him in her art lessons and seeing his famous paintings on the Louvre when she had come to Paris with her parents. It was Leonardo da Vinci. He looked around for a few seconds as he confusedly stared at the strangers until his eyes met Flora's and a relieved smile came to his face.
"Flora! There you are, flower." He said and Flora stared at him with widened eyes before she approached him and they hugged. The Winx shared a look as they wondered what else Flora could have possibly hidden from them.
"I told you that I'd find her, Leo." Catherine told the man with a bright smile and the man smiled at her.
"And I never doubted you." He replied and Flora pulled apart from him. She barely opened her mouth when Catherine spoke up.
"Now, thanks for bringing the carriages, I can handle it from now on." She told him a bit firmly and the man nodded before he bowed them. He walked towards his carriage, entered it and within seconds the horses were taking it far away from where they were. The Winx wondered whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.
"Okay, then. Now that our ride is here, it's time for us to go, Flora." Catherine told her daughter as she extended her hand. Flora stared at her with raised eyebrows, wondering why her mother would assume that she would just go with her willingly.
"No way! I'm not going anywhere with you." Flora replied while crossing her arms and Catherine sighed.
"Oh, dear, why do you have to force me to be like this?" The older woman asked her a melancholic smile came to her face, surprising everyone even more. What didn't surprise them much was when Catherine pulled out a dagger from her pocket. Helia immediately started walking towards Flora, his first instinct being to protect her. The nature fairy would have thought that this action was really sweet if she hadn't been staring at the knife as she wondered if her mother would be capable of hurting her. The response came a second later when Catherine quickly walked towards the closest person and grabbed her. The knife was placed on her neck and everyone stared at them with widened eyes.
"Tecna!" An exasperated Timmy screamed as he watched the one he loved be threatened. The Winx and Specialists stared at them, some of the boys even reached for their weapons, but they weren't there. So all they could do was stare helplessly and powerlessly as Catherine threatened to kill Tecna.
"Timmy, I'm alright." Tecna told her fiancée and she gave him a reassuring look, though fear was clear on her face. Flashbacks from the Omega incident crossed both of their minds and Timmy knew that he wasn't going to let anyone harm her. He started diving for Catherine when he was held back by Sky, who gave him a warning look. This wasn't the time to be impulsive.
"Mother, what the hell are you doing?" Flora asked her with widened eyes and Catherine cast her another sad smile.
"I assumed that you were going to need convincing, so I brought this just in case." She replied while mentioning to the knife that was pressuring Tecna's throat. Flora shook her head vigorously as more tears fell.
"Let her go! Please, she's got nothing to do with this." She pleaded and Catherine's expression didn't change and she made no movements to let go of Tecna. "I'll do anything you want if you just let her go ." At those words, Catherine's smile grew.
"You can start by entering the carriage." Flora looked between her worried friends and her mother before sighing. She would have never think that her mother would be capable of harming someone she loved, but as she noticed today, Catherine wasn't the same person Flora used to know and the nature fairy could see by the mad glow in her eyes that Catherine would kill Tecna if she didn't comply.
"Okay." There were protests from her friends, but she ignored them and entered the carriage with one last heartbroken look at Helia. Once she disappeared inside it, everyone turned to Catherine and she gave them a cold look.
"Well, I hope that you'll enjoy your stay here." She told them with a smirk before her attention turned to the technology fairy who was attempting to get out of her grasp. "You know, the more you fight against me, the sooner this knife will do the job. So I suggest that you be a good girl and just follow me." She told Tecna firmly and Timmy stared at her with rage.
"Don't you dare talk to her like that! You're a monster." The specialist screamed as he couldn't stop himself from crying at the prospect of losing Tecna.
"Maybe I am a monster." Catherine surprised once again as her grip on the knife loosened a bit and her expression turned back to melancholy. "But there's nothing else that you can do about it." With those words, she carried Tecna to the carriage, entered it and forcefully closed the door. The fairies and specialists watched in despair as the carriage rode away and they were left alone in a world without magic.
In the carriage...
Flora avoided looking at either of the occupants of the carriage as she hoped that this was just a nightmare. Catherine wasn't looking at her either, her attention was focused on tying Tecna up while she kept the knife pressed to her throat. It was no easy task, but she was able to achieve it rather quickly.
"Don't have that look on your face, I'm doing what's best for you." Catherine told her daughter in a scolding tone. Flora raised her eyebrows as she turned back to face her mother.
"Really? So you think that taking me back here and threatening my best friend is the best for me?" She questioned her (apparently) crazy mother.
"If you were to cooperate, I wouldn't have to threaten anyone. Besides, your father is the one who forced you into this, so he should be the one to blame." Flora couldn't really argue with that one, it had been in fact Henry's betrayal that had caused her to run away. But he hadn't been the one to bring her back.
"He didn't go after me and dragged me back here." Flora told her mother coldly. In the meantime, Tecna sat there with her hands tied behind her back, a cloth covering her mouth and a knife pressed to her neck. She was afraid, terrified even that this would be the last the day of her life, that she would never be able to marry Timmy or see him again. But she was a Winx, so she stayed strong and listened carefully to the argument as she tried to understand what was happening.
"He sent others to do it, there are guards searching for you everywhere. Soon we'll be arriving in the palace and I'll pretend that you went to the library." Flora eyed her, surprise clear on her face.
"How long have I been gone here?" She questioned as she wondered why there were people searching for her after 5 years.
"About an hour." Catherine said simply while her attention went to something behind her. Flora was trying to swallow this information when she saw her mother pull back two red capes.
"What are these for?" The nature fairy questioned and Catherine sent her a smile.
"These are to disguise you when we enter the palace. After all, no one will believe my story if they see you coming in." Flora wasn't surprised by her mother's cleverness, Catherine had always shown her that she was one of the few ladies who actually used their brains. One of the capes was thrown at her and Catherine spoke again. "Now put it on." Flora wanted to refuse, but once the knife was way too close to Tecna's throat, she sighed before putting the cape on. After that, it was Tecna's turn and she screamed and kicked, but Catherine was surprisingly strong and there was the knife. Soon they heard the sounds of trumpets and horses and Flora knew it: they had gotten to the palace. She wondered whether that was good or bad.
Back with the Winx and Specialists...
"Okay, now they're gone. What should we do?" Thoren asked as he looked at the rest of them.
"We need to get Stella a doctor, she's bleeding too much." A desperate Brandon screamed at them and they looked at him in worry. The fairy of the shining sun didn't look so good, she was on the verge of unconsciousness and blood kept falling down her back despite the fact that Brandon had put a scarf to attempt to stop the bleeding.
"What about Tecna?" Timmy brokenly asked and Bloom decided to take the lead upon seeing her friends so hopeless and lost.
"First thing we should do is take a moment to consider everything we learned and heard. Maybe then we can figure out where Tecna is." The fairy of the dragon flame told them determinately and firmly.
"Okay, so we're on Earth, but there's no magic here." Aisha went first as she tried to calm down the crying baby in her arms. Lana hadn't stopped since they had got there and the fairy of waves was getting tired. As usual, Nabu picked up on that.
"Aisha, let me hold her for now." He told her and she passed him the baby. He started rocking Lana and it didn't take her too long to calm down.
"And we're also in the 16th century, as Flora told us." Bloom added and Helia looked as angry and desperate as Timmy.
"She's in danger too, I can feel it. We have to find her." He told his friends, so cast him pitiful looks. After all, as hurt as they were by Flora's betrayal, it was much worse for him. But as they knew Helia, his first concern was making sure that she was okay, only later would he worry about the fact that she had lied.
"And we will. But I don't know how we'll do that, we have no idea where they went." Sky unsuccessfully attempted to reassure him.
"Sure we do, they've gone to the palace." Everyone stared at the fairy of music with wide eyes and she smiled sheepishly at them.
"How in the world do you know that?" Riven asked his girlfriend in shock.
"I overheard them saying it. My magic might be gone, but I can still hear from a distance." Musa told them with a smile that was returned.
"That's good, except for the fact that we have no idea on how to get to the palace." Aisha said and Musa's face fell.
"I do, I've been here before. I just need a moment to remember which palace they used back in the 16th century." Bloom told them with a confident smile and she closed her eyes as she tried to recall her trip to Paris many years previously. She remembered many beautiful palaces until her mind set on teh one she had liked the most, because it had a pyramid form. Louvre. "Got it. They're in the Louvre." Smiles came back at this realization.
"So the question now is, how do we get there?" Sky asked and Daphne gasped as she saw three carriages not so far from where they were.
"How about these?" She pointed at them and Thoren gave her a bright smile.
"Brilliant, Daphne." He took her hand and they walked towards the carriages with others following them. Upon getting there, they saw two man who were guarding the carriages and who told them that they'd have to pay to ride. Desperate and not in the mood, the specialists easily took care of the man and they took the carriages. Bloom worked her hardest to recall how they would get to Louvre and they were on their way. As the carriages rode, all Timmy and Helia could think was of their fiancées as they prayed that they would be alright.
So, what did you think? What's Catherine planning? Will Tecna survive? Will the Winx reach her and Flora before it's too late? And, most importantly, will they manage to get back to their world?
Next chapter will come by Tuesday or Wednesday, depends on your reviews and how much time I'll have to write it. We'll go back to the Winx's dimension to see how everyone will cope with their disappearance and there will be an explanation to the situation with Catherine and Selina. What are your theories on that?