Chapter Twelve: The Prince's Shadow

February 10, 2016

Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from the Winx Club properties by writing this story. This story is written for pleasure's sake. All rights reserved.

Notes: Happy Belated Birthday to Ella Anders!

This is the second half of chapter 11 "Hunted" that I decided to post as a stand alone chapter.

References:

1) There are vague references to episode 16 and 17 of season 3 (the episodes where Tecna is trapped in Omega).

2) The Owl is the name of the ship that Sky and the rest of his team fly.

3) Brandon was a squire in season one/two. After so many years of loyal service, I've decided to promote him to the rank of Knight of the Imperial Guard.

More notes follow at the end of the chapter. Please enjoy!


Sky was already en route to Eraklyon. The ship was in hyperspace and it would take several more hours before they arrived. According to the ship's internal clock, it was technically nighttime and the tiredness showed in his eyes. He could not sleep, not without seeing images of Diaspro disappearing inside the Sirenix Gate.

He was the prince so nothing was expected of him on the HMS Valiant. It was quite an adjustment from being a Red Fountain specialist where there was always something to do on the team's Owl. He had tried meditating, but he could not focus. He had tried reading ledgers and briefings to bore himself to sleep but found himself unable to look at the words long enough to understand their meaning.

Sky was one step away from the person he used to be and closer to the thing that people expected of him—closer to the throne. The idea terrified him.

Bloom was angry at him, his father was injured, there was a conspiracy going on in the Sovereigns Council and Diaspro was in the Infinite Ocean. At least, that was his hope.

Restless, Sky got up and changed. He needed to clear his mind and find some sleep, so he made his way to the ship's training deck and found himself a treadmill. He started at a brisk jog, putting one foot in front of the other, arms in motion, breathing meticulously timed. He did not count minutes, he just ran.

That was how Brandon and found him. The chestnut-haired knight rapped his knuckles on the treadmill's console to get the prince's attention.

"What's up?" Sky asked, lowering intensity treadmill. He tried to sound calm, maybe chipper, but it came out wrong.

"I think you need to take a break, Sky. Even the guards are starting to worry."

Without even asking, Brandon pressed the cool down button on the console. Sky hopped off the machine and used a towel to clean the sweat off his brow.

"Did something happen?" Sky said, taking Brandon's offered water bottle.

"Not per se." Brandon waited for the prince to finish hydrating before continuing. "It's just odd that you're not sleeping."

"You're not sleeping either."

"I have things to prepare for when we arrive in Eraklyon."

"While we're in hyperspace?"

"That's not the point, Sky." Brandon ran a nervous hand through his hair. He looked equally sleepless. "I don't know how to say this, but I'm worried about you."

"Why?"

"Why?" the knight repeated incredulously. "If I were you, I would be freaking the hell out right about now."

"But you're not me, Brandon. You don't need to be my big brother."

"I'm not trying to be!" Brandon caught how loud he had yelled and looked away, as if to apologize for his tone.

Sky sighed and threw the towel around his neck. He went to sit on a bench while Brandon leaned on the treadmill console. Sky felt another brotherly advice conversation coming on.

There were many times that Sky wished he had a different life, a life where he was not the Crown Prince of Eraklyon, a life where had not been called away from his studies at the monastery on the Ice Crown Mountains. This was neither the time nor the place to be thinking such things though.

"Are you okay breaking it off with Bloom?" Brandon asked.

"We're taking a break from each other."

"It was because of Diaspro, wasn't it?"

Sky did not need to answer that question. Brandon already knew the answer. The knight had been there standing politely to the side with Thoren, Nex and the dark-haired Dame Commander Ariana.

"When this is all over, you're going to go back to Bloom, aren't you? Your parents won't be happy about that."

Sky shrugged, shaking his head. Getting dating advice from Brandon was like asking a dragon for a good vegetarian restaurant. He was not sure what he was going to do after they got Diaspro back. More than ever, he knew his parents would pressure him to choose a wife, maybe even threaten him.

Diaspro had been correct about him shirking his duties as Crown Prince. He had been doing it for years under the guise of inexperience, of being a valiant prince that jumped at every chance to fight evil. He felt like a fraud, like a shadow of the prince everyone thought he was. He had told himself that everything that he had done had been for the interests of Eraklyon, for Magix, for the Company of Light, for the Forces of Good.

Everything except Bloom—that had been his own choice, both good and bad.

The one thing his parents could not do was take the throne away from him. He was their only surviving son and they would fight the gods themselves to keep the name Erendor on the throne of Eraklyon. A thousand-year dynasty would not go down quietly.

"What if we don't get Diaspro back?"

"We're going to get her back," Sky reassured calmly.

"Sky, we're not fairies. We don't have Sirenix or even wings. I don't think Bloom will want to help us after what just happened."

Sky shivered, recalling the words he had said to Bloom. He had said things that he wished he could take back. He had used her own words against her, given a taste of her own poison. Everything was so messed up. He was still reeling from the past few days, stressed, sleep-deprived and emotionally drained. The memory of Diaspro disappearing inside the Sirenix Gate, just beyond his reach, played over and over in his mind. He had seen in her horror-stricken eyes the acceptance of death.

He could not bear to think that Diaspro was gone, not like that. It was not like her to take things sitting down. "Diaspro is smart. She'll find a way to survive. She always does."

"I hope so, too…but I think…I think we need to prepare for the worst. What if Diaspro doesn't come back?"

"You want her to be dead?"

"I'd rather she be dead than suffer a slow death," Brandon said, like any good warrior would.

Sky probably would have said the same thing in another situation. Hours of psychological drilling at Red Fountain told him Brandon was right to think so.

"But I think that you should consider it a possibility," the knight continued. It was clear that he was slowly gathering his courage. "Look, I just don't want you to get your hopes up high. The Winx had to pass tests to prove that they were worthy of having Sirenix and getting into the Infinite Ocean. Stella came out of the first test crying. Diaspro is already there with Politea and those dragons of hers. For all we know, those dragons ate Diaspro."

Sky closed his eyes tightly and buried his face in his hands, trying to calm himself. He could hear his own heart racing and his breathing laboured. His eyes were bloodshot and his usually combed hair was dishevelled. He could not accept what Brandon was saying. He knew Brandon meant well, but his overprotectiveness was suffocating.

Sky turned away, unable to face the knight. He did not want to be seen tearing up. It would be unworthy of him to cry. Sky paced hopelessly around the room, trying to compose himself. The fitness room was too small, but the ship was in the vast darkness of space. He had nowhere to run to.

"I refuse to accept that Diaspro is dead," Sky spat out, trying to put on a strong front. "Not like this."

Brandon let his arms rest at his side, unsure about how to express himself. He was not sure if he was overstepping his boundaries as a bodyguard and a knight. "I'm scared for you."

"Brandon, stop it!" Sky snapped. "I'm not going to sit on the throne tomorrow morning and Diaspro isn't gone forever. She's just…trapped in the Infinite Ocean. We just have to find a way to get her back before the end of a lunar cycle."

Sky's voice faltered so much that it was noticeable to even himself. Brandon caught it too.

Brandon tried for the truth, although he knew he would regret it. "Sky…I don't want to be mean, but I have say it like I see it. You've spent the last four years trying to run away from the throne, and you're going to be the next King of Eraklyon soon, maybe not tomorrow but—"

"I'm not stupid!" Sky growled. "I can't bear to even think of it. The alternative is that my father is dying and Diaspro is dead! How am I supposed to deal with that? I was never meant to be the King of Eraklyon in the first place. It was supposed to be Eren on the throne, not me."

Brandon looked on, astonished. It had been years since Sky had spoken about his brother and Brandon could see that the hurt was still there in Sky's eyes. They had avoided the subject for years. In their first year at Red Fountain, they had been too busy to even talk about it. The years had slipped by them until the silence was more comfortable than the truth.

"You're not Eren, Brandon, and you can't replace him either, so stop trying to give me brotherly advice." Sky shook his head. He was rubbing his eyes furiously trying to banish tears.

"I'm not trying to replace your brother, Sky," Brandon explained as calmly as he could. The accusation hurt. He missed the other brother as much as Sky did. He could never hold a candle to Eren's memory. "I'm trying to be realistic."

"You're looking for the easy way out. If I didn't at least try to get Diaspro back, at least for Eren's sake and Diaspro's, I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

Brandon let out a shaky breath. It hurt to speak. He wanted to believe in Sky, but the odds were hopeless. "Sky, this is like Omega all over again. Diaspro isn't like Tecna and you're not Timmy. The Infinite Ocean is a completely different dimension from Omega. We can't hop on a battlecruiser and fly there. You have responsibilities here and there is a war about to break out on Andros, if not the galaxy—again! Diaspro would never want you to waste your time looking for her. Remember, duty above all."

Brandon raised his hand to somehow comfort Sky, maybe place a reassuring pat on his shoulder. The prince shrugged him off and pushed him away.

"My duty is also to Diaspro, who was Eren's wife, even if for a short time."

Brandon clenched his jaws and closed his eyes for a moment. He sensed the unsaid responsibility in that statement, Sky's responsibility as the brother to Diaspro's dead husband. He understood it himself. Brandon had responsibilities that he could not fulfill, not unless he left Stella, but that was neither here nor there. Sky was denying his true responsibilities in the here and now.

"Sky, you're being blinded by the past!" Brandon said, knowing his words hurt worst than the cut of sword. It was cold-hearted of him but Sky would not be able to move on if he did not say it aloud.

Brandon tried to get Sky to face him, see him eye to eye on the matter.

Instead, he got a fist to his face.

Brandon reeled back from the punch, holding on to the treadmill. White stars blurred his vision. He fell on his ass and felt a moment of nausea overcome him. Damn space sickness.

Brandon was back on his feet in a second and he saw Sky in a fighting stance, infuriated. His stance looked sloppy from stress and sleeplessness, but he was still deadly even in this state.

"If Eren was still here, he would be looking to the ends of the fucking universe and beyond for a way to get Diaspro back," Sky spat out. The prince still had the upper hand on the disorientated knight.

"Eren is dead, Sky," Brandon shouted, his words tasting bitter like blood. He brought up his arms to counter.

Brandon dodged the first swipe at his head but was struck square in the stomach by Sky's knee. Sky roared an inhuman sound, something akin to a wounded animal. The rage and sadness, the lies and secrets, channelled into his kicks and punches.

Brutal blow after brutal blow, they aimed to beat each other senseless. Primal rage and violence with no purpose, this had been a fight a long time coming. Both of them were tired and at their wits end. Brandon thought he knew and understood Sky's pain, but the ferocity that Sky attacked with told him otherwise. Brandon had never really knew what it was like to have a brother, to know someone so close as one could know himself. He had known only an absent sister too busy taking on their family's legacy to raise him.

Brandon could not pull out a weapon on the prince. He tried to pin the prince's hands. Sky being the faster of the two got Brandon into an underhook hold and kneed him in the stomach. The prince threw the knight unto the treadmill, giving Brandon enough reprieve to steady himself. Brandon lifted himself and kicked Sky in the shoulder.

The prince hissed in pain.

There was no playing in this fight. It was not like training a green cadet at Red Fountain. Usually, Sky was a more precise type of fighter who liked to end battles quickly with the least amount of pain. Sky was enraged, emotionally driven by his anguish.

Brandon grabbed the prince in a grapple and tried to take him down. The blood was rushing in his ears and his knuckles were red and bloodied. He could already feel his face swelling.

Suddenly, the two of them were separated by hands and arms. Brandon struggled against the arms that were holding him back, roaring in indignation.

Nex and Ariana tightened their hold on Brandon while Thoren pulled Sky away to the other side of the small room.

"Get ahold of yourself, Sir Brandon!" Ariana shouted, her distinctly feminine voice brought Brandon back to his senses.

Brandon's chest heaved with exertion. He fell to the floor and tried to let his blood cool. He had not realized it, but he was crying as well.

Sky's face was red and wet with tears and sweat, hidden behind his hands. He was shaking like a leaf, where every breath came out with a harsh whoosh of air, like it was painful to even be alive. Brandon watched Thoren escort the prince out of the room.

More members of the imperial guard came into the room, crowding Brandon.

It was several minutes before Brandon could trust himself to do anything. The first thing he was relinquish his weapons belt and the Emblem of Erendor. He knew what was coming next.

Dame Ariana, the most senior imperial guard on this ship, came to stand in front of the knight. "Sir Brandon, you're under arrest for assaulting a member of the royal family. I hereby strip you of your titles and privileges as a Knight of the Imperial Guard. You will be tried before a military court."

"Yes, ma'am."


Dafne heard an indignant shout as she escaped into the darkening courtyard. She hid behind a hedge, using magic to move branches and obscure her from the guards that walked by. The guards investigated the commotion going on in one of the gardens. Seeing that it was only the Princess of Solaria yelling, they walked away.

The sun was setting, painting the sky in splashes of red and orange. Dafne saw Stella pace back and forth in front of a table, bristling with anger. Bloom and her friends, all except Aisha, sat around a table laden with sandwiches, tea and coffee.

"What do you mean he broke up with you?!" Stella shouted, her voice travelling across the garden. There were more sounds of indignation that followed from Bloom's friends.

Dafne froze at the news. This was the first that she was hearing of this breakup. Why hadn't Bloom told her? When did this happen? Dafne stayed and listened, looking at her sister.

Bloom seemed unbearably composed despite her eyes being puffy and red. Her younger sister put on a patient smile.

"How can you be just fine with that, Bloom?" Stella paced, her heels tapping against the stones. "I mean, yeah, sure, Diaspro is a citizen of Eraklyon and a princess, and yeah, she did switch herself for you when Politea attack, but how could you let Sky dump you like that!"

"It's fine because Sky has a job to do. I realize that now. I've just been in his way ever since the first Sovereigns Council." Bloom's voice sounded far from steady. She was putting on a brave front for the sake of herself rather than her friends.

"That's such crap and you know it! You've given him too many chances! I say, 'Good riddance!' You don't need that kind of two-timing man in your life, Bloom."

"Stella!" Flora chastised.

"He's the Crown Prince of Eraklyon and I'm the Princess of Domino, Stella. We have to do our duties to our kingdoms first," Bloom said more confidently, more self-assured. Dafne felt pride swell in her chest for Bloom for a moment.

"And if that means that he has to go and rescue Diaspro…again…I can't stop him."

"If you say so…" Stella said, not as reassured as Bloom.

Dafne thought the same thing.

The nymph squeezed the book in her hand. It was wrapped in her cerulean nymph scarf even though the silver embossing glowed.

Now, she had the power to protect her sister from princes that would break her heart and from vengeful nymphs. The other night had been a mistake on her part, a moment of cowardice. She should have been there to face Politea head-on with Bloom.

Dafne made her way down to the sandy shore. The tide was coming in and soon the beach would be gone. Small dollar-size seashells glistened in the sand. She looked at her reflection in the water and only saw herself, not the demon.

"You have no power over me," she told her reflection.

The reflection smirked, revealing a dimple on one cheek, the same like Dafne's. The image was identical to Dafne in every way except for her eyes. The eyes were dark pools of crimson.

Dafne bristled. "I am good, I am light, I am born of the Dragon Flame. You have no power over me," she repeated. She had been repeating that mantra to herself ever since her conversation with her father.

"But you don't have the Dragon Flame anymore," the image said. It had a disembodied voice that sounded frighteningly like her.

The image flickered, the long blonde hair becoming large curly flaxen waves. Her face became rounder, heart-shaped with pronounced cheekbones and dark red lips. Diaspro. The image spoke again. "Your dear sister is heartbroken, crying over a man who never loved her. And you, you're taking a walk on the beach. What a heartless sister!" the image spat out.

"Stop it! You have no power over me!" Dafne growled, stomping away the reflection with the heel of her boot. She must have looked like lunatic screaming into the air. "You must be desperate if you think that will stop me."

The image disappeared, becoming her benign reflection again. Dafne calmed her heart and focused her thoughts. It would not do to have her powers go wildly. Outside on the beach just as the moon was about to rise, she was sure that she could contain any inordinary magical occurrence.

She unravelled the book from her scarf, touching the cover reverently. The Sirenix Book shimmered in her hands. It radiated the familiar magic of the Infinite Ocean.

She held the tome out, one hand on the cover. She channelled her magic into it, awakening it. The golden crescent moon came to life under her palm.

"Sirenix Book, I am Dafne, the Nymph of Domino, a servant of the Great Dragon. It was with your power that I was consecrated as the Supreme Nymph of Magix and it was by the strength of Sirenix that I was able to survive."

The book rattled in her hand, suddenly possessed. There was a shift in the energies around her. A mystical breeze blew in on the waves and the tide rushed forward. She tried to pry the book opened, but it remained firmly shut.

She channelled more of her energy into the book, asking it to open. "Sirenix Book, it was only through your trials that I found the power to protect the people I love."

The book stayed shut. A whirlwind blew silt and ocean spray up around her, closing in on her. She shielded her face from the debris. The cold wind shrieked in her ears, tossing her blond hair everywhere. A gale knocked Dafne to her hands and knees. This was no ordinary storm.

The book came alive, shaking violently, and flew out of her hand. It disappeared up into the storm, the pages flying. She sensed the anger and rage in the air, the darkness and coldness of the Infinite Ocean's power.

The black oily plague of Dark Sirenix seeped up through the wet sand. It crawled up her legs and arms, constricting her limbs, pulling her down. A pit of darkness appeared around her, trying to swallow her whole. She began to sink into it, inch by inch. She panicked, struggling to climb out of it.

"Sirenix Book, please, I need your help…I need your power again!" Dafne begged, her voice lost in the storm. Her arm sunk into the sludge, then her legs. "I need your power or else evil will prevail again!"

The wind howled. She could hear screams, thousands of voice crying out in terror. The voices of those who had failed the Sirenix quest.

Suddenly, there was a crack of deafening thunder followed by a complete and utter silence. The storm disappeared and the tide froze mid crash. She looked around and sensed that she was no longer in Andros. She found herself inside a dimension of pure white light, removed from time and space. She knew this realm from her studies. It was a place of dreams and nightmares, where gods spoke to mortals, where souls could speak to other souls. This was the Plane of Dreams.

"It is too late, Dafne. Evil has already prevailed," a voice said. This time, it was not inside her mind. The Sirenix Book's voice rang out in every direction.

The book fell in front of Dafne, open.

"Please, there is still a chance. Give me a chance and I will make this right. I swear it on my own life!"

"We do not give second chances, Dafne. When you began your Sirenix quest, we warned you that you had only one chance. You failed. You gave in to the temptation of power."

Dafne paused. She could not believe her ears.

"I did it to save my sister!" she shrieked in indignation. "My only sister! She was just a baby—an innocent baby sick with fairy rot. She was going to die if I didn't do anything!"

"You let darkness succeed by making a pact with the Shadow Phoenix. You are the reason why Domino fell into eternal winter. You betrayed Politea and the Infinite Ocean by using its pillars to sway the tide of war."

"He promised me more power than Sirenix or the Dragon Flame could have ever given me! The Shadow Phoenix listened to my prayers when the Great Dragon had never even given me a sign. I spent sixteen years of my life thinking that I wasn't the next keeper of the Dragon Flame until it was too late and everyone at the temple had died. I could have saved them all from the fire—from Valtor!"

Dafne let out a choked sob. The loneliness, the guilt, the feeling of her heart being ripped out of her chest, the ash and fire, the smell of blood and burning flesh. She remembered the agony of watching Bloom take painful breaths and push away bottles of milk. She remembered the endless nights of screaming and crying as the fairy rot ate at her baby fairy wings and her soft pale skin. The plague from the Lemuries. It had been all their father's fault that Bloom had gotten sick. She and her mother had never gotten sick because they the power of the Dragon Flame inside them. Bloom on the other hand did not.

A black aura emanated from the blond girl. The darkness was crawling back to the surface with a vengeance. The crimson-eyed demon inside of her smiled, taunting her.

"Did the Shadow Phoenix stand by its promises?" the Sirenix Book asked coolly.

"Yes!" she cried out angrily. Waves of negative energy rocked the plane of existence. "I know what I did was wrong. I should have been stronger, braver, better!—but I wasn't. I had no other choice."

"You always have a choice."

"I'd have rather died then give Bloom to Valtor!" she defended, hands clenching at her sides. There was not a single hint of remorse in her voice. She only felt anger at the unfairness of her situation.

Valtor had had the power to cure Bloom. He could have saved her. Bile and disgust rose in Dafne's stomach. And in return, Valtor would have raised Bloom among the witches, made her one of his daughters. The idea was unacceptable, intolerable, unbearable.

"And would you have done it all again? Knowing what you know now? Knowing the hardships that Bloom had to suffer?"

Dafne clenched her hands, boiling with red rage. There was no doubt in her mind. "YES! A million times, yes!"

The Plane of Dreams shattered into billions of tiny shards, bringing her back to beach on Andros.

"The Sirenix Book rejects you, Nymph of Domino. You are too far lost to come back to the light."

Dafne fell back on her haunches, crushed by the book's words. She let a heartfelt wail that was piercing as the cry of a banshee. Her heart was broken into hundreds of pieces.

She thought that she would be able to fix everything with the help of the Sirenix Book.

She was lost, tossed to the side, rejected. There was no more hope for her. Sirenix had abandoned her just as the Great Dragon had in her direst moment.

The tide rushed up to drench her legs in ocean spray. The sun had set and six moons of Andros were high and bright in the sky. She looked back at her moonlit reflection in the water and saw the crimson-eyed demon again, not smiling, but looking at her gently. She smashed the reflection away with the side of her hand, horrified to find kindness from the Prince of Darkness.

"You knew that this would happen," her image's disembodied voice said. "The Sirenix Book cannot tell the true difference between good and bad, between light and dark—but I can. I am not so heartless that I would not listen to reason. You are only mortal and you did what you thought was right."

Dafne covered her ears and shook her head, trying to banish the words from her consciousness. She could not. The voice was inside her mind, her heart, her soul, just as the Dragon Fire had once been. Except, this time, it was not so inattentive as to ignore her when she needed it most.

Dafne curled up on her side, forgetting about the wet sand and the rising tide. She screamed as loud as she could, trying to mute the voice in her head.

"Accept me, Dafne. The power I offer you is unlimited and without contract. You can protect Bloom, your friends, your parents, your kingdom with my power."


Notes: Well…there's that chapter. Tell me what you think, good or bad, in a review below. I like hearing about what people think and where they think the story will go.

Next chapter: The Golden Trident. Riven goes on a supply mission the Republic of Ophir, Nabu's homeland. It's been a year since Nabu saved the Earth fairies from the Black Circle.

References:

1) I'm making Nex from Eraklyon. It's never said where he's from. For the purposes of this story, he's from Eraklyon.

2) I'm giving a name to the black-haired female guard from Secret of the Lost Kingdom that took Sky away to Eraklyon. She does not have canon name. Her name is Ariana in this story and is a Knight Commander of the Imperial Guard.

3) Eren is Sky's older brother and Diaspro's husband, now dead. He was assassinated on the way to the honeymoon, as stated in the previous chapter.