Okay, there is something about me that I think you all should know; I can't speak Latin. I can speak pig Latin, but other than that the only languages I know are English and bad English. This usually doesn't affect me much, but in this chapter it does.

During this episode, Sky goes up to the girls and greets them formally . . . and I have no idea what he says. I'm pretty sure it's Latin, but I can't translate it or tell if I'm even spelling it right. I even checked the web for Latin related sites and even though I did find some very useful, everyday sayings such as "Utinam barbari alum tuum invadant!" (roughly "May barbarians invade your armpits!"), "Te audire non possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure" (I can't hear you. I have a banana in my ear) and of course that famous saying "Sed semper ubi sububi in caput meum" (But I always wear my underpants on my head), I couldn't find anything that resembles what Sky says to them. So if any of you have a clue to what the hell is going on there, don't hesitate to let me know so I can fix it up and not look like an idiot.

Anyway, now that I have prepared you for my failing, here you go . . .

Chapter Eight – Party Monster

"Who do you think that guy was the other night?" Sky asked during training. The unveiling of Red Fountain's new campus was fast approaching, though the students could see no visible evidence of any construction on the foundations of the ruined castle. None the less, Saladin assured everyone that the new campus would be revealed to them shortly and that there would be a large scale celebration with many opportunities for the boys to show off their impressive talents in the forms of combat competition, squad ship flight displays and dragons wrangling. In the days leading up to the unveiling of the new campus, Red Fountain's students spent virtually all their time preparing for the festivities.

But not all of them had just their training on their mind.

"Does it really matter?" Brandon groaned. He had been listening to Sky go on about Bloom and this mystery guy for the last few days and frankly he was getting really sick of talking about it.

Unfortunately for Brandon, Sky was not. "You didn't see the way she was chasing him."

"Really? How did I miss that, I wonder? Oh yeah, that's right, the tree fell on me," Brandon spat.

"Hey that wasn't my fault."

"Sure it wasn't. All you did was drag me out there when I would rather be asleep and then proceeded to piss the magibeves off with your paranoia."

"It wasn't paranoia. It was a stick."

"Oh shut up!" Brandon finally snapped. It was at that point that Timmy felt it was time that he stepped in before this escalated any further.

"Hey guys? What was that attack you were telling me about? The Four Horsemen Blast or something like that?" Timmy asked. He knew that wasn't the name of the attack, but it was the only thing he could think of to distract his friends.

And from the look on Sky's face, it worked. "It's called the Four Swordsmen Blast, Timmy. Not Horsemen. And it sounds totally awesome."

"The Four Swordsmen Blast?" Riven repeated sceptically. "What the hell?"

"The Eraklyon Swords Master was telling me about it this summer," Sky explained. "Basically it's just merging the telepathic skills that you use when wrangling a dragon with a phantom blade to produce an attack." (1)

A look of astonishment and interest failed to cross Riven's face. In fact, by the look of it, he hadn't understood a word Sky had said. "Say what?"

"If four or more people focus their mental energy into their phantom blades and then cross them over, the combined mental energy will cause the crystal compounds of the blades will react with each other and create an explosive energy. It sounds really cool."

"Why four or more people?" Timmy asked. "Why not two or three?"

"Because they figured out that the mental energy of an average mind isn't enough energy to trigger a reaction all on its own. Four people are minimum amount of people you need in order to have enough mental energy to cause a reaction and therefore trigger an attack," Sky answered.

Riven still didn't look convince. "Have you ever actually tried this attack?"

"No," Sky admitted. "But that's only because you have to have a close connection and be on the same wave length as the other three people you're charging the attack with or else you won't get an efficient blast."

"And let me guess, you figured that you'd wait and try it out with us?" Riven said in an unintentionally mocking tone, and Sky didn't care for it in the slightest.

"Look, if you don't wonna try, fine! Whatever, I don't care! I just thought it might be a useful attack for us to learn, that's all! But if you're gonna be a jerk about it just forget it!" Sky snapped. Riven rolled his eyes slightly, but he didn't follow through with one of his snide comments to instigate a larger argument like he would have a year ago.

"I don't understand how you focus your telepathic energy into a sword," Timmy said partly to get Sky's attention away from fight with Riven but also partly because he was curious to how this attack worked.

"Well, you know how we project our minds towards a dragon when we want to bend its will to our own?" Brandon asked and Timmy nodded. "It's pretty much the same thing except instead of a dragons mind it's a sword. Why don't you show him, Sky?"

"But didn't you just say that you needed at least four people to pull off an attack?" Timmy questioned.

"That's only if you want to make a blast," Sky explained, extending his blue phantom blade. Focusing his mind, the prince projected his mental energy into his blade, causing it to flash white hot for a second before turning deep navy as oppose to the light azure it usually was. "See? There's a little bit on energy in there, but I'd needed the three of you to do the same with your phantom blades to create an attack."

"How do you aim with it?"

"All four people have to focus on the same point of the target which is why the attack works best if everyone has a close connection with each other. Apparently the blast can backfire if just one person focuses on another part of the target than the other three people."

"Doesn't sound very reliable if you ask me," Riven muttered under his breath, but Sky still heard him.

"Why do you always have to be such a pessimist all the time?" Sky snapped, irritated at his friends never ending bad attitude.

"I'm not being pessimistic. I'm being realistic," Riven corrected, folding his arms across his chest. "Sorry, but I for one don't buy into this whole focus your spirit and make a wish shit. It just doesn't seem practical to me."

"Well nobody asked for your opinion," Sky spat. Riven's violet eyes narrowed slightly, but surprisingly he didn't counter with a comment of his own. An awkward silence fell over the group as Sky and Riven proceeded to glare each other down, but it was thankfully shattered as Codatorta's rough voice roared over the ruckus of the outdoor training plateaus to grab the attention of every Red Fountain student there.

"All right lads! The running order for tomorrows events have been completed, including the draw for combat duels! The program will be posted in various locations around the school, but we have also made up enough copies of it for you all to have one which I will be handing out now!" Codatorta barked, handing out stacks of programs to several students. "Take one and pass the rest on! This way we can assure ourselves that we have done everything save sitting you down and talking you through the program with you to let you know what is going on, so if you miss your duel, it's your own damn fault! Understood?"

"Yes sir!" everyone answered in unison as the stack of papers was passed around. The four boys quickly got their hands on a program each and read over the running order for tomorrows events.

"Looks like I'm competing against you, Riv, in the extreme fighting event," Sky noted and after all the attitude Riven had been giving him all day, the prince was looking forward to locking swords with his moody friend.

"Who the hell is Jamie?" Brandon asked, seeing who he was paired against. "There's no one by that name in our grade, is there?"

"No, I think he's a senior," Sky said.

"They must have run out of juniors to pair you with so they put you up against a senior," Timmy noted.

"Oh, Jamie? Yeah, I know him. He's a total pansy," Riven said.

Brandon felt somewhat relieved to hear that. Sure, Brandon was one of the best in his grade, but a senior would have a whole years worth of training and life experience over him. "Really?"

"Yeah. He's one of those guys who acts like a big man's man but every time he gets a girlfriend he turns into a total skirt," Riven told him. "Like, he's always on the phone to them, going over to their place just to see how they are, making 'em lunches and all that crap."

"So basically he's a pansy because he acts like a good boyfriend?" Brandon asked in an unimpressed tone.

"No, this isn't just my anti romantic side talking. He really does take it too far."

"Wait a minute. Isn't that the guy who left a week before school finished when we were in freshmen year because that fairy from Alfea that he was seeing started dating someone else without breaking it off with him first?" Brandon asked with a grin. That hissy fit was legendary in the halls of Red Fountain and Alfea. (2)

"That's him."

"How is he with a weapon?" Timmy asked.

"You mean with his spear? Apparently he's one of the best in his class."

Suddenly Brandon didn't feel so relieved. "Thanks man. You've been a real help."

"What do you think the new campus will be like?" Timmy asked, changing the subject yet again to try and avoid any conflict. A guy had to be quick on his feet if he was going to play referee with these three.

"I dunno," Sky answered. "But I can't wait to see it."

"I didn't know they invited witches to this thing," Brandon said as he watched a group of witches make their way through the front courtyard of the ruins of Red Fountain. He and the other guys had moved out into the warm morning sun while they waited for the Winx Club to arrive so that they could hang out with them until the big unveiling that Saladin promised everyone.

"Saladin invited them because of all the help they gave us at the end of last year and because they're trying to improve relations between Cloud Tower and the other schools," Timmy explained evenly.

"What? How come I haven't heard of any of this till now?" Brandon asked.

"Because with how enthralled you've been with Stella recently I'm surprised you notice that it gets darker at night and lighter in the morning," Sky muttered, causing Riven to bark a laugh.

"I've noticed that," Brandon spat before looking at the witches again. "I'm just not sure if we're moving too quickly with these witches by letting them into our place like this."

"Stop being so prejudiced," Riven ordered, giving a slight nod in greeting to one of the witches that had waved to him from across the courtyard. Unlike the other boys, Riven knew several of the witches that attended Cloud Tower to the point where he might even call them 'friends' and he actually found the witches dark personalities to be a relief from the Alfea fairies perky ones. "The universe is full of witches and you can't go your whole life avoiding them. They do have witches in Eraklyon, don't they? Or is the entire population of your realm made up only of you and Sky?"

"Oh shut up," Brandon snapped, though he did see that his friend had a point. It was ridiculous to go through life with these social barriers between people. It was time to put an end to all this foolishness and it had sense to start at the three finest schools for the three social groups. Alfea was doing its bit by allowing a witch to attend its school on exchange, and Red Fountain was not a school that allowed itself to be bested by anyone. But he still didn't have to like Riven's tone. "Besides, the girls have arrived."

Looking over to where Brandon was pointing, the boys spotted the six girls and their companion pixies sitting on a bench on the other side of the courtyard. The group of girls had somehow made it passed the boys surveillance while they were talking and apparently seemed too involved in their own conversation to notice the boys either.

"When did they get here?" Sky asked, but no one had an answer for him. "You know what? Never mind. Let's just go."

"Sounds like a plan," Brandon grinned as the four boys moved off.

"Look! The boys are here!" Stella squealed as soon as she noticed the boys. All the other girls perked up at the news, but the boys couldn't help but notice that Layla rolled her eyes slightly. Apparently she still hadn't forgiven them for being born with a Y chromosome.

"Let us formally welcome you, ladies," Sky said with a formal bow. "Fair toda at armous."

(AN: that is the bit I was talking about earlier. If you have no idea what I'm going on about, read my note at the start of this chapter and if you can help me, please do)

"Oh, how nice. Is that Latin for mi castle as su castle?" Stella asked mockingly.

"Hey the hero's welcome is a century's old tradition," Tune, the Pixie of Manners reminded the Princess of the Sun and the Moon. "How about a little decorum?"

"So, are you psyched for the dance or what?" Sky asked the girls.

"You know it," Stella answered before anyone else had a chance too. "In fact, Brandon and I learnt the rumba."

Stella looked like she was going to follow through with some other comment to express her excitement, but her attention was suddenly caught by Pete, one of Brandon's classmates, who grinned warmly at Stella as he walked by. "Hey Stella."

"Hi," Stella smiled back with somewhat flirty flutter of her eyelashes. Brandon felt a sudden stab of jealousy in his guts and he suddenly hated his classmate. "You know Pete? He was my fifth grade boyfriend."

"Sure," Brandon said in a cheery voice. He had spent the last few days making fun of Sky for being jealous about that paladin and there was no way he was going to give his prince at chance to return the mockery. "He was the one who told me all about your middle school nickname. You're hair was so frizzy they called you Frizztella."

Stella did not look impressed as her friends sniggered at her nickname and although Brandon did feel a bit guilty for humiliating his girlfriend like that – even if it wasn't really that humiliating – but it made up for the jealous feelings he got when she had greeted Pete the way she did.

Trying to spare her best friend some of her dignity and also because she could no longer contain her excitement, Bloom jumping up, beaming at everyone with one of her amazing smile that always made Sky's knees go weak. "I'm excited to see how they redid the stadium!"

"Me too," Sky agreed. "My dad said they went all out."

Even though everyone's attention had moved on from her middle school nickname, Stella still felt there was reason to explain the name. "Hey, I was still searching for the right conditioner but it was middle school. Cut me some slack."

"Relax Stella," Brandon smiled encouragingly at her. He couldn't care less if she had fizzy hair. He wasn't in love with her just for her looks, even though they were pretty damn good. "You know, we all had nicknames. I was Brandito."

"Are you kidding?" Riven asked, raising one eyebrow.

"No, it was cool. Why, what did they call you?" Brandon asked, but all he got as an answer was a blank, emotionless stare. The squire had forgotten rule number one; never expect Riven to reveal anything about his childhood. "You know what, never mind."

"Um, guys, Saladin's presentation is going to start in a little while so we'd head over to the stadium," Timmy suggested, glancing at his watch.

"Good idea. We don't wonna get stuck with a crappy view of what's happening," Sky said, moving off towards the stadium with the others following him. "But then again it's hard to guess what might be a good spot since we've still go no idea what's going to happen."

"Yeah. It doesn't look like they've done any kind of renovation work on the old school," Bloom said as she walked along beside him.

"That hasn't gone unnoticed by us," Sky grinned at her and she beamed back. "You've been pretty busy lately, haven't you?"

"I guess."

"Too busy to go magi skating tomorrow?" Sky asked her with a small laugh.

Bloom grinned coyly. "I can fit that in."

"Then it's a date," Sky finalized.

But then Bloom's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered something, and even before she opened her mouth Sky felt his hopes drop. "Oh wait. I have to get started on Professor Avalon's paper."

"Er, who's Professor Avalon?" Sky asked. He was pretty sure I knew all of the professors that taught at Alfea, but the name Avalon was not familiar to him at all.

"He's our new teacher. He's teaching Masters Workshop and he's the best ever!" Bloom exclaimed, jump in air at how much she admired her new teacher and Sky couldn't help but feel a bit jealous at the way her eye lit up at Avalon's name.

"Well, that's great. It sounds like he's really something," Sky said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice but failing miserably at it. Ever since they had rescued the pixies, Sky had seen very little of Bloom and he found he was craving spending some time alone with her. And by the looks of it, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

"Oh, I almost forgot. He has to approve my paper topic," Bloom suddenly remembered and she quickly started off to go find him.

"I'll go with you," Sky offered. He knew he ran the risk of looking desperate or clingy, but he really didn't care. The last time he had been alone with her – as in truly alone, without their friends sitting mere meters away – was at prom last year.

But Bloom didn't accept his offer and started running off before Sky could stop her. "No, just save me a seat!" Bloom called as she left.

"What master workshop is he teaching?" Timmy asked Tecna while Sky pouted.

"He's teaching us Magiphilospy and he believes that we can increase our power by drawing on the strength of our families and our home realm," Tecna explained. "It's really quiet fascinating."

"Who cares what he's teaching, the guy is a mega cutie!" Stella squealed. A look of disapproval and jealous flashed across Brandon's face and it wasn't missed by the princess. "Oh, I'm sorry, Snookums, but he is. Sky can even back me up on this one. He's met him."

"I have?" Sky asked. He couldn't remember ever meeting someone called Avalon.

"Yes. Avalon was the paladin that saved us from the Trix in Shadow Haunt."

"The paladin is you're new teacher?!" Sky exclaimed in what the girls thought was surprise, but in what the guys clearly recognized as horror. They had all had heard him go on about the paladin that had swooped in a not only knock the Trix off their feet, but the Winx girls as well. The prince – who always insisted that he wasn't one to get jealous – had described every detail the paladins rescue to his friends, even when they begged him to stop, and they all knew that he was going to obsess about this all year.

"We'd better get to the stadium," Timmy said, trying to head off one of Sky's rants before he could get himself worked up. "They're going to start the ceremony soon."

"That's right and we want to get good seats," Tecna told them all, checking her watch. "Come on. Let's go."

"Dude, drop it," Brandon ordered his best friend before Sky had a chance to open his mouth.

"But – " Sky started.

"Drop it," Brandon said again, dragging Sky by the arm as the group headed off. Sky's sour mood continued as the group – now minus Bloom – made their way down the corridors of Red Fountain towards the stadium. Even after the Trix's had trashed the school, the Red Fountain battle stadium had received very little damaged, so it had been deemed safe to accommodate the crowd of heroes, fairies and witches for the unveiling of the new campus. They were still walking along the corridors when a slim arm linked itself through Brandon's and a familiar fragrance of perfume filled his senses.

"Are you okay?" Stella asked, her eyes serious. While she was admittedly a poor student when it came to her classes at Alfea, Stella was a perfect scholar when it came to her boyfriend, so she was aware when something was bothering him, even if he was doing his best to hide it.

"I'm fine," he assured her with a grin.

"Snookums," Stella said in a warning tone. "You can tell me. What's the matter?"

"It's nothing, really," Brandon told her, but he was helpless under those honey coloured eyes. "It's about Pete. I didn't like the way you smiled at him."

"Oh, Brandon," Stella gushed, caught up in romantic idea of her boyfriend getting jealous just because she waved at another man. "That's so sweet!"

"Well, I'm glad you're enjoying it. I told you before, I'm a very jealous man and I won't allow anyone steal you away, even if it means slaughtering my entire class," Brandon told her dramatically. Stella beamed up at him, enchanted by his devotion to her even if it did result in a massacre. "I love you Stella, and I shall prove my love to you by vanquishing my competition, starting today with the sword and shield event."

Stella made a sound that resembled a combination of sighing and groaning in delight, and she looked as though she was going to swoon as she stared up at her boyfriend adoringly.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Riven comment, overhearing the conversation.

"Hey Riven, are you competing today?" Musa asked him as they walked.

"I'm winning today," Riven corrected confidently, giving her a sly smirk that lacked even the slightest trace of modesty.

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Sky said, rising out of his sulking state in order to knock Riven's ego back down to size.

"You guys are competing against each other?" Stella asked with a note of horror in her voice. "Haven't they worked out that the two of you can't be trusted with swords?"

"We're heroes. We have to play with weapons whether they trust us or not," Brandon informed the girls cheerfully. "It's part of the curriculum."

"How . . . encouraging?" Layla said uncertainly.

"I know. You guys have met Lex, haven't you? He's a great example of Red Fountain, but I wouldn't trust him with a burnt out match stick."

"He's kidding me, right?" Layla asked the other girls.

"Yeah," Stella grinned. "Although that bit about relying on Lex is right on the money."

"He's good value," Riven told them all since he – being the sadistic teen that he was – always got hours of entertainment out of Lex making a fool of himself.

"And he's pretty good with his short staff," Timmy added. "That is, provided he doesn't knock himself out with it by mistake."

"Sounds like they're teaching you guys heaps," Layla said with a sarcastic little smile, indicating that all the assistance Brandon and Sky had offered to her during their trip to the Under Realm had done nothing to changer her mind on the usefulness of men.

"All jokes aside, we take all forms of combat seriously at Red Fountain," Brandon told her, defending his school from the feminist. "I mean, I doubt you could find one person here who isn't passionate about weapons."

Helia could not care less about the sword and shield events that were scheduled for later that day. He didn't really care for the squad ships and jet display. He did like watching the dragon wrangling, but he did not approve of the way Codatorta kept them in line with his whips.

'Gods, what the hell am I doing here?' Helia thought to himself, slouching in his seat. All around him, people were entering the stadium for the opening ceremony, but he felt separated from it all. He wasn't looking forward to anything that had been scheduled for that day – not even the big after party that all the other people his age kept going on and on about – and he found himself wish that this week would end so that he could leave Red Fountain and return to Ossacip School of Art in the Realm of Vallisto where he could be with the rest of his friends there and resume his studies. He was getting sick of his grandfather trying to convince him to transfer to Red Fountain and although he would have loved to have made his grandfather happy, there was absolutely nothing here that made him want to stay.

Tired of staring at the crowd around him, Helia shook himself out of the haze of boredom that had descended onto him and drew his attention back to the sketch pad that lay open in his hands. When he had left Ossacip, they had just finished a study module on ink work and calligraphy, something that Helia had really come to enjoy. Picking up the paint brush, Helia dipped it into the ink pot sitting beside him before returning to the half draw picture that was on the page. Moving his wrist as smoothly as he could, Helia let the ink soaked hairs of the brush glide across the page in long, even curves that joined together to form the outline of his models; a flock of birds that swooped and skipped along the ground not far from where he sat.

Helia adored drawing animals and other forms of nature. He loved the winding curves and endless texture that went into recreating the beauty of the natural world. Last year, when his class had been doing a unit titled 'Humans and Nature', Helia had travelled with his class to Linphea, a realm where no modern technology existed and plants reigned supreme, where he had fallen completely in love with all things natural. Helia was never a fan of technology since he found it overly complicated and distracting, which was exactly what happened when the sound of some digital device broke his concentration, forcing him to look up from his drawing.

"Hmm," Helia grunted.

Standing not far from him was a group of students about his age who he quickly identified as Prince Sky and the other boys in his squad, as well as a few girls he didn't know. At a glance, Helia guessed that they were fairies considering the bright coloured clothes they were wearing, but he didn't dwell on them and returned his attention to his art.

"From my calculations, this is the best angle to watch the event," one of the girls informed the group, putting away the digital device that she had used to confirm her statement. Without looking up, Helia rolled his eyes. Why would she need a device to tell her something that she could had discovered with her own eyes? People relied on technology far too much these days.

Returning to his drawing, Helia tried to block out the group and in doing so failed to notice a pair of green eyes watching him.

While the others had been observing the view of the stadium, Flora's eyes had been drawn to the bleachers behind her for some reason.

Sitting there, his attention completely focus on the sketch pad in his hands, was a boy that she had never seen at Red Fountain before. He appeared to take no interest in the festivities going on around him, but he unintentionally caught Flora's attention quite firmly. Even though he was sitting down, Flora could tell that he was tall and much leaner that most boys that attended Red Fountain were. He also wasn't dressed in Red Fountain uniform and wore his hair longer than Codatorta normally approved of. She could see a few hints that he had a handsome face, but since he was so focused on his sketch pad, she really couldn't be sure of that, which only made her curiosity grow stronger.

"Hey, who's that?" Layla asked the boys, making no real effort to keep her voice from travelling. The rest of the Winx Club followed her eye line to see the stranger, and their curiosity grew as well.

"Is he a transfer student?" Stella asked.

"That's Helia," Brandon answered. Even though he and Sky had been assigned by Saladin to show Helia around Red Fountain, once the long haired teen had learnt the layout of the school – which really wasn't that hard to do since more than half of the school was closed off due to the damage caused during the Great Witch Invasion – they really hadn't had anything to do with Helia. The quiet art student preferred to keep to himself and since none of the guys could really think of anything to say to him, they tended to avoid Helia if they could. It wasn't that Helia wasn't a nice guy, it was just that they couldn't exactly see eye to eye with his beliefs of pacifism and they really didn't care for him viewing their beloved school as a breeding grown for warmongers and conflict, even if it was true to a degree.

"Helia is Saladin's grandson (3)," Timmy explained to the girls, whose eyes widened in both surprise and admiration.

"Is he going to be in the competition?" Flora asked, still staring at the boy.

"No, not him," Brandon told her. "He's not a hero. He goes to art school but Saladin's trying to convince him to transfer here."

"The problem is he's a pacifist and doesn't believe in battles," Timmy added.

"I want to meet him," Flora said in a slightly out of character boldness which didn't go unnoticed by Brandon and the other boys. She hadn't intended to say that out loud and when she realized her mistake, she flushed slightly but she quickly schooled her expression as Brandon made his way over to where Helia sat drawing.

"Helia!" Brandon greeted, but when Helia's cool, cobalt eyes looked up at him, Brandon felt the undesirable need to stand taller and speak correctly. There was just something about the maturity in his face that always made Brandon feel like that. It was the exact same as whenever he spoke with Saladin or with Sky's parents.

Helia tried not to look annoyed when he was distracted for the second time in as many minutes from his drawing. It wasn't that he didn't like Brandon and his friends; it was just that he really didn't feel like he fit in with them, especially whenever Riven was around. But when Helia looked up, he saw that not only was Brandon followed by the other boys, but a few Alfea fairies as well. They were all as lovely as all Alfea girls were rumoured to be, but there was one that caught Helia's eye immediately. She seemed rather shy and timid as she followed the rest of her friends over to where he sat. Her hair was long and seemed to be a shade between blonde and brown. Her green eyes, which occasionally glanced at him before dropping instantly back to the ground, were at an astounding green colour that Helia – an art student – couldn't name. Her flawless skin glowed a healthy bronze and the clothes she wore exposed her fantastic curves without making her appear too unclad like a couple of other girls that Helia had seen so far today.

She was indeed beautiful, and if Helia hadn't been so well trained in formality he might have been tempted to stare at her openly.

"These are my friends," Brandon continued. "Let me introduce you. This is Flora, and that's Tecna."

"And I'm Princess Stella of Solaria and I'm a great supported of art," Stella jumped in before Brandon could finish. Not that the squire minded. He really wasn't a fan of giving formal introductions. Flora, however, didn't look too pleased about the interruption.

Placing aside his paint brush, Helia got to his feet and bowed gracefully to the girls. He wasn't a stranger to meeting important people such of royalty given his grandfathers status, so he didn't feel self conscious bowing like someone who wasn't accustom to such formality might be. "I'm honoured to meet you."

"With all do respect, Helia, why are you painting with antiques?" the fairy that Brandon had introduced as Tecna asked. Helia instantly recognized her voice as the girl who had used technology to choose their seat and one glance at her clothing told Helia that she was from a digital realm.

"You can simulate any kind of art with a digi sketch from goblin cave painting to contemporary realism," a little digital pixie hovering not far from Tecna told him. "My cousin sells them. She (4) can get you a deal."

"Let me see your work," Stella ordered and Helia handed over his work without a protest. Any other person might have been offended by the way the fairies were carrying on, but Helia had the patience of a rock so he waited calmly as the princess flipped through his sketches. While she was doing that, Helia dared to steal a few glances at Flora, though not too openly. She smiled bashfully at him, and the transformation in her face from that simple act had all the beauty of a sunrise in Helia's opinion.

"Wow! You're perfect to do my royal portrait!" Stella told the art student as she passed his art book off to Flora. "I'll have my people call your people."

"You're brush strokes capture the doves movements so beautifully," Flora said and Helia was pleasantly surprised at how soothing and honest her voice sounded. "It's like its wings hug the clouds and the sky and the dove become one."

Helia couldn't suppress the first real smile in days spread across his face as Flora returned his note book back to him. Even if the drawings were in the early stages, what Flora had described had been what Helia was aiming for. "That's what I had in mind. I love that you got that."

Flora giggled at his words and returned his smile with a one of her own, which made Helia feel slightly light headed.

Brandon let a relieved grin spread over his face. Finally, it looked like Helia was opening up to someone. "Yeah, that's Flora for ya."

"It's really nice to meet you Helia," Flora said politely.

"The pleasures all mine," Helia assured her as he quickly became enchanted by the girl in front of him. Brandon quickly ran through the rest of the introductions including the names of all the pixies that hovered above their bonded fairy, but Helia didn't make much effort to try and learn them. He was just too captivated with the green eyed fairy in front of him.

"Where are you from, Helia?" Layla asked, making Helia try and focus on making conversation instead of watching the way Flora's light brown hair swayed slightly in the breeze.

"I've lived in the Realm of Vallisto all my life where I currently attend Ossacip School of Art," Helia answered formally and he couldn't deny the slight thrill he felt as Flora's eyes lit up in acknowledgement.

"I've heard of that school. They come to my home realm of Linphea to prepare for some big art show they put on each year," Flora said. "Some of the work they come out with is incredible."

"My class went to Linphea last year to prepare for that show and to complete our 'Humans and Nature' module," Helia told her. "And believe me, it's impossible not to create an incredible piece of art when you have such a beautiful landscape like Linphea's to inspire you."

"Oh," Flora giggled, blushing slight at is flattery of her home realm. Coyly, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, and Helia could honestly say that he had never seen a girl look more adorable. "Thank you."

"Vallisto," Musa repeated, her eye brows frowned as she tried to remember something that kept eluding her grasp. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

"Don't you remember?" Stella asked. "When Bloom first arrived at Alfea she wasn't on the enrolment list so we told everyone that her name was Princess Veranda of Vallisto since she was going to be home schooled that year instead of going to Alfea."

"Vallisto is the fourth world of Magix upper realm and is well known for its renowned artists, tradition and beaches which are very popular with tourists," Digit informed them, unaware that her description of the realm was very similar to the one Tecna had given on the first day she had met the other member of the Winx Club in freshmen year.

"I knew I knew it," Musa said, snapping her fingers.

"Guys," Riven, who had been watching the arena instead of getting involved with the meet and greet, suddenly interrupted. "They're getting ready to start the opening ceremony."

"We better go," Timmy said. "We've have to be on parade for this."

"We'll catch up with you later girls," Brandon waved. "You coming Helia?"

"I should go take my seat in the honours box. It was a pleasure to meet you ladies, and I hope to see you again soon," Helia bowed before heading off to the honours box where his grandfather had reserved a seat for him.

"Bye Helia," Flora waved before joining the rest of the Winx Club on the bleachers while the boys went of their own way. But Helia couldn't resist one final glance at her as he left and a small smile spread across his face for a reason he could quite identify.

After the Red Fountain student had filed into ranks and were placed standing at attention, Headmaster Saladin and Professor Codatorta make their way out into the centre of the stadium to begin the unveiling ceremony. The humming chatter of the crowd was replaced by cheering as everyone welcomed the two, eager to see what they had install for them.

"It's with great pleasure that I welcome you to the Red Fountain School for Heroics and Bravery," Codatorta greeted, his deep voice rolling over the crowd like a rumble of thunder. "To all who fought with us in the great witch invasion of 05 we say, thank you."

"You can just hear the gratitude seeping through his voice, huh?" Brandon asked the others, a sly grin on his face, but his smile quickly faded as Javelin shot a warning look at him. Somehow, the skinny professor always happened to be looking whenever Brandon started talking in ranks, and the squire had learnt from experience that it wasn't a good idea from pushing it once he was caught out. Though that didn't stop him from talking whenever he thought Javelin wasn't watching.

"And now to welcome you to the long awaited dedication ceremony of your new campus is our esteemed headmaster, Professor Saladin," Codatorta continued and the crowd burst into another round of loud cheering.

"I would like to thank the generous donators to our capital fund," Saladin started off, and then – never one to beat around the bush – he charged up his power and got the unveiling right on the way. "And now everyone, the moment you've all been waiting for!"

"What's going on?!" a freshmen asked in a slightly panicked voice as the ground started to tremble violently.

"Is this part of the show?!" Brandon shouted over the noise, as the Red Fountain students tried to maintain their balance without breaking too far out of rank. Around him, Brandon heard the sound of the remainder of the ruins collapsed, but the stadium held together as out of the ruins of the old school, the new Red Fountain campus emerged from the ground.

"My god," Riven, the only one who found his voice, gasped. Whatever they were expecting in the new campus, what they got wasn't what they were expecting . . . it was better! Hovering above the ground, the new school shone bright crimson in the morning sun as it floated higher into the sky. Water fell from waterfalls in four corners of the school, though it never hit the ground thanks to magic that recycled it back to the start.

Finally, Red Fountain reflected its name.

"No way," Timmy stammered, completely in awed by what he had seen.

"That is so awesome!" Sky grinned, staring up at his new school.

"How did they do that?" Brandon asked. "I mean, it just came right out of the ground."

"I don't think it did," Timmy corrected, checking his handheld computer. "I detect traces of a transportation spell as well as energy normally linked with illusion spells. The school would have been built elsewhere, and then transported here in time with Saladin's signal. All in all, I thought it was pretty impressive."

"Ladies and gentlemen, our new campus!" Saladin announced proudly, delighted that he had shocked his audience so. "The centre piece of our new campus is out state of the art stadium which we've upgraded with the hopes of hosting the 2012 magic games. It features five royalty boxes, an elixir bar and an invisible stage. It's a place for athletics and dramatics. It's a place where we'll create new memories for years to come."

"We now declare the stadium open!" Codatorta shouted as a group of dragons and their riders took to the sky.

With the help of a transport mat, the boys and the rest of the crowd were transported into the new school. Sky and the others were torn between getting ready for the competition that was coming up and exploring their new school. The Winx Club and their pixies had gone off on their own again to look around, promising that they'd meet up with the boys later on. While all the Red Fountain boys loved their old school, they couldn't deny the fact that it was a castle that had been built several centuries ago which meant that it could be drab and dreary at times. This new campus, however, had been updated to match the new age. Modern technology like elevators had been built into the school, a luxury that the old campus didn't have.

But they didn't have everything.

"They didn't listen to me," Brandon lamented with a heavy sigh.

"What do you mean, man?" Sky asked, concerned about his best friends behaviour.

"I suggested to Saladin that they put in giant slides like the ones they have at Cloud Tower, but he didn't listen to me (5)," Brandon sighed again, while his friends shot odd looks in his direction.

"You're an idiot," Riven informed him, but he was too busy checking out his schools new campus to extend on that any further.

"The new Red Fountain campus was designed by advance technical engineers for the Realm of Zenith which is where Tecna's from," Timmy told the rest of his squad after he had skim read the information package that had been instantly downloaded into his data base once he had entered the school. "Using the most up to date technological advancements, this new campus has been designed to be the ideal space for future heroes to learn the traditional and modern forms of combat. It's all very impressive. The class rooms and battle plateaus are situated on the upper levels while the lower levels have been assigned to student accommodation. The dorms seem to be more spacious than the older ones and there are more of them, which means that they can take on more students."

"It's awesome," Sky agreed.

"It would have been better if it had slides," Brandon muttered, but no one paid him any attention.

"Hey Sky!" someone called, and Sky looked back over his shoulder to see Bourne running down the corridors.

"Hey Bourne, what's up?" the prince asked as the orange hair student joined Sky's squad.

"First of all, how insane is this new campus, ay? I mean, it's off the scale," Bourne grinned widely.

"I know. It's totally awesome."

"You know what, for one year – just one year – I'd like to get a dollar for every time he says the word awesome," Riven said dryly to Timmy. "After just one year, I reckon I'd be set for life."

"Maybe," Timmy nodded, and Sky shot them both a filthy look.

Bourne, used to this kind of behaviour from this particular squad, continued on as if Riven hadn't said anything. "And secondly, they're starting the sword and shield events shortly so you guys better get ready since you and Riven are up pretty soon."

"Who's up now?" Timmy asked, bring up the running order for the days events on his hand held computer.

"Two freshmen's; Jeremy and Brad."

"Sky, you and Riven better get over there. There's only one more bout then you're up," Timmy told his friends. Riven nodded wordlessly, but Sky's blue eyes seemed a bit distracted.

"Don't worry. Timmy and I will go get the girls," Brandon said, reading his best friends mind exactly. "We won't let Bloom miss you kickin' Riven's butt."

"Hey!" Riven snapped, an insulted look on his face.

"Sorry, Riven's cute butt," Brandon corrected with a wide, mocking grin.

"Let's go," Timmy insisted, grapping hold of Brandon's arm and dragging the squire away while Sky quickly did the same with Riven before he could get his hands around Brandon's throat. Brandon laughed wickedly as soon as they were out of ear shot of their friends. "Do you have a death wish or something?"

"C'mon," Brandon laughed. "Did you see his face? Classic."

"If you say so. Now let's go find the girls."

They found Bloom, Flora, Stella and Tecna, along with their companion pixies, sitting on the grass under one of the trees that the new campus had on offer. Layla and Musa, however, were nowhere in sight. Of the girls that were there, Stella, Bloom and Flora were gossiping amongst themselves while Tecna was competing against Digit in one of their computer games.

"Don't mean to interrupt," Brandon said, treading carefully as he approached the girls. Bloom, Stella and Flora looked to be deep in gossip mood, and there was no telling how a girl might react when interrupted from such a session. "But Riven and Sky are up next."

"I'm up after Brandon," Timmy informed the girls, though he was secretly hoping to get Tecna's attention with that little comment. Her attention, however, remained fixed on the computer game she was playing with her pixie.

"So you're competing too?" Bloom asked, sounding a little surprised. Everyone knew that Timmy was more than competent with a sword, but he definitely didn't have the same level of passion for competition that his friends had.

"Timmy's in the squad ship parade," Brandon explained proudly. Timmy had put a lot of effort into their squad ship and Brandon knew that without that work, they wouldn't have nowhere near as good a ship as they did which would meant that Saladin let them go on more missions than most.

"I can't wait to see that!" Chatta cheered loudly, her face alight with more excitement than her tiny little body should allow. Grinning, the other girls got to their feet so that everyone could head over to the stadium together.

Everyone, that is, except Tecna.

"I'll meet you over there," the digital fairy informed them all before return her focus back to her game. "Okay Digit, five thousand and thirty-four."

Timmy watched her for a second longer and when she continued to ignore him, he glumly turned and followed after the others. The other girls continued to chatter and they walked, but Brandon held back to follow in beside his visually challenged friend.

"You aright man?" Brandon asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Timmy lied, forcing a smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Maybe because Tecna would prefer to play video games than hang out with you?" Brandon suggested.

Timmy shrugged. "If Tecna wants to play games with Digit, that's her choice. It's not like it matters to me."

"Whatever you say man," Brandon said, not sounding very convinced.

Sky shifted his weight and altered his grip on the hilt of his sword. Steadying his heart rate, Sky breathed deep and cleared his mind of all distractions. Trust your instincts. That's what Codatorta had told him. Trust your instincts and you won't make costly mistakes.

And when you're up against Riven, mistakes were something you couldn't afford to do.

As soon as Javelin, who was refereeing the match, gave the signal to start to bout, Sky ran forward to gain the advantage of an early attack. Riven stayed still, waiting for the prince to come close enough for the bout to really begin. Normally it was Riven who'd come charging into a fight with the first attack, but this time it was Sky who made the first lunge, but it was exactly what Riven was waiting for.

Jumping backwards, Riven watched as Sky's balance wavered when his sword didn't connect with anything and before the prince had a chance to regain his balance, the burgundy haired specialist countered by throwing a spherical device that he had brought from a shady individual in downtown Magix which Riven had altered in shop class. As it landed at Sky's feet, the ball exploded open and a smoke screen burst out, though not a poisonous one like was originally intended when Riven had brought it.

"What the . . ?" Sky coughed as the smoke flooded his senses. The smoke had a powerful sulphuric smell that left a foul taste in Sky's mouth and made his blue eyes water. He was well aware that bombs and other dangerous devices were allowed in the field of extreme fighting, but where the hell did Riven get half the stuff he used in this style of fighting? It didn't look legal, that's for sure.

Jumping out of the smoke screen, Sky blinked the water out of his eyes just as Riven lunged at him with his sabre. Blue and magenta lights flashed in the sunlight as the two blades parried off each other. Cool blue eyes met smouldering violet ones as the two boys strained against one another in an attempt to try and get the upper hand.

It was Riven who ultimately made the mistake. Fuelled by impatience, Riven recklessly lunged forward and when Sky easily sidestepped him, over shot his target and started falling forward. Before the ruthless youth could cover his mistake, Sky stuck out his leg and tripped his friend as he tried to stop himself from falling, resulting in Riven falling flat on his face.

"Good one, Sky!" the prince heard Bloom shout from the stands and he couldn't stop a triumphant grin spread across his face. Finally, she seemed to have forgotten about Professor Avalon and was paying him some attention.

"Good fight," Sky said to Riven in the spirit of good sportsmanship, but Riven would have none of it.

"Man you always win," Riven growled, getting to his feet. Riven was a sour loser at the worst of times, and being beaten by his greatest rival in front of a full crowd of people – which also happened to include Musa – was not something that improved his foul temper. "Everything comes easy to you. It's like it just falls into you lap."

Sky couldn't help but feel insulted by that comment. While it was true that he had had a much easier life than Riven, that no way reflected what happened on the battle field. That was pretty much all hard work and well practiced skill with only the slightest element of luck. "That is not true Riven and you know it."

Riven's violet eyes narrowed dangerously before he turned his back on Sky and walked off. "Sorry," he said through what sounded like clenched teeth. "Good fight."

"Huh?" Sky said to himself as he watched Riven walk out of the stadium. The prince had seen anger in his friends violet eyes before he had turned away, no doubt about that, as well as disappointment and frustration, but there was another emotion that swirled deep within those violet eyes that had always been the best source to judge Riven's emotions.

And it looked to Sky to be pain.

As soon as he was out of sight, hidden in the wings of the stadium, Riven slammed him back against one of the walls and started rubbing his tense leg, hissing through his teeth in agony.

When Riven had snagged his right leg on Sky's, the old wound he had received last year had tensed up, cramping itself till Riven was almost blind with pain. It had taken all his efforts to get to his feet and even more than that to exit the stadium without limping. Sky may have won the bout, but it would be a cold day in hell before Riven gave the blonde the satisfaction of knowing he had injured himself.

'Sky wouldn't get any satisfaction out of that,' Riven reminded himself as the cramp started to fade. 'Worse, he'd feel pity.'

"You look stressed," a throaty voice said suddenly, making Riven jump. He hadn't even noticed the girl that stood concealed by the shadows in the wings of the stadium, but she must have been there when he had arrived and had been watching him suffer.

"Yeah? What's it to ya?" Riven asked harshly, but the girls expression didn't change.

"Nothing. Just commenting," the girl told him coolly. Riven did not recognize her, but if he had to take a guess he'd say she was a fairy going by her girly plum coloured attire. Her dark bluish hair was pulled into a high bun, and behind a pair of yellow tinted glasses, her eyes were watching him like a hungry hawk eyeing off a fat rabbit out in the open. And it was making Riven feel a bit uneasy.

"Is there something you want?" Riven spat, shifting his shoulders uncomfortably as the girl continued to stare at him.

"Yes, but now's not the time," she told him before moving off down the corridor without a further explanation to who she was and what she was doing there. But as she glided past Riven, she slipped something into his hand. "Here. It'll help you relax."

Riven looked down at the half empty packet of cigarettes that now lay in his hand which was followed by an undeniable desire to light up, and when he looked up, the girl was gone.

Meanwhile, Brandon stepped into the centre of the stadium to where Jamie was waiting to face him. The squire instantly recognized him as the senior that was constantly teased for his behaviour with girlfriends and ex-girlfriends, but Brandon could also see from the practice slashes Jamie made with his spear that even though he didn't handle his women well, he knew how to handle his weapon.

"Hey don't worry dude," Sky assured his best friend, reading the panic that had seeped into Brandon's brown eyes. "He might be a senior but you can totally take him. I believe in you."

"Thanks buddy. I appreciate that," Brandon said, trying to sound confident.

"Just remember what we were discussing in Codatorta's class. Don't think too much. Just trust you instincts," Sky advised and as a large shadow fell across the entire stadium, both Eraklyains instincts told them that something wasn't right.

"Whoa! What's going on here?" Brandon asked as the sick feeling he always got whenever thing started go wrong settled in his stomach.

"Looks like we have a guest," Sky put lightly as a massive monster swooped in out of the sky. Red Fountain naturally taught all its students how to identify dangerous creatures and how to take them down, but this monster was like nothing the boys had ever seen. It was massive to say the least. Even without the power of flight it would have been able to see over the stadium walls and its wingspan was so large that it couldn't extend it all the way when it landed inside the stadium. Its body was covered in short, purple hair but its head was surrounded by a long, thick mane much like a lion. Its cat like face was equipped with fangs the size of phantom blades and burning fire like eyes. At the end of each of its limbs were sharp, claws like pinchers and at the end of its whip like tail was a mean looking little mouth that seemed to have a mind of its own.

With a snarl, the monster breathed deep and let out a bellowing roar that made the ears all that heard it to ache. And pain was quickly followed by panic.

"Ah!" Brandon and Sky screamed in unison. All around them, the stands were shouting and running in a panic. As fast as a whip, its tail lashed out at the stands, hitting and smashing the covering of a set of stairs to pieces.

"Hey!" Brandon gasped in outrage. "That's our new school! We just got that! Where does he get the nerve?"

"We've got to stop it before it destroys the entire school," Sky said, extending his shield to protect himself from the falling debris. Glancing at the stands where he had last seen Bloom and her friends, and when he saw an intense white light he knew they had transformed into their fairy form. Before the light had even died, six fairies took to the skies. Bloom started the attack by hurling a ball of right at the beast and Stella followed through with the power of her spectre, but neither of them was effective.

"That thing's powerful," Sky noted, collapsing his shield.

Floating down, Bloom agreed with him. "Yeah."

"Not to mention gross," Stella added.

"That's a Lio Dragerus," Flora noted. She had been the one out of her friends to excel at monster bio, and even though they had only lightly touched on the subject of the Lio Dragerus she had easily recognized the cat-like body and lively tail.

"Great, but I thought they were extinct," Stella said and she was right. The last Lio Dragerus was killed sixty-five years ago when their species were hunted down out of fear of attacks and out of desire for their valuable coats.

"What are we going to do?" Brandon asked in a small voice. Lio Dragerus's were legendary for their strength and the dangerous liking for the taste of human flesh.

"Junior Brigade!" Codatorta barked. "Position yourselves on the bleachers!"

On his queue, they all attack together with their guns, arrows and the magic of the fairies and the witches that had remained behind, but even with all their combined efforts, nothing happened to harm the beast.

"How do you fight a beast that big?" Brandon asked.

Sky looked over at the gates that lead to the dragon stables. "With another big beast."

Up in the stands, Timmy, although itching to be down there fighting alongside his friends, was doing the dutiful position of making sure that the crowd was lead out safely.

Dutiful, but boring.

"Form a single line," Timmy told the crowd. He was still fighting down the urge to leave the crowd on their own and join Brandon and Sky when one of the Red Fountain guard came running over to him. "What's up?"

"I'm to pass this alert to you immediately," the guard said, holing up his left hand. The hand itself was empty, but it was the way that he was holding it that caught Timmy's attention. The tips of his fingers were pointing upwards, but the palm was flat and on a downward incline. The guard wrist was arched and the ball of his fist was pointing upwards. It was a simply message, created to be subtle to avoid a panic, but it was one that spoke of a great threat to Red Fountain's valuables.

"Oh no," Timmy gasped, adjusting his glasses out of nervous habit. "Man, this is bad. This is really bad. We need to alert Codatorta right away." Hitting his intercom, Timmy radio Codatorta. "Red Dragon alert! Red Dragon alert!"

"I'm on it Timmy," Codatorta's gruff voice replied.

"You stay here and help get these people out of here," Timmy ordered the guard and before he had a chance to disagree, Timmy turned and bolted towards a stairway that could lead him down to the stadium floor.

Gripping his dragons' sides with his legs and tightening his hold on his reins, Brandon directed his green dragon that went by the name of Emerald towards where Sky was circling the monster. Effortlessly, Emerald rolled his body and began a fast descent that made Brandon's stomach churn as the wind rush pass his ears, but the squire simply leaned back in his saddle like he had been taught in freshmen dragon riding class and held steady untill his dragon swooped in along side Sky's dragon.

"Codatorta just radioed. Someone's broken into the school and are moving in on the schools valuables," Brandon said. "You and Bloom are now in charge."

"What?" Sky gasped pulling Cerulean out of the range of the monsters attacks so he could digest this new information. "Are you for real?"

"Well, Bloom did save the entire universe last year with the Army of Decay. A thing like this should be like a walk in the park for her," Brandon said. "And they need a Red Fountain student in charge as well."

"But why me as that Red Fountain student in charge? Wouldn't a senior be a more logical choice?"

"Yeah, but there are any seniors here that are dating the most powerful girl in Magix?"

"Good point. Now let's take this thing down!"

"You got it," Brandon grinned, digging his heels into Emeralds scaly side and the two dragons spiralled back into the fight. Sky's dragon barely escaped the jaws of the monster, but Cerulean was as agile as he was fast so the only harm Sky suffered from was a case of the shakes.

"There's got to be a way to take this thing down," Sky hissed through gritted teeth as the Lio Dragerus remained unaffected as one of Red Fountain Red Wing fighter jets joined the fight.

"Flora's gonna try and distract it so that we can have a chance to attack it," Brandon reported. "Maybe that'll give us the advantage we need."

"I don't know. Sounds dangerous," Sky worried. He watched as Flora fluttered over to the monster, ready to fire a ball of energy at the Lio Dragerus so that everyone could attack it from the other side when it turned to stop her. But even if she was an A student in monster bio, she wasn't aware that the monsters had the ability to tell what was going on behind it thanks to its snapping tail. Despite the fact that it didn't have eyes, the tail could sense what was happening and relayed a message to its head. Before Flora had even started to gather her win, the monster spun around, spitting out a foul, brownish green sludge right at her. The sludge covered her body and stuck to her wings, making her struggle to keep in the air. But worst of all, it hit her right in the eyes so she was completely unable to see an attack let alone be able to block it successfully. "It got her!"

"No! That's what it does right before it eats you!" Bloom cried, recalling the only bit of information she could remember about Lio Dragerus from monster bio. "It spits on you to make you more digestible."

"Get away from her!" Layla shouted at the monster, but it paid no attention to her.

"Flora!" Tecna warned. "Get down!"

Flora, however, couldn't hear her since some of the sludge had gotten into her ears. Wiping her eyes, the flower fairy was completely unaware of the doom that was closing in on her. "I can't see."

"Flora!" Bloom screamed. The monster was tensing itself up to lung at the gooed fairy like a cat and no one was close enough to save her since they had all positioned themselves on the other side of the monster. Flora had finally been able to clear the sludge from her eyes, but as the Lio Dragerus launched itself at her, panic gripped her mind, driving out the though of protecting herself. All she could do was scream.

"Ah!"

Helia had ignored the Red Fountain sentries' commands to evacuate the stadium and had remained in an out of the way place in the stands so he could watch. He had no interest in the fighting, but he couldn't pass up an opportunity to study the graceful and deadly aerial movements of a fully grown Lio Dragerus. The universe had lost that entire species thanks to ignorance and unjustified human fears, so even through Helia knew that he was putting himself at risk, he couldn't leave.

The Lio Dragerus was really an amazing creature when you thought about it, Helia realized. Despite the fact that they hunted in the warm, giant rainforest of Tasmedia and the hot, open plain that existed alongside it, they made their dens in the windswept mountain that surrounded the massive trees, so they had to be able to tolerate to three different climates and environment. For countless years, the Lio Dragerus had lived peacefully in the mountains, on the plains and amongst the trees, until the first people moved into the area. A hundred years later, the very last Lio Dragerus was killed and the universe lost one of its most unique creatures.

Helia watched as the dragons and jets swooped around the monster, and despite the fact that the Lio Dragerus was holding in own against the attacks, Helia couldn't help but pity the monster. It was the only one of its kind, and it had been sent here to fight these unknown enemies in a realm far from its home.

"Poor thing must be so lonely," Helia sighed to himself as a strong wave of pity welled up inside of him, but he knew that Red Fountain and its students weren't going to let their new campus be destroyed on the day of its unveiling. Unable to watch, Helia turned his back on the battle and headed for the stairs just as the monster turned to spit on the pink fairy that had tried to sneak up behind it.

Helia had just put his foot down on the third step with the sound of someone screaming reached his ears, and the name that was called was enough to make him spin on the spot and run back to where he had been standing seconds before.

"Flora!"

Suddenly, Helia lost all pity he had for the monster.

"Ah!"

Flora tensed as the Lio Dragerus closed in on her. The rest of the Winx Club and the Red Fountain Specialists were all too far away to help her and fear blinded her so she didn't even think of erecting a shield let alone gather the power to do so. The Lio Dragerus was now so close that she could smell the foul, bloody breath of the meat eater and there was no way of stopping it.

All Flora could do was tense and wait for her doom.

But it never came. When the Lio Dragerus' long fangs were just a few feet from closing down onto the pink clad fairy, the monsters advance came to a jerking halt as several golden strings latched onto its body, leashing it and preventing it attacking its prey.

Brandon blinked at the sudden stoppage. "How did that happen?"

Sky, however, had looked to where the strings had come from and knew the answer. "Look. It seems like we have a new hero."

"And who's that?"

"He's over there!" Flora pointed, her voice sounding very collected and unconcerned for someone who had almost been eaten alive by a seemingly extinct monster. "Helia."

"Helia?" Brandon repeated in disbelief. "How can an art student do that?"

"He is Saladin's grandson so heroics must be in his blood," Sky suggested, but Brandon didn't look convinced. Here was a guy who objected to fighting in all its forms and yet he could contain a beast that the students of Red Fountain, Alfea and Cloud Tower couldn't take down on his own? That guy either had an incredible amount of good luck or he had had weapons training very advanced level before.

Helia was well aware that all the Red Fountain boys were staring at him in disbelief and shock, but he didn't care. He had never allowed the pressure of social status get to him and he wasn't about to start worrying about it now. Besides, he had more important things on his mind. "Are you okay, Flora?"

"I . . ." Flora stammered bashfully. She tried to respond to his question, but she just couldn't get her mind to focus, and this time it had nothing to do with fear. "Er . . ."

Sky couldn't help but laugh at the shy and normally composed fairy's reaction at her rescue. "She's alright."

A warm smile spread across his face as he watched the flower fairy blush brightly. He had never seen anything look more adorable. Still smiling, Helia retracted his laser strings and released the monster. He had always been a strong supporter of catch and release whenever his father had taken him fishing. However, there were others that didn't agree with his line of thinking.

"Hey! Why did he let it go?" Bloom gasped. The newly freed Lio Dragerus reared up and tried to hit dragons with its massive fists, but the dragons quickly flew out of harms way even before their riders commanded them too.

"Whoa!" Brandon exclaimed as he tried to calm a terrified Emerald. "What the hell was that? He finally stops that thing and then he lets it lose again! That guy I don't get!"

"I don't think he did that to help us," Sky said, though he could see that there were others – namely Stella and Tecna – who were just as annoyed by Helia's actions as Brandon was. "C'mon. We need to come up with plan if we're ever going to stop this thing."

"Look! Timmy's down there!" Brandon pointed down to the stadium floor. "Maybe he can think of something."

"Let's go," Sky nodded, swinging Cerulean around and directing him towards his friend.

"This thing's going to destroy the whole stadium if we don't stop it soon," Timmy said as soon as his friends landed beside him.

"Yeah, and I got a feeling it's not going to stop there," Brandon grumbled, sliding down out of his saddle. As soon as his feet were on the ground, Emerald reared up, ripping the reins out of the squires hands and bolted. Cerulean followed after him.

"They're spooked," Sky noted glumly. Dragons might be fearsome fighters, but the Lio Dragerus completely dwarfed them and dragons weren't used to not being able to defeat an enemy. "But then again, aren't we all?"

"Don't suppose this is part of the opening ceremony?" Riven asked calmly, strolling over to his friends as if nothing extraordinary was going on.

"Where have you been?" Timmy asked.

"Getting stupid people who don't understand the meaning of the word 'evacuate' out of the stadium like you were doing."

"Are you limping?" Brandon asked Riven. He had always been able to pick up on little things about Riven that the others overlooked. Riven hated it and when Brandon saw his friends violet eyes darken, he knew that this was just like those other times.

"No," Riven snapped and he was spared of being interrogated further when the Winx Club flew down to where they were standing, protected by a fallen piece of rubble.

"That thing does not let up," Musa sighed deeply, sinking down out of the sky.

"We've got to stop it or you guys aren't going to have a school again," Stella told them.

"We don't need to be reminded," Riven said stiffly.

"We should use Helia's strategy and try to get the monster tied down," Sky suggested, moving past another possible argument between Riven and the princess.

"We'll need the entire archery battalion," Bloom said. "Stella and I can co-ordinate it."

"We'll get the dragons," Riven added.

"Good idea," Sky agreed. He and Brandon might be two excellent dragon wranglers, but they were only two. Also, Riven was one brilliant dragon wrangler as well and Timmy of course excelled at everything. "We'll use them to get as close as possible so we can spot its point of vulnerability. Tecna can direct the positioning."

Riven suddenly got right up in Sky's face, and everyone instantly assumed he was picking a fight with his rival. "Once that thing's restrained we can use the Four Swords Blast. You know the one you showed me."

The Winx Club may have been nervous about the way Riven was addressing the prince, but Sky got it. He might not pickup on as many things as Brandon, but he knew how to speak Riven to some degree. Riven wasn't only making a suggestion to save their school, this was his way of apologizing for being a jerk earlier. A wide grin spread across Sky's face, and Riven returned it with a sly one of his own. "That's great idea Riven. Let's do it."

Dragons were no longer the intelligent creatures they were of legend. The very first dragons, who had descended from the Great Dragon itself, had been strong, powerful and extremely smart to the point where some reports told of dragons actually speaking the human language. But after millenniums of breeding, the dragons had gotten smaller in size and dumber in the mind. But even without their legendary intelligence, the Red Fountain mustang dragons had learnt that they were no match for the Lio Dragerus and they boys were having a horrible time trying to get them out of their stables.

"Saffron!" Timmy scolded, picking himself up from the ground where he had fallen when the dragon had head butted him. It wasn't a hard hit, but it was enough to throw him off his feet.

"They're totally freaked," Brandon sighed, giving up on his efforts to drag Emerald out of the stables by his reins. "The only way we're going to get them out of here is with a tow truck."

"Oh come on! Just grab one and let's go already," Riven ordered, going to grab the reins of a black winged dragon by the name of Jet. But before he could even touch the leather straps, a flash of white and red accompanied by a warning growl shot over to Jet and nipped him sharply on the neck. With a whelp, Jet scurried off, leaving only one dragon behind. "Rouge!"

Rouge was not like normal dragons. Last year, the red winged mare had been driven to insanity when Riven had tried to control her mind and make her attack Sky's dragon against her will. Saladin had returned her sanity after the defeat of the Trix, but she wasn't the same dragon she had been at the start of the year. Along with her sanity, Rouge seemed to have obtained new characteristics that could almost be described as human. She had suddenly become rather vain – not an uncommon characteristic in dragons, but she did take it to new levels such as being caught admiring her reflection in her water trough– and her ambition had excelled into something one might even describe as dangerous. Despite being a young mare who had only recently reached a mature breeding age, Rouge had forced her way violently through the ranks to become the dominant female dragon at Red Fountain and even that wasn't enough. She enjoyed tormenting the males just as much as she liked bossing the females around which was a bit of an oddity since male and female dragons usually kept their fighting amongst their own genders. She seemed to have obtained a certain level of intelligence as well which reflected in her reptilian eyes so you could almost read her mind and understand what point she was trying to get across.

But perhaps the oddest new characteristic she had picked up since the end of last year was that she had developed an incredible attachment to Riven. She would not let him even get near another dragon and would turn rather kittenish around him, which Riven found to be a tad embarrassing but his friends found to be hilarious.

"Aw, isn't that cute," Brandon grinned widely.

"Alright, stop it," Riven commanded as Rouge snuggled her head up against him. "Can we go already?"

"And break up this tender moment?"

"That's enough. Let's just try and get the other dragons," Sky said, trying to focus his friends. Almost as if she understood what the prince was staying, Rouge shot a sharp look and a warning growl in Cerulean, Emerald and Saffron's direction and slammed her tail against the stable stalls with such force that it caused the rafters to shutter. Instantly, the three male dragons were by her side, awaiting their riders. "Wow."

"I don't think I've ever seen a dragon do that," Timmy noted, watching Rouge who had swollen up pride at the way she control the other dragons. She had also become oddly coy and the strangeness continued as she reached over and nipped Cerulean on the neck in a wickedly playful manner. The blue dragon shot her an irritated look and then ignored her. "Weird."

"Guys, our schools being attacked so can we do this later?" Sky asked, swinging into his saddle. The others followed suit and made their way out into the open air so that their dragons could take flight. "Alright guys, lets move in close."

Letting out a loud battle crew, the four riders swooped in to distract the Lio Dragerus while Bloom and the other members of the Winx Club moved the archery battalion into position around the monster so they could attack and try to restrain it. Stella, Musa, Flora and Layla all oversaw a quarter of the archers each, while Bloom stayed with Tecna as she searched for the best way to attack the monster.

"Okay, Sky, clear a radius of twenty feet around the monster," Tecna ordered over the intercom.

"You heard her!" Sky shouted to the others as he pulled on Cerulean's reins, and the four dragons flew away just as the Red Fountain archery battalion fired their laser string arrows. Golden, delicate looking threads shot through the air and latched themselves to the monsters limbs and body, holding the beast in place. But no matter how good a hold they had on it, the Lio Dragerus struggled against its bonds and the archers were losing their grip.

"He's about to break free!" Brandon warned as he saw an entire squad of specialists get ripped off their feet after the monster made a sudden jerk in its efforts to get free.

"Hold on tight guys!" Bloom shouted in encouragement, but still the monster struggled and there was only so much they could do against something that powerful.

"He's too strong!"

"He's gonna break free!" Flora gasped as the laser strings started to snap under the strain of the monster. Gathering her winx, the flower fairy focused her magic into the ground and called upon the natural force that existed in the soil and added it to her own. "Ivy web, grow and spread."

The compacted dirt floor of the stadium broke as think, powerful vines emerged out of the ground and shot up to wrap themselves around the monsters, holding it firmly in place and giving the specialists the hand they need.

"Now all we need to know is where the point of vulnerability is," Timmy said more to himself than anyone else as he gripped Saffron's reins tightly. And at that moment, Tecna found it.

"Hey guys! Get ready!" Bloom ordered over the intercom.

"Swords in!" Sky commanded and the four riders moved their dragons closer to one another. "Where are we shooting, Tec?"

"Aim for the exact centre of the monsters chest just below where its mane ends. That's where a lot of its power seems to be coming from. If you attack it there, it should be enough to cripple it," Tecna explained.

"Should?" Riven repeated sceptically.

"Move now!" Tecna commanded sharply. This was no time for hesitation.

"We gotcha!" Timmy assured her, crossing his golden phantom blade with Sky, Brandon and Riven. As he focused his mental energy into his blade, Timmy felt some of his physical energy start to drain as well. But he kept pouring his energy into the blade untill it changed to a deeper shade of gold than it usually was and he could see that the same thing was happening to his friends blades as well.

Finally, Sky gave the command. "Fire guys!"

With a flash, the four swords turned white hot and an instant later, a bright, white light shot from the blades right at the monsters chest. The four boys slumped in their saddles in exhaustion, but the danger wasn't over yet. The Lio Dragerus let out a deafening roar of pain and anger as the blast sunk deeper into its chest, and it continued to scream and thrash as its body began to flash golden in colour.

"Retreat! Now!" Sky ordered and neither the other boys nor their dragons need to be told twice. With very little urging, the four dragons plummeted down towards the ground while at the same time trying to get as much distance between them and the flashing Lio Dragerus as possible. As soon as their clawed feet touched the ground, the dragons all dropped down onto their bellies and lifted their wings up to shield their body and the riders from danger. Their long tails wrapped itself around them and they all ducked their heads under one wing for protection.

Seconds later, the Lio Dragerus exploded into a large flash of light and a massive dust storm blew up from the blast.

"Alright! We got it!" Bloom cheered, but when the dust cleared, no remains or any real evidence that the monster was even there could be found.

"What do you mean they don't think that was a real Lio Dragerus?" Stella asked as she stood in the shade of one of Red Fountains new trees with her hands on her hips. "We all saw it, didn't we? That was clearly a Lio Dragerus! I've seen pictures of them!"

"It did look like a Lio Dragerus," Timmy agreed. "But the largest Lio Dragerus ever recorded was only the size of a dragon. That thing was massively oversize. It couldn't have been a real Lio Dragerus."

"Then what was it?" Bloom asked.

Timmy shrugged. "No one can really know for sure, but a few people said they saw a small, bat like creature flying away from the campus just after the explosion. It's possible that someone spelled the bat into appearing like a Lio Dragerus and to attack us. There are accounts of stuff like that happening through history."

"Yeah, but it would take an incredible amount of magic to swell something to the size of the monster that attacked us today," Musa pointed out. "I doubt even Ms. F has that kind of power."

"Well, someone attack us today and I think it was a diversion and whatever they want, they didn't get it," Tecna noted. "Timmy, may I have a look at that map you have of Red Fountain's new campus. I'd like to over look the security layout."

"Sure thing," Timmy said, pulling out a folded piece of paper. When opened, the map was rather large in size and showed the entire layout for the new school. The two computer geeks proceeded to pour over the map while Musa, Layla and Brandon all listened to Stella go on about how excellently she had commanded the Red Fountain freshmen archery battalion. Flora was sitting under a tree alone, content with her own thoughts, as was Riven who leaned against his own tree a little further away from the group.

"We did good today," Sky said to Bloom as the two of them sat under a tree not far from the others. It was the first time they had had alone all day, though it still wasn't as alone as he would have liked it.

"Yeah, good thing you learnt about that Four Swords Blast over the summer," Bloom grinned. "What you did today was incredible."

"It's actually called the Four Swordsmen Blast but you know how Riven never listens (6). It worked a lot better than I expected it too, though it's a lot more draining than I anticipated as well."

"Is that hero's brew kicking in yet?"

"Yeah, I feel heaps better than I did before. Thanks for suggesting it."

"I just remembered how much it helped me after we got in that big fight with the witches in Downtown Magix last year. I figured it would work on you too," Bloom shrugged.

"It sure did," Sky smiled at her, giving her hand a squeeze and Bloom smiled back at him coyly. Slowly, so not to spook her, Sky leant forward to press his lips lighting to hers. Bloom responded by leaning into the kiss, but before the pair could deepen it any further, a shadow fell across them which made them jump and pull back. Sky glared at the individual who dared to interrupt their kiss and his irritation doubled when he saw that the person standing in front of them was a complete stranger. He was a tall man, dressed in a white suit with long, dark hair that had the slightest trace of grey in it. Sky was fairly sure that he hadn't met this man before, but at the same time he got the nagging feeling that he had.

"Sorry to interrupt," the man apologized without the slightest trace of embarrassment. "But I was wondering if I might be able to have a quick word with you alone, Bloom."

"Sure thing, Professor Avalon," Bloom smiled, jumping to her feet and following after the man that Sky now recognized as the paladin that had saved them in Shadow Haunt and Alfea's new professor that Bloom had become so enthralled with. "I'll be right back, Sky."

Fuming with jealousy, Sky stayed where he was and, although he knew it was bad manners, he eavesdropped in on Bloom's conversation with her professor.

"Firstly, I would like to commend you on the excellent leadership you displayed today while trying to contain that monster," Avalon congratulated. "I've seen seasoned big game hunters get taken down by monsters like that, so what you achieved today was truly remarkable."

"Thank you professor," Bloom blushed bashfully. "But I did have some help from the others."

A wave a red hot anger welled up inside of the prince. Some help? He went from being incredible to just offering her some help?

"So I heard," Avalon said in what Sky thought sounded like a very offhanded tone of voice. "And I wish I had been there to help you. I was taking a tour and by the time I got back to the stadium the fight was over."

"You could have destroyed that monster in a second," Bloom gushed.

"Yeah right," Sky huffed as he struggled to keep his anger in check. He was so irritated that he didn't even notice a paper airplane swoop past his face before landing in Flora's lap. Curiously, Flora unfolded the paper plane to discover a breathtaking sketch of herself drawn on it.

And there was only one person in the Realm of Magix that she knew could draw that well.

The after party the Red Fountain put on to celebrate the unveiling of their new campus was like nothing the three schools in the Realm of Magix had ever seen before. Alfea and Cloud Tower had no real venue to hold a large scale party, and although the old Red Fountain had a stadium, it did not have the right equipment for them to use modern entertainment, and since it had been listed as a historical building, the school hadn't been able to do anything to change that.

However, along with the new campus, Red Fountain had gotten a state of the art stadium that was, as Saladin had said, 'a place for athletics and dramatics'. The whole stadium had been decked out with advanced lighting and sound equipment that Timmy, Tecna and even Musa drooled over. Red Fountain made good use of their new equipment by blaring out the music mixed by DJ Mirage and illuminated the entire stadium with flashing, colourful disco lights in order to transform the school into what could easily be mistaken as one of the most popular night clubs they had on offer in Magix.

The stadium was packed with students from all three schools who were either sweating it out on the crowded dance floor or standing around shouting loudly to one another in order to be heard over the pounding music. Since it was on school grounds, alcohol had been strictly forbidden but there were a number of students who ignored that rule, though they did hide that fact that they were doing so very well. Brandon and Stella were once again inseparable and made quite an impression on the dance floor with their rumba. Musa, Layla and Bloom had spent practically the entire night on the dance floor. Timmy and Tecna were quite happy to stand back and watch them, as did Sky, who was still sulking about Avalon, and Riven, who was trying to avoid Musa so that she couldn't ask him to dance with her.

Flora had started the night hanging out with and talking with Tecna and the boys before being dragged onto the dance floor by Bloom. And now, hot and sweaty from all the dancing she had done, Flora was in desperate need of some fresh air. Accompanied by Chatta, Flora stepped out of the pounding stadium and released a deep sigh of relief as the cool night air hit her hot, sweaty skin.

"It's nice out here," she smiled, closing her eyes and letting her body cool itself.

"Come on, Flora! Let's get back in there!" Chatta shouted cheerfully. "I've just thought of a cheer that could make a great dance and I can't wait to show the others!"

"In a minute, Chatta," Flora said softly, her eyes still closed. "It's so much cooler out her. It's lovely."

"And quieter too," a soft voice added from somewhere behind her, making Flora jump and snap her eyes open. Spinning around, she saw, sitting on a bench alongside the walls of the stadium was Helia. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"No, it's quite alright," Flora assured him. "I just wasn't aware than anyone else was out here, that's all."

Despite all the skills of mastering words that came with him being a poet, Helia could not focus himself enough to put together a sentence that would start of a conversation with the girl. Instead, all he could do was stare openly at the beautiful fairy in front of him. Her sweaty body glistened in the moonlight, highlighting her curves despite the darkness. Her long, brown hair was damp and dishevelled but Helia thought it looked batter than anything a hair stylist could create. She was still breathing heavily from the dancing and the fright and when that was combined with her sweaty skin and wild hair, it was enough to make Helia's mouth go dry and cause his pulse to quicken.

She really was stunning.

Chatta made some comment about how she was going to go find Lockette for secret pixie business and flew off, leaving the two teenagers alone. But if either of them happened to look around the corner, they would have found a tiny, gold pixie with long pigtails eavesdropping in on their conversation.

"Thank you," Flora blurted out suddenly in a strong voice, but when Helia locked his cobalt eyes on her stunning emerald ones, her cheeks flushed and she became bashful and nervous. "I mean, for earlier . . . you know . . . with the monster."

"You're welcome," Helia replied politely. "I didn't approve of the way everyone was trying to destroy the beast, but when it tried to attack you, I couldn't sit idly by."

"Well, I for one am glad you didn't," Flora smiled warmly which made Helia's stomach suddenly start to feel funny. "And thank you very much as well for the drawing you gave me. You're a very talented artist."

"That's kind of you to say so, but it's rather easy when you have such a breathtaking subject to sketch," Helia told her. He saw her cheeks flush at his words and he suddenly felt slightly nervous that he had spoken his mind too openly too soon. He never had this feeling when he had spoken with other girls in the past, he noted to himself, but then again he had never met a girl quite as enchanting as Flora before.

Flora nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled shyly at Helia. There was no denying that she thought he was cute and whenever he smiled at her she felt her insides go all gooey in a way that no other boy had made her feel before, but there was a part of her mind that kept reminding her that he was no doubt going to leave Red Fountain and go back to his art school now that the new campus had been unveiled. But then again, she couldn't help but hope that maybe he would change his mind. "So, what do you think of Red Fountain?"

"I like the new campus," Helia said. "I can't imagine the amount of effort that would have gone into making this in just one summer. It's very elegant now and I love the way the architects have balanced out the militaristic feel of the school with the natural flows of water and trees."

"I got that impression as well," Flora agreed. "Would you ever think of transferring here?"

If anyone had asked him that question that morning, Helia would have been able to answer no without any hesitation, but now, as he sat with such an astoundingly beautiful fairy in front of him, Helia felt torn between a decision. Finally, he figured to answer Flora's question honestly.

"I'm starting to consider it."

(1) I never could work out what the boys did to take down the Lio Dragerus, but I couldn't exactly just have to guys fly out into the stadium on their dragons, put their swords together and then fly away. That would just be stupid, which is why I came up the Four Swordsmen Blast bull

(2) I knew a guy who did this. What a pansy

(3) The 4kids version actually has Helia as Saladin's nephew, but I'm changing it to grandfather is Saladin looks old enough to be it

(4) The original line Digit says here is "My cousin sells them. He can get you a deal" but aren't all pixies supposed to be girls? Hmm. Continuity issues

(5) Band of Brothers Chapter Twenty-Two 'Mission to Cloud Tower'

(6) I wrote that whole first part of this chapter before I realised I was calling it the Four Swordsmen Blast instead of the Four Swords Blast. Instead of changing it, I just had Riven mispronounce it instead.

Another major thing that I just bulled my way through was the unveiling of the Red Fountain new campus. It just seemed to come out of the ground, but all the people still stayed in the old stadium. What the hell? I also can't work out how they get into the school if they don't have a ship or whatever. There's a lot of holes in this cartoon I've come to realise.

Well anyways, that's another long chapter out of the way and since Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur (Anything said in Latin sounds profound), I leave you with this insightful advice:


"Homo sapiens non urinat in ventum"

(A wise man doesn't piss into the wind)