Hey all. I figured I better get this next one up ASAP since it kinda explains why Musa and Riven did a lot of what they did in the chapter before. Riven's a bit suicidal in this chapter, so yeah, you've been warned.

Chapter Seven – Pleasure and Pain

Musa had bolted into her room, sobbing hysterically. Her friends naturally stopped whatever they had been doing to try and console her, but it had taken them several minutes to get Musa to start talking and another ten for her to sob the whole story to them.

"I'm gonna kill him," Layla concluded when Musa had finished.

Bloom gave the Princess of Tides a disapproving look from where she sat on Musa's bed, rubbing the musical fairy back in small, slow circles. "I don't think that's helping."

"It's completely out of character for him," Tecna noted. "While it's true that Riven may not be the gentlest individual, I don't think he'd ever raise a hand against a girl, especially one he cares about."

"Hello! He threw her up against a wall!" Stella pointed out, her arms making big, choppy motions through the air as she paced about the room. "I think we can now add violence against women to Riven's long list of flaws. I told you he was no good for you Musa. Why couldn't you just stick with Jared then this – "

Stella was cut off by another of Musa's hysterical wails as fresh tears soaked into her quilt. The musical fairy was lying on her stomach, face buried in her sheets as she cried her broken heart out. A few of her friends sat on the bed with her, rubbing her back or caressing her head or holding her hand, but nothing comforted her.

"He knew," she cried, her voice muffled. "He knew about Jared."

"You never told him?" Tecna gasped.

"N-N-No," Musa sobbed. "But somehow . . . h-he found out. And he's right! Gods, he's right! I have no right to question . . . t-to question whether he'll be unfaithful to me if I'm seeing . . . other guys behind his back!"

"It was just one date," Flora reminded her, stroking her dark hair.

"And technically you and Riven weren't officially together then," Stella recalled.

"Still, I have no right . . . no right . . . And now . . . And now I've lost him!"

"Wait! Don't tell me you're honestly want him back?!" Layla exclaimed, staring at her friend in pure horror. The Princess of Tides as barely able to restrain herself from hunting Riven down in order to castrate him for hurting her friend, and here was Musa crying over how she had lost him?

"After all he's done to you?" Stella added in disbelief.

"You took Brandon back when you found out he and Sky switched identities," Flora said. Although her friends may not always agree with her, Flora had always gotten along rather well with Riven and his closeness with Helia had only added to their friendship.

"Brandon never hit me!"

"Technically neither did Riven," Tecna corrected. "I'm not trying to make any excuses for him, but Riven always has been rather emotional and does have a tendency to lash out whenever he's angry. It's highly possible that Musa got him so mad he forgot who he was arguing with. Like some kind of a rage block out."

"I can't believe we're even having this conversation," Stella muttered, throwing her hands up in the air. Short of being spelled, there was no excuse good enough to justify that kind of violence.

"Do you think it's possible for you two to work passed this?" Bloom gently asked Musa. The Princess of the Harmonic Nebular lifted her tear stained and flushed face out of the blankets. She had cried herself out.

"No," Musa admitted glumly with a shake of her head. "You didn't see how hurt he was. And those things I said, like that thing about his family it's . . . It's just too horrible for him to forgive."

"Actually I thought what you said was perfect," a new voice told her evenly. "In fact, I don't think it could have gone better if I had given you the words myself. You've absolutely crushed him."

Standing quite calmly in a darkened corner of the room with her arms folded across her chest was Darcy. Her eyes were glowing in dreadful pleasure and a wicked smile covered her face as she observed the crying fairy. This had definitely been worth the wait.

"What are you doing here, witch!" Stella hissed, dropping down into a defencive stance. The other girls were in a similar position, except of course Musa who was still too shocked and numb to react.

"Gloating," Darcy answered honestly. "I think I have every right to be allowed that after all the time and effort I went through in order to set that little domestic up."

"You did what?!" Layla snapped, ready in an instant to shift her rage from Riven to Darcy.

"Yes, that was all me," Darcy confessed. "Two weeks was a long time to build the foundations for that flight, but it was totally worth it. You two shattered like glass as soon as I started tightening the screws. Honestly Musa, you are the easiest girl in the universe to manipulate. You're even blinder then Bloom. I mean, come on; the dreams, the insecurity and not to mention all those dark thoughts you've been having lately. You didn't even suspect something wasn't right. Riven's disgustingly devoted to you and yet you still gave in to my manipulation. Can you get any more pathetic?"

"You caused this?" Musa gasped, her eyes filling with tears.

"Of course I did. I planted my memories in your dreams so they would consume you and you'd begin to question Riven's faithfulness. I kept highlighting your insecurities and fears 'til you couldn't tell your emotions from my dark magic. And that confidence spell I put on you so you'd have the nerve to ask about Riven's past with me was sere brilliance, if I may say so myself," Darcy gloated.

"No," Musa whispered in a shaking voice. Everything that had been going on between her and Riven these last few weeks had been Darcy's fault. She had manipulated them to destroy their relationship. Oh gods, what had she done?

"But I can't believe how perfectly you ripped him apart. Oh, it was like you knew exactly where his weak spots were and you just . . . Oh! It was fantastic! I can't even put it into words! I would have never thought of dragging his mother's desertion into the fight, but that got him right where it hurts! I love it! Who would have thought that just a few words from you could do more damage to him then all of my dark magic?"

"You witch!" Bloom snarled, furious that Darcy had manipulated and caused so much pain to not just one of her friends but two.

"I am, aren't I? And may I just say I have not had this much fun since I destroyed Red Fountain with the Army of Decay. Although I must admit I did get kind of bored with you Musa. Those same old insecurities just get old after a while. But with Riven I could play with so many more levels of deception."

"You messed with Riven as well?" Flora said as viciously as she could. Helia had mentioned that something was wrong with Riven, but neither of them had realise how much danger he had been in.

"It was easy," Darcy told them. "My dear little Puppy Dog is a gold mine of dark thoughts and fears for me to exploit. I could play on the mistrust he believes his friends has in him, or his guilt for betraying them, or his unworthiness of Musa. And then there's his horrible childhood. I doubt any of you could even begin to really understand just how much his past still affects him unless you look into his mind like I've done. Just highlighting that old emotions made it so easy to provoke a violent response out of him, like a dog biting out of fear. Plus there's that wonderful little card I can play on any male; lust. I got him so frustrated he couldn't even think straight. You should have seen it Musa, the way he'd just start to sweat whenever I got close to him."

"Wait? Riven knew you were free?" Tecna asked, her eyes wide with shock. As far as the rest of them were aware, the Trix were still trapped in the Realm of Realix and yet Riven knew otherwise but tell them? Just how far had Riven slipped away from them in two weeks?

"He most certainly did, but it was his fear of losing your trust that made him keep his mouth shut. He's so uncertain of himself that he believes that simply admitting that he's been in contact with an enemy would be enough to condemn him as a traitor again. Seems you lot have a few trust issues."

"Why are you doing this?" Musa whispered, sitting up. She had gone numb the more Darcy explained her different ways she had attacked them without their knowledge.

"Because Riven's a man, Musa. A man. Not a boy like your loser friends date. He has such potential for darkness, but you and your goody-two-shoes way is ruining that! It's pathetic what he's become. And like any dog that reaches that level of wretchedness, he needs to be either put down or retrained. And I plan to do that. He is going to pay for rejecting me and thinking he can go back to your idea of what's right. He will be completely at my mercy and I will make him suffer, and the best way to do that it through you, Musa. You may have given him the strength to get away from me once, but you'll be his downfall now."

"You still have feelings for Riven, don't you?" Stella gasped. She had never imagined the Trix would be able to feel any emotion beyond hate, but there was something in Darcy's voice that suggested otherwise. Her face, however, gave nothing away.

"Only desire to destroy him," she assured them, her voice cold and her eyes hard. "And now, thanks to Musa, he's ripe for the taking."

"You're gonna regret messing with me, witch!" Musa spat, getting to her feet and readying herself for a fight. Darcy had turned her dream with Riven into a nightmare so now the witch was going to pay. Musa's blood pounded in her ears, blinding her in rage.

"I'd really love to stick around and play, but I've got another engagement," Darcy smiled maliciously, gathering her power ready to transport herself through the shadows. She just needed to push Musa a little more. "But I'll give Riven your best."

Musa cracked. She didn't care that this was one of the most dangerous witches in the Magical Universe. All she wanted was to gauge Darcy's eyes out with her bare hands. Forgetting all about her powers, Musa lunged forward with an animal like snarl, her hands extended like claws, but that was exactly what Darcy had been waiting for. Before the Winx Club could react to Musa's sudden attack, Darcy reached out and took firm hold of one of Musa's out stretched hands. And then, with a surge of dark magic, the pair vanished through the shadows, leaving behind five very shocked girls.

Riven's bike strained under the intense speed Riven was forcing upon it. The woods flew by as he reached speeds he would never have tried to achieve in a right state of mind, but right now he didn't care.

He needed to get out of here. He had to. He just couldn't stay here now. Not after what he had done. Things with Musa were ruined beyond belief and he had certainly lost the trust he had tried so hard to re-establish with his friends but there was nothing he could do about that now. He would just have to avoid them now for the rest of his life and he knew that would be much easier then it sounded. He would go to Magix tonight and find a way to leave. He had lived without material possessions before, so there was nothing he needed at Red Fountain. He had his sabre, that's all that mattered. Once in Magix, he'd sell his bike and then buy or steal another one, whichever came easiest. Timmy would certainly be able to track him down if he kept this bike and so once it was discarded he'd be able to move off into the unknown. He'd change his name and maybe his appearance and then take a job on one of those battle ships fighting in the Pippus Arc. None of his friends would dare to ever go to that war zone. Casualty rates were high there and they weren't fussy about who they took on.

Riven just couldn't stay here.

His body was freezing from the wind-chill but he couldn't feel it. He had become so numb with hurt and self-disgust that he had slipped into some kind of detached haze. He couldn't even remember why or when he had turned off the main road and now dodged the trees that he shot through the undergrowth. The added thrill satisfied his reeling state and one particularly close clip with the branches of a tree distracted him for a moment. The sleeve on the upper left arm was reduced to shreds and he could feel the blood rushing down from the wound.

Riven welcomed the physical pain. That kind of pain he could handle. It was so familiar to him now, while emotional pain was something he couldn't deal with. He knew he couldn't stand the look of disappointment on his friends' faces or the fear that Musa would surely have around him. Gritting his teeth, Riven pushed his bike faster as he flew through the trees. He just needed to get out of this realm.

And even though he knew he needed to do this, Riven couldn't keep Musa's voice out of his head.

Run away when things get difficult! That's what you do, isn't it?! Run from your problems?! I guess you do take after your parents after all! Coward!

His eyes suddenly burned, clouding his vision. As incoherent as his mind may be at that particular moment, Riven couldn't ignore the fact that he couldn't drive if he couldn't see. Slamming on the breaks, Riven came to a swift stop on the edge of a small clearing that silver in the full moonlight. The engine of his bike jiggled as it recovered from the sudden stop from such a speed, but Riven didn't care. He still gripped the handlebars so tightly that his knuckles had turned white. His heart pounded in his ears and his chest felt tight. In the sudden stillness, Riven reflected on what had just happened at the gates of Alfea and again he felt like he was going to be sick. In a sudden flash of white-hot anger, he removed his helmet and threw it savagely at one of the many trees surrounding him.

"Damn it!" he exploded, glaring angrily at the night. Why did he always have to screw everything up? Why did he always seem to push away the people he cared about the most? Why couldn't he be normal for once?

Folding his arms across the handlebars of his bike, he buried his face in them. He couldn't breathe properly and his entire body was shivering, but it wasn't from the cold. His eyes burned with tears, but he didn't dare to let them fall. Old habits died hard. All he could do was gasp like a man who wanted nothing more than the cry but could not bring himself to do it.

He had only ever felt this alone and awful once before and that involved him being left behind, not leaving. Everyone who should have loved him had abandoned him. His father had left before he was even born and he could never forget the way his mother had left him on those steps in the city, promising that she would return shortly. That was the last time he ever saw her.

No wonder he was so messed up.

He was so numb by his emotions and caught up in his own pain, that he only just heard a voice greeting him from somewhere under the trees, hidden in the darkness except for a pair of glowing, golden eyes.

"Hey sweetie."

TBC. And although Riven is a violent character, I think he'd have too much honour to beat up a woman which is why I made it so Darcy manipulated his emotions to make him violent towards Musa, I just wanted to make that clear. Wen in doubt, blame the evil ex girlfriend and their manipulative ways.