The Eiffel Tower has 1792 steps.

Chapter Eleven – Deadly Nightshade

Musa saw the attack heading straight towards Riven and felt her heart stop.

Ignoring the pain surging through her body, Musa sprung to her feet and bolted over to Riven, thrusting a shield out in front of him. She wrapped her arms around his waist in an attempt to stop her momentum, but there was no real reason for it. As soon as Darcy's powerful attack hit Musa's shield, the impact from the explosion was enough to send both Musa and Riven hurling to the ground. The shield wavered slightly as Darcy's attack continued to try and force its way passed. Darcy kept on feeding the attack, making it start to rage out of control.

"I can't keep this shield up for long!" Musa strained through gritted teeth. She couldn't remember ever being this exhausted in a battle and she knew she couldn't take much more. She had been in a decent number of scraps with the Trix over the last few years but this was the first time she honestly feared for her life. Darcy had lost the plot and Musa knew that the Witch intended to kill her this time.

"Then drop the damn thing and fly out of here while you've got the strength!" Riven ordered her, furious and terrified at how helpless he was. However it wasn't his skin he was worried about saving, it was the fairy next to him.

"I'm not leaving you!"

"Just do it Musa! You've got to get yourself out of here while you can! It's okay! I don't care what happens to me!"

"But I do!" Musa cried out, looking at him with anguish in her eyes from the very thought of leaving him here with this witch. "She'll kill you Riven! Or change you into something you don't want to be like she did two years ago! I know you're not that person!"

"Just leave! I'm not worth it!"

"Damn it Riven! You are!" Musa fumed, suddenly furious with him for being so stubborn. If she didn't need to have both her hands raised in order to uphold the shield she definitely would have hit him for that comment. "I know you! No matter what Darcy's got you thinking over the last few weeks, you're a good person! And you're important to a lot of people! To Helia and the rest of your friends! To the Winx Club! To me, damn it! So stop being so selfish and think about us before you let your ex kill you!"

"Stop being idiotic, Musa! You can get out of here! Now go!"

"I can't get out of here because I can't fly and even if I could I still wouldn't go!"

"Musa," Riven begged. "I can't let Darcy hurt you."

Musa smiled weakly. Risking everything, she dropped one of her hands from the shield and softly covered his hand with hers. She couldn't hold that shield much longer and all she wanted was the comfort that contact with the man she loved could offer. As her skin touched his, she felt her power surge slightly despite her fatigue, granting her the strength she desperately needed at this point. "I'm not leaving you."

Riven sighed deeply and shook his head in disbelief, but he couldn't deny to himself that he was pleased she hadn't deserted him like people in the past had done. Maybe they still had something after all.

"All right, what do we do?" he questioned, noticing how the shield was starting to bend inwards under the force of the Deadly Nightshade attack. They couldn't stay hidden under the shield for much longer. They needed a plan of attack. "Can you maybe get around her attack and hit her with your magic?"

"I don't think so. That spell's so powerful she can use it as both offensive and defencive. Her attack is like a shield in itself. And I can't cast another spell without dropping the shield."

"Then drop it."

"No! Besides, it won't be able to get passed her attack."

"Maybe I could throw my sabre at her or something?" Riven thought out loud. He knew how ridiculous that sounded, but he was all out of ideas and if there was one thing he hated, it was not knowing how to take an enemy down.

"Again, it won't be able to get past her attack. And look at yourself. Do you really think you're in any shape to fight?"

Riven looked down at his body and he saw Musa had a point. His body was covered in deep, indigo bruises from Darcy's dark attacks. He had picked up quite a few scratches and gashes from his run in with those monster trees. He could still feel blood trickling down his face from the cut on his forehead and he knew he would definitely need stitches. He had several large splinters in his flesh including one in his upper left arm from him riding too fast through the undergrowth. Blood still faintly flowed from the wound and dripped down his arm.

The blood. A wound on his left arm. Darcy. It all seemed so familiar for some reason. And then, he began to recall a night the year before when Darcy had snuck into his room seeking some entertainment for the night and ended up having to face Sky, Brandon, Helia and Timmy.

~Flashback~

After a quick glance at the specialist, Darcy extended her right hand over in Riven's direction and the arrogant warrior flinched as though he had been hit.

"It's witch kickin' time," Brandon grinned, raising his green broadsword ready to attack.

"I wouldn't," Darcy warned calmly.

"Yeah, you wish!" Brandon cried, lunging forwards with a downwards swing of his blade. With a clean swipe, the tip of Brandon's sword cut through Darcy's upper left arm at an angle that was not enough to cause any real damage – she was still a girl after all – but enough to still cause her to bleed. Darcy flinched and screamed in pain, but she did not lower her right arm. Simultaneously, Riven reacted the same way as the witch, clutching his upper left arm as he trembled weakly on the dorm room floor.

"What happened?" Sky asked, alarmed at his friends strange behaviour. It was enough to make all the heroes hesitate from attacking the witch again.

Timmy suddenly gasped. "Riven's bleeding."

Despite the fact that no one had touched him, crimson liquid was flowing between Riven's fingers as he gripped his arm. Blood ran down Darcy's left arm from an identical wound.

"Are minds are link," Darcy told them all coldly. "Attack me if you want, but what you do to me you do to your friend."

~End Flashback~

It was the mind link that Darcy had set up while they were dating so they communicate mentally over distance. He had used it to report his findings on Bloom and the others and Darcy used it whenever she wanted to call him to her bedroom. Saladin had told him how dangerous having a link like that could be, especially since Darcy had never closed it. She could have reopened it at any time and taken over his mind, and that had been exactly was she had tried to do that night she snuck into his room. Saladin had disengaged the link so no one would be able to access it from the outside, but he wasn't able to remove it entirely since he had said it might affect Riven's state of mind too dramatically. These side affects could have been anywhere between losing the ability to smell or taste certain things to wiping Riven's mind completely. So, instead Saladin had confined the link deep inside Riven's mind.

It was a long shot, but maybe Riven would be able to reopen the link and act as a gateway to attack Darcy.

Riven shut his eyes and retreated deep within himself. He gently put his fingertips of one of his hands to his temple in the same way he had always done to opened the link while he and Darcy were together. Everything was dark, so Riven began his search cautiously. He lightly brushed over faint memories that he had buried deep within his mind in an attempt to avoid them. Most of them were from his childhood. He had forgotten a lot of them over the years, so he didn't dwell on them too long. He had been happy ignoring that fact that they had ever occurred, but there were also a few from his sophomore year when he betrayed all his friends to be with Darcy. Those memories had a lot more clarity than the others, particularly the one when he had laughed at Musa begging him for help.

It wasn't a pleasant trip down memory lane.

And then he saw it. He had first noticed the pale purple glow that it gave off and had followed it until he was mentally standing in front of the link. It had changed itself over the time encaged in Riven's mind so now it now resembled some kind of plant. Its leaves were dark and it was in full bloom with tiny, purple flowers. Each flower had five petals there were a beautiful soft purple colour and a yellow beak protruding out from the flowers centre. Riven had seen this kind of plant in class when they had been studying the medical and toxic properties in plants.

Deadly Nightshade.

Riven lightly touched the plant and instantly a swirling purple portal open up to him. In the centre of the portal was Darcy. He could see her doubling her attack and he could also see the effort it took. Suddenly a plan solidified in his mind and he was certain it was going to work.

Riven opened his eyes, breaking off his contact with the link. "Musa. I know a way we can beat her. You need to attack me."

"What?" Musa gasped. She was pale, shaking and sweating under the effort to maintain the shield that was protecting her and Riven. Darcy's attack continued to strain against the shield.

"I don't have time to really explain, but I can link my mind with Darcy's and any injury either one of us sustains the other will experience because their mind makes it real. Like in that movie Bloom made us watch; The Matrix."

"I never understood that movie!"

"It doesn't matter! Look, all you need to do is drop the shield and attack me with some of your magic. Darcy's attack will hurt her, but not enough. It's her magic so she's slightly immune to it, so we need some of your magic to bulk up the attack. It's the only way we can beat her."

Tears welled in Musa's eyes. "Riven. I-I can't! Please! I-I just – "

"Musa! It's the only way! On my go, just do it!"

"Riven," Musa gasped. Tears were running down her cheeks and Riven could see the pain in her eyes, but she seemed to understand that they were all out of options. Reluctantly, she nodded.

Riven looked at her one last time before closing his eyes and lifting his fingertips to his temple. The world went dark around him, and he was suddenly extremely cold. The mind link loomed in front of him. The plant seemed to know what was coming and had come alive. Its long vine like branches reached out and wrapped themselves around his body loosely. Draped in the link, Riven willed it to open.

The portal swirled in front of him and Darcy was there in the centre of it. She knew all about hypnotisation and mind control, so she was instantly aware of Riven's presence in her mind. She seemed a little taken back and stared at him in shock. For a second Riven almost pitied her for what he was about to do to her. Riven never really saw her as evil like his friends did. Underneath it all she was just an emotionally confused girl being driven by her sisters and her heritage. Whenever she was alone with him Darcy had almost behaved like a normal person would. By rejecting her, Riven knew he had denied her every chance at normality. However he wasn't doing this for his own freedom or because he wanted to see Darcy suffer. He was doing this for Musa. He knew he was possibly facing his death. He was not in the best shape to survive an attack of this intensity and Darcy was even more exhausted. Even if just one of them didn't survive, the other would die along with them. That's how the mind link worked but it would be worth it if it meant keeping Musa safe.

Musa was his life and he'd gladly give his own to protect her. Musa had told him not to be selfish and toss his life away so casually, but he figured he was being less selfish by letting Musa live. There was no way she could maintain that shield much longer and she had more to live for than him. Her friends would never be able to recover if she was gone and her father wouldn't be able to go on after losing his daughter as well as his beloved wife. And Riven couldn't live with himself if he was to somehow survive and she didn't.

He loved her and he was willing to risk everything for that love, even his own life. Gripping the Deadly Nightshade tightly and making sure the link was secure, Riven knew he was ready.

"Musa! Now!

I had nothing to write at the top of this and felt I needed to say something before you leapt into the next chapter. Thus, the Eiffel Tower has 1792 steps.

The plant I'm describing is actually a plant called bittersweet nightshade which is still part of the nightshade family. The true "deadly nightshade" of literature and lore, is the poisonous belladonna plant (Atropa belladonna). All parts of the belladonna plant contain the poison atropine. Bittersweet nightshade isn't deadly but it's not good for you. The plant contains small amounts of another chemical, solanine, and perhaps others, which have stronger, potentially toxic effects on the body. Like many plants containing chemicals that are potentially toxic to us, bittersweet nightshade has had some medicinal uses in the past. It has been used externally to treat skin problems, including warts, infected toenails or fingernails, tumors, and eczema. It has also served as an ingredient in remedies for rheumatism, kidney problems, and respiratory ailments such as bronchitis, asthma, and whooping cough. It was also worn to ward off the effects of witchcraft. They even put it one their pets.

There's some pointless information just there. And now you've read it, you're stuck with it. Suffer!

Okay, also I'm totally getting the hint that a lot of you guys don't know what I'm getting at in Chapter 5 'Life's a Drag' with the whole Priscilla Queen of the Desert thing, which is cool since it is kind of an Australian movie. Basically, The Adventures of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert is a 1994 Australian film about two drag queens (Hugo Weaving – Agent Smith from The Matrix, and Guy Pearce - L.A. Confidential, Ravenous, Rules of Engagement, Memento, The Count of Monte Cristo, and The Time Machine) and a transsexual woman driving across the outback from Sydney to Alice Springs (a remote Australian city in the middle of the desert) in a large bus they have named Priscilla.

Probably the most famous scene involves Guy Pearce's character dressed in a sliver dress with the make-up and a big feather headdress sitting on a giant silver stiletto shoe onto of the bus (Priscilla) lip-syncing to an opera song as they drive through the desert with this big, silver dress flying behind them like a banner. Like I said, I have no idea why it's so popular but I can't separate anyone with the name Priscilla from that movie. Also, I'm sure the world will keep on turning if you never see it, so don' think that you're missing out on anything major. In fact, the only thing that I thought was great about that movie was that it gave way to one of Australia's best commercials for bathroom cleaner I have ever seen. Oh, and the costumes are pretty good too.

TBC.