Not as exciting in action, but a lot of in depth dialogue.

Chapter 3: His Backstory

She was surprised how quickly the medical staff in the hospital could patch up her wound. But even the most trained staff in Magix could not make the wound disappear entirely, and now she would be stuck with a large scar for a lengthy period of time. She wondered if she could just conceal it behind her magenta bangs of hair. Then no one would ever know about her ugly injury. No matter how much she protested, Valtor still thought she was beautiful. Even with a bloodied face with a scar, tangled hair, and a ripped and filthy dress; he still called her beautiful.

Tecna was so thankful for Valtor being there for her through the entire ordeal. He could have left her there in the grass bleeding, but he would not leave her side for anything. Even as they stitched her up he forced himself to sit next to her holding her hands tightly as if his life depended on it. She never thought the pampered pretty-boy would ever be this kind to her, and here he was protecting her as if her life was in danger. Stella always warned her to never fall in love with the first boy who was sweet to her, but he was different.

The Wardens wanted to discuss the incident with her, so they had her and Valtor sit in a blank and dull room in the hospital across from two male wardens. She was positive they thought she was associated with Sparx, so there was no surprise to Tecna that they cared little about her injury and more about Riven. She just wasn't sure how much information she was going to spill. Obviously they didn't need to know about what was waiting for her at Harmonic 314. All she wanted to do right now was to go home and sleep, but here she was at the hospital at 3:30 in the morning.

As scary as the Wardens always seem to be portrayed, these two looked wise, humble, and actually gave her small reassuring smiles as she sat there nervously with Valtor. He calmly questioned her, "Did you happen to know them Tecna?"

She didn't feel like lying, "Yeah, I kind of remembered one of them…his name was Riven."

The other Warden spoke up, "Wasn't he from Domino?" She only nodded in response, "Do you know why he was in Magix?"

Valtor stepped in and answered for her, "He was showing off I think, to some young Pixies. You know, showing off how easily he could get into the city…" To Tecna's surprise the Wardens were happy with Valtor's lie. As much as she wished the whole ordeal was just some game…trick; it wasn't. Riven had something big planned, and she knew whatever big thing he was hiding was waiting for her at the abandoned Harmonic mansion.

They grinned, "Well don't worry, it won't happen again." After that she was free to leave so Valtor escorted her all the way across town to her room at Melody Mansions. As soon as her head hit her soft pillow she fell fast asleep. That was enough excitement for one night.

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To her surprise Stella came to visit her fairly early in the morning the next day. She wondered if anyone else knew about the ordeal, or if Aisha was upset that she kind of ended up ditching them late in the night. She hoped the rest of the group would understand why she had to leave.

"Tecna darling, open the door," Stella eagerly shouted from behind her bedroom door. Tecna managed to mumble enough gibberish for the door to finally unlock and open for her old friend. As Tecna attempted to sit groggily up in bed her vision got slightly blurry and her head began to ache as if someone had a jack hammer in her brain. She needed something to help ease the pain.

Through her blurred vision she saw Stella walk in happily wearing a knee-length black skirt, white blouse, and a light pink formal jacket. Her hair was pinned in an elegant bun. Seeing Stella look so nice made Tecna hate the way she was still wearing her dirty mint green dress from the night before. "She must think I look horrendous," Tecna thought to herself.

Without another word Stella handed her a small tube full of pearly blue pills and a bottle of sparkling water. Tecna sighed happily as she realized they were pain relievers. Immediately after taking them all her vision problems and pain went away, "Thanks Stella, I owe you one. My head has been killing me." She sat up in bed and Stella sat happily at the end of her bed on the silky lilac covers.

Suddenly it hit her; Stella knew about the incident last night. If that was the case, how many more people knew about what happened on the rooftop?

"Wait a minute, how did you know about the incident? Did you meet up with Valtor?" She asked.

Stella giggled, "You haven't been checking the feeds, have you?" Tecna sighed in reply; she barely ever checked the news feed because she found it a waste of time. The feed was a string of articles highlight the most talked about events of the night. It was a combination of daring stunts pulled by the people of Magix, newest fashion trends, and of course upcoming events. Maybe now she would check it more often.

She sighed and twisted the red jewel on her interface ring; and there she was on the top of the feed. Even worse was that someone managed to capture a video of her diving off the building and colliding with Riven's foot, "how embarrassing…now everyone knows." She didn't bother reading what the article said; she didn't care anymore. By now the entire city knew.

"I wouldn't call it embarrassing…" Stella comforted her, "Everyone seems to think your stunt off the building was unbelievable, and that you still managed to walk away from the scene after a collision that bad. It's definitely making the Winx Club more famous than ever because everyone thinks you did the stunt for the club." Stella paused, "The city may not know the details, but Valtor told us everything that happened."

"So…no one is upset that I ended up ditching?" She dared to ask the blonde.

"Are you kidding me? No one is upset," Stella reassured her, "You haven't been checking your messages have you?" Tecna shook her head no as she twisted her jeweled ring to make her messages appear. Then a giant list of messages appeared that made her brain hurt as she tried to read them. Most were from people she didn't even know…strangers congratulating her on her daring dive and collision. She honestly didn't think it was that daring.

"Wow," she bit her lip as she flipped through the messages; ignoring most of them. Finally she found the messages from the rest of the Winx Club. She was sure to add these people to her favourites list. First she saw a message from Musa.

Am I seriously watching footage of you flying off a building after a bungee jumper? Tecna, I'm cutting you off from the booze LOL. What was so important that you had to chase a Sparx runaway off a building? Next time you're going to pull a stunt like that let me know…I want to join in on the fun too.

Well, Musa seemed to think the whole ordeal was quite entertaining. Next was a message from Aisha.

They really weren't kidding when they called you adventurous and daring. I'm impressed; I knew I let you into the group with good reason. Thanks to you, everyone thinks it was the Winx Club who organized the whole ordeal. Now everyone in Magix knows about the Winx Club, and it's brought us more fame among the Fairies and Specialists than ever imaginable. Also, if you happen to encounter Riven again…let him know I want to talk to him okay?

Now that was certainly mysterious. How would Aisha know Riven? On top of that, how did Valtor know him? Maybe they all had a backstory she didn't even know. She continued going through her messages as she talked with her old friend.

Stella spoke up, "Brandon seemed upset with the mention of Riven…But I'm still not entirely sure why."

"The boy you were with last night is Brandon?" Tecna asked, "So is this someone you've been with more than a day?"

Stella giggled, "Yes, I've been with Brandon for about a couple days now…let me tell you, he's different from the rest of them." She said this as she stared up at the ceiling in a dreamy way.

Tecna narrowed her eyes jokingly, "Oh really now? That's certainly different than your normal routine."

Stella whipped a nearby pillow at Tecna and laughed as it collided with her and distorted her projected image of her messages, "Oh be quiet. But let me tell you...he had the strangest reaction when Valtor mentioned Riven's name…"

"What kind of reaction?"

Stella sighed, "He was upset. But I guess that isn't telling much now is it? Everyone had a different reaction…well except me because I didn't know him. Turns out Musa, Valtor, Brandon, and Aisha all knew him from when they were all ugly Pixies," Stella paused, "I think they all planned to run away together to Domino really long ago...I think. My poor Brandon couldn't really remember the details. Aisha was happy and excited to hear his name while Brandon was upset like you wouldn't believe. Then Musa…her reaction was so odd."

"How odd are we talking?" Tecna questioned her as she continued to zip through her messages. She remembered Musa and Riven being close friends, but to what extent she couldn't remember. She wondered if she too would have problems remembering Riven if it wasn't for their encounter.

"She recognized the name, but she couldn't put a face to the name. It was like she couldn't remember him even though she was trying to. Maybe if she saw him she would remember. I swear Tecna it's the craziest thing I've ever witnessed." Tecna couldn't believe what she was hearing; everyone seemed to have memory problems. Was it just chance that they all seemed to? It couldn't be… No one can just forget. "Aisha tried telling her about the times she spent with Riven, but she wouldn't believe any of it. So we left the conversation at that."

"Strange." Tecna kept scrolling through her messages…she was finally nearing the bottom, "So you're dressed pretty formally, I don't suppose you have something planned for today?" She turned her attention back to her outfit.

"Lunch with Brandon," as she said this she pulled a nail file and started working on her fingertips, "I'm dressed this way and less…flirty to show him I'm more than just some typical 'blonde' and that I have some sophistication. I want him to know I take this relationship very seriously, so I figured dressing in less revealing clothes would show him that."

"You shouldn't have to change the way you dress and behave to show him you're more than just some blonde. As a friend I know you are more than that, so just act how you normally would. If he really loves you and wants to stay with you he'll love you for being your true self." After hearing that, Stella smiled bright.

"Thanks Tecna, you're a great friend," Stella gathered her into a hug, "Oh, and as a friend let me tell you that you desperately need a shower." The two girls laughed about Stella's remark. As they laughed, Tecna got an incoming message as her ring 'pinged' her.

She opened up her messages to reveal a message from Valtor, telling her to meet him by Lake Roccaluce in forty-five minutes. She wondered if this would be considered a date, or if this was just to talk about the previous night. Either way it meant she had to take care of her awful appearance. Stella ushered herself out which left Tecna to fix her appearance alone.

After stepping out of the shower she spelled her hair to its normal lengthy pixie cut, and had her normal light makeup magically appear on her face. She sighed and grabbed the trashed dress from the night before and through in into the mysterious vortex in her bedroom known as 'the hole in the wall'. As soon as the old dress was consumed it would be gone forever; de-nanoized into nano matter. For the day she pulled out an off the shoulder purple shirt and a bright green skirt with a white belt. Once satisfied with how she looked she made her way to Lake Roccaluce to meet up with Valtor.

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Lake Roccaluce was probably the most gorgeous garden in all of Magix. With the giant pond with sparkling water, and numerous hedges and shrubs concealing the garden away from the bustle of the city; it was definitely a place to get away. Tecna couldn't believe the array of flowers; all giving off the sweetest scents on the planet. Some people used Roccaluce to quietly get away from it all, go on romantic dates, or if the weather was right some people would actually swim in it. Entering the garden meant transporting yourself away from all your possible troubles, and it even helped ease her bashed forehead.

Tecna immediately spotted Valtor lying on a blanket in the shade of a giant willow tree. She didn't hesitate and made her way over. She noticed he was wearing the same vintage outfit as the night before, but obviously this one was cleaned. Maybe dressing in these trench coats and vests were becoming a trend in his eyes.

He smiled as she sat herself on blanket right next to him. She smiled back, "Hey Valtor." She kept getting these tingly feelings in her body when she was with him…and she couldn't quite understand the feeling. Out of all the handsome men she encountered in Magix; he definitely stood out, and it wasn't just his appearance that made him stand out. There was…something about him she liked.

"Hey, how's the forehead feeling?" He reached for her scar under her bang of hair and he swept them away to gently caress it, "Not as bad as last night." He commented on the fact the scar was looking a bit better.

"I had a complete bogus headache this morning but Stella brought me some pills. I feel fine now," she smiled from ear to ear as he exchanged the same sweet smile, "So why did you tell me to meet you here anyway?"

"I just wanted to talk about what happened last night," he explained, "About Riven."

"How did you even know him? Stella mentioned this morning that you, Brandon, Aisha, Musa, and Riven all knew each other in your Pixie days at Alfea. I mean I know it's none of my business to bring up your past…" She remembered how much she hated being reminded about her past.

"I don't mind that you want to know," he smiled and took a breath, "We all shared in the same wing of Alfea. Aisha, Brandon, Musa, Riven, and of course myself," he paused, "And I think there was one more member…but I can't remember her name. Either way, the girl I can't remember ended up going to Domino with Riven."

"Yeah…I remember another girl I met in Domino," Tecna remarked quietly to herself. Again, she was unable to truly remember the girl.

Valtor continued on, "Back then we were your typical Pixies… We went hover boarding, spied on Fairies in Magix, and of course travelled out to the ruins of Gardenia." Hearing about Gardenia again reminded Tecna about that creepy city. It was really a city anymore though; it was the broken and bruised skeleton of a once huge society, "Hard to believe how many people from the Dark Days lived there. Millions of people lived in that one city alone while Magix has a population not even at one million. In perspective; we are so small compared to the big world out there."

Now things were getting odd with how Valtor was talking. It almost sounded like…like he detested Magix. She didn't know a single soul who detested Magix. Well, Riven did most likely but that was it. Maybe meeting up with Valtor was a bad idea…

"Yeah, but the Warrior Fairies were stupid though…with destroying the world and stuff," Tecna remarked quietly.

"I know, but as a Pixie I thought sneaking out into Gardenia was the most thrilling this I'd ever done…"

"Yeah," their eyes met the same gaze as she remembered fuzzy memories from when she snuck out to Gardenia, "I know exactly what you mean."

"So that's when I contemplated on going to Domino…to live in the wild for at least a little while. I didn't want to lose the thrill I got when I went to the ruins of Gardenia…or hoverboarding. I realized people in Magix just didn't do that type of stuff."

"And somehow you convinced the others to join you in the wild?" Tecna laughed slightly, "You must have been pretty good at convincing them if this whole thing ended up being planned…"

Valtor laughed as well, "They thought I was completely out of my mind. None of us knew that Domino existed. That was until," he paused and gave her a confused expression as if he was trying to remember something he couldn't remember, "Until we met someone in Gardenia who was from Domino…"

"Do you forget?" She bit her lip.

"His name is on the tip of my tongue…I swear," he looked at her with wide eyes and in a panic, "It's…so hard to remember like it was all some sort of distorted dream I had long ago." He brought one of his knees up to his chest and rested his elbow on it, "Anyway, he was supposed to take us all to Domino. It was all planned…"

"But then you bailed, why?" She narrowed her eyes.

"I bailed out of fright I guess. I mean I may have organized all of us to go, but I had no idea what the wild had in store; none of us did. Then on a whim a couple days before the date we were to leave; I went to go get the operation done. Just like that…" He pushed back some of his crème coloured hair, "Brandon, Musa and Aisha ended up doing what I did too; they bailed after I did. I'm still a little ashamed about bailing…"

Tecna finally understood Musa's story from long ago with her abandonment. She was the youngest of the group so even when she bailed she couldn't undergo the operation. She had to wait to turn…until she met Tecna anyway and she finally changed her mind on going to Domino. "It's no big really…It was like camping with hundreds of ugly people."

"Well," he gave her a sweet smile as he reached for Tecna's closest hand and he held it, "I'm glad you ended up here in Magix."

She squeezed his hand as she inched closer to him so they were almost sitting face to face, "Me too." He slid a smooth hand and placed it gently on her cheek. He led it slowly until he was nearly cupping her face in his hand. Valtor's eyes glistened as he slowly led her closer to him. She did nothing except close her eyes and let his flawless lips press against hers. This made her heart flutter with excitement as she placed her hands on his shoulders. His lips were soft and flawless; it made her feel safe. Time seemed to freeze as they kissed, and her world seemed to spin in a dream-like way. She didn't want this feeling to end.

After what felt like an eternity they parted their lips and she rested her head romantically on his shoulder with her eyes still shut. She couldn't remember the last time she was kissed like that; it was wonderful. Suddenly Valtor spoke up and softly whispered in her ear, "You're beautiful Tecna."

He wrapped his hands tightly around her, and she felt his wonderful breath on her neck. She honestly felt so safe and perfect just the way she was. Suddenly something seemed to arise in her as she remembered an old memory of her first kiss. She kept her eyes shut as she continued to imagine the memory of her kiss in Domino.

She heard the voice of the man in the watch in her mind talking to her, "You're beautiful Tecna." Her eyes immediately shot open and she forced herself out of her embrace with Valtor in a slight panic. How could she forget him? She shouldn't have ever forgotten him. Tecna didn't know how it was possible to forget people like that.

"Timmy…" she whispered.