Sorry for the bit of a wait…I decided to finally add the final chapter to the story Who I've Become. Enjoy the longest chapter so far; just over 4500 words and over nine pages.

Chapter 4: Pink Pearly Pills

She shook her head in disbelief because somehow she illogically forgot about Timmy; Timmy! The memories were fuzzy and filled with blanks as if they took place thousands of years before. She remembered his pimply skin, his messy and tangled strawberry blonde hair, large forehead, small nose, and those illogical red rimmed glasses. Who even wore glasses anymore to actually see? Tecna hated the way he looked, yet something inside of her fluttered and made her heart sing as she remembered him. But somehow Timmy managed to disappear up until this point for no reason in particular.

Or maybe there was a reason.

Valtor looked at her; startled and bewildered by her wide eyes, shaking head, and quick breaths. He calmly spoke to her, "Are you okay?"

"No…I mean yes…I mean, I didn't mean to do that," she bit her lip as a cool breeze made her shiver. She avoided eye contact with him and shook her head furiously. Things were getting too illogical for her tastes.

He sighed with realization, "But that name…I remember him."

"Remember who?"

"Timmy, he was the one from Domino…He was the one who took Pixies there," He pondered but suddenly got wide eyed, "He was the one who escorted Musa to Domino, and he was supposed to take me long ago...But you went to Domino alone, didn't you?"

She collapsed her head into her hands as a huge headache overcame her as millions of memories seem to flood her mind in an instant. So many memories flooded her mind that only few were distinguishable. One memory that popped up was her being scorched by these bugs that (upon direct contact) burnt her skin. Even remembering the faint memory made her skin burn.

She spoke slowly and quietly, "Yeah…I travelled all by myself…Nearly died too. I ended up meeting Timmy in Domino…I helped him work on gadgets…I think." She stuttered a bit as tears flooded down her beautiful face as she had difficulties remembering, "Valtor, why can't I remember? What's wrong with me?" She sobbed quietly into her hands.

He gave her a sympathetic smile that soon turned into a stern smirk, "It's not just you Tecna it's everyone."

"You mean…everyone in the Winx Club?"

"Nono, I mean every Fairy, Specialist, Mage…anyone living in Magix. No one here will talk about the old days of being a Pixie; most calling it boring," He paused to take a breath, "But, if you push people to remember you will soon discover they can't remember."

"But you guys in the Winx Club seem to remember some stuff fairly well. You all knew about my adventure to Domino," she chuckled, "Almost seems like you know more about my past than I do. How illogical."

He gave her a smirk, "Illogical indeed. However, Aisha and I have discovered ways of…remembering. Only Aisha and I have really been in on it, but I don't think she'll mind if let you in on them."

She stared at him in confusion because everything he was telling her was puzzling her more and more. Remembering is just your mind rethinking old memories, facts, and people. Nothing could make them vanish from one's mind.

She took a deep breath and darted her teal eyes, "I think you're talking complete nonsense." She leaned on the nearby tree and studied Valtor with observing eyes; checking for signs that he was lying or playing a joke on her.

He rolled his pale eyes, and his pale hands quickly grasped hers and squeezed them, "Just…listen to what I have to say. Aisha and I have found three different ways of remembering. One way is to merely talk more about your past, second way is to drink plenty of caffeine," as he said this he magically made a piping hot cup of coffee appear, "And a final way is to do exciting things like bungee jumping, or anything else that keeps your heart racing." Tecna looked at him with displeasing eyes, "Because Tecna, when you do any of these things you will cause your heart to race, you'll become aware, and I have discovered that when you're aware and excited your mind is as well."

Tecna looked down at her feet, "I'm still not convinced…I need some sort of proof Valtor."

Valtor sighed in frustration, "Okay then. How come when we kissed you remembered forgotten Timmy? Please just trust me on this," he pleaded.

She sighed in defeat; he did have a point. In all of the excitement of her first kiss with Valtor it did seem her mind became more aware, and she finally remembered Timmy as if he was a repressed figure of her memory.

Valtor moved closer to Tecna, "So while we are on the topic, tell me about Timmy? What is the last thing you can remember? I only met him once you know…Seemed like a guy full of wisdom."

Tecna pressed an index finger on her perfectly shaped lips as she pondered very hard about Timmy, "I can't Valtor…the information is still fuzzy and jumbled." She could just imagine him barely visible in the shadows of the city; stalking for intruders and trouble. Without another word he handed her the piping hot cup of coffee, and he urged her to drink it. She was reluctant at first, but eventually gave in and drank it.

She gave out a dry cough, "That's some strong coffee. Who ever thought of making coffee this strong?" she placed the empty cup next to her on the grass. She began to think hard about her past memories of Timmy after the breakout out of the Witches headquarters. Tecna was shocked to find some of her memories coming through, but they were still fairly distant.

She steadied her thoughts and finally spoke up, "We were in some cave in Gardenia hiding out. This was directly after being chased by some super scary Witches. They were chasing us because Timmy and I managed to get our friends out of the Witches Headquarters," she sighed and brought her hands into fists, "Those Witches managed to reduce and destroy Domino into rubble…and the group of us in Gardenia were the last survivors…" She paused, "Because everyone else went under the knife."

He studied her words, "Musa sometimes says she was kidnapped by you guys, and other times she says she was out there protecting you. I mean I know Musa went under the knife by this point, so why did she bother staying with you guys?" He held one of her hands reassuringly.

"I don't know."

Valtor sighed and spoke sternly, "And then there is an even bigger question that doesn't add up. If you were never caught out in Gardenia then why did you come back to the city?" He narrowed his eyes, "Did Musa somehow convince you to go to Magix with her?"

She hesitated; unable to remember why. She turned away, "…No."

He looked at her angrily, "Then why did you give yourself up?"

And that seemed to be the question that bothered her the most; why was she here? As far as she knew she was happy with the runaways, yet here she was in Magix. Maybe her presence here had some significance to what was going on in Gardenia, and that there was something vitally important that she couldn't get her to remember. Tecna needed answers to her presence in Magix, and then she remembered what Riven said the previous night. She wondered if what Riven left her in Harmonic 314 would be the answer she was waiting for.

She stood up triumphantly, "Valtor, last night Riven told me he hid something important in Magix for me…somewhere the Wardens and Witches would never look."

His eyes widened, "Something from Domino? Where?"

She smiled brightly with anticipation, "At Harmonic 314."

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They walk briskly to Harmonic 314 on the other side of the city. According to Valtor the place was abandoned due to technical malfunctions that affected the entire building to the point it wasn't worth fixing. So Magix decided just to leave the building to rot until it collapsed under its own structural weight, or until they found a reason to demolish it and reconstruct something new. Tecna didn't know how long it has been abandoned like this.

It was one of the oldest buildings still standing in Magix. Tecna looked at the building and counted the windows; it had to be at least twenty stories tall. Some of the windows and walls were beginning to show signs of decay as they began to crumble and crack. There wasn't a single light flickering inside, nor were there any signs of life. The once lavish pearly blue building was not a dark and murky blue. It was unbelievable to Tecna to think the city would actually keep this building standing.

The pair hid in nearby bushes as they formulated a plan. Valtor was the first one to speak up in a low whisper, "It's got an anti-magic barrier, just watch…" Tecna watched as he extended his hand and sent a low frequency wave and for a brief second a pearly white barrier appeared around the radius of the building. It disappeared as soon as it appeared, "Go within that radius and you won't be able to use any powers."

"But will the Wardens detect us if we break the barrier?" She asked.

Valtor pondered, "I'm not sensing any detection spells around the radius, so I think our best bet is to come back here at dusk," he paused, "Cause less suspicion."

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They returned at sunset. This time they returned without their interface rings on, so as far as the city knew Valtor and Tecna were asleep in their rooms right now. As soon as the coast was clear they dashed through the magic barrier and made their way to the front door. To Valtor's surprise the door was unlocked and they dashed inside without anyone seeing them. He shut the door behind them.

"Wow, look at this place," Tecna gasped as she looked at the interior of Harmonic 314, or rather what was left of it. It was really difficult to see everything around them because there were no lights until Valtor pulled out a vintage flashlight. Everything was covered in sediment of dust, and her nose could confirm that. It was a very large room with tall ceilings and in the middle of the grand room was a large dried out marble fountain. Six large marble pillars were in the room that were cracked and barely standing to Tecna's disbelief. She looked up to see old run-down ceilings with some portions it finally caved in and the rubble scattered all over the marble floor. She knew this place had seen better days, and she figured it was once a beautiful place.

The two began walking silently towards the dried out fountain in the middle of the room until Valtor spoke up, "Why hide it here?" He asked as they looked at a shattered chandelier on the ground. The dim glow of the flashlight barely showed them enough of their surroundings, "Out of all places…"

Tecna shrugged and rolled her eyes as she thought of the people who hid something for her, "They like to challenge me…First I climbed onto the roof of a mansion, and now I'm exploring a ruined mansion. I swear they must get a kick out of this."

"Get a kick out of what?"

She sighed, "Sending me on a wild goose chase."

"Well, where would you hide it if you were them?" He shone the bright flashlight on her forcing Tecna to squint.

She snatched the flashlight out of his hands and pointed it upwards, "They put it on the top floor…I'm sure of it. Logically they know I won't be able to fly up, so they will test my endurance to see if I'll climb all…" She paused trying to remember how many floors the building had.

"Twenty floors," Valtor told her.

She gave him a look of exhaustion. This wasn't going to be fun at all, and she was sure her thighs would pay her back for it in the morning. Why did the runaways have to make things so difficult? "Well we better get a move on," she pointed her flashlight towards a grand spiral staircase on the far side of the room.

"If whatever we are looking for isn't up there I'm blaming you…" He jokingly told her as they began to make their way up the tall staircase.

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Heart racing, sweat dripping, and with legs trembling she finally planted her feet on the twentieth floor. She collapsed to her knees just as Valtor reached the top floor with her and did the same. She rested her sweating forehead on his shoulder, "Maybe taking the steps as fast I could wasn't the best idea," she panted. Stairs…why were they so illogical?

"Yeah no kidding," he helped her shaking body up so she was standing again. Even though her legs felt like gelatin; she wanted to show Valtor she wasn't a weakling who couldn't walk up stairs. He pointed the dimmed flashlight at a small flight of stairs, "They lead to the roof. Do you think they left it out there?"

"No…" She pondered, "I have this hunch it is right…" She pointed with a shaking hand at the large double doors at the end of the hall, "Right through those doors." With Valtor holding the flashlight they slowly made their way towards the door, and carefully stepping over rubble and worn down areas of the floor. Once reaching the door, Tecna twisted the doorknob that was barely clinging itself to the door. Valtor and Tecna entered the room.

It was almost anti-climactic because Tecna expected to see something amazing inside, but instead she found herself in a simple room with everything gutted out of it besides the old wooden floors. Everywhere she looked there was crumbling drywall littering the place. On the far side was a large balcony that overlooked the city.

Then she saw it; a small wooden table in the middle of the room with a small box on it. The box wasn't dust covered and looked like it was placed recently, "This is it," she told Valtor as she delicately picked it up as if it was made of glass.

Tecna carefully opened it up as Valtor stood behind her and peered over her shoulder. Inside the small box were an envelope, and a small leather pouch. He took the envelope while she investigated the leather pouch. Inside the rough leather she was surprised to find two pearly pink pills. There was something familiar about seeing them…but she couldn't remember her association with them.

She could tell these pills were special.

Tecna looked at Valtor who ended up opening the envelope and trying to read it in the dim light of his flashlight. His eyes were wide and in shock, "It's a letter Tecna, and it's…addressed to you."

"Really? From who?" As much as she hated to admit it; she had a bad feeling about having pills and a letter waiting here for her.

He handed the letter and flashlight to her and softly spoke, "It's from you, Tecna. The letter is from you."

"What?" She gasped in confusion and grabbed the piece of paper and began to read it. She was shocked to find it was quite a lengthy letter. Tecna knew she would be in for quite an interesting letter; especially if it was from herself.

Dear Tecna,

This is a letter from…well you. I am you, Tecna. Unfortunately if you are reading this we are no longer the same, and we are pretty much two different people. You've changed and that's why I'm writing to you, and why the runaways at Sparx are trying to contact you. We are doing all this to help you.

I really hope you remember writing this because if not we are both in trouble. If not, then that means I've been erased from your mind…and that means I'm sort of dead. You really need to remember because everything written here is one-hundred percent logically true (even though things will seem so illogical).

Tecna paused and remembered that the runaways were no longer called Domino, and that they were called Sparx instead. A memory rose up inside of her as she remembered Sparx meant a spark for revolution. But what kind of revolution did the runaways intend? She continued to read ahead.

This is the main thesis of this letter; something has happened to your brain - our brain actually. What we've discovered in Sparx is that something happens to everyone who undergoes the operation. When they turned you into a fairy…they add lesions to your brain (little tumors to your brain Tecna if you don't know what a lesion is.) Anyway, the lesions make you different, but not in a logical nor good way. Look at all your friends in Magix Tecna; if they are pretty and good looking they have the lesions. They make you…forget parts of your past and make you constantly happy. There isn't any possible way I could explain this on paper, but all I can say is that it is a form of conformity.

Tecna heard a quick inhale of breath, and noticed Valtor was reading over her shoulder, "So I was right then? There is something wrong with everyone in Magix…" He trailed off as he lost himself in deep thought and concentration, "I knew it…Aisha was right."

"Yeah, yeah," Tecna sighed and turned her attention back to the letter.

The good thing Tecna is that there IS a cure, and that is what you have in your hands right now. Timmy's mother made them, and they are supposed to cure your brain and reverse whatever the operation did to you. I hope you remember Timmy, because he is a really good guy…believe me he is even though you may not think so. Especially if Timmy ended up forcefully taking you to Sparx you need to trust him. You may not like what it's like in Sparx, but you need to understand these people are just trying to keep you safe from the Witches until the cure has effects on you. By taking the pills you will be cured, and this is something the Witches do not want. You need to realize these Witches will be watching you every chance they get and they can't know about this cure.

She couldn't understand why Timmy didn't take her to Sparx then. According to this letter he was supposed to, but instead she had to get this note from Riven and Timmy remained in the shadows instead. Did Timmy hate her? Was he afraid of her? Or did something happen to Sparx?

"Well seeing as though you are still in Magix…then I'm guessing plans have changed about bringing you to Sparx. I wonder why?"

"I'd hate to think something happened…Do you think the Witches are involved?"

"Beats me," he sighed sadly.

Tears flooded her eyes and dripped down her cheeks, "Then why didn't he come?" She couldn't believe she felt like this, but she felt herself miss Timmy like crazy. She wanted nothing else to see him in person.

"Were you and him…?" He raised an eyebrow with concern. She knew he was hinting at the fact it seemed Timmy was her boyfriend. Well she knew for a fact he technically was, but things were obviously different. A Pixie and a Fairy dating? Not in a million years.

"I think so," she sighed and tried to recollect some of her tangled memories. She was unsuccessful, "But I can't remember." She went back to reading the letter carefully, but she was nervous to continue reading on.

This following bit is something Timmy's mother calls a Hippocratic Oath…or something like that. Don't worry about it because it's just a consent form. I, Tecna, hereby give permission for Tammy and Timmy to give me this unproven drug that will cure my brain of the lesions. The cure has never been tested, and the effects are unknown but I will still take the drug.

I'm sorry Tecna but that is the risk you are going to take. That is the whole reason I gave myself up long ago; so I would be a test subject for the cure. You have to understand that this cure could save Stella, Musa…everyone. So for the sake of humanity you need to take these pills, because this cure could change the world and it needs to be tested.

I understand everything seems illogical, but this is a world saving cure. I'm sorry in advance if they force the cure onto you, but you will be better off…I promise.

Good luck.

From, Tecna

She sighed as she finished the note and crumpled it up in frustration. Her heart was racing like mad, but out of complete…she didn't quite understand how she felt at that moment. Her world was spinning, and so was her mind. Her only purpose was to be a test subject, and it didn't seem right.

"Don't tell me you actually believe this," Tecna replied bitterly.

"But this explains everything. This explains why we have trouble remembering, why you are here in Magix even though you were happy in Sparx and why the runaways are so interested in you," he quietly spoke, "It is all true, and it all makes logical sense."

"There isn't anything logical about having…brain-damage."

"But you aren't the only one…everyone here in Magix has it. It's just like Aisha and I predicted, and here is the solid…tangible proof," he pointed at the two pills in her hand, "Those pills are the reason you are here whether you want to believe it or not." He looked at her with narrow eyes.

She let the delicate pills dance between her fingers. They seemed so insignificant because of how small they were, but Tecna knew the impact the cure had was monstrous and world changing. In this case size did not influence the impact something could have, "But the pills aren't tested..."

He sighed and put his hands on either side of her shoulders, "Then I will take them if you don't want to."

She softly removed his hands off her shoulders, "I can't let you do that Valtor," she spoke softly. Tecna wondered what she was more afraid of: the pills going wrong on her, or going wrong on Valtor. They shouldn't have to risk their lives for a cure. Maybe she didn't want to be cured.

He looked at her defensively, "But I've been looking for a way out of this…out of this operation mess. I want to rid myself of this curse. I've been waiting for this cure."

Tecna cried out, "This wasn't something I wanted. All I wanted was to be a member of the Winx Club," She paused, "I never wanted to be a part of any of this…"

He grabbed the crimpled paper out of hand in frustration, "According to this letter you did, and if you want my opinion that was very brave to do that."

Tecna glared at him, "Yeah well maybe I changed my mind." It was true that she didn't want any association with the pills, runaways, a cure…nothing. She honestly didn't care about how her brain worked because she was quite content with whom she was. Tecna wished she never met Riven up on the roof of Solaria Mansion.

"No Tecna…you didn't change your mind. The operation did."

And that's where Tecna was left speechless. She opened her mouth to argue something back but nothing came out. The next time she went to open her mouth, she suddenly heard the slight mummer of an approaching hovercar. She looked out the window to see a completely black hovercar with an eerie green glow being emitted from the bottom of it approaching the ruined mansion. She remembered seeing those hovercars, and her eyes widened as she remembered who drives a hovercar like that, "Witches," she gasped.

"I'm sure they're just going to fly overhead…" Valtor gave her a nervous chuckle as he scratched the back of head nervously, "Our interface rings are at home," he reminded her.

Tecna remembered a portion of the letter telling her that the Witches would be watching her every chance they got. She wouldn't be surprised now if they had security cameras everywhere in Magix; spying on every single little conversation. Maybe that's why the runaways hid the cure in an abandoned mansion…because it was very unlikely for there to be any cameras here. But of course they might have cameras in her apartment, and once they figured out they were gone…well all it took was someone to look back at some footage to see where in the city they took off to. Tecna sighed at the fact Magix was much scarier than she thought.

Suddenly they heard it land on the rooftop, and that's when she truly began to panic.

Valtor heard the noise too and began to tear up and reluctantly ate the letter. It only took one glimpse of Valtor's face to realize paper didn't taste good, but he ate it anyway to hide the evidence. "We've got to hide all evidence Tecna. According to the letter they can't know about this."

Now that just left the pills to take care of. Tecna looked at him frustrated, "Well what do we do with these?" They heard the sound of footsteps on the rood, and monotone voices of Witches began to fill up their eardrums. Tecna could feel the iciness of the Witches even though they were still on the roof. But she knew they would be able to detect them here, so it was only a matter of time…

The two pearly pink pills stared up at her like they were two innocent pearls. Tecna knew these pills were far from innocent, and that they held incredible power and influence. She brought the pills up to her mouth, but found she couldn't do it. She kept imagining her brain unraveling and watching herself turn into her old Pixie self. No…she wasn't going back to being a Pixie.

But she looked at Valtor, who showed promise to take the pills, and he wanted to take the pills on top of that. Maybe they could do it together.

They heard the clanking of Witch footsteps come down the stairs from the rooftop, "Now, Tecna," he harshly whispered.

"I…can't…"

"Then give them to me," he tried to take the pills from Tecna who wouldn't allow him to have them.

Tecna paused and whispered softly, "Let's do it together. I'll take one pill…you take the other."

Valtor bit his lip, "We don't know what will happen Tecna-"

Tecna cut him off, "We don't know anything Valtor." She slowly handed him one of the pills with a shaking hand while she still held onto the other one, "I know this is really illogical, but please do this with me…" She pleaded.

"Illogical indeed," Valtor stated as he placed the pill on the tip of his tongue just as Tecna did. They heard the footsteps approach closer and closer towards the door. The Witches were so close…

"Together," they whispered in unison and they both swallowed the slightly acidic tasting pills. They both grimaced at the taste, but they gave each other sympathetic smiles.

"Now we need a good excuse to explain our presence here," Valtor whispered as they smiled and exchanged sly looks with each other. Tecna knew they were both on the same page on this, and she smiled brightly in the dimness of the flashlight. She felt Valtor grab her waist and pull her closer towards him.

They were still kissing by the time the Witches arrived.