Chapter 7: Disappearance of Sparx

The weather seemed to really make a turn for the worst ever since her fight with Musa a couple nights earlier. It was strange but the rare cloudy, cold, and damp weather seemed to really reflect her emotions. Tecna couldn't get over the encounter with Icy, and the sour fight with Musa. She didn't think Musa would take it so harsh, but she supposed after suddenly remembering all her suppressed memories and hate for Tecna that there was no doubt anyone would erupt at her like that as well. After all; Tecna's accidental infiltration of Domino pretty much ruined Musa's Pixie life.

The whole fight seemed to eat away at her from the inside. With one short conversation she managed to completely extinguish the bond she had with Musa, but of course that bond was only an illusion. In reality that bond had been broken for a long time, and it seemed there was no way she would ever get it back to the way it was. She tried pinging Musa with massive apologizes but found no responses, and then it seemed Musa disappeared from the city entirely (or at least was doing a good job keeping a low profile). All Tecna wanted to do was apologize for everything she ever did to Musa, and now it seemed she wouldn't be given the opportunity to.

It wasn't just the Musa thing that was bothering and stressing her out; it was how she was going to explain everything that happened between them to Valtor. She broke her promise with him to not reveal anything about the Cure, and now a very angry Fairy knows. She could only wonder how she was going to be able to tell Valtor what happened to her that night after he left. Tecna wasn't even sure if she should tell him about Icy and her evil proposition. Turn the two of them into the dark Witches? It was an evil idea, and there was no way she would ever to agree to do something like that. Witches were always so monotone, emotionless, devious, and obedient. It frightened her to think the operation to become a Witch did more to her than give her a superhuman body. Maybe the operation would strip all her emotions away, or maybe they would induce rage and anger inside of her so she would indeed feel like a monster.

She sighed in distress as she lay on her lavender bed. The stress was really getting to her, and she frankly felt she needed some way to blow off some steam. Every situation around her seemed to have big consequences, and it was becoming harder to balance all of them.

As Tecna got up she peered out of her bedroom window to see Valtor walking just up the street towards her building, "Dammit…Not now," she thought to herself. She knew if she were to bring up the situation right now she may as well break down; right now she was in no position to talk about everything. Without hesitation Tecna transformed into her Enchantix form and magically made her large window open up just enough so she could fly out. This was the only way she could ditch Valtor without being rude, and to of course leave all of her stress behind for the time being.

Tecna breathed in deeply as she soared just above the skyscraper rooftops. She let her wings take control of her and let them gracefully guide her without any effort. For once she felt extreme relaxation as she stared at the miniscule people way below. How insignificant she felt living in the city now, and Aisha had a point that the city was growing too small for the Winx Club and herself. Of course escape wasn't going to happen until she got the Witch bracelet off her wrist for good, and frankly she didn't feel it was possible to break it. Maybe she would be a prisoner in this city forever. The last thought made her shudder because the only thing she wanted right now was to escape once and for all.

She flew around for what felt like an eternity, but suddenly found she was flying towards Alfea. Without hesitation she flew down into the woods just outside of the school. She remained hidden in the brush as she looked at the Pixie school at a distance. Seeing the school just reminded her of her times as a Pixie living at Alfea, and how much she wished every day to be a Fairy. Tecna only wished she could talk to her old self…to tell her to run away from the city as fast as she could, and to tell her the truth about being a Fairy. It's not as great as it perceives to be, and that life in Magix is nothing but a brainless illusion.

She sighed quietly to herself until she heard a quick pair of footsteps approach from behind her. To her surprise she turned around to see Valtor looking at her with a worried expression. She detransformed out of fairy form.

She finally spoke up, "How did you find me..?" Tecna nervously gripped the scarf wrapped around the Witch bracelet to make sure it was secure enough to hide any conversations between them.

He put a hand on her shoulder, "I watched you fly out of your apartment and fly around the city," he admitted, "Looked like you were troubled so I figured I would follow as closely as I could behind you. You've been avoiding me these last couple days, so I'm wondering if anything is wrong."

She gripped a nearby branch and turned away, "I'm fine…"

Valtor looked sternly at her, "I find that hard to believe. The whole group knows something happened between you and Musa, and I just want to get to the root of the problem."

"How…Who told you?" Tecna turned around to face him once again; hands trembling with worry.

"Oh come on Tecna, the whole group was there to see you two harshly arguing with each other. No one heard what you two were arguing about, but they know something has happened."

She bit her lip, "Musa's been remembering her past better. Ever since the fireworks she's become more aware, and hence she's remembered old memories," she paused, "One of those was remembering my infiltration of Domino better, and she remembered all her hatred for me for it in one big burst."

"Ah," he replied.

"B-but that's not it," she looked at him glumly, "There's more. I…I told her about the Cure."

"Wait…what?!" He harshly whispered

"I had to," she whispered in defence, "She was already figuring out that something happened in Harmonic 314. It was only a matter of time now, and she even climbed to the top of the mansion herself!" She slowed her voice, "She kept telling me I owed her for betraying her in Domino, and she just…I gave in."

"So why is she so furious at you for the pills then?" He sighed angrily, "Is it because you're cured and she's not?"

"No," she bitterly replied, "It's because you're cured and she's not."

"I don't…" Valtor looked at her; confused and stunned.

"I owed her, and you got to take the pills with me instead of her."

"But there wasn't time for you to smuggle the pills-" He paused as he noticed salty tears drip down from Tecna's face. Finally the situation with Musa finally forced her emotions to this point.

She sobbed, "And she will never accept that fact Valtor. It doesn't matter that the Witches were at the door because all that matters to Musa anymore is that you are cured, and she isn't," she sighed, "You should have seen her…she was beyond furious at me."

He sighed and swiped away her salty tears and running makeup, "It's not your fault. Musa just needs time to comprehend all her old emotions that the lesions prevented."

"I suppose," Tecna replied sadly. Suddenly the pair heard a group of footsteps walking around in the woods behind them. Tecna became very alert and readied herself. To her surprise she heard a Pixie voice call her name.

"Tecna? Are you out here?" One voice whispered out.

"We saw you fly down here Tec, come out of hiding…" Another voiced called out. The voices were so familiar, but she still couldn't put a name to the voices she was hearing. Finally she saw a couple metres away three figures and she briefly saw their appearance through the moonlight.

One was of a boy with pale skin and black spiked hair, another was a girl with light blonde hair, and finally the third girl had crème coloured hair. They all wore similar Alfea grey dorm uniforms. She knew those people, and she remembered them helping her at some point…but it felt like such a distant dream.

"H-hello," Tecna called out to the three figures that finally spotted her and rushed in her direction.

"Wow, Riven wasn't kidding when he said you looked completely different," the boy joked as he looked in awe at her appearance, "I can't believe it's really you Tecna." She didn't think she looked that different from her old self.

"Wait, how do you know Riven?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

The girl with crème hair looked shocked as she turned to her peers, "They weren't kidding when they said the operation made you forget…" The girl paused but Tecna gave her the expression to keep talking, "Well since you forget I'm Nova, that is Andy, and that is Galatea. Remember…we helped you out when you were still a Pixie?"

And then the names hit her like a rock; she remembered. Like all her other memories that she forgot this one flooded in rapidly. She remembered meeting the group at the roller coaster in Gardenia, and then when the group helped set off the Pixie diversion. Then she remembered Galatea, Nova, and Andy were helped the runaways at Sparx to gather supplies from the city. These were the perfect people to find out what has been happening out at Sparx and in Gardenia.

Maybe they could even tell her how Timmy was doing.

Tecna gave them a pretty smile, "Yeah, I remember now. I'm sorry; the Cure has helped me to remember…for the most part. I haven't seen you guys in such a long time."

"It's been safe though," Valtor added in from behind Tecna, "We've both lost most of our 'pretty minds'."

Tecna finally felt confident enough to ask her old friends an important question, "So give me news from Sparx. What's been going on in Gardenia?" At the mention of Gardenia and Sparx the Pixies gave each other nervous looks, "I'm sorry was it something I said?"

Galatea spoke timidly, "No…It's just that we've been looking for you for a while Tecna. For the last two weeks actually, but we weren't sure how to get a hold of you seeing as though you live right in the city. We thought that maybe you knew about what happened to Sparx."

Tecna heart began to race, "What…What happened to Sparx?!" She shrieked but softened her voice. Tecna felt Valtor put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"We thought you would know," Andy began to explain, "We've been going out to the ruins periodically to bring them supplies, but two weeks ago we went to their hiding spot and we found the place empty." The time period made Tecna worried, one month ago she got the cure and a couple days ago she set off the fireworks for Sparx. If they were gone then setting off the fireworks was pointless.

"So you mean to say the Witches…" Valtor trailed off.

Andy replied, "No, the place wasn't ransacked…it was just cleared out as if they packed up their supplies to go to a new location. The Witches have been patrolling Gardenia more, so I wasn't surprised that they left."

"But…where did they go?" Tecna questioned worriedly. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. How could Sparx just get up and leave, and then leave no trace behind? It didn't make sense…especially since they were determined to get Tecna out of the city since she was cured. But then again they didn't know if the Cure worked or not. The situation really worried Tecna to no end, and Valtor exchanged the same look of worry.

"Your guess is as good as ours," Nova replied sadly, "However, we know they keep coming back to Gardenia…or at least one member is.

The last thought scared Tecna, because she knew that had to be Timmy. He was waiting for her…waiting for her to come back to Sparx. Timmy was always a guide to secret societies, so guiding her and her friends to Sparx was no exception.

"Just the other night we found something waiting for us there, and we know it is something specifically meant for you Tecna," Andy replied, "It's something meant only for a Fairy."

"Wh-what did they leave?" Tecna stuttered. As she said this Nova revealed she had a backpack slung over her shoulders. She pulled out a very large book and handed it to Tecna. She was surprised Sparx would leave a book; no one used books anymore. That meant it had to be ancient, and possibly from the Dark Days. She looked at the torn cover and read the name of the cover, "Fairy Spells Encyclopedia…What is this?" She questioned.

Everyone else shrugged their shoulders, but Valtor was able to come up with an answer, "They must know about the bracelets around your arm, so this book would help you find the right counter acting spell I'm sure…"

Tecna sighed and gave a grim smile, "And they must have figured out that these bracelets have been preventing us from leaving. So, this book is our key for escape," she hushed her voice, "This has been what we've been waiting for…"

"With this, we are getting out of Magix once and for all," Valtor added, "So does that mean we should be telling the Winx to plan and get ready for our escape?"

"Definitely," she smiled. Tecna turned to the Pixies as she gripped the book, "I can't thank you guys enough…This has finally determined the fate of the Winx Club. How can I thank you enough for helping?"

Nova looked shyly, "When you guys leave for Sparx…We want you to take us with you. We want to escape as well."

Valtor nodded his head, "Consider it done. When we figure out how our escape will happen we will be sure to get you guys here at Alfea."

"Take that Icy," Tecna thought to herself happily. There was no way she could stop the Winx Club now; escape was finally going to happen and there was nothing she could do to stop them. It was finally time for Tecna to return to the life out in the wild that she deserved to have. To keep the book safe she used a minimizing spell and slipped in into her pocket.

Nova, Andy, and Galatea happily left the woods and heading back to Alfea in delight. They too could look forward to escape and life in the wild.

"We're finally going to escape from this illogical city, isn't that amazing Valtor?" She asked Valtor with her back still to him. The air was silent as she realized he wasn't replying back. "Valtor?" She turned around to discover Valtor was crouched on the ground in pain. He gripped his head and made short sounds of pain and extreme agony.

"Valtor!" Tecna crouched over his fallen body, "What happened…another headache?" She panicked as he was barely responsive, "Valtor answer me!" She held his somewhat limp body.

He muttered out, "The headache…it's too much…I can't…" Tecna suddenly watched in fear as his eyes rolled back into his head and his eyes shut as he finally gave into the pain. As she held his unconscious body in shock she knew there was something more to these headaches. Valtor had definitely cut down on his caffeine after Tecna told him he was risking his health with his intakes, yet even after stopping his caffeine intakes his headaches worsened day by day. Tecna could only wonder what was going on in the mind of Valtor.