After a long hiatus, this story is finally getting an update! Hope you all enjoy it.
Dedication: To my partner in crime, Chibi Horsewoman, for being the best sounding board I could ever ask for.
Disclaimer: I do not own the locations presented in this work of fanfiction or the Winx Club universe. If I did, the characterization in Season 5 would be a heck of a lot better, as would the plot.
Passing the Torch
8. Neon Angels on the Road to Ruin
The day before the all-important inter-school dance brought with it a lot of stress for anyone on the music docket, set-up, or take-down crews. It was mid-afternoon that Friday, and Raven, Lapis, and the young Cheeky McWinkster (Raven point-blank refused to call him by his real name) were going through the sound-checking process. They would have another one tomorrow before the dance, but any rehearsal time they could get in before the dance was considered a good thing. Raven was still fuming about the duet she was forced to participate in, not that her singing partner noticed.
As one of the chaperones and a member of the set-up crew, Ryder had gotten roped into spending an afternoon putting up streamers and lights when she really would have preferred to be grading papers. While the magenta-haired witch had nothing against Alfea (her stepmother was an Alfea graduate, for crying out loud!), she did not want to spend any more time in or around the bright pink building. That, and the new head of discipline, Mr. Bloodstone, seemed set on making her life a trip through Shadowhaunt. Seriously, how did she always wind up attracting the crazy ones?
"Are you sure you don't want to reconsider my offer?" The man asked, desire shimmering in his eyes. That low, seductive tone might have worked on another witch, but Ryder didn't happen to find his blue eyes attractive enough to counterbalance his annoyingly persistent attempts to talk her into a date. He was cute; true, but not nearly enough to be considered worth giving any semblance of a relationship a chance to flourish.
"Yes, I am sure." She remarked, golden eyes focused on the streamer she was levitating and not the man standing in front of her. She was seriously considering using hypnosis on the annoying male. Sure, it was slightly illegal, but if it got him out of her hair, it would be worth it. "Go practice your so-called charms on someone a little more free-spirited. Surely there are some unfortunate student-teachers here at Alfea who are hanging on your every order."
"None of them are quite as…enchanting as you are." He smiled, the words sending up red flags in the Dark Witch's mind. 'Enchanting' was the kind of compliment that creeps and sickos used to lure unsuspecting victims into back alleys.
"I don't care how disenchanting you find them; you had best stick to courting them if you know what's good for you." If he kept being a pest, she was going to turn him into a slimy amphibian. Perhaps a Snake Rat? Those were rather nasty, befitting his personality so far as she could tell.
"Oh, but what's good for me is never any fun." A smirk crossed his features. "Come on, what's the harm in one dance?"
"My father removing your hands from your body, that's what." She remarked. Dad might not be royalty, but he was one of the best students Red Fountain ever turned out, according to Cordatorta. And he did have an overprotective streak when it came to Raven and herself. "We both know I'm not joking, either. He will probably be chaperoning this social function, since he is an instructor at Red Fountain now." Dragon, had Raven ever pitched a fit over that!
"I would never dream of angering your father." He answered smoothly. "I won't have to, if you would just say yes."
"I would sooner dye my hair blonde and dress in hot pink than say yes to you." She harrumphed. Couldn't this guy take a freaking hint and leave? "Now if you will kindly excuse me, I have decorations to place." As her eyes drifted to anywhere but where he had placed himself, she spied three young women in skimpy outfits trying to sneak over to where the gifts were being stored. "Hey! You three! Get away from there!"
A girl with midnight blue hair spun around, wide eyes meeting Ryder's narrowed ones. She knew that girl, and the two others she was running with. The other Alfea kids had taken to calling them "Witches with Wings", something the real witches found mildly offensive due to the fact that the three habitually targeted witches for bullying. She and Professor Grimm had busted the trio on numerous occasions during inter-school projects where the students from both schools were required to work together, and she'd placed more than a few calls to the headmistress when she'd found them mistreating her students in out-of-class settings. Whatever the three were doing near the gifts, it certainly wasn't for pure or noble motivations. She silently cast a listening spell, allowing her to hear what the three were saying.
"Oh crap, it's that witch lady!" Natalia of Fortuna whined, causing Ryder to smirk. She enjoyed having a reputation for not putting up with false statements from students; it made them think twice about getting on her bad side.
"Quick, let's get out of here!" Destiny, Natalia's cousin, shouted, grabbing the other two and dragging them out of range of her spell. Not that it mattered to Ryder. Now that she knew they were up to something, she would be sure to keep an eye on them herself.
Malise's idea bordered somewhere in between brilliance and stupidity, Natalia decided. Sure, putting a curse on the flower-containing gift pods destined for the witches and those with witch blood in their veins would forever place their name in the annals of this school and all pure-bred fairies in the known realms, but if they got caught, they would surely be expelled and disgraced.
"I'm not so sure about this." Destiny murmured. There were far more people milling around than the trio of senior fairies had initially planned for.
"Oh, don't be such a worry-wart." Malise chided. "We'll be in and out before anyone has time to notice us. They're all too busy with the courtyard and the stage to see what we're up to."
"Fine, but if this goes south, I'm blaming you." Natalia folded her arms across her chest.
"Shut up and move! Now's our chance!" The nature fairy hissed, urging the girls to move as quickly and quietly as they possibly could in four-inch stilettos. They didn't make it far, however, when one of the adults raised a call of alarm.
"Hey! You three! Get away from there!" Natalia looked behind her, wide silver eyes meeting the piercing yellow ones of the woman that had given them away.
"Ah, crap, it's that witch lady!" She whined.
"Quick, let's get out of here!" Destiny called out, grabbing her cousin by the arm and dragging her and Malise out through the band entrance.
"Why did it have to be her?" Malise sneered. That woman had been out to get them their entire career at Alfea. It was because of her constant vigilance that the three fairies hadn't managed to accomplish any of their "destroy the witches" ideas out at the previous school dances.
"Because she knows us better than our current head of discipline." Natalia offered once the girls were safely hidden amongst the sound equipment. "After the first two years, she had to have noticed a pattern."
"I hate being so predictable, but this really is the best time to lay a trap." The brunette ground fairy groused. "We'll be too busy to try anything at prom, what with graduation right afterward."
"We'll just have to sneak down after she leaves to do it." Destiny sighed. "She's not staying overnight."
"And dodge Professor Bloodstone; let's not forget about him." Natalia admitted. He looked like someone they could possibly persuade into letting them in or out of the dorms after hours, even if he did catch them. However, she wasn't all that willing to risk being seen by the male teacher.
"Yes, but he's new and we're not on the bad list yet. With some luck, we can beat those witches at their own game." Malise smiled, though it looked more like a sneer to the casual observer. She did so love a plan coming together.
"We're never going to get past her." Leila growled in frustration. She and her sister witches were waiting for an opportunity to get to the gift table and sabotage it. "It's like she has eyes on the back of her danged head!"
"Well, she is Aunt Darcy's daughter; wouldn't exactly surprise me if she'd found a spell to do just that." Electra shrugged. Aunt Darcy died before she was born, but from what her mother and her other aunts hand told her, Darcy had been quite the master at illusions and psionic spells. If anyone could find a spell to put eyes on the back of her head, it would be that blood-traitor Ryder.
"She knows who we are and what we want to do." Veronica frowned. "Unfortunately, she won't let us stay here overnight… we do have a track record for causing minor property damage to this campus, after all. We'll just have to sneak in early tomorrow morning."
"With any luck, she'll be too busy running off the new Alfea teacher to notice us." Electra noted. "You'd think he would just take a hint and leave by now."
"One would, but his dim-wittedness is going to be our chance to do some damage and get that pendant." Veronica reminded her curly-haired 'cousin'. The trio had stumbled on a rather intriguing spell last year in one of her mother's old tomes, a spell that would give them enough power to take over Magix on graduation day. To make it work, however, they would need three magically enchanted artifacts. The first artifact of which they had the greatest ease of access was a pendant currently around the neck of Princess Malise of Geos. The Staff of Solaria would also be easy enough to snitch, as its holder was but a freshman fairy, but the dark-haired woman doubted they would be able to take both of them in the same night. Not that she would want to; it would be entirely too suspicious that way and she could not afford to tip anyone off to her plans. No, while the fairies were trapped in the vines, she and Lex would taunt them while Leila acquired the necklace. They would take care of the Staff of Solaria once they had time to regroup and study their target more thoroughly. She still didn't know where they were going to find a third artifact strong enough to trigger the spell, but there had to be one somewhere in Magix. "You both remember your jobs, don't you?"
"Throw up a shock barrier to keep the heroes busy; fry any pesky teachers trying to stop us from cursing the gifts; cause a diversion. Got it." Lex nodded, lavender curls bobbing up and down slightly.
"Steal the necklace while nobody's looking." Leila smirked, green eyes sparkling with merriment. Stealing the possessions of others was one of her favorite hobbies. She doubted that Malise would risk wearing the pendant to the dance, as it was a simple cameo on a ribbon choker. While powerful, it was utterly innocuous-looking, and when it came to dances, fairies like to throw on as much sparkly jewelry as they could get their hands on. "Am I allowed to take other stuff with me, or just the necklace?"
"Just the pendant and make sure it seems as if no one has been in that room whenever you leave." Ronnie warned. "We can't afford to tip anyone off to this plan. We need to be stealthy, something our mothers never managed to master." ~Mother dearest, why must you have such a short temper?~ The Ice Witch thought. The older witch's lust for power overrode her ability to strategize, leading to her humiliating defeat (well, the first one) at the hands of a freshman fairy. If she'd just listened to Aunt Darcy a little more, the Trix wouldn't have lost their Dark Queen, and Ryder might have been raised by the coven instead of that hateful music fairy.
"Why do you think they got expelled?" Lex snorted. She loved destruction and disorder as much as the next Lightning Witch, but she also planned on lasting until graduation day. As soon as they got their diplomas, the three of them would unleash the full power of the spell. If all went well, they would be able to take over the entire realm (which was all they had their hearts set on, at the moment) without anyone knowing of their plans until it was too late. Magix was the place that shunned their mothers and forced the Trix into hiding. Magix was where the new Company of Light first formed. And Magix would be the place they would claim as their own without having to steal the power core of another magical being. Seriously, that whole Dragon Fire-stealing business was more trouble than it was all worth. "Don't worry about it too much, V. We've got this part of the plan totally under control."
"You'd better hope so." The older girl glared. "If this plot fails because of your incompetence, I will find someone else to scheme with. You may be family, but you are not irreplaceable."