They only had to follow the intense stench of blood to find where they were needed. Panicked gasps and cries left no doubt either.
They saw Layla using Morphix and water to help a badly burned girl. Tecna immediately flew to Flora, deciding that her gadgets could be useful with picking the shards of glass out of the poor girls. Musa landed down next to a pained first year student, humming a calming song to her until she could be healed.
After Bloom and Stella had put out the flames and the biggest injuries were treated, the Winx had time to talk. Bloom explained everything to Layla and Flora, from the steps to Hagen and from the note to the explosion. The two listened in silence, Flora covering her mouth with a hand.
"Oh my," the nature fairy whispered when Bloom had finished.
"And you left her all alone?" Layla questioned in a judging tone.
Bloom held her hands up defensively, being rather unprepared for such a reaction. "We're supposed to meet her in... Tecna, would you please?"
"It's 10:02,which means in 22 minutes," Tecna explained.
"Right. She asked as to come to the staff room, she said she'd be fine."
"Of course she said that, what else she was supposed to say?" Layla snapped. "'Oh, I think I'm going to die, but please, you go somewhere else'."
"Layla, please cut it out," Musa said in a warning tone. "It's not like we had much choice. If I know something about Faragonda, it's that she wouldn't have let us stay when her students are in trouble."
Layla sighed. "I know, I know... But I insist that we go to see her immediately."
"But what about healing the students?" Bloom asked.
"There's nothing Flora and I could do here anymore. Right, Flo?"
Flora nodded shortly. "Some of my plants can stop most of the blood from flowing out and cool down some burns, but that's all I can do now."
"And I can do less than that," Layla pointed out. "These girls are already heading to Ofelia. Besides, the staff room is at the other side of the building. If we go now, we could help the students on our way and still be on time."
"That's reasonable," Tecna agreed. "Let's go then."
"Do I even have a say in this?" Bloom wondered.
Stella giggled, nudging her friend gently. "Not when it's 3 against 1."
Bloom sighed. Oh well, it wasn't like she minded. "Fine, let's not waste anymore time then."
So they flew. They soon noticed that Layla's decision had been more than good. They found wounded fairies in every corridor they entered, accompanied by unconscious soldiers much for their delight. They could still beat them. They could still survive this.
Those hopes weren't so high when they arrived to the front doors. The situation there was a mess. While Layla and Flora were suddenly busy healing the wounded, the others fought the flooding masses of soldiers, who got inside more than easily now that the front doors had been wrecked.
"Ha! Beat that!" Stella joked after knocking down three soldiers at once. Her friends just rolled their eyes.
Soon the soldiers seemed to be either unconscious or wise enough to stay outside. Either was good enough for them at the moment.
"We should move on," Tecna noted. "It's 10:19 already."
"Yes, let's go," Layla agreed, helping a girl back on her feet.
But before the group managed to move even an inch, Bloom heard someone approaching and calling her by name. Hagen. She had almost thought she could avoid this conversation. But maybe he wouldn't ask—
"Bloom," Hagen began nearly breathlessly. "Have you seen Faragonda?"
And of course he asked.
"Oh, her, well..." Two voices fought inside Bloom, the one called Loyalty eventually beating Honesty. "I think she might be still upstairs."
Hagen's eyes widened a bit. "But there was an explosion."
"There was?" Bloom did her best to seem surprised. She had never been a good liar. "Then maybe... Maybe it'd for the best if you went to see if she is there, right?"
Hagen was already too busy with his own thoughts, so he just mumbled something and nodded before storming up the stairs.
Bloom sighed. She hated to lie to him, but what else could she do. She could apologize to him when this all was over.
Their journey continued and after a moment Bloom felt sick for unknown reason. She was pretty sure she had flown enough to not become nauseous anymore. And yet she saw the corridor blurring and spinning. Why was she feeling like this, for Dragon's sake?
She felt a tug on her arm and the world around her looked normal again. She turned to see that she almost flew past destination.
Tecna groaned in frustration. "We're late! 10:25."
"Geez, calm down, Tec, it's not like a minute will hurt anyone." Stella swung her hand carelessly and pushed the door handle down. The moment the door swung open, black, flame-like magic flashed without leaving any trace it had been there. The girls stood there their mouths hanging open.
Musa blinked rapidly. "What the hell was that?"
"I have no idea." Flora swallowed a bit. "But I sure hope it was something Faragonda did."
"Speaking of the devil, where is she?" Layla gazed around the room, seeing only as much as the others; a couple of couches, a teapot that had been forgotten on a stove, and dozens of drawers.
"She told about a door that we should find," Bloom noted.
"Let's do a quick scan," Tecna suggested, letting her ladybug gadget fly across the room. She frowned when she examined the results. "Nothing. It must be hidden with magic."
"Don't know about that yet, but something seems out of place." Stella pointed out empty space on the wall between drawers, and the picture on it. She studied it for a moment and her eyes widened. "Girls, you must see this."
Bloom flew to her, taking a good look of the photo. It was exactly like a moment from earlier, with Faragonda and Hagen in each other's arms, and four of the Winx at the door. It could have been a perfect sign from the headmistress, being something that only they'd know to be true. But the photo was taken...
"From the window?" Tecna was having the rare moment when she was confused. "Someone spied on us?"
Bloom carefully reached out to the photo. "But why would someone take a picture?" She gasped, pulling her hand quickly back. The photo had reacted on touch and now fire ran from its bottom to the top. The flames died down as quickly as they had appeared, leaving behind a door handle on the wall and only one notable change in the photo. The headmistress had been erased from it.
"Bloom?" Flora spoke softly. "Bloom, did you do that?"
Bloom wanted to answer, but she couldn't. Her throat was suddenly dry and she fought back tears. This was why she had felt sick. This was why she could never apologize enough to Hagen about lying. The picture left no doubt of what waited for them inside the hidden room.
Faragonda was dead.