Last time, Faragonda told Bloom and the others what she learned about the curse afflicting Domino. The Ancestress Coven used a bloodline curse; so long as one of their descendents lives, the curse will remain in effect. With that in mind, Bloom and the others resolved to eliminate The Trix once and for all. With Icy and Stormy already slain once and severed from the curse, all that remains is to kill Darcy and Vicky. At the same time, Vicky revealed to her sisters and allies that the source of her power is a stolen and corrupted Dragonfire ember implanted in her heart by The Ancestress Coven when she was a child. She also revealed that she had several modifications done to her body to keep her alive, but the modifications are now slowly killing her. 'Nuff said, on with the show!
Chapter 28: Of fear and Doubt
"I think I have a plan," said Naz, "one that might just work."
"Well don't keep us in suspense," said Stormy, "what is it?"
"We lure The Winx away from Alfea," said Naz, "and at a prepared place and time, trap them in their own worst nightmares. I have an cursed illusion that will do quite nicely. And while our winged friends are busy cowering from their greatest fears, we teleport inside the Alfea library and find the Construct piece. We then leave and go back to where The Winx are still hopelessly trapped in their minds. We then destroy them, and that will be that."
"It's a good plan," said Darcy, "except that it'll never work!"
"By now that old fool Faragonda will have quadrupled the defenses around Alfea," said Icy, "it'll take an army to break through the enchanted barriers, and we don't have an army to use."
"We won't need an army," said Naz, "we'll use the underground tunnels that connect Alfea with the rest of Magix."
"That won't work either," said Vicky, "Faragond would surely have foreseen that weakness as well and eliminated it. The barriers in the tunnels must be even stronger than the ones above ground by now."
"Rolf has to need for an army," said the blue-haired warlock, "Rolf has a means of breaking through enchantment protections like a hot knife though the cheese fermented on Rolf's great-aunt Brunhilda's farm." He then produced a black crystal, "this will get us inside the accursed school for fairies."
"If that can break through enchanted protections," said Toro, "why haven't you used it before?"
"Simple-minded Toro shape-shifter," said Rolf, "you and other dark souls haven't asked Rolf about it before. Besides, the crystal has only one use in it. After that, it's worthless."
"So, we can get inside Alfea," said Icy, "but how are you going to lure The Winx out? Have you thought of that?"
"You really think so little of me," said Naz, "This is what we'll do." She then told The Trix and the others of her plan.
"That's so wicked it's brilliant!" said Vicky, "I should have thought of it!"
"I know," said Naz in a smug tone, "you may bask in my glory!"
"You are you certain that they'll go for it?" Darcy asked, "that they'll come?"
"Oh they'll come," said Icy, "they'll come, they always come when something like this goes down."
"I know you'd like my plan!" said Naz.
"I never said I did," said Icy, "I'm just agreeing with you because it's the best we can come up with, and it had better work, Naz. We're on thin ice as it is with Zahidia. If this doesn't work, I'll make sure that you get punished before me."
"Fair enough," said Naz, "but it'll work, trust me, it will."
"Whatever The Trix were looking for," said an exhausted Musa, "it's not here."
Bloom and The Winx had just spent nearly ten hours searching the Alfea library for the item that their enemies were after, ten hours that had revealed nothing.
"It has to be here," said Bloom as she and the others sat down at a table to rest, "if it wasn't then Icy, Darcy and Stormy wouldn't have been in here that time. Let's look again."
"We've looked the whole library over three times already!" said an exasperated Stella, "it's not here!"
"The Trix were wrong, Bloom," said Layla, "and that's actually a good thing."
"Whatever that item they were looking for," said Flora, "whatever it was…what did Carmen say it was?" she yawned, "I'm so tired I can't think straight anymore."
"She said it was a Construct," said Tecna, "a machine the old R'leyh empire used to control people's minds. The Trix think a piece of one is here in the library, and I for one am glad that they were wrong."
"You're glad now," said Stella as she rested her head on her arms on the table, "we could have said that they were wrong hours ago."
"If that piece that they were looking for isn't in the library," said Bloom, "then it must be somewhere else in Alfea. Let's search the rest of the school."
"You're kidding, right?" Musa asked. "It's way after midnight, Bloom," said Layla, "can't it wait until morning? Wait, it is morning."
"Well whatever time it is," said Tecna, "we won't be able to do anything else until we recharge."
"Let's call it a night, Bloom," said Stella, "we'll look later."
"Alright," said Bloom, "but first thing after breakfast, we get right back to looking."
"Of course," said Flora.
"Can we make it lunch instead?" Stella asked, "or at least brunch?"
"You girls aren't going to do anything," said Griselda as she walked up to them, "not for the next 8 hours anyway. The headmistress told me of your efforts, but that's no reason to deprive you of rest. I want you ladies in bed within ten minutes, and I don't want to see you out of bed for 8 hours. Is that understood!"
"Yes, Ms. Griselda," said Bloom reluctantly.
"Thank you," whispered Stella to Griselda as the six fairies walked back to their dorm.
"We'll find it tomorrow, Bloom," said Flora as she and the others got ready for bed, "we will."
"I hope so," said Bloom, "I've got a feeling that that piece will mean a lot to us soon."
It was after midmorning when Bloom and The Winx got out of bed and were ready to resume their search. But when they came out of their dorm, they were confused at the hurried activity among the 3rd and 4th year students, and the frantic whispering among the 2nd years.
"What's going on?" Bloom asked a passing 3rd year.
"It's all the freshman girls!" said the 3rd year, "they're gone!"
"What?" exclaimed The Winx.
They hurried to the corridor to the 1st year dorms. They found Faragonda and Griselda at the doorway. Faragonda had a note in her hand.
"Apparently we had an unwelcome visitor early this morning," said Faragonda.
"Someone broke past the enchanted barriers and kidnapped every 1st year fairy in the school!" said Griselda, "and guess who the kidnappers are?"
"The Trix!" said Musa, "it has to be them!"
"Right you are," said Faragonda. She handed the note to Bloom, whom read it, while Stella and the others read it over Bloom's shoulder…
To the six fairies whom are the bane of our existence,
By now you will have heard that every firsty in your pathetic school is gone. We have them and are going to do unspeakable things to them, things that will take far too long to explain.
If you ever want to see them again, meet us in the forest by noon. Come by yourselves, or the firsties will suffer the likes of which that would make hell seem like paradise.
With everlasting hatred and disgust,
I, D, S and V
"Those four have sunk to a new low," said Bloom.
"It's like no matter how low the bar is," said Flora, "they always find a way under it."
"I hate them so much," said Stella, "I name that gunk you find in the corners of your eyes in the morning after them."
"But you have only two eyes," said Tecna.
"They're big eyes," said Stella.
"They are kinda big," said Musa.
"All the more for the universe to admire," said Stella.
"Can we focus on the real problem!" Tecna asked, "an entire class of fairies have been taken by The Trix, and who knows what horrors are being inflicted on them?"
"Tecna's right!" said Bloom, 'we have to save our friends!"
"But it's sure to be a trap!" said Layla.
"Well of course it's a trap," said Bloom, "they're probably waiting for us to come to them. They've got something diabolical waiting for us. But we have to try anyway."
"That's right," said Flora, "even if it is a trap, there no way I'm going to let those horrible witches, and those weirdos, harm our friends!"
"If you're going, then I'm going," said Musa, while Layla and Tecna nodded in agreement.
"Well, if you're going," said Stella," I might as well. But what are we gonna do? We can't fight The Trix and search for the fairies at the same time, or can we?"
"I think we can," said Bloom. She pulled out her phone and dialed, "Jake, I need you."
"So what are we gonna do with them?" James asked as he, Sara, Kevin, Rolf, Johnny and Plank, observed the captive first year fairies. The entire freshmen class of Alfea had been taken from their beds in the predawn light and brought to an artificial cave that Sara, in the form of a giant worm, had dug in the space of a minute.
Currently, the twenty or so freshmen fairies were tied up with cused ropes that were sapping their magic, just incase any of them had any ideas. All of them were terrified to the point of speechlessness.
"We're to keep them here and keep them quiet," said Toro. He and Trabon were with the Xaldo gang, on Vicky's orders, to ensure that nothing got out of hand.
"And don't even think of messing with them," said Trabon to Kevin and Rolf, "Vicky said that our 'guests' aren't to be touched. She wants to bring them back to Xaldo as sacrifices."
"Do you think Zahidia will even want them as sacrifices?" Sara asked as she eyed the trembling fairies, "'cause they look kinda scrawny."
"One does not have to be built like a pile of bricks to be a sacrifice to a demon, Sara shape-shifter girl," said Rolf.
"Demons will take anything that they can get," said Trabon, "I should know, I helped supervised the sacrifices performed among The Shadow Riders for fifty years."
"Plank wants to play some games with them!" said Johnny.
"You tell that overgrown toothpick that if he so much as looks at the fairies, I'll recycle him into mulch!" said Toro, "wait, why am I even having this discussion? Johnny! Stay away from the fairies, or I'll rip your head off and shove it on backwards, and I mean it!"
"Ah, they probably wouldn't even know how to play our games," said Johnny, "come on, Plank! Let's go jump from stalactites! Okay, pal, you can be it!" With that the boy and his imaginary friend went off to explore the cave.
"He'll be gone for a while," said Sara, "I made the cave bigger so he'll have plenty of room to play around."
"Which will heave him out of our hair for a while," said Kevin, "finally. That kid is one crazy dork."
"You use that word a lot," said Toro, "I don't think it means what you think it means."
"Whatever," said Kevin. He walked over to one side of the cave and sat against the wall.
"Don't get too comfortable," said Trabon, "by now Bloom and her friends must know what we did. They'll be going to meet Icy, Darcy, Stormy and Vicky, but instead they'll receive Naz's present."
"So what?" Kevin asked, "the fairies will get the present and Vicky will destroy them when she and her sisters have the Construct piece, problem solved."
"He means that while The Winx are heading for what they think will be a showdown with The Trix," said Toro, "they will have sent someone else looking for our charges. No doubt Sky and the Specialists will be involved."
"And let us not forget the Domino survivors," said Trabon, "those Children are proving to be a lot of trouble for us. So don't fall asleep there, Kevin, we all need to be ready for anything and everything."
"Are you sure you want to do this by yourselves?" Sky asked. The Winx, already in their Enchantix forms, and the Specialists were within a mile of where The Trix said to meet them.
"If we don't show up, then the first year fairies are done for," said Bloom, "just as much if we show up with anyone else."
"It's horrible," said Flora to Helia, "but that's how it has to be."
"I know," said Helia, "but I don't have to like it."
"I still think you should let us go with you," said Riven, "just give me one good shot at that Vicky, and I'll make her tell us where she took the fairies!"
"I know you could," said Musa, "but we can't take any chances."
"But we won't take any unnecessary chances," said Tecna, "if this is a trap, you guys will be within running distance to come help."
"But I doubt those witches can throw anything at us that we can't hit back," said Stella.
"I know," said Brandon, "but be careful anyway."
"We always try to be," said Bloom. With that the six fairies took flight.
"They'll be fine," said Riven, "they'll save they day like they always do, but we'll have to do all the hard work later on."
"Be glad that's the least we'll have to do," said Sky, "I've got a bad feeling about this."
"I've got a bad feeling about this," said Bloom as she and The Winx arrived at the specified location, a large clearing in the woods, "I know they've set a trap for us, but what?"
"I'm not detecting any traces of dark magic," said Tecna as she scanned with her wrist computer, "no curses, jinxes or hexes. Whatever The Trix have planned, it hasn't happen yet."
"But it will," said Naz as she came out from hiding behind a tree, "and you are going to have so much fun."
"You're one of those weirdo's that's been hanging around with The Trix!" said Stella, "Nas, or Nell, or something."
"My name is Natasha," said the witch, "but my friends call me Naz. You can call me your worst nightmare."
"You don't scare us!" said Musa.
"We don't scare so easily," said Flora.
"You will after I do this!" said Naz. She then unleashed her curse in the form of six streams of blackness that hit Bloom and the Winx in the heads, knocking them unconscious.
"Sweet dreams, ladies," said Naz. She giggled and teleported away.
"Something's wrong!" said Sky, "I know it. Come on!" he ran for the clearing, with Brandon and the others right behind him.
"How much longer are we going to have to wait?" Stormy asked. She, Icy, Darcy and Vicky were waiting in the crawlspace inside the walls of Alfea, and had been there since early that morning, "I'm starting to get a cramp in my neck."
"Then sit down already!" Icy as she moved about a bit so as not to get sore in any position, "for crying out loud, Stormy, you can be such an airhead sometimes!"
"I'm starting to think she was dropped on her head as a baby," said Darcy.
"Umm…funny you should say that," said a slightly nervous Vicky.
"You didn't!" said a shocked Icy.
"It was an accident," said Vicky haistly, "I swear!"
"What was an accident?" Stormy asked in an accusing tone.
Just then Naz teleported in, "good thing Rolf's crystal worked," said Naz, "anyway, it's done, The Winx are about to get a true lesson in terror," she then saw Stormy glaring angrily at Vicky, "did I miss something?"
"She dropped me on my head!" snapped Stormy as she pointed at Vicky.
"And I'm sorry for it," said Vicky, "honestly, I didn't mean for it to happen, you just slipped out of my hands."
"I'll bet," said an irate Darcy.
"What were you doing at the time?" Icy asked, "stealing cookies out of the cookie jar?"
"Well if I wanted one, I had to get one for the rest of you," said Vicky, "why are you so hung up about all of this? It happened when you were all barely a year old, and I was just shy of 6."
"Well, if you were getting cookies for all of us," said Darcy, "I guess I can excuse you."
"Me to," said Icy, "besides, I'm amazed Stormy can think at all, what with all the times she's been hit on the head?"
"When have I been hit on the head?" Stormy asked, "what, what are we talking about?"
"Umm…we were talking to Naz," said Vicky, "she has news, right?"
"Right," said Naz, "the Winx fell for the trap. They're stuck in their worst nightmares as we speak."
"And you left them like that?" Vicky asked, "when their hero boyfriends could come along and free them?"
'There's nothing those Red Fountain fools can do to break my curse," said Naz, "but…you're probably right, I shouldn't be leaving The Winx by themselves, just in case one of them breaks free on their own, however unlikely that would be." With that she teleported out.
"We should go," said Vicky, "get to the library and find the Construct piece before something else happens."
"Finally," said Stormy, "oh, Vicky?" without warning, she slapped her elder sister hard across the face, "Now we're even."
"She's really not as dumb as we think she is," said Icy.
"No, I'm not," said Stormy, "and my hearing is perfect, thank you very much."
Sky and the others ran into the clearing to find Bloom and The Winx unconscious.
"They haven't been harmed," said Timmy as he scanned the girls with his PDA, "no physical curses. But…"
"But what?" Brandon asked.
"Look at their eyes," said Helia. He pointed at Flora's closed eyes, then at the closed eyes of the rest of The Winx. All of their eyes were moving randomly and quickly.
"Rapid Eye Movement," said Sky, "they're dreaming."
"Well then let's wake them up," said Riven, "Musa…Musa! Wake up!"
"It won't work," said Timmy, "their bodies aren't cursed, but their minds are. The curse has then trapped in their dreams…no, more like nightmares. I'm detecting elevated stress levels, accelerated heartbeats, and their brainwaves are going crazy."
"What do we do?" Brandon asked, "how can we help them?"
"I…I don't know," said Sky.
Layla found herself back in the royal palace of Andros. She was in the ballroom during one of the festivals. Hundreds of couples were gaily dressed for a grand dance.
Layla then realized she was wearing her favoite ball gown The dancers in the hall parted, and at the center of the room stood Tatewaki, dressed gallantly.
"Shall we dance, my fair princess?" Tatewaki asked.
"We shall," said a smiling Layla. She walked towards the middle of the room to meet her beloved samurai from Earth. But when she got there, Tatewaki vanished.
Layla then saw the dancers vanish, and the ballroom changed in a way that was as if decades had passed. Now the room was abandoned, rotting from the salt air, and dripping from the water of the oceans.
"It's a shame when the works of man are claimed by time," said Naz as she appeared in front of Layla.
"What have you done, you bitch!" exclaimed Layla.
"I didn't do anything," said Naz, "this is your dream," she giggled, "or rather, your nightmare. I know what you're afraid of the most. You've put up such a brave front; always being tougher, braver, more independent than the others. But in truth you're still a child at heart, a child that needs to be corrected."
As Naz giggled again, Layal then found herself surrounded by all the maids and butlers, all the teachers and retainers that filled her childhood, all the ones who kept telling her how to live each and every moment of her life, whom wouldn't let her have any freedom at all.
"No," said Layla, "no, you can't tell me what to do any more!"
"Oh by they can," said Naz, "because to them, you'll always be their little princess. And a princess must always behave like a princess, no matter what."
All of Layla's tormenters suddenly became several feet taller, or was it that Layla was much shorter? She didn't care because she was surrounded by them, and they were all yelling at her, telling her what to do. They were yelling so loud that none of it made any sense, but it was more than enough to bring Layla to her knees.
Flora found herself wandering the forests of Lynphea. The sun was shining, sending beams of golden light through the trees. Flora then saw a sunlit glen ahead, and standing there was Helia, smiling, with his hand held out.
Flora smiled and ran into the glen. But when she got there Helia vanished, and the sunlit forest suddenly morphed into a nighttime scene, but with all the trees dead as if from a terrible plague.
"What is this?" Flora asked as she shivered, more out of fear than from cold, for her senses told her that there wasn't anything alive within miles.
"This is your version of hell, little flower fairy," said a giggling Naz as she appeared in front of Flora, "you, my dear, are afraid of death, or rather, the death of nature itself." Naz then giggled again.
"This can't be real!" saida slightly Flora, "this has to be a dream, a nightmare!"
"Check out the brain on Flora!" said Naz in a sarcastic tone, "you're one smart fairy! Unfortunately it won't do you any good, for this is one nightmare you won't be waking up from!"
Something then grabbed Flora by the ankle, something that turned out to be a rotting tree root. Another festering root grabbed her other ankle, tripping her to the ground where more rotting roots, and now rotting vines, grabbed her and began constricting.
"No!" exclaimed Flora, "it's just a dream! I have to wake up! I have to wake up!"
"But you won't!" said Naz, "you say you can hear the voice of nature. Well it's calling out for you, Flora, it's calling for you to die!"
Flora tried to get free of the roots and vines, but more and more sprang up and closed and began to sufficate her.
Musa found herself on stage of the grandest concert hall in The Harmonic Nebula. She was performing a piece on her flute that she wrote, and had just played the final note.
An audience hundreds of thousand strong erupted into thunderous applause. Flora bowed before her adoring fans, then looked stage right to see Riven walking towards her with a bouquet of roses. But as he was about to hand the roses to Musa, Riven vanished, and the roses began rotting as they fell to the stage floor.
The applauding audience also vanished, their sudden absence leaving a shocking silence. Even more shocking was the sight of the concert hall rotting away as if thousands of years were passing by in the blink of an eye.
"That's more like it," said Naz as she appeared in front of Musa, "I never did like music all that much, too much noise for me."
Musa was about to make a snappy comeback, when she was again shocked to find that she couldn't talk.
"Awww, what's the matter?" Naz asked in mock sympathy, "cat got your tongue?"
Musa tried to shout, scream, to make any sound at all, but nothing came from her throat. But then a horrible ringing began in her ears, but it was more, like nails on a chalkboard, screeching metal against metal, and other nerve wracking sounds, all at once.
"Do you know what that sound is?" Naz asked as Musa collapsed to the ground and covered her ears to block out the noise, but to no avail, "that is the sound of the everlasting chaos. It exist just beyond what people can hear, but it's always there, waiting to claim another soul, and now it's calling for you, Musa, the chaos is calling for you!"
Tecna found herself in the nerve center of all the computer networks in Binary. All the knowledge of the Magical Dimension, and quite possibly all of the universe as well, flowed through the skyscraper sized super computer, and Tecna was close to accessing it all.
She then saw Timmy walking towards her. She ran to embrace him, joyous that he was there to share this moment of logical triumph, when he vanished, and the supercomputer began to shut down.
"What is this?" Tecna asked, "this is to illogical. The supercomputer has more failsafe programs and backups than any other system in the universe."
"But it is still a machine," said Naz as she appeared in front of Tecna, "and all machines can be turned off," she held up a simple remote control that had an on/off toggle switch. The switch was at the off position.
"Humans are like machines to," said Naz, "they require energy to function. And like machines, they to can be turned off," she aimed the control at Tecna, "or maybe not, for machines and people can be revived. However, if certain information were to be forgotten, then the machine wouldn't know how to reactivate."
The control then changed from a toggle switch to a button, and the button was marked delete.
"No!" said Tecna as she realized what Naz was about to do, "not that!"
"Yes," said Naz as she pointed the control at Tecna, "that." she pressed the button.
Tecna then cried out in agony as every piece of knowledge in her mind began erasing itself.
"Can you feel it?" Naz asked as Tecna fell to the ground, struggling to hold onto her mind, but to no afail, "that emptiness growing inside your head? That is the void of darkness, and it's waiting for you, Tecna, it's waiting for you to forget everything."
Stella found herself at the most glamorous fashion show of Solaria. Hundreds of super models from across the Magical Dimension were there to display the latest in fashion, all of which Stella designed.
The audience was filled with thousands of photographers and critiques, and they were all gaga over Stella's creative genius.
When the show ended, Stella walked onto the runway to thunderous applause. She basked in the admiration she was receiving. But then Brandon appeared next to her, "they're here for you, Stella," said Brandon, "all for you!"
"Oh, Brandon!" said Stella. She reached up to kiss him, but found only empty air. Stella was then shocked to find herself on the streets of Magix. The streets and sidewalks were full of people, but nobody was looking at her.
"Hello!" said Stella, "it's me! Look at me!" but nobody heard her.
"What's with everyone!" exclaimed Stella. She was then shocked when someone walked right through her.
"What the…? How…! Okay, get a grip, Stella, this has to be a dream or something."
"And the dumbest of The Winx figures it out," said Naz as she appeared, "bravo, bravo indeed," she then clapped in a mocking manner.
"Whatever you did, it didn't work!" said Stella, "I know this is a dream, and I'm going to wake up right now!" she closed her eyes, but when she opened them, she was still on the sidewalk, and people were still walking though her.
"This is your nightmare, Stella," said a giggling Naz, "you're worst fear is to be ignored, to be forgotten, to fade away into nothing."
Stella then realized that not only was she being walked through as if she wasn't there, she could see through herself. Slowly but surely, she was becoming transparent.
"Do you hear that?" Naz asked, "that faint voice? That's oblivion calling for you, Stella, it's calling for you to fade away!"
Bloom found herself in the corridors of a basement of some sort. It was hot and muggly, as if the pipes all around her were full of boiling hot water.
Bloom then heard several children chanting…
1,2, Feddy's coming for you
3,4, better lock your door
5,6, grab a crucifix
7,8, gonna stay up late
9,10 never sleep again
"Wait a second," said an angry Bloom, "I've seen this movie before! You'd better come out, Naz! If you think you can scare me as Freddy Kruger, you've got another thing coming!"
"Well you're no fun at all!" said Naz. She appeared in front of Bloom wearing a filthy striped sweater and an old fedora hat. Her face and hands were horribly burned and on her right hand was a glove that had knives attached to the fingers.
"I went though all this trouble to scare you to death," said Naz as she took off the latex mask and gloves, then discarded the hat and sweater, "and you ruined it! Where's your appreciation of fantasy horror?"
"It went out the window when you started messing with my friends," said an irate Bloom.
"Oh yeah," said Naz in a tone that made it seem like she had a breakthrough, "your friends, your friends, without whom you, Bloom, are nothing."
The scenery changed to one of white nothingness. Bloom found herself completely alone. "Now what?"
"Didn't you hear what I just said?" the disembodied voice of Naz asked, "without your friends, you're nothing!"
Bloom then saw Flora, Musa, Tecna, Stella and Layla. She ran for them, but they vanished before she could reach them. Bloom then saw Carmen, Morgan and Elise, but they vanished before she could reach them.
Bloom saw Jake, Mace, Payton, Kegan, Kurt and all the other Domino survivors found so far, but they to vanished, as did Faragonda, Saladin, Griffin, Mirta, all her friends at Alfea and on Earth.
She then saw Brandon, Riven, Helia and Timmy vanished. The last to dissapear was Sky.
This was the straw that broke the camel's back, leaving Bloom completely devastated. She fell to the ground and wept.
"Oh this isn't good!" said Timmy as he scanned the unconscious Winx with his PDA again, "if we can't wake them up, they're done for!"
"Now what?" Riven asked.
"They're being scared to death," said Timmy, "whatever this curse is made of, it's forcing the girls to face and drown in their fears. If we don't wake them up, their hearts will simply give out and they'll die!"
"Then there's not a moment to waste," said Nabu as he walked into the clearing, "looks like I made it just in time."
"Aren't you that guy Layla's angry with?" Brandon asked.
"Let's not bring that up right now," said Nabu, "there's work to be done. Sky, you stand next to Bloom. Brandon, next to Stella. The rest of you, you know what to do."
"What's this all about?" Riven asked as he stood next to Musa.
"He clearly knows what he's doing," said Helia as he stood next to Flora.
"I'm going to use a spell that will send us all into the girls dreams," said Nabu as he stood next to Layla, "I'll put us as close to the girls in their dreams as I can. If I'm right, then a dream proxy of the one who put the girls in this curse will be taunting them, possibly right next to them. We'll have to kill this proxy in order to wake the girls up."
"How do you know all of this?" Sky asked.
"There's no time," said Nabu, "I'll explain later, bur right now we have to do this. Ready?"
"Well…I…" said Brandon.
"Okay, here we go," said Nabu. He then cast the spell, and the next thing the boys knew, they were in the nightmares of The Winx.
All this time the real Naz had been watching from behind a tree, "oh, this isn't good," said Naz.
"Face it, Bloom," said Naz, "you're finished."
"So are you, bitch!" shouted Sky. Naz turned around to see Sky, just in time for him to cut her head off with his sword. The dream-Naz vanished, and Bloom stood up.
"Sky?" a confused Bloom asked.
"It's okay, Bloom," said Sky as he took her in his arms, "this nightmare is over."
"Just a few more seconds, Stella," said Naz, "and you will cease to exist!" but then Naz choked on her next words as she looked down to see Brandon's sword poking out from her chest. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she vanished.
Immediately afterwards, Stella's body solidified, "Brandon? Is it you?"
"The one and only," said a smiling Brandon as he took her in his arms.
"It's sad," said Naz to Musa, "that such great tallent such as yours will fade to nothing."
Just then Riven's sword sliced down and cut Naz from right shoulder to left hip, severing her body and causing the dream-proxy to vanish.
"You'll never fade away," said Riven as he helped Musa stand up, "I won't let you become nothing more than a memory."
"Riven," said Musa as she embraced him.
"That's right," said Naz to Tecna, "give in to the chaos."
"Chaos will never triamph!" said Timmy, "not as long as there are those who believe in logic and reason!"
Naz turned around to see Timmy aim and fire his blaster, hitting her in the head. The dream proxy fell to the ground and vanished.
Timmy then helped Tecna up, "I almost gave up," she said, "I thought that…"
"That the chaos was stronger?" Timmy asked. He smiled, "never in a trillion years."
"Just a little bit longer," said Naz to Flora, "and you'll be as dead as this forest."
"There is no such thing as a dead forest," said Helia, "only one that sleeps!" He then shot his glove wires at Nax and caught her around the neck, "but you'll be dead soon enough!"
The dream proxy soon asphyxiated and vanished, as did the festering roots and vines ensnaring Flora. "Oh, Helia!" she said as he helped her up, "I was so frightened."
"You don't have to be," said Helia as he held her in his arms, "not any more."
"Oh how precious," said Naz in a mocking manner to Layla, "the little princess is about to die."
"I think not!" said Nabu. He sent a spell at the oversized maids, buttlers, teachers and retainers around Layla and they vanished.
"Nabu?" said a confused Layla, "but how…?"
"I'll explain later," said Nabu, "but first I have to deal with this vile creature," he faced Naz, "normally I would never intentionally kill, but for you I'll make an exception!" he then sent a killing curse at the dream proxy, which vanished in a flash of green light.
Nabu then smiled at Layla, "and that takes care of that."
The Winx and the Specialists all woke up at the same time. "What just happened?" Musa asked, "were we all dreaming?"
"More like a nightmare for me," said Tecna, "a horrible nightmare."
"It was horrible," said Riven, "I can't believe that bitch made you lose your voice"
"You think that was horrible?" Stella asked, "I was fading away."
"I think we all deserve an explanation," said Bloom.
"We sure do," said Sky.
Nabu, whom everyone was looking at, was about to explain, when there was a sudden noise from the tree line. Naz fell into the clearing, a look of unadulterated agony on her face. She felt everything that happened to her dream proxies. After experiencing having her head cut off, stabbed in the chest, sliced in half, shot in the head, strangled and cursed, it was a miracle that Naz was still conscious.
"She's one of those freak-a-zoids that's been hanging around with The Trix!" said Helia.
"She did this to us," said Bloom.
"And she won't do it to anyone again," said an irate Riven, "I'm gonna slice her up for real!"
"Don't!" said Sky, "she may have information."
"Oh, right," said Riven, "okay, I'll tie her up."
"I'll do it," said Helia, "I'm the one who remembered to bring the anti-magic cuffs."
"You fools," said Naz as Helia cuffed her hands behind her back, while Riven and Brandon dragged her into the clearing in front of Bloom and Sky, "you think that you've won, just because you got out of my trap?"
"Apparently yes," said Bloom.
"Well get this, princess!" snapped Naz, "my nightmare plan was just to keep you and your boyfriends busy while Vicky and The Trix grab the Construct piece! Once they have it, Vicky will send the word to the others to eliminate all the first year fairies! They're as good as dead!"
"I don't think so!" said Carmen as she and Jake triumphantly strode into the clearing.
"Everything went according to plan, Princess Bloom," said Jake, "we tracked the missing fairies and saved them all. They're in the city until it's save to return to Alfea, but they're all safe and sound."
"What!" exclaimed Naz.
"Oh, you're one of those freaks who've been hanging with The Trix," said Carmen, "looks like you need some company," she then shouted, "bring them in, guys!"
In came Mace carrying a tied up Toro, Kegan dragging Kevin, Payton carrying Sara, Rei carrying James, Travis carrying Trabon, Elise using a hovering spell on a paralyzed Rolf, and Morgan kicking Johnny and Plank, the former having been forced into the shape of a ball, and he seemed to be enjoying it.
"Look at me, Plank! I'm in the Galactic Cup!"
"Good grief, these guys are weird," said Morgan.
"And there's the weirdest of them all," said Riven, "how's it going, Pantyhose Toro?"
"It's Toro the Destroyer, you son of a bitch!" exclaimed the restrained shape shifter, "just wait until I get out of this! I'll skin you alive!"
"You freaks won't do anything," said Carmen.
"I'm just as pissed as my comrades," said Trabon, "but I'm also curious as to how you children got the best of us."
"It's all thanks to the new guys," said Carmen, "they arrived just the other day," she indicated three people, two men and a woman, "they helped us track the fairies, and Mirta got us in there with her illusions."
"They never knew what hit them," said Mirta as she walked in.
Just then Bloom and The Winx all had the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
"We have to get back to Alfea!" said Bloom, "now!"
"Okay," said Vicky, "I'll admit it, the Construct piece isn't in the library."
"You think?" Darcy asked. The four witches had completely devastated the Alfea library, throwing every book to the floor and smashing every bookcase, yet to no avail.
"It's not in the restricted section either," said Icy, "so where is it."
"Why didn't Vicky use her Cthulhu disk?" Stormy asked, "she used it to find the piece that one time."
"Oh for fcks sake!" exclaimed Vicky as she pulled out her imperial pendant, "I should have remembered I can do that!" she held out her Cthulhu pendant and used it as a scrying tool. The pendant swung towards the nearby restricted area of the library.
"I just looked there," said Icy.
"Apparently you weren't looking correctly," said Vicky. The pendant lead her to the back wall of the restricted area. She felt around and found a hidden switch that revealed a doorway.
"How long has this been here?" Darcy asked as she and her sisters looked into the dusty passageway.
"Probably since Alfea was first built," said Vicky, "but that doesn't matter. The Construct piece is this way," she and her sisters followed the tug of the pendant as it lead them down the passageway.
They came to a large door that had multiple locks. In the middle of the door were several lines of writing in a strange language that none of the sisters could read.
"There's dozens of enchanted locks as well," said Darcy, "I can sense them; it'll take hours to break through them all."
"And we don't have that much time," said Vicky, "but we'll have to make do. Stand back, sisters, this is going to get a little rough." She then formed a large ball of black flames, then compressed them into a small sphere. She then placed the sphere against the door and caused it to spin. First one, then another, then a third enchantment broke.
"Even the best of enchantments will break if you apply the correct force in the correct spot," said Vicky. Just as she was about to break through the fourth enchantment, a booby trap activated and blasted the four witches out of the corridor, through the library and crashing out the window into the courtyard.
"Now that was wild," said a dazed Stormy as they got back up.
"Okay then," said Vicky as she brushed herself off, "next time I'll make sure to avoid any traps."
"Your time is up, Vicky!" exclaimed Bloom as she and The Winx combined their magic to force the four witches outside in the courtyard, where Carmen and the others had prepared a dark magic sapping trap that left The Trix severely weakened, especially Vicky, whose injuries had returned with a vengence.
"You're not looking so good, Vicky," said Sky, "hope you've got insurance."
"She won't need it," said Carmen, "not when she and Darcy are about to die. Bloom, if you and The Winx aren't up to it, we'll do it."
"Thanks, Carmen," said Bloom, "but I think I can handle Vicky."
"Just so long as Darcy is mine," said Elise.
"You'll get no arguments from us," said Brandon.
"What's going on?" Icy demanded, "why are you so hung up about just Darcy and Vicky?"
"What's it to you people that just us die?" Darcy asked.
"Nothing would make me happier than to finish you all at once," said Carmen, "but Vicky and Darcy have to die."
"When you're gone," said Jake, "the curse set by The Ancestress Coven will be broken, and Domino will live again."
"What are you talking about?" Stormy demanded.
"Those bitches!" snapped Darcy as she put 2 and 2 together, "those wretched old hags! They used a bloodline curse when they put Domino in the freezer!"
"And a bloodline curse is continued by the casters descendents," said Icy, "we're the last of the family. When Darcy and Vicky die, the curse will be broken!"
"Why them?" Stormy asked, "we're still alive!"
"You two died already!" said a now terrified Darcy, "you're no longer part of the curse! It's just Vicky and me now! And we're about to die!"
"Oh no we are not," said Vicky in a sly tone, "Bloom and the others are going to let us go."
"The hell we will!" said Elise, "I've waited far too long for this!"
"And don't even start about how Bloom's a fairy and that fairies can't kill in cold blood!" said Sky, "she's had just about enough of you!"
"That's right!" said Bloom, her eyes blazing with righteous fury, "you witches have put me and my friends through so much misery over the years, I don't even want to think about it! This ends here and now!" she began charging up a massive blast of Dragonfire to aim at Vicky, while Elise prepared to short circuit Darcy for good.
"I wasn't talking about a fairy's inhibition against murder," said Vicky, completely calm in the face of her imminent demise, "what I meant was that Bloom will surely regret killing us."
"No I won't! said Bloom, "once you're gone, Domino will be free!"
"No, it won't," said Vicky, "if you kill me and Darcy, then Domino will remain cursed forever!"
"What is this crap?" Riven asked, "Faragonda said that the curse will be broken once the family of the caster is wiped out!"
"That's usually the case," said Vicky, "but then, one must remember that The Ancestress Coven wasn't your average group of dark magic users."
Bloom didn't want to believe anything that came from Vicky's mouth, but the seed of doubt had been planted, causing her hands to lower just a bit.
But this was enough for Vicky, whom kept talking, "they surely have anticipated a time when their descendents were on the verge of dieing out, so they had set up a countermeasure, should anyone discover the means of breaking the curse."
"Don't listen to her, Bloom!" shouted Carmen, "she's a Trix! They speak nothing but lies! Finish her!"
But Bloom's resolve was weakening by the second, "what countermeasures?" she asked.
"They included an latent inverse component when they cursed Domino," said Vicky, "one that would activate when the last member of the family died. Instead of removing the curse, it'll be locked in place until the end of time. So go ahead and destroy us, Bloom, if it'll give you and your friends satisfaction. But if you do, you doom your world to a frozen hell for eternity."
"Liar!" shouted Flora, "Faragonda would have told us if there was a danger!"
"Your desperate attempt to save your own skin won't work!" said Stella, "do it, Bloom!"
"I…" said Bloom, "I…I…" she lowered her hands and powered down her Dragonfire blast.
"Oh for crying out loud!" said an irate Carmen, "I'll do it!"
"No! Don't!" shouted Bloom, "you'll…!"
"You actually believe this load of crap!" exclaimed Carmen. By now all of our heroes were watching both Carmen and Bloom. This was what Vicky was waiting for, or rather, what Zahidia was waiting for.
"Activate the Tachyon Transporter," said Zahidia, whom had been observing everything, "bring the failures home for their 'admonishments.'"
"They're gone!" shouted Helia. Everyone looked and saw that the four Trix had vanished.
"Damn it!" shouted Riven, "we were so close!"
Just then Jake got a text message, "it's from Kegan and Travis, they were staying with those other villains, and now it seems that the other villains are gone as well. Someone or something teleported them out from an outside source."
"I'll have to ask them how they did it, next time," said Timmy.
SMACK!
Everyone was shocked to see and hear Carmen slapping Bloom hard across the face.
"How dare you!" exclaimed Carmen, "how dare you let them get away! After all that those…those creatures did to all of us, you let them get away! You had the chance to end it once and for all, and you allowed that bitch Vicky get to you! How dare you!" she raised her hand to slap Bloom again.
"Ms. Carmen!" said Jake as she restrained Carmen's hand.
"It's not Bloom's fault!" said Sky.
"Oh yes it is!" said Carmen.
"No it isn't!" shouted Stella.
"Yes it is!" said Elise.
"Everyone shut up!" exclaimed Layla, "It's nobody's fault but The Trix, but that can wait. Look at Bloom."
Everyone looked to see Bloom, whom had powered down to her human attire, walk over to a nearby bench and sit down.
"You okay, Bloom?" Stella asked as she and the others walked over.
"Bloom, I'm so sorry," said a frantic Carmen, "I shouldn't have hit you, I didn't mean it, honest!"
"Bloom?" said Sky, "are you alright? Bloom!"
But Bloom couldn't hear them. She just sat there, a blank look on her face.
Once again Bloom found herself in her inner mindscape. She was in the throne room of the Domino palace, and standing in front of the thrones was her dark side, a smug look on her face.
"I told you what would happen if you hesitated at the moment of truth," said Dark Bloom, "you had your chance, Bloom, now we're going to do things my way."
"No!" said Bloom, but her resolve was weakened from her encounter with Vicky.
"Deny it all you want," said Dark Bloom, "but this will happen. I'm in control now!"
"You'll have to go through me first!" said Bloom.
"I was hoping you'd say that!" said Dark Bloom, whom then attacked Bloom.
The end of chapter 28.
The Dragon Princess must once again battle her inner darkness for control of her life. The ultimate fate will be decided by those whom she loves. Elsewhere, the dark souls will face their personal hells once again.
Next chapter: Healing after Heartbreak
'for those with wings, fly to your dreams'