Verboten
Chapter 26

Monday, October 19, 2009

Disclaimer: I do not own the Winx Club.

The ride back was god awfully long and it had only been probably half an hour. Andy tried not to stare at Asta, who was distractingly brushing her hair with a comb and had propped her legs on the adjacent bench near the driver, or Helia who was 'apparently' sleeping in his seat near the back. Andy occasionally caught Helia staring back and then closing his eyes dozing. Asta half-hummed a tune from time to time. Andy himself was handcuffed with his hands resting on his knees.

"Okay, I can't stand this silence, anymore. Someone has to talk or something." Helia was awake again and alert this time.

Andy inwardly agreed.

"Did we bring anything to eat?" Asta said, dropping her brush. "I'm absolutely famished and the food on this planet is disgusting. Or at least, this place called McDonald's is."

Andy was jarred by the sudden way Asta begun to act. For once, she acted like her age: fifteen years old with a sort of childish hyperactiveness.

"There's probably ration packs somewhere, if you're that hungry. Try that one." Helia pointed to a compartment beside Asta where she pulled out a small rectangular box unto her lap.

"Yes! Pass me a water bottle!" Asta ripped open the top of the box where inside was a plastic tray divided into compartments. She ripped off the plastic seal from that too. Inside were all sorts of chunks of unidentifiable foods drowned in powder. Grabbing a bottle from Helia, she poured the water into the tray and used a fork to mix it.

"You're going to eat all of that cold?"

"Shut up. You saw nothing," she threatened with her fork and ate gluttonously.

Helia stuck his tongue out. "And you, did you eat?" the artist asked Andy.

"I'm…fine," Andy said awkwardly from being included into their conversation.

"So, what did Bloom tell you?"

The musician's face drew a blank. What was he supposed to tell him?

"Okay, maybe not…"

"What happened to Bloom?"

Helia was pensive. "I might as well tell you. We shot a sedative into her while was not looking, a tranq if you will, and then we made out move and captured her—and you. She's in the other truck, sleeping hopefully."

"So…she's a fairy, Bloom that is?" Andy tested.

The musician was met with a sheer wall that was Helia's response. "I'm not allowed to tell you that."

"You're not going to tell me anything, are you?" How classic. It was in movies, it was books. Tell them anything you can and they will give nothing in response. Helia and Asta gave very little answers pertaining to magic and Andy gave up.

-

Sky walked into Chandra's makeshift office and closed the door. The tanned, short-haired woman was already sitting and Sky grabbed a swivel chair, bracing himself for the worst. Sky was so tense, almost to point that he would be sick. Something told him that this would be no ordinary discussion judging from the way his stomach was ready to heave its contents.

"Sky, I know you are stressed about everything. I know what you are stressed about. I'm going to make suggestions. Just listen to me, okay?" the woman cooed gently. "I've told you this since the day I met you that I'm a psychologist, not a psychiatrist." Of course, she was giving him her special speech to help calm him. It was not calming at all.

"First, Roxy. I know it's been years since something like this has come up and I don't mean to bring up any bad memories, okay?" Chandra swallowed hard. "Do you remember when Diaspro was kidnapped and as soon as she had been retrieved, you were not allowed to see her for six months?"

Sky nodded unsure. Those months had not been necessarily terrible for him but there was a sort of an uncomfortable loneliness. He did not really want to remember it. He had been only eight himself and had known very little of the real world.

"Do you remember what I said when I finally told you what had happened to her during those months?"

Of course he did. How could he not? It had been years later after the incident, about when he was fourteen and learning about the unnatural workings of magic and its repercussions. What they had done to Diaspro was terrible. Sick. Even disgusting. Against the very laws of nature. Something to not be tampered with. Death would have been better for the princess than the treatment she had been subjected to. Sky was hunched over with a hand to his mouth, almost wanting to wretch.

They had tampered with her mind; rewrote her personality; destroyed her character until there was nothing that was truly Diaspro. A completely different Diaspro.

What did that mean for Roxy?

"Diaspro's mind was in a very fragile and susceptible state," she continued. "She had been exposed to materialistic greed and that could have been very dangerous for the princess in the years to come, Sky. You know what she's capable of. Gold from iron, emeralds from rubies. We did those things to emphasis the point that money was not very important in the world so that she would not realise what potential she would have had. I know that she grew a little vain later on but…"

Sky motioned for her to stop talking. The king found himself grasping for breathe.

"Just tell me what this has to do with Roxy, Chandra."

Slightly relieved, Chandra continued. "Roxy might have to go under the same process if we ever see her mind open up. She's been exposed to thoughts and ideas that are not her own and she might not wake up as her own person from this. We need to keep Roxy the same person, before and after. I know that this is not the most delightful subject to talk about but I have no choice to give you the responsibility of Roxy's personal health. I can't be both the doctor and the guardian in this."

No, no, no, no! What was Chandra thinking?!

"But what about Klaus?!" Sky said immediately.

No, no, no, no! Roxy was not going to be another Diaspro. Roxy was stronger than that, older, wiser. She had to be!

Chandra straightened, as if expecting this. "He cannot make informed decisions about his daughter's health at this stage, injured or not. Physical damage is one thing but mental and magical damage, especially for a man who grew without magic, is a completely different thing. You know that, Sky. You will know what to do."

"How can I possibly do that while running this mission?"

Chandra was also expecting this question. "Relegate your tasks, Sky. Quit your job at the bar. Give Asta the task of running around with the specialists and the Winx for every fire. Make Brandon give you reports. You have more important things to take care of."

Sky nodded. He could not argue at all.

"Which brings me to my second concern: your interest in this mission. Your fiancé. I know you are sending them home as soon as possible but you will most undoubtedly become uncontrollable if I left you two in the same room for a minute. Now that Andy is involved, there is no doubt in my mind. This is no reflection upon your relationship but I want you to postpone your relationship with her. Give your rings back to each other."

Sky's heart was racing and breathing was becoming difficult. "You want me to break up with Bloom?!"

"Exactly."

"But that's not fair!"

"And a king whose mind is so caught up on his fiancée's past life and troubles that he cannot see the entire picture is no good to me, Sky."

"But I'm not like that—!"

"This is not negotiable. I've said what I've needed to for now. Get out of my office and reflect on it for a bit. Come back to me when you've calm down. Take a walk, get drunk, beat yourself in the reality chamber or go to sleep but get out."

Speechless, enraged, confused, Sky was all of them. Who the hell was this woman to tell him how to run his personal life? Who the hell was she to suggest to him these things?

More shocked than angered, Sky numbly got up and left.

-

That afternoon

Andy had been deposited into a sort of cell upon arriving. He did not catch a glimpse of the outside so he had no idea where he was but he had to admit the furnishings were a lot better than he imagined. After a long hallway, they had brought him to a door that would lead to his room. It was a small square room with a metal bunk bed, a table, some chairs, a small shelf and an equally small bathroom with a shower. The walls were a sort of yellow that he did not care for very much though. Not what he had expected at all.

This was pretty generous of them, actually.

The door was obviously locked, though.

Andy got to know the room was intimately after a couple of minutes and decided to go to sleep.

-

There was a knock at the door that woke up Andy from his dreaming. At first, he had wondered where was he until he remembered what had happened that same morning. It came to him as a brilliant flash of half sensible memories that made absolutely no sense.

Right, his ex-girlfriend, who was engaged to this definitely not remotely Greek possibly drug dealer bastard blond, was a fairy. A headache started to attack him at the idea.

"Andy, are you in there?"

The musician did respond, being half-asleep.

"I have dinner," the voice tempted. "Can I come in?"

Andy sat up in his bed, almost hitting his head on the bottom of the bunk above him. "Sure…"

The door knob spun and the door swung open to let in a familiar dark-haired fifteen years old, wearing short shorts, sneakers and plain shirt, carrying a heavy-looking tray laden with pots. Andy stood up to help, unsure of how to act. Asta slammed the door shut with her bum and scurried to the table dropping the tray with a small thump.

"That was so heavy! What are they trying to feed you?!" she said in a whiney voice, almost insinuating that he was fat.

"Um…thanks…"

"Your welcome." Asta then began opening various pots that let out steam and set up a table for two.

"Wait, you're eating with me?"

"No, I'm only here to offset the colour of the wall. Of course I'm eating with you!"

Andy took a moment to register the thought. "Why?"

"So that you don't die of boredom, dufus."

In the pots were all sorts of foods: stews, rice, pasta, unidentifiable meats…a purple-red soup with carrots…all of which smelled absolutely appetizing.

Andy's stomach rumbled. Asta turned a head to him, quirking an eyebrow. "Eat. Take as much as you want."

-

The musician and the witch ate in awkward silence. Their forks scraped their plates and it grated on Andy's nerves.

"So…um, you're Asta."

Asta paused with a fork in her mouth. "And you're Andy."

"You're the girl from the bar. You were always reading or drinking tea."

"Mm-hm," she agreed.

"Or talking to Sky…"

"Yes," she said curtly.

Andy's shoulders dropped at the lack of detailed responses. "Can you tell me anything at all?"

Asta put down her fork and put her chin on her hands and looked at him with her greyish eyes that seemed to swirl unnaturally behind her pupil.

"So tell me, what's Pink Floyd," she said smiling at his shirt. Pink Floyd was written over his breast with the cover art for The Dark Side of the Moon: a beam of light hitting a triangular prism and forming a rainbow of lights at the other side.

"How do you—?" Andy looked at his chest, briefly remembering the scene in the hotel when Bloom handed them to him. "It's a rock band from the sixties."

"Really, are they popular?"

A muscle in Andy's jaw jumped. This teen had to be kidding. How does she not know about Pink Floyd? Sure, they probably predated both him and her combined but how could she never have heard of them? "Haven't you ever heard of them?"

"No, never. This is the first time I ever heard of them. Are they girls? They sound like it."

Andy's jaw dropped. Now, she definitely had to be living under a rock.

"I don't live under a rock, Andy." Asta began picking at her food. At his opened mouth, she said, "Close your mouth. I don't want to see what you ate."

Andy closed it immediately, slightly embarrassed.

"So Bloom gave you that shirt, huh?" she continued.

"Um, yeah."

"Because you only left with the clothes on your back, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry for the scare then. I did not mean to terrify you so badly. The phone call, I mean. By the way, I broke into your house and looked around. I left everything as it was though."

Andy did not know how to respond to that. He tried to form words but failed. Instead, he tried to focus on what he knew about this…teenager.

She had been the one to suggest killing Bloom. No, he would not bring that up. Considering this girl's age, what did she know about what was right and what was wrong? She looked barely out of high school. She also had the killer instinct judging by the way his body felt a little sore after that punch to his stomach. Andy looked up to stare at the girl's intensely interesting grey eyes.

"You have very unique eyes." No wait—that was not what he wanted to say!

"Thank you I know that you did not intend to say that but thanks anyways. Your eyes are really nice against your dark hair. They're a cute shade of ice blue on you." Asta returned the compliment in a toneless voice as she continued to stare at him.

Now the staring was really unnerving. Andy was about to ask when Asta spoke again.

"Tell me what Bloom told you."

Andy's eyes widened. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Tell me, and I might be able to tell you even more—to help you understand."

-

Beep…beep…beep… drowned some heart monitor in the distance.

Bloom cracked her eyes open and was met with white light that blinded her. She moaned in pain as she tried to stretch arms and legs. Something felt wrong. Why couldn't she move her arms?! Bloom looked down her body and found herself covered with a blanket. Her legs were free to move but her arms seemed to be tied to something. Upon further inspection, she found herself in a sort of hospital-like room that was separated by curtains, she was wearing a patient's gown and her wrists handcuffed to the gurney railings on the side.

What the hell?!

Bloom tried to sit up but was only impeded by the cuffs. Her heart racing and totally unaware of where the hell she was, her breathing became ragged.

Where was Andy? What had happened to him?! Oh God, not dead, she hoped! Sky would not let that happen, would he?! Sky was not that cruel, was he? Oh God, oh God!!! Where was she? Certainly not the local hospital.

The struggle came crashing back into her memory. The feel of Helia's laser threads chaffing her arms and impeding her wings, the way the nets got painfully tangled in her wings making her cry, the way Helia so roughly pulled her down with that amazing strength of his, the way more nets came flying at her with such force that she was afraid it was going to kill her, the moment she realised that no ordinary mosquito had bit her but that a yellow rubber needle was embedded in her thigh.

Oh God, oh God, where was she?!

She had to get out. At least take off the handcuffs.

The handcuffs were simply leather with a metal chain and Bloom tried to focus her energy to burn them away. She felt the energy pool in her stomach and steadily rose up her spine to behind her eyes where she focused her energy on burning the leather. Unfortunately, it never burned. Something was choking her. It was as if her Venturi tunnel of magic between her mind and her body was sealed off, letting only whispers of energy get through the filter. Bloom felt her gathered energy start to disperse quickly back into her body.

Her neck grew warmer, almost chokingly warm and suffocating as if it was both physically and magically choking her.

No, something was wrong! What was on her neck?!

Bloom whimpered uncomfortably as the choker grew threateningly warmer.

A door opened and closed and the sounds of feet on the floor were heard. To her left, Bloom saw a silhouette against the white curtains. Somebody tall was hunched over a bed. Bloom then realised that the steady beeping sound of a heart monitor came from that exact area.

"H-hello?"

The silhouette straightened and poked a head around the curtain. It was Chandra and she was giving her the nastiest stare she had ever received.

"So, you're awake," Chandra said in an unforgiving tone.

"Where am I?"

"The warehouse." The woman promptly left without another word, disdain trailing after her.

-

"Where is she?!" Stella came into the warehouse screaming with the rest of the Winx Club behind her.

"Could you be any louder?" Riven tossed back sarcastically from his seat on a couch. Brandon sat at a couch with him.

"Oh god, what happened?!" Stella screeched and paled at the sight of both men.

Brandon's sleeve was rolled up and his arm from his wrist to his elbow was red. Riven was hunched over his arm trying to carefully bandage the burn. Brandon had an identical bandage on his other arm. Riven himself had a bandage around his neck and one of his hands. Although there was a very faint red band around his other wrist. The coffee table beside them was a bottle of pills, a roll of bandages, scissors and a couple of glasses of water. Evidently, they had taken their share of painkillers.

"Riven, what did you do?!" Musa scolded.

"Well, yes, but we weren't exactly expecting Bloom to go supernova above our heads now, were we?!" Riven yelled back testily.

Musa backed off a bit, seeing as he was not in the best of moods.

"Let me do it," Tecna offered to Riven who gladly moved over for the tech fairy. Tecna grabbed the roll of bandages from Riven and began wrapping it up the brunette's arm. "This was all from Bloom?"

Brandon nodded wearily.

"Where's Helia?" Flora asked in an extremely small voice, almost inaudible but Brandon read her lips.

"MIR. Hypothermia possibly..." Brandon did not seem in the mood for talking.

Flora's eyes widened, seeming to forget how to breathe at the same time, and she ran for the MIR, her hand at her mouth and her eyes watery.

"And Timmy?" Tecna asked equally worried.

"Very lucky," Riven cut in. Musa was on her knees at his feet inspecting his hands worriedly. "Don't do that! It hurts!"

"Sorry."

"What do you mean 'lucky?'"

"He was nowhere near the action. All he did was shoot Bloom with a tranq from a mile away and we did the capturing."

Stella seemed to be frozen in her spot as she watched Flora run. She then looked to Brandon. "Is Helia…dying?" she asked numbly to no one in particular. What did the sunshine princess really know about the harsh realities of combat? Of the world of their specialist boyfriends?

Riven swore heavily and gave an incredulous stare. "Hypothermia is the lost of body heat," he hissed. "He was one of the closest to Bloom and he was essentially baked in an oven for ten seconds. What do you think?"

"Riven!" Musa reprimanded.

"I'm sorry but people die and people live. What do you want me to do, Musa?" he said defensively.

In a moment of anger, Musa slapped him. All of the Winx girls stared, surprised.

Musa stood up and pointed at him, unbelieving. "You are a disgusting person!" Musa shook as she spoke. "Utterly despicable! One of your friends is possibly dying and you say that! With Darcy, it was because of her spell. And then in Obsidian, you were under Mandragora's spell but this!"

Riven stood up and overwhelmed her with his height. "I've had lots of friends die, Musa! I can only worry so much! Don't tell me I'm a despicable person—!"

"WHATEVER," Chandra cut in yelling from across the warehouse with a booming voice, "you are talking about cannot possibly be more important than the issue at hand, which is Roxy. Come into my office now. All of you."

Latter Note: Hey, MusaRiven action! Oh God, I just realised that Helia is in theory dying. Isn't it strange to hear Asta think that Pink Floyd is a girls' band?

And we elaborate more on Diaspro's previous condition. Describing Diaspro's condition was rather difficult emotionally to write because I'm basically saying that Diaspro had never been her own person. Like she was written like a computer program to this and that. As if she were not a person but an object. I personally find that hard to think of somebody like that, which is what Sky feels towards the treatment. Her condition is sort of inspired by Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House. Not literally the events of the play but the ideas talked about by Nora (a character in the play).

Let me make a note that even though Chandra ordered Sky to break up with Bloom, it does mean he has to follow her orders. Not everyone is right.

I'm leaving for Stratford, Ontario to watch Macbeth, Cyrano de Bergerac and Westside Story.