Here is chapter 8.
This one is particularly long and was particularity long to rewrite with my moving. So I cut it in two parts. This is the first.
Don't hesitate to tell me in the review if you have anything to say about the story.
Disclaimer : I don't own Witch, Winx or the prequel of this story.
Chapter 8: Games
Part 1: Frontiers of Time
Something bad was happening, officer Martens was sure of it as he looked at the wreckage in front of him. Two cars had crashed into each other on the Mountain side exit.
Already today he had been called twice for similar incident, and he was supposed to be off duty. His colleagues had to make with crash involving dozens and already the roads had been closed off.
"Found anything Conrad?" He asked his partner, who, just like him, was supposed to be off and yet was here before him. They were spread so thin that they were considering calling help from outside.
"Same as the last Greg, it's as if they tried to avoid something and didn't see each other."
Gregory sighed. It was the same all around the county. Two or more cars at the frontier crashing sideways into each other without any rhyme or reason. "And the victims?"
This time it was Conrad who sighed. "The one we have are unconscious, but they should make it. I already called the ambulance ... There is something strange Greg. Do you think that has to do with the call we got earlier from central?"
"Most likely yes. I got the statement of several of the people who claim to have been rescued by fairies. They were too many consistency."
"Magic?" Conrad look at him startled. "You don't think... I saw last months news just like you... A city being closed of like that."
Gregory shuddered, remembering Heatherfield. No one knew what had happens to the city. Even the higher up seemed in the dark, as if something stopped anyone from thinking about... he blinked. "Better not think about for now... We still have work."
"Right... " he blinked. "I wonder where the driver went. Do you think he fled the scene? Or maybe they were magicked away by one of those fairies?"
He groaned. Conrad was a good guy, but he was the kind which explained why people tend to flee when they tried ta ask question. "Don't start with that again. They've done nothing wrong."
Conrad looked down the road. "Just saying. They appeared and suddenly we got missing people and strange accidents occurring all around town."
"All we've heard about them is that they're helping Conrad. They don't seem the kind to plow a city off. If magic has anything to do with it they're probably here to solve it."
"Or they could be the ones causing it. I don't know say they're evil or anything. But I was sent to the park for a call about a fight breaking out. I only saw the aftermath, but I can say you those girl are not all roses an sunshine."
"Maybe they saw their training, or they fought off the true responsible. I have been in the job long enough to know nothing is ever as it seems."
Conrad smiled proudly. "I send that back to you. You can't deny there is something fishy here."
Gregory sighed. "Whatever please you. But don't go barging on their door. Either you're right or wrong, it wouldn't do any good."
"Hahaha." He laughed heartily. "Of course not. But maybe I'll make a tour at their little pet shop... just to see."
"Just remember to write your rapport on this one before." Greg smiled, he knew he had him now.
Sure enough Conrad sagged down. "Bureaucrats, the true Evil."
Several days had passed since their last traumatic meeting with Will and Bloom's dark-side, and life was finally looking, if not up, at least not so down.
They couldn't deny the looming threat on their lives anymore and it showed but the encounter had managed to bolster their will to train and they finally were able to relax their tense bodies, but at least they had their first full night in a week.
They had also to the decision to reopen the Love-&-Pet shop and the clients were making a line until the next city block, both curious about magic, the reason of their closing and about their new attraction, Roxy.
While the Winx were recovering, Roxy's power had grown; she was now able to give a voice to the pet. Most just had the ability for a while, but she had managed to give it indefinitively to a precious few of them, chief among those the Winx's own Pets. She also had learned some new spells, but she had yet to master them enough to use them in real situations.
One of those spells was the Tracix, the set of Believix wings that gave them a sight in the past. When Tecna had seen her use it, she had an idea. An idea which soon became a plan once she talked about it with the others.
Once the store would be closed that night they would use it to finally understand what exactly the White circle was. With Taranee's support Tecna and Roxy had searched as much as they could about it, but now that they were cut off only asking it directly seemed to be a real option.
Someone, she didn't remember who, had brought up that her father had been left with information from her mother. Roxy had left the room, clacking the door so hard Kadma had built it back.
The pink-haired fairy had not talked to her father since that day, not even at the Frutti bar where she still worked for him as an employee, and she felt no need to ever do so in the future.
She wanted to talk to Will about it, but she couldn't remember where she lived. She couldn't call her for just that either, not when each time she did drew her closer to the dreaded 'choice'. Roxy didn't understand what it was about. It only left Lou to listen to her trouble.
She knew the Winx still had nightmares of that night, but talking it out with their Guardians had made it easier on them. Even Stella had come to talk on more friendly terms with Taranee and their fights were if not less frequent, then, less heated.
On her side Bloom had become far more subdued; retreating back to her role as Winx's leader and agreeing more easily to the Guardians decisions than before. She who seemed so strong was now proven as normal as the others, sometime shivering for no apparent reasons or tearing up when talking to Sky.
However the one who had it worse was still Tecna. The girl sometime broke out crying out of nowhere. The fairy of technology couldn't trust herself around screens without at least Timmy or two of the girls just behind her. Roxy had seen the girl practicing her general magic at night, when she was herself training, but never since then had she seen her use her own magic.
Like her, Tecna was searching for power, to be useful. But unlike her the fairy of technology was not seeking it for vengeance against her foes, but as a mean to remind herself of who she was.
"We're closing." Bloom said from the door as the last clients of the day complained, still wanting them to do some grooming. The Shop was their best success so far in making magic comes back, but their fights against the wizards, and then the one in the park with, had some unpredictable outcomes.
They had found out that some humans had seen the fights, but also the aftermath when they saved some children not supposed to be there or repaired the grounds. They had been a little afraid at first, but with a little help of Believix they now had some fans, making them stronger, and hopefully the wizards weaker.
Combined with the slight saving missions they did then and again now even some local Tv station talked about them in a mostly good light.
However Will's border was pretty thorough and its first effect had started to show. It was impossible for anyone to go out; the punishment met by the one who had tried ranging from light shock to unforgivable pain and destruction of any vehicles. There miraculously had no death reported yet, but the unrest was still growing.
Some people remembered it was one of the signs that had befallen on the 'City Forsaken by God', as was now nicknamed Heatherfield and believed they were responsible for it.
Finally the last client exited with a smile under closing grid. "Finally, I thought she would never leave." Aisha groaned in sweat, her eyes reaching smiling betraying her thoughts."
"Me neither, glad she didn't came on my shift with her gray monster." Taranee laugh dryly.
"Hey, I made that one." Stella glared but was stopped as Cassidy slightly raised her voice.
"So." The water Guardian said, waiting for everyone to look at her. Musa and Hay Lin closed the store, placing enchantments to let them undisturbed. "I must ask again; are you sure you can do it girls?"
"Yes, we already tried with other objects, and the Book says that if we all concentrate together on the result we want, we should get it." Bloom answered, Roxy and the other emptying the center of the room.
Cassidy nodded. "Ok, then let's get to it."
Following her command Bloom placed the white circle on the floor, the artifact taking back its normal size. They all seated down in circle, a Guardian seated next to their Fairy.
"Ouch." Roxy groaned, clenching her head. Once without protection the voices of the caged had once more made themselves known in the background of her mind. The call for help and shout for vengeance were giving her a headache.
"Are you alright Roxy?" Flora asked softly.
"Yes. Just those voices again. Do we really have to?" She asked for the umpteenth time since they had decided to try this, eyeing the circle warily.
"Yes, we do. It is our only clue on how to contact or free the Earth fairies from the Wizards." Kadma reminded her. "You do want to free them don't you?"
Roxy nodded before concentrating back on their task. Trying to shut out the white circle as much as she could, she slowly focused on her breathing. Once she was ready, she nodded.
"Winx Tracix!" The fairies shouted in unison with her, activating their third pair of special wings.
First she felt her wings growing on her back, and the power surging around and insides her. She could feel Bloom's inner dragon brushing at her hand at it made the link between each of them and then the Guardians.
Then she saw the eleven rays of light hitting the Circle.
And then, White.
They were suddenly engulfed in white fumes, and the image of the White circle shone in the middle.
"I am Morgana, queen of the Earth fairies." A voice begun. "This is the last White circle and here is its story. Here is my story."
Roxy was startled; she knew that voice from her Will-less dreams.
"Long ago, when I was just a princess, we lived in peace with humans. But, one day, war broke near the lands where Tir Nan Og, our realm, was attached to." As she said that the background became a great castle surrounded by a green forest. Still not back from her first shock Roxy stifled a gasp; she had already seen the castle in her dreams.
Yet Roxy did not utter a word, wanting to know what exactly had happen to who she now suspected must have been her mother.
"As the war neared its end the Knights of the loosing King came to ask for our help. Sadly mother said we couldn't. Fairies must remain neutral as much as possible in the mater of human's affair and the enemy's king was not worse than the one asking for help." Roxy saw the other girls silently nod.
"Nevertheless, feeling pity for the knight who had made the whole way to our castle, she gave them a White circle to help them find their way back." As the scene played out in front of their eyes Roxy recognized one of the knights. He was pretty tall, had a pale skin and his hairs were shorter than they were now, but still red. He was younger but that scowl was still the same after all those years.
"Ogron!" She growled, wanting to smash his face. He was not the leader of the group, but he was clearly there. She felt Bloom hand tightens around hers, but before anyone could answer the view shifted anew. "It was our first error." There was a heavy pause.
The voice sounded sad.
"In the end they lost the war. But one of the knights was well versed in magic and felt it had been our fault he lost all he had ever cared about. Throwing out everything he started a vendetta against us with the help of other survivors." They saw Ogron standing in a ruined city, a broken sword in one hand and a White Circle in the other, the three others would be wizards coming to him in battered and bloody armors.
"They used their White Circle to find their way to the edge of our realm and trapped my mother with it. Their leader then killed her and stole her powers." The image shifted to an exhausted Ogron in armor kneeling in front the corpse of an old fairy with a crown on her head. Ogron then placed his hand on the deceased queen and pumped her power, his arm and then body glowing purple.
"That is when I became Queen."
Finally they saw the woman who was talking. She had long black hairs and wore a regal white and green dress, assorted to her Great Wings. But what touched her most was how much her face was a sterner version of the one she saw in the mirror. Roxy briefly looked at the others to look for any recognition before shifting back to the woman.
"I was still young, and under the advice of Kandracar and the help of the newly appointed Guardians, we moved to the West, letting Tir Nan Og behind in hope of fleeing them. It was our second error."
"We had hoped that their vendetta would die with them, of old age. But we had forgotten, they had stolen mother's power. With it they made the Black Circle out of the White, twisting its energy to pervert its purpose. With it they chased fairies. It should have been impossible, but mother was the Fairy of Energy, and the power made them ageless as long as they had power." Hearing that, the Guardians gulped and cringed. They knew all too well of the dangers of Energy.
"They continued to chase us for years, ripping our wing with the corrupted circle and destroying all others who could have countered them until only this one was left. I saw countless Fairies made prisoners inside our former realm or killed. Yet, I couldn't do anything, for my loss would have been the end. Fate had it that I was the Heart of Earth. Had they gotten me all would have been lost."
Suddenly the cries she had been hearing were for all to hears, dampening even more the mood.
"One day though I had enough. Letting my hate overrule my heart, I decided to challenge them."
"They almost got me. I was only saved thanks to the sacrifice of one of the young Guardians. That day I decided that it had become too dangerous, and gave the Heart away to the Guardians and asked for them to stop helping us, severing our link with Kandrakar. They hid it among humans and we all disappeared." The scene of her mother giving that white ball of energy to the Guardians before they vanished into the fog played out in front of their eyes as Morgana made a pause in her story.
"Some of us managed to hide among humans, living relatively peaceful life. But we couldn't continue on our duty to care for nature and Earth's Magic slowly dwindled as the number of fairies did." They saw her marching in cities as time got fast forwards. The story had started in the Earth's Middle age and it was now Modern time.
"It dwindled until I was the last, unable to die until I found a way to free my people."
"Yet, I found love, and had a child, a little princess of Earth." The woman's voice softened as a baby girl with dark pink hair appeared in her arm and for the first time Roxy had the feeling the apparition was looking at her.
"But children are unruly. The still living Wizards found us, and I had to flee my family, letting the last White Circle and My dear baby with my husband... I'm sure he hates me now." Morgana had a dry laugher.
"I baited them far away and let myself get caught to protect my little kitten to whom I entrusted our future, in the form of the last White Circle you have now in your hand. It's one of the two last ways to free us and will guide you to Tir Nan Og."
"You who have our last hope in your hand, please protect my child and help her against our secular enemy. Roxy, if you are here, please be safe and know that I love you."
With those last parting words the video memories faded into the magical fog and the studio reappeared around them.
'Mother…' Roxy whispered, a tear slowly going down her cheek as she let out the breath she had been holding.
"She really was your mother, hun?" Hay Lin said, turning to her.
"I seem to have heard that too... Is it true?" Musa followed. Soon they were all looking at her.
"Yes, it is." She nodded. "I wasn't sure until I saw that but... When we first met, Will told me I was the Princess of Earth's fairies." She tried to explain, raising as she saw the slight shiver her 'mentor's' name brought to the Winx. "Before that, I had already heard her voice in my dream."
"And, if I may. Why didn't you see it fit to inform us of such an important bit of information?" Stella asked over formally, half-angered and half-exited.
Roxy sighted. She knew that half of the girls were royalty of some sort but she didn't see how it was relevant.
"As I said, I wasn't sure. Will may not lie, but..." She made a pause, unwilling to explain that, in truth she had not, and still didn't, fully trusted the fairies and Guardians.
"You did not trust us, did you?" Kadma guessed, getting up in turn.
"No, I did not. And how is me being a Princess meaningful? It doesn't change the fact that my mother is trapped." She slumped. "Only now, I know it was my fault."
"It's not." Flora gently hugged her. "No child can control its magic when it has it at birth."
Roxy didn't react at first, still trying to take the news in. Intellectually she knew Flora was right, but she couldn't help but wallow in a depressive state. Seeing her mother, even as an image, had been more of a shock that she had thought it would.
"At least you know she is still alive." Musa said.
"And we know where to search." Tecna pointed out somewhat hurriedly, but Roxy wasn't deaf. There had been the same sad undertone in Musa's voice than when Hay-Lin talked about the past. "Tir Nan Og was it? I think I have heard about it somewhere." She took her omni out, but hesitated before opening it.
"I'll help you search for it." Taranee intervened, seeing the distress Tecna was in. A small smile appeared on Tecna face as they got to work in the room Tecna had set up for their informatics.
The others started rearranging the room they had used for the spell.
"By the way, what do you think is the other mean to free the Fairies the queen hinted at?" Aisha asked, still down the carpet, snuggling one of the pets.
"Killing the Wizards?" Bloom proposed darkly as she placed the last chair in its place. Somehow Roxy hoped she was right. It would be a perfectly good excuse to let the hate she had for them out.
However, any hopes were quickly shot by Cassidy's next words. "I would say not, prisons don't disappear with the jailers. With the luck we have it's probably The Heart of Earth."
Everyone in the room stopped moving for a second and shuddered.
"And none of us want to go near her anytime soon." Stella nodded vehemently." Even I know we're not near ready."
"I could ask her you know." Roxy suggested gently, finally getting out of Flora's hug.
"NO!"
The answer was unanimous. Even Taranee and Tecna had answered and they were in the next room.
"Why?" Roxy asked, more for the form. She knew they didn't want her to go to Will.
"Because we don't need another Elyon." Hay Lin said as if it was the most normal thing. To Roxy's ears it rang like a proof that they did not trust her either.
"If That the case, then what do we do?" She asked, going back on the subject of the Heart.
"We don't need the Heart as long as we have the Circle either way." Cassidy reminded them. "But we did learn some useful info from this."
"And what ? Because apart from the name of the place we're searching for I don't see." Bloom asked, slumped down in the sofa opposite to Roxy.
"Two things. First we now know where most of the Wizard's power come from. That is to say the former queen's stolen power." Cassidy started " I'm sure we can do something with this, but you're right that's not very useful for now. The second however is far more meaningful. Morgana is the last rightful owner of the Heart of Earth, before it got passed down to human."
"Which mean?" Musa asked sceptically. None of them could truly grasp what a Heart was.
"Which mean that she may be able to counter act its power." She explained with a small smirk. "Think about it, she was born with it and had it for centuries, If someone know how to temper with it, it's her."
"Really?" Bloom looked up, regaining some of her earlier flame.
"She's right." Kadma nodded, looking at a crystal in her hand with a mitigated look." It won't be enough to stop Will, far from it in fact, but it may give us more time."
"The problem is, she probably heard us just now." Hay Lin remarked looking at the closed windows.
"If I know her, she'll just wait to see what we come up with, and then crush it " Taranee noted as she entered back in the room with Tecna .
"We can at least try." Bloom looked down at her trembling hand, eyes hesitating between fear and determination. "Tecna, Taranee did you find anything."
"Nothing much for now." Tecna replied, tired. "Tir Nan Og was the Earth's Fairies Capitol. It's not on Earth per say but hidden between Earth an the magical dimension with the Circles as the keys. It can be anywhere in the world. I imagine the Wizards use their Circle to "seal" the doors."
"But that's not why I came back here for. Bloom could you give me the Circle." She asked, extending her hand.
"What for ?" She asked, unable to hide the wariness of her voice.
Tecna deflated, a little hurt. "Should have guessed." She muttered. "Taranee could you...? "
"Of course." The fire Guardian answered with understanding. Roxy was not blind either and could see that Will's little stunts had created tension in the groups that weren't there before.
"I was thinking that until we know where the 'doors' are we should hide the key we do have." Taranee begun .
"I see. That make sense I guess." Stella conceded a rare point to her Guardian.
"If the Wizards had showed after we got beaten out saving Bloom ... " Aisha thought aloud.
"Exactly. Then Tecna said that she could probably hid it inside a game. I didn't understand at first but she said that since the Wizards are from the middle age they wouldn't think about searching inside the virtual words." She continued.
"What about Will?" Bloom asked, still suspicious .
"She wouldn't go for it." Roxy explained before Taranee could as she followed her own thread of thought.
Tecna and The Guardians nodded in agreement but the other fairy looked confused." Why wouldn't she?" Flora asked, curious. Roxy was starting to think the Winx really didn't understand that much about Will.
"She want me safe. The only reason I'm even here and alive is because she want me to." Roxy said, laconic .
"That's ... true." Bloom acquiesced before finally giving the circle to Tecna.
"Thank for trusting me." Tecna said shakily. As she took it the circle glowed a light purple before retracting and vanishing.
The moment it did, Roxy felt better, the incessant whispers coming from it disappearing with it. It had came to her that maybe one of those voices was her mother, but the thought only made her even angrier and she did not need that right now. Her anger was to be reserved for the battlefield, here it was unwelcome.
The scene was followed by an uneasy silence which was cut by an awkward grumbling sound.
"Ok. Now, who is on shift for dinner? I'm starting to get hungry." Aisha said as her stomach grumbled, emphasizing her point. Now that Roxy thought about she was starting to feel a little peckish too.
"I think it's me, you and Roxy" Cassidy smiled elfishly .
"Drat. I'm too tired for that. Well, Lets see what we have in the fridge." Aisha complained, jumping up to her feet. She then gave Roxy a hands.
After some time looking at it she took it and followed her to the kitchen, pouting.
"I guess it means fish for dinner." Stella joked.
"Stella you shouldn't ... " Flora started to admonish her .
"It's alright, it's really what I plan to do anyway." Cassidy shouted from the kitchen, much to Stella dismay. It earned a stifled laugh from almost everyone .
Under the streets and buildings of Gardenia stretched a vast array of large sewers, ready in case the tides became too wide. After the event of Heatherfield, and with the changing climate, there had been talks about renovating them, but no one wanted to go down there anymore after the first men sent down there had disappeared weeks ago. The rumor was that the municipality would be asking the fairies that had appeared in town to go check for them.
In those sewers, amid the endless turn of drains and maintenance passageways, one could find rooms where a whole family could live, if they didn't mind the rats, spiders and smell.
In one of such rooms three men wearing dark hides were waiting for a fourth to come back.
While two were tending to still healing wounds the third was slowly massaging his temples.
He hadn't felt the need to focus that much for a long time. If he thought about it, the last time had probably been when the fairies had gone to ground.
But here and now, he really needed the thinking help. He had never felt so driven in a corner since Titania's refusal of their plea. He had just been one of the Mage-knight of a dying Kingdom then.
He had made a long way since then, after absorbing the Fairy Queen powers. Thank to his three brothers in arms he had managed to stay alive long enough to hunt every fairy still alive and imprisoned them in their dear Realm of Tir Nan Og after cutting their wings with his stolen circle.
Every fairy but one, who remained alive and free. One little fledgling fairy with barely any strength and they would have had all the powers of Earth.
Yet there was a rather big thorn in his side he hadn't accounted for, along with several lesser ones.
The lesser were a bunch of fairies from Alfea. After letting them bring Earth's fairies come so close to extinction, the magical dimension had finally decided they should do something about it... Sometimes he wondered if they had ever really cared... They probably wouldn't have moved if he hadn't taken the fight to them and the Dragon's fairy.
Either way that had always been accounted for. At least he thought so.
What had not were the Guardians. They were not the same as the ones he had taken for elemental fairies so long ago. This new generation was stronger, more ruthless, and, if someone were to ask him, a bit off.
Together those ten girls had managed to find the last fairy on Earth, as he had hoped the envoy of Alfea would. What he had not predicted was that they'd managed to successfully protect her until now. They had became stronger each day and soon his Wizards' immunity to fairy's magic wouldn't suffice.
However it was, as he had mentioned to himself, lesser thorns. He could have handle it by himself with a laugh if not for the bigger thorn that was The White Circle.
Ogron had a stiffed, bitter laugh 'A great man worse enemy is himself.' Once more it was his own error. He had thought that with Morgana captured he had destroyed the last White Circle. The last of the keys to Tir Nan Og was in their hand. 'Of course the bitch would have hidden a last one.' He berated himself, rubbing his finger farther in his skull.
'Flop, flop, flop.' The sound of steps in the waterway got him out of his thought. Flexing the powers in him for a check he looked at the newcomer.
"So, Dunman, how are things outside?" Gantlos asked before he could, putting back his new hat on to hide his greying hairs.
"Some good news and some bad news." Their youngest answered, crouching on one of the crates they had found here.
"There are good news?" Anagan exclaimed with an edge.
"In a way." Dunman mitigated and half- turned to face him "Which one do you want first?"
"... The bad ons."
"Ok. They've been going around helping and humans in the city are finally starting to believe in fairies." Dunman said. "Same with the whole country with that TV thing."
"That's bad for us, but it was inevitable from the moment we brow Magix." Ogron frowned "We'll have to deal with them fast before they found the island."
"Actually that's part of the good news. I was spying in their shop and they still don't have a clue that the island even exist. All they know is that the Circle is the key to Tir Nan Og."
It brought a smile to Ogron, a least something going their way. As minor as it was. "Anything else?" He asked, noticing that Dunman was troubled by something.
"Yeah." He drawled. "There seems to be some... discords between the girls."
"Infighting? That's interesting." Gantlos said with a predatory smile.
"They'll be easier picking is they fight between themselves." Anagan approved, shooting a bolt to a pair of rats in the corner of the room .
"That's good, yes." Ogron nodded before rising up, pacing between them. He could feel that Dunman still hadn't told them everything."I would be more interested in knowing why they're fighting".
Dunman looked at him, a gleam in his eyes before slumping down slightly. "They were visited by 'That' girl." Dunman answered with a shiver. The stressing on his words being enough for them to understand.
There was a silence between the four of them, the image of their two meetings with the Dark madness coming back .
"And I was trying to forget... 'her'." Anagan whined .
"Forget her when you were treating the wound 'She' gave you ?" Ogron raised his eyebrow. He'd want to forget her too but he couldn't afford it. If the circle was a thorn she was a whole bush. Everything would look bright if she was not here. Two encounter had made it clear that he was not the Biggest fish in the pound by any stretch. "Is that all?"
Dunman nodded, taking some of his reserve meat in one of the wooden Box and starting to munch on it. Ogron was sure he used his power to digest that thing.
The matter closed he went back to thinking." ... We can't attack Roxy for now..." he mumbled, coming to a new point in his planning
The other Wizards stared at him. "Wha..?"
"The effort to go through the fairies and Guardians would be worth the power, yes, but the Black one made it clear what she would do if we hurt her. I'm not foolish enough to think we can defeat her with our power diminished from a fight with the Guardians.
"No. We must first get rid of the Circle and find a way to stop the humans from believing in fairies .."
"For that too, I may have a solution for you.."
He looked around, startled and on his guard. The silken, womanly voice had came from behind him. Had he been so distracted by his thought that he had lower his guard? He immediately turned around, power ready. All he could see were the usual rats and spiders.
"Where is she?" His comrades were likewise looking around and ready to do away with the intruder.
"I feel her near. But I'm not used to this type of magic and she is not strong." Ganthlos answered , pointing down the grounds .
"That's rude. I may not be as strong as some." The silken voice pouted in mocked affront. "Not on the level of your leader that's for sure. But I do get around fairly well on my own."
"Whoever you are show yourself or I'll burst the whole room to find you." He menaced, angered by the voice. To show he was serious he lashed energy sparks to the walls.
"But you are seeing me, I'm just in front of you." The voice answered before one of the spider on the wall started to grow.
He almost went through with his menace when the thing reached the size of a grow man as it rippled, but curiosity stayed his hand. He could get information from her first.
His companions, however, were more jumpy and one of Anagan blast shot the wall. She had managed to evade the hit even as she transformed, but end up under Dunman's tiger form.
"Ouch. Maybe I should have warned you." The now black haired girl said, not fazed by the razor sharp teeth growling at her. He was starting to believed girl where not afraid of such thing nowadays. Then again she could transform into a giant spider.
"Talk!" He ordered. "Who are you? What do you want? What's stopping me from letting Dunman have his snack on fresh meat?"
"Where are my manners?" The girl answered, not at all fazed by his menace. "I'm Miranda. As for why I've come, we happen to have a common foes. Could you ask the kitten to let me go now? I don't want to hurt him."
Dunman raised an eyebrow bushy while still locking the girl down. "Try." He half snarled half growled.
"Kitten?" Ogron said, sizing her up. "We are way older than you think girl."
"Aaw." She smirked. "How did the saying go? The valor does not wait the numbers of years, or something like that." She said, finding her way around Dunman's paws who growled one last time before shifting back to human form, keeping his eyes on her.
"So ... Miranda. I suppose you know who we are. What make you think you could be useful to us?" He asked, letting the irritation of the last days seep through his words.
Her lips curved upward."One, as showed just now I'm a better spy than the airhead here. I know where the White circle has been hidden. Two, I can assure you that the humans aren't all feeling good toward the fairies."
"And you know that because?" He asked, still trying to find the catch.
"I was spying on the Guardians. They're responsible for the downfall of my former master and I want to repay them." Her smile had disappeared, replaced by a slight nervous tic.
"I see." He nodded convinced she was at least partially telling the truth. Vengeance had also been his first motive. "Now, Why do you say Humans would not believe in them."
"I do not. I said they wouldn't feel only good emotion towards them. Some can already see the damage caused by their fights, others want to use them, they're girls who are jealous of them. Believing in something doesn't mean you've got to like it." She had a meaningful smile as her eyes passed over the other Wizards.
"Then there is the darkness that as been slowly creeping down in town. With someone like the Black Angel that's been giving you trouble... won't be long before magic have an evil connotation, if you want my thoughts."
"So you know about ... Her, too." He muttered. He could sense there was a story there.
"Yes, of course." she sighed, uncharacteristically melancholic. "I knew her when she was zapping me with her pink bolts ... Can't believe that the little butterfly became such a big mouthful. As you said, vengeance is a great driving force."
"And who say you're not working for her?"
"Nothing but the information I'll give you. Ask yourselves if someone like her would need someone like me."
He thought about it for some seconds, looking her over. She stood there in her old style robe, a confident air about her, almost defying him to try her, like she knew she could get away. He was reminded of her earlier proved stealth. She could have spied on the Guardians. And that alone meant Gantlos had been wrong about her, that she was probably as strong as she claimed.
He needed the information she had, and she knew it. But, the simple fact she had came down here meant she needed them to act on it. He smiled."I guess I can hear what you have to say."
"GOOOD" She smiled, sounding relieved. Maybe was she not so sure of herself as he had thought. "The sooner I can finish, the sooner I can get out. I may be a spider but it doesn't mean I like ... dirty places?" She jumped from the box she had seated on.
"So." His earlier irritation was coming back. "Where is the Circle? It was in the hand of the fairies the last time I was aware" Ogron said.
"It still is, but it is not." She said and for a moment he debated just killing her. "They hid it somewhere else they think out of your reach. They fear you may try to take it after they're down, or that you would single out the one who bear it out alone."
Dunman growled, growing impatient. "It doesn't tell us where it is."
"The fairy of Technology hid it in the Virtual World." Miranda finally said.
"The Virtual world... Damned be those fairies. No wonder we couldn't sense it everywhere." Gantlos raged. Ogron had to grudgingly admitted it was a good way to hid it from them. They were still not very good with the way of this age and it would have taken then months to think about it. If they found it now, he would have a debt to that spider.
"I see" He nodded, already thinking about the way to go from now, and what they could find there. "We will go there at once. You may go. But if you lied, we will find you and you'll regret it" He shout back as the girl was already fading into the tunnels.
"The usual..." She waved off. However, as she was about vanish she stopped in her track. "By the way." She almost whispered, as if talking to herself "Didn't you wonder why they wouldn't ask for help when they found out for the Bigger fish?"
"Huh?" He turned around but she had already waned, sparks of magic the only indicative of what she had done. She was away from their sense and their sight.
"What did she means with that Ogron?" Anagan asked, as troubled as him. He took some time to think about it. The spider was right. Numbers were not a great advantage against the Wizards, especially if it was weaker fairies reinforcement. But for someone like that Will, they should have sent at least an other team if he knew the way of Magix enough. Sure that team had 16 member, 17 with Roxy ... Well they may think they would be enough, pride seemed to be a big thing among those ones.
"I don't know. But it plays to our advantage. Now we must find an entry point, and scry the virtual world. The thing is Big if I have enough information .
The three others nodded and they opened a portal to the street above.
Thinking about it again it would probably take one full day at the least to locate it in the artificial mess. But, as much as it could be a trap, they wouldn't get an other opportunity for awhile. A second circle might be what they lacked to have the upper hand.
...
Contrary to The wizards, Will and Elyon knew what to look for and greeted Miranda when she came back. "Already back?" Elyon was the first to react, surprised to see the small spider so early.
"Welcome back Miranda." Will followed, letting her servant take her human form before going on "How did it go?"
The older girl stood before Will and bowed her head. "I am here, my Queen. Unfazed if you were to punish me for my tardiness." Miranda said as a mean of answer. Elyon knew this to be a slight lie. After all everyone was scared of Will. Elyon was scared of her, and she knew she wasn't right in the head anymore. Not that it bothered her in the least. She could see, feel and do so many things now, that the younger her would have never imagined in her wildest nightmare.
Elyon shook her head out of the gutter. She had to focus back.
"...was right to send you." Will smiled her usual content smile, and Miranda stood up. "Ogron is a talented Wizards the kind you see once an era. Second to only myself when it came to track magical energy."
"Can I ask a question?" Nigel asked from his place on the sofa in front of her.
"Of course." Will let him talk, giving a sign for Miranda to seat. She was surprisingly listening, for an almost omniscient monster of (un)godly power.
"Was it really necessary to send Miranda there? I mean ... They would have found it by themselves, no?"
"Yes, they would. But it would have taken too much time for my taste. I already cut the Winx five days of slack and the Wizards did nothing either. They're starting to get better once again and we can't have too much of that." Will explained in a bored tone. "I let them do their preparations, gather more information and up their reputation .."
"Sound like a video game." Nigel joked .
"Pretty much, yeah." Will acknowledged. "And now it's time for them to enter the next dungeon."
"They won't like the Dungeon Master." Elyon smirked in turn. "Speaking of which, how do we invite the 'good team'? The party is in their territory but... " Elyon didn't go farther. She had seen her Queen's Eyes sparkle with a Purple glow and knew that Fate had already taken its turn.
"I see. Well, good luck Miranda." She waved to the other star of this one show, beside their Queen.
"I won't need it." Miranda scoffed at her, remaining stoic. "I just have to wait for the flies to enter my web. That is, after all, the story of my life."
"Well, In this case, goodbye." Elyon jumped out of her sit, feeling the rush of anticipation. "I myself have a little day with a certain brown haired boy. Not my style at all but I must do what I must." She laughed before transporting to a back alley not far from the Frutti bar.
There she changed her form to the one she now used in public and walked to her entertainment of the day, wishing that the play would come to her already.
...
"What is that?" Tecna wondered. She had been checking on her computer when she saw a strange symbol pop-up next to the icon of the game she had hidden the Circle in. She had immediately opened the file to check on the Circle and her blood made one turn.
Not believing her eyes she checked again, running scan more in depth. But the result was the same.
She slumped on her chair and tried to think. The Circle was still there, everything was alright on that plan.
The problem was that it had somehow become the reward for a Quest.
Had she made an error in her spell while wanting to protect it? It was the only possibility she could consider right now. She couldn't even try to summon it back. She and Taranee had made the spell in such a way that it could only be retrieved by going in the game and hid it somewhere no player could go. They were supposed to be the only one to have access to it.
"... What do I do ..." she asked herself, keeping her voice low while trying to remain logic. She couldn't let the other know and Hay Lin ears where better that she had claimed at first. Musa was getting good at it too.
Waving her fingers she closed the door behind her and started to think. She absolutely had to get it back somehow. But she couldn't ask the girls for help. Hiding the Circle was her project and they had already lost too much trust in her. Even with the little slack they been given those last 5-6 days her relationship with them was still could already hear Bloom's ranting from here, and see their pitying gaze It was now to a point she had an easier time talking to Taranee or Roxy than to Bloom.
And that was before coming to the possibility that she was a trap. She already had problem with showing her feeling before, but now she wasn't even sure her feeling where hers and was always second guessing herself. She knew it was stupid, but it was eating at her.
She snapped her finger. "That's not on what I should focus right now". The problem was that she needed to get the Circle back before the girls found out it had disappeared, which admittedly gave her some time. "Maybe I could use this too."
Once again the plan was hers so it was her responsibility to repair her mistake. She couldn't take the chance that an other player might get to the circle before her or she would never hear the end of it.
Which left Tecna only one option. She took out her phone and started to type her message.
' Am going in the game to take back the circle
If I'm not back in ' She paused here to think. How long could it take?
She checked back on the Quest . [ 'The crown of the Spider Queen' ] The quest was called, The White Circle was the crown.
Her avatar in that game had enough levels to accede it, and with her inside she would have more 'liberty'... she should probably manage easily enough. Still it was the grand event type, without her magic she may even have needed help from one other player.
Still she had to cover her back.
She went back to her mail:
'If I'm not back in 6 hours call The Guardians and tell them where I am The girls will know what to do.
Please, don't worry too much. They're no trace of the Wizards... yet
Don't call them before then. It was my mistake, I have to repair it alone if I can.'
'I Love You . Tecna '
She reread it and sent the message, waiting 15 seconds for the received signal. Once she had the confirmation she logged in and plunged head first into the Virtual world.
...
She materialized as her avatar in the MMORPG 'Magica Frontiers'.
It was one of the rare game that could be found on both side of the Magical dimensions. It wasn't hosted on the same servers but the developers were the same. All she had to do was to transfer her data on Earth's server once she had been there.
Due to the fact that she had made her avatar in the magical dimension it looked exactly like her when she had made it one year ago. The lone difference were the gears. She had played a lot and her stuff reflected that.
Once her body and mind had been fully synchronized she took a deep breath and smiled, tension seeping out. The Virtual world was really her place. The game was designed for magic user to be able to access only part of their magic but she could make hers work to their full potential. Usually she wouldn't, she was strong enough a is.
"However today is a special case." She smirked, bandwidth going out of her hand with barely held back anticipation. "Now where do I start ?"
...
"Do we really have to do it that way." Anagan complained as he cut a Cerberus look-alike with the scimitar he had chosen as his choice weapon. They had already lost what seemed like days to get here and the only reason they were was because they had lucked out and found someone that could be 'convinced' to explain them how to make it work fast. He couldn't imagine what it would have been to start from the beginning.
"Yes. That thing seems like made to hold magic in as much as possible." Ogron said shooting three other monsters in one go.
"Still, it's somehow great. I had not made such a killing in a while." Dunman smiled as he ripped and threw the biggest one thanks to his beast-form. The thing was supposed to be a boss or some such but it was nothing compared to what they had faced before.
"I'll admit that the fairy stage was Fun." Ogron nodded before the biggest monster yet fell in front of him, slowly disappearing in snow-like morsel
"Here it is." Gantlos said as he took the orbs that fell from the previously closed hole in the wall behind it. Like the other two such orbs they had found it had been impossible to take it without taking out the beasts guarding it.
"I really hope for this girl that she was right. I won't take that game for long." Anagan said as he flew from the exit in the wall. Their powers still worked here, but as Ogron had said only to such an extent that it didn't break the game.
Unfortunately he knew she was right. The first thing they had done upon finding the right game had been making a beeline toward the magic pulse of the White Circle. Where they found the Spider castle. But even with their full power they hadn't made a dent in the door. It had a taken a full day to find out the door could only be open through a 'quest' as Ogron finally found the screen of the game.
"Well now, where do we go?" Dunman asked, looking as gauche in the bulky armor the game had given him as he had all those years ago.
"North, We still need two orbs to open that damned door." Gantlos said, focusing on the present task.
"And we can't even steal them from the players." Ogron remarked before starting to fly as fast as he could. "Though I would like to have a talk with the one that came up with that elemental idea."
...
As she was slowly crept pass a bunch of wild fairies, a young woman in white had the urge to sneeze.
"Ack..."
A metric ton of tinny eyes sudenly turned at her.
"...Guess I don't have a choice now uh? "
...
'Urk' An other Spider warriors fell to her blast "400. How many do I need to shoot again?" She complained her lips curving upward, lazily hovering in a clearing. The forest had been pack full of spiders and player when she had arrived but only the latter were in sight now, struggling to complete this part of the quest early, or to gain some new EXP and loots.
In the real world only three hours had past, but for her mind it had been three full days."I had forgotten that aspect of diving." It had been put in to equalize diver and non-divers in the magical dimension, but here she was probably the lone diver.
She was finally nearing the end of the quest. She had gotten around many death traps, skipped over some events supposed to be forced on her and bashed bosses during their cinematic scene but she was nearing the end.
The Spider Warriors' Quest was the first in the new part of the South territory upon which the last Boss reigned. From the count she could follow on her Omni she was one of the first here despite her tardiness.
The lone player that had her worried was Regina. She had been unknown to her but she had managed to pass everything on her own just like Tecna when all others were forced to work in groups.
"Talking about groups..." Tacna looked at the next wave of mobs. How the game-designers had gotten the idea of spiders working in groups was beyond her. But whatever. Once she would have slain enough spider warriors she only would have to collect the last Elemental orb of Void and she would be able to enter the castle. 'Why Elemental?' Tecna thought once more. 'Seriously I have the original home. And the last one is not Void but Quin-tes-sence.'
"Glad to not here about that one though." She finished out loud after bashing the latest wave.
Each orb had been on the other side of a labyrinth, and while she loved the strength and freedom she usually loved puzzles she hated labyrinths. So she had shamelessly cheated and outstrip the players by downloading the map from the source.
She still had to beat the bosses and other quest mobs, and some of those made the MEGATrix look like a baby. Her only saving grace was that her inter-crisis boredom had made her raise her Avatar to the inter-dimensional top 10. Had she come with the girls and made them the 'test-access' she still would have had to do most of the work.
"Ha! Here you are, the last one!" Tecna said with a manic glee, her eyebrow twitching as she saw a Spider-man in Tecno-armor fleeing away from her on sight.
"Come here you cowards!"
She had to marvel to the programming, it almost seemed as if it knew. The thing had a Gun in each hands but it still fled on sight of her and her Staff. Sure she shot "Death " with it but still, it couldn't possibly know that as her mind was inside the game she could see its weak points, right ?
...
Entering the Frutti bar Taranee made an headcount. "Did someone see Tecna today?" After closing the store for the day they decided that they should relax for once but Taranee couldn't help but to worry for her two protégées.
Since Will's last visit almost a week ago an insidious poison had penetrated the heart of the Winx. A poison that she knew all too well.
"No, we didn't." Bloom answered curtly. "She locked the door of our rooms four hours ago and when I tried to enter she said she had something private to do."
"And you didn't ask what?" Taranee insisted. She felt somehow responsible for the unlucky girl since the other night. Tecna reminded her of her past-self with how shy and clumsy she was with her feelings. Plus she was loosing confidence in herself and that was never good.
"I didn't want to bother her anymore than necessary. We both need some time apart from each other. We have ... issues on our own." Bloom said before shyly sipping her juice .
"We know. But I think it's about time you talk about it." Hay Lin intervened. Taranee nodded in assessment, it was about time.
"Believe me I know. But she's been closing on herself. She back away each time I try and..."
"And you're doing the same." Musa cut in. Seated next to Hay Lin while waiting for her turn to sing she looked really worried for her friends. "You know she's always been a little closed off. And since what happen at Roxy's house it has only been worse."
"Well, she is your 'Best friend'. Why don't you talk her out of it?" Bloom snapped back, crossing her arms defensively on her chest.
"I could." Musa admitted, maintaining her calm. "But it would not solve anything for long. The one she needs the acknowledgement of right now is you, Bloom."
"And why would she needs it?" Bloom asked, half interested.
"Duh. Did you become stupid without us knowing." Stella, her other protégé with issues, joked. It was just a little jab, but Bloom did not take it well, and struck back. Low.
"Not any stupider than the girl that's loosing her boyfriend To Mitzi." Bloom said on the spur of her glowing anger, pointing her finger to a couple tables to her right where Brandon was eating with Mitzi's help. His arm still a bit hurt.
"You..." Stella hissed, radiating cold anger. "I won't say anything because I know your head is still in shambles. But you're lucky I AM your best friend." She shot up a tear in her eyes and fled to the toilet.
"She's right." Musa nodded. "She just meant to say that Tecna feels responsible for what happened to you."
"Rightly so." Bloom harrumphed before they glared her down. "... Well maybe not. But this is so hard to deal with."
"It is. But you have to. We all have to." Taranee said, observing the flickering flames. "Now cool your head, and call me if you see Tecna. I have a blond princess to rescue." She joked before getting up and going after Stella. 'She must have already redone her makeup by now '
As she walked, she passed by Brandon and Mitzi. Love had never really been her thing, and with Stella she was even starting to believe she was bad luck when it came to it. Yet she could see when something was strange, and Mitzi was not acting as a girl in love should around Brandon.
When she looked at her, the dark haired girl was more often than not looking at Stella, giving her creepy smile while she wasn't looking. It was obvious to her that Mitzi was doing it out of spite against Stella more than an interest in the poor boy in the middle slowly falling under her spell.
However she couldn't do anything. Not without hurting someone as the voice in her head wanted to.
She had believed that there was no one more stubborn that Cornelia, she had been wrong. Stella and Brandon where at least in the same class and it was destroying their couple. Why couldn't the boy see that his girlfriend needed her. Hell, even Riven made effort.
She gave a last glare back to Mitzi before opening the door of the toilet.
...
"The Castle, Finally!" Tecna exhaled after 5 days/ hours and a half. She had managed to cut trough most of the fifth Labyrinth, and the boss had been strangely easy to deal with. Her weak point had been glaring at her almost as if it was made for divers.
She had then flew in a beeline to the castle where the Circle was kept and here she was, in front of the doors. From the live log she had hacked only Regina and one group of four with names she could not decipher had passed the Void Boss, and none had yet to open the door of the castle.
"You took your time." A girl said as she touched down in front of the door for the second time.
" You... no ... it's ... it was a trap after all ... i-t... what do you ..." Tecna started to feel bad just hearing the voice. She could not think straight. Suddenly she was a week ago, in front of Roxy's house.
"Hey, easy there." She laughed. "I'm not the enemy you should fight here."
Tecna hopes got up. 'I don't have to fight her?'
"Then... what do you..." She tried, still frozen by the idea of what She could do to her.
"Right now? I'm having fun at your expense. You are right, it's a trap. But for the past five hours I was repairing your errors." Will was chiding her with a smug smile, getting up from castle's steps.
"The white Circle." Tecna realized. She still couldn't decide how she should feel at the Fallen angel teasing her.
"Bingo. You still need practice in magic my dear. But you'll have time for that later." Will's words and smirk gave Tecna a really bad felling about the future.
"You'll worry about that later. For now you have to hurry or the Wizards will get to the Circle."
"The Wizards! They're here? How?" Tecna panic deepened. It was a cosmic joke and she was the punch line. She was sure of it now.
"A little spider invited them. They would have found out about it eventually bu~ut it would have cut the fun down." As the Red-head girl talked she felt like doors where slowly closing on her.
"Why?" She asked the slowly advancing figure of her nightmare, unsure herself what her real question was. "Wouldn't it put Roxy in danger? You need her, don't you?"
"I don't need her. I'm just interested, nothing more." She was now just in front of her and Tecna felt her knees finally giving way. "I guess I'm just a curious being, just like I've gained interest in you." She bent over, and suddenly straightened and turned around toward the Castle doors. "But that's for later, for now you have to make a choice."
"And what is it?" She still asked, suddenly wanting to give up everything. Whatever happened it would not finish in a good manner for her, she just knew it.
"The Wizards should be here in about half an hour. Your choice is, will you try to face them and the spider queen alone. Or will you accept my help." She said in a matter of fact way.
"Of course you could always log off, ask help from your friends, and come back here. But something tells me you would have done that long ago if you could." Her beaming smile was bone chilling.
Tecna wanted to retort something, but no answer presented itself to her. Will was right, of course. After everything that had happened and with the news the Wizard were on her track, she really couldn't back down now. She had to get it before the girls, and most of all Bloom, discovered her mistake. Which meant she had half and hour/day to pass trough a VHL dungeon on her own. It was a no-brainier what she would do. It was surely the worst decision she would take, but she was backed in a corner .
Tecna bowed down." Please ... Can you help me?" She waited there for what seemed like an eternity. Begging under the delighted gaze of the Black angel dressed as a white healer.
Finally a hand stretched, putting an end to her current agony. "Of course. Just know that there is a price for this pact with the Devil."
Tecna had a dry laugh, taking the hand. "My soul is already yours. What more could you want?"
"That's for me to know, and for you to find out. Now follow me. The Spider Queen wait for you." She said cutting the link of their hand and walked on as the massive doors opened for her like she owned the place.
"I won't like the answers, I just Know it." Tecna whispered. "By the way. Why a white Cleric?" She asked as an afterthought, following Will inside the castle.
"I started playing before I had Wings." Will answered as if it was evident . "Now, I believe you already have the plan of the place, don't you ?"
"Yes. It's the second to the left." She answered as the door closed; At the same time she saw that a fourth Void orb had been won. But she could care less for now.
Timmy looked at the clock and sighed, then looked back at his cell's screen. 'At least I made most of the work in time' He thought as he touched the green button on the screen .
He already had composed the number more than once but each time he stayed his hand. He worried for Tecna , but she was so adamant that he waited in her message that he couldn't bring himself to send the call. Not before now at least.
Yet he had taken measure to assure she would get the help she would need if things went to hell. Magica Frontiers was a game he knew more than most, first because he was the one who had introduced it to Tecna and second because his own mother was one of the developers.
The latter why he worried so much. The quest that had appeared and the region around it, should not even exist in-game. The game could develop itself, but only to a certain extent. Here it was like the White circle had created a whole world around itself when he was introduced by Tecna.
He knew that was not possible.
Yet he had let Tecna almost alone, doing the quest by himself and watching her from a distance behind her.
If the circumstance were normal he wouldn't have worried. She was the top player back on Magix by a very large margin. But as the game got on some signs of trouble just kept on adding.
First, of course, the recompense itself. The White circle. The quest stated there would only be one for the whole game and he understood the true reason. But what he couldn't understand was that he couldn't get any specifics or have access to it even when using his GM persona.
Second, the quest as a whole. The lone mean to enter the castle was for the groups leader to have the five key items. Yet only one person could get the White circle, so why let the possibility of groups?
The third warning sign had been when he finally got to the his first dungeon. Sure they were the usual hardships, new way to deal with new mob and players too weak trying nevertheless. But even that was hardly an explanation when he had been the tenth player to access the Second orb after being almost one full day late.
Finally, as he got to the void orb, a last strangeness had hit him. He had been forth on the ladder by then, but diving into the specific he found out that he was the first among the non-diver.
They were on an Earth server, a world that had forgotten almost all about magic and hadn't been technologically advanced enough to make a VR system works without a little prodding on his mother part. As such he knew that the first compatible systems hadn't been released just yet. Had there been an early sale somewhere?
It was possible, but he doubted it non the less and so he had made his research on the players that where still ahead of him.
Tecna was one, of course, but she was only second.
The first one was a player a fairly high level white Cleric whose pseudo was Regina? When he had asked around the open channels he had found that she had been a fairly known player some years ago. Always alone, but ready to help any group who asked. It was rumored that she was extremely lucky and that no one had ever lost with her on their party. Yet, almost two years ago she had vanished. Some players said she had gotten too much advance in the game and got bored, others that the company itself had banned her out of frustration.
The others were group of four Knights and Wizards with names written in Gaelic. On the back logs he had found that they had appeared out of thin air on the list of players. For him it could only really mean one thing. 'Why didn't I bother to search before?' His hand had found its place on his forehead. He had tried to warn Tecna of his suspicions PM channel had been offline.
Now here he was, calling 30 minutes before he should.
'Search completed' His computer rang as he still waited for Taranee to answer the call. To be sure he had run a translation program on the names and what he saw made him want to strangle himself. "The black Wizards." He cringed. They were in the game after Tecna.
'What? The Black Wizards are chasing you?' Taranee voice shouted on the other side of the phone .
"Not me no." He groaned. "But what took you so long?"
'I had a princess to rescue. Now what is that story with the Black Wizards?' She asked, getting impatient.
"They're after Tecna." He said as if it made sense.
'What? Where is she?" Taranee asked in a hurry. In the background he could hear Stella panicking. He guessed she was the princess that needed saving.
"Long story short. Something went wrong with the game she hid the Circle and she plunged in to retrieve it."
'Couldn't she just take it back wit her power? Wait, stupid question, she wouldn't have plunged if she , am I to assume the Wizards found out and did the same?' He could hear the irritation in her voice.
"That what I think. I followed her with my character and everything is strange about this." He frowned.
'Quest?'.
"Yes, the Circle ended up as the 'novel and unique' reward to "The crown of the Spider Queen"'s Quest." He explained as Taranee sighed. " Tecna is currently second on the run for the quest, just behind a player named Regina. I am Fourth behind a group I just con..."
"Wait a minute!" Taranee shouted, interrupting him. He could almost feel the phone in his hand take fire." Did you Say Regina?." He heard Stella yelp behind. "As in 'too good to be true' Regina? From Magica Frontiers?" He could swear was hearing the flames her hairs were probably on.
He stuttered "... yes .. Why? You... know her?" He was scared. She was just talking on the phone but he was scared .
'If I know her? ... I Know her far too well." She whispered on the phone.
" ... What do you mean?"
'I mean that Tecna is probably going to regret that decision for the rest of her life if we don't find her now. I'll round up the girls with Stella. You, make the more progress you can. But whatever happen don't enter the castle."
And without letting him ask any more, she hang up.
"Oh Tecna. What did you got yourself into." He started to panic. As far as he knew there was only two persons who could stir up Taranee this seriously, and only one could came up with the name Regina.
...
FOR: Once again sorry for the wait.
Thank to my Beta Poliamida and TTigerZ
The MMORPG 'Magica Frontiers' is Fictional, don't search .
