Here is chapter 9. Thank to my Beta Poliamida and TTigerZ for being here when I need someone to bounce ideas.
This chapter was supposed when I first wrote it to come out on 's Day... Last year.
Rewrite, IRL, laziness and reading other's work made my whole work late. The second part should hopefully come out soon ( cross finger)
Disclaimer : I don't own Witch, Winx or the prequel of this story.
Company of Shadowed Light
Chapter 9: My love :
Part 1: Dreaming together.
Fear.
She had to fly faster. It would catch up to her.
She couldn't see it, she couldn't hear it. But she could feel it, somewhere behind one those trees.
Had it been a normal hound she would have faced it. She had her power, she was strong.
But this one nightmare she could not face. She could not bear to face it.
Yet, she couldn't go on either. Now that It was on her track she had no chance of getting away.
Whatever happened, she would die either way. She just had to chose her poison.
Suddenly she stopped, her decision made.
If she had to die, she would do it fighting. She owed it to herself.
All around her the forest was calm as death, even the fleeing animals made it in silence and the wind seemed to have stopped in mourning. She couldn't stop shaking, the only sound that of her heart thumping in her ears.
Then she heard a low growl behind, turned and her heart froze. Here it was. It's fur so black it sucked the light in, illuminating the scene with the red of her eyes. The red of her sins.
The wolf stalked slowly, letting her the time to see her own twisted reflection in its eyes. She looked like hell had frozen over.
As the hunter neared she backed into a tree and started to plea for her life. She disgusted herself, but she couldn't stop. She had to live, no matter the cost. She had tried to take it head on and failed. Nothing can remain calm in front of its natural end.
The monster smirked, Its body looming over her. And then it snapped at her throat.
The pain was unlike anything she'd ever felt. Instead of eating her the monster was feeding her her spit. She trashed around, trying to shorten the agony, but all she managed was to shatter her own bones as she drowned slowly.
Agonizingly slowly, she felt the water fill her lungs, killing her as her body tried to do on reflex what her mind knew was useless. Hacking for breath that would only longer the misery.
Aisha knew it was a nightmare. The same that had come back to haunt her every night since that fateful one. Soon she would wake up choking, the torturous echos of the pain burning her lungs, cheeks and throat.
At least it was how it usually was. Her mind could never forsake the anguish of these final moments that always dragged on.
And that's when it happened. As usual Irma died, leaving only the shell of a girl lying in the forest of an unknown world.
Yet, this time Aisha lived, taking her place.
And the pain moved, morphed into desperate kiss. Nevertheless the feeding did not stop, it just changed taste. From icy water it became hot blood which she hopelessly swallowed.
A voice in her head begged her to stop, told her she would regret it if she continued. But she still couldn't stop herself. If she did she would end like Irma, whose dead-eyes lied in front of her, her body already rotting from the inside.
Finally the kiss stopped and she felt herself come back to life. Gathering her strength she pushed her savior away... And saw his lifeless eyes.
In the dead of the night she screamed as if her world had just ended.
"Noooooo!"
She woke up.
"Aisha!" Cassidy was already on her, taking her firmly by the hand. "Calm down, please. I'm here. Tell me what happened."
Aisha looked around, still confused and sweating profusely. Taking her hand away from Cassidy's she checked on her throat. She still had a taste in her mouth and her lungs were burning so much she had trouble breathing in right.
"Nightmare?" Cassidy asked in a smooth voice on which she could focus. It reminded her of her mother.
"Yes." Aisha nodded, passing her finger on her lips. She had bit her lips in her sleep. 'Maybe the change came from that.' She thought hopefully. She did not want to think of an other possibility.
"It's alright, it's just a nightmare." Cassidy continued, wiping the tears Aisha hadn't felt she'd shed. 'Were her hands always so cold?'
"I know... But It was not the same." Aisha sobbed. "And I thought I'd had gotten used to it by now."
"I wish I could tell you, you would. Can you tell me what was different this time." Cassidy's tender smile was not quite reaching her eyes.
Aisha hesitated at first, but looking in the ever youthful yet oh-so-tired blue eyes of her Guardian she decided to talk. "At first it was pretty much the same as always. The fear, the forest, the wolf... All the same until Irma... died." She winced at the slight pull Cassidy made on her shoulders, urging her on with an intensity she had rarely seen in her. "Then it changed. There was blood, lot of it... I was forced to drink it ... " She hiccuped. "I knew it was wrong but I couldn't stop myself from drinking. I knew I'd regret it if I stopped." She paused, clenching Cassidy to her.
"It doesn't stop here does it?" Cassidy insisted.
"I .. Think ... I don't remember." Aisha bit her lips. There was something important but it didn't want to come back.
"That's alright..." Cassidy let her go and closed her eyes. "It'll be alright."
Aisha breathed out, resting herself back on her bed.
However, Cassidy had not finished. "I'd like to say it doesn't mean anything, but you should be more wary than ever. The change may have been my fault."
"Your fault?" Aisha felt once again lost. "I thought it was Irma I saw dying ... or did you lie to us ... to me." She squinted her eyes.
"I didn't I promise. What you usually see is Irma ... But what you saw today may be... your future." And the intensity was back.
It took some time for Aisha to take in what Cassidy had hinted at. "My ... Future? How is it possible?" Aisha started to feel faint, the answers bringing only more questions.
"Water Guardian have an ability, much like the Oracle, to see the future..." She looked down, but Aisha had the time to see the tear in the corner of her eye. "However we don't chose when it happens and it's always blurry and acting on it may brought something worse."
"Are you saying... that I'm developing the same thing?" Aisha asked, frightened not by the power itself but by what it entailed.
"It's a possibility." Cassidy nodded grimly. "We saw that Stella as developed in telepathy and Flora is getting better at healing."
She stood up and Aisha followed, hugging herself. "So what does it mean?"
"Nothing more than what we know. You fairies are the preys of a monster." Cassidy said as she stopped at the door.
"The preys." Aisha twitched. Images flashing through her mind. "How are you..."
The event before she passed out came back to Aisha's mind in full force. "We lost Tecna " Cassidy answered.
"Tecna ... But She was with us ... How?" Aisha asked, desperate.
"Follow me. The others woke up just before you did and are waiting in the living room. We don't exactly know all the details yet but we've got to explain everything at once, to see if you remember something we don't." Cassidy looked at her sadly. "If she is still alive we'll find her ."
"If she is... " Aisha gasped. She may not be as close as Musa, but Tecna was her friend. To think that she could again have...
She steeled herself. "I'm coming "
...
Going in the lounge Aisha made pause. The atmosphere was so thick you could cut it.
The first thing she noticed was the seat in front of the laptop. The room was not that big but it somehow felt empty.
The Winx looked at her, and she shook her head. She was as worried and lost as them. Musa looked dejected and Bloom gripped her dress even harder while Roxy looked out the window searching for something only she knew.
On the Guardians' side, Taranee was pacing back and fore while Hay Lin and Kadma sat protectively next to their fairy. In the middle Cassidy gestured for her to take a seat. 'Was I spacing out for that long?'
"So ... " Bloom hesitated. "What happened and ... where is Tecna?"
She almost didn't hear Cassidy's answer. "We don't know."
"What?" They exclaimed in unison.
"But.. She was just there with some minutes ago." Stella fret, talking for them all.
The moment she saw the Guardians sigh Aisha knew none of them would like the answer.
Taranee looked the others for an instant, massaging her forehead before nodding, looking back at them. "You slept for a whole day."
"A whole day?" The Winx gasped together at once.
"You mean... we haven't had any idea of Tecna whereabouts for the last ... since we got back? " Musa glowered.
"That what she said, yes." Kadma nodded gravelly. "From what Timmy told us she disappeared soon after Miranda was beaten. She sacrificed herself to save us."
"To save us?" They looked at her and each other with incomprehension. 'Don't tell me...'
"Save us from what?" Flora asked, voice shivering, but pleading.
They needed to know. There were enough secrets and mysteries already without losing one of them without any reason.
"She saved us from deletion." Cassidy clicked her tongue. "We went in too fast. We should have checked for every twitch twice when we discovered Will was involved." Aisha noticed she was avoiding to look at them directly. "There was an anomaly. When Will and Tecna beat Miranda it was corrected and we got trapped inside."
"Wait a minute, this doesn't make sense with what I remember. Will and Tecna bested Miranda... together?" Aisha had difficulty to even grasp at the concept .
"Wasn't Miranda supposed to be one of Will's goons?" Stella seemed as lost as her. "The one we fought was almost exactly how you described her."
"And it doesn't go with what I remember either." Roxy's eyes furrowed trying to remember. "Miranda proceeded to beat us just after we had caught up with Tecna. Only Tecna was left when The Wizards entered."
"That's the last I remember too." Bloom confirmed, stretching her dress to quell her nerves. "It was so frustrating. I couldn't do anything but look and wait. Miranda joked about something and it set Ogron off. He threw the mother of all rainbow at her. Isn't that how she was defeated ?"
"I guess it should have." Hay Lin breathed, thoughtful. "But it was definitively Will who struck the last blow. She flew circle around us, never took us seriously." Hay Lin visibly cringed at the memory of the extent they had been bested.
"In hindsight, it's obvious she was stalling for time herself." Kadma tried to analyze the situation.
"Yes, in hindsight." Bloom cringed. "But what was she waiting for? If she wanted the Wizards inside she should have let them pass before we arrived."
"Maybe a signal from Miranda."
"Yes Hay... a signal. But not from Miranda. I think she was waiting from Tecna." Taranee said, putting even more of a damp of the conversation. Everyone suddenly looked at her. "Think about it. Tecna could never beat Miranda alone but Will made sure she was there before anyone and without a scratch."
"Tecna probably found a way to go in without her." Flora nodded as they tried to follow. "But if Will wanted to trap us she had to be sure Miranda was defeated. Thus the Wizards."
"But... She don't want them to have the Circle." Roxy pointed out. "At least not yet."
"And... Neither did Tecna. That's why Miranda only roughed her up a little before we got in." Musa clapped her hand on her head. "Tecna shouted something just before everything went white and I fell asleep."
"That must be it then." Cassidy slumped back in her chair. "Will must have promised her help if she needed, and she did. She wanted to get us all by shutting the anomaly around Miranda."
"So, if it was a trap to get us... Why are we free?" Stella asked, pallid. "We are... right?"
"About as much as we were before."
"Tecna is the fairy if technology. Maybe she managed to send us all back with what she had left?" Aisha proposed hopefully .
"This still don't explain why she is not here with us." Bloom stared in dead space. "Maybe we should have just believed in her."
"A little late to say that Bloom." Taranee's glare could be felt from where she was. "Either way that option was too risky. Knowing Will, Tecna would have been made prisoners until we showed up." Her eyes widened. "Or she was the goal from the start."
"You mean that she is still in there." Musa stared at the closed laptop.
"Maybe." Kadma nodded. "None of us can feel her right now. She is most likely Will's captive and somewhere out of our reach... Or just under our nose."
"And knowing the way she handled prisoners in the past ..." Everyone shivered at the image this brought on.
"At least she doesn't have a grudge against her. On the contrary, she seemed to almost." Hay Lin paused, paler than usual. "Almost like her."
"Which means she is probably alive, being played with until we rescue her." Taranee said. "If she was dead, Will would have made a show of it. But we probably will have to wait for an invitation to find her.
Like last time."
This brought a halt to the discussion for a while. Each trying to shake away the feelings. Each trying to find a solution. It was not the first time a Winx went missing and history seemed to repeat itself as once more Tecna seemed to have sacrificed herself and disappeared somewhere no-one had ever came back from.
Isolation until death. That was the worst the Omega dimension had to offer, reserved for the worst of offenders.
She wasn't sure it was the worst Will had.
"Tell me that we, at least, have the Circle back." If they had lost it, it would be the last straw.
"Yes we have it." Taranee said, pulling back the circle from a drawer beside her. "Take it." She threw it at Roxy.
"Wha ..." Roxy took it delicately, her eyes glowing red for an instant. "Are you sure?"
"We don't have the choice." Cassidy retorted. "You're the only one here who can do something with it."
"But... it took control of me last time." Roxy said, hoping they would change their minds. They knew Roxy wanted to save her fellow fairies, but she was still scared of the power she craved.
"If it does it again we will have to put you down before you go stark mad." Hay said seriously. "So just make sure you don't."
" ... understood." Roxy put the circle on her finger and closed her eyes, and they waited for the reaction that would surely come.
A full minutes passed. "Only the whispers." She almost looked disappointed.
"Is that all?" Bloom glowered . "Do ... "
Musa jumped at Roxy "Are you saying Tecna sacrificed herself over nothing!?" Her voice boomed over Bloom's.
"It's not nothing!" Roxy retorted, eyes glowing, griping away Musa's hand and visibly restraining herself from just striking back.
Aisha grasped Musa's shoulder and saw that the other closest were trying to stop them.
"Stop!" Everyone stopped and looked at Cassidy. Her usual calm had turned for the iciness she reserved for fight.
Flora and Hay Lin seemed to recover first and separated the fighters, Flora reflexively healing Roxy's bruises.
"Musa. Now is not the time to fight. It's still was safer in Tecna's game than in her hand." She turned to Roxy. "However, you'll have to master your power. And fast. Otherwise I'll throw that thing in the ocean. Believe me when I say I know how to lose things."
"How can you say that. It's the only thing we have which will lead us to the the solutions of our problems." Bloom shot up, facing Cassidy. Both red-head looked at each other heatedly.
"That could lead us to a possible solution to some of our problems. It also can creates some if case you forgot." Cassidy retorted, her wings opening wide as the temperature around her fell down fast.
"You're playing on words. Would you be able to pardon yourself if Earth fell down and we could have done something?" Bloom riposted, the temperature increasing on her side. You could feel the electricity between the two.
"I would. Because I know that it could have been worst." Cassidy snapped back. "Would you be able to live with yourself knowing you made things worse by acting?"
"I ..." Bloom hesitated. "I already am." Bloom cringed down, frowning her eyes.
"I'll try!" Roxy blurted out, stopping the ongoing match. They had never saw her so serious without being about to go into a fight. "I ... Will tries to handle my power. I'm the lasts fairy on Earth so I should at least try. That's my responsibility."
"Good." Cassidy said with a smirk and her face relaxed. "Now I know that you're truly motivated, better late that never. You know that you'll probably have to fight Will, right?"
"I know." Roxy slumped a little, still clenching her fist. "I don't know if I'll be able to, but Tecna was also my friend ... I think. I don't want to lose a friend."
"Tecna's strong, but I really hope for you she'll come alright." Musa said in a low and threatening voice, tears gleaming in her eyes and on Hay Lin's dress.
She was not as angry as Musa, but she nodded in approval, and the others seemed to agree.
"Now that's cleared up lets go back to a more normal matter. What do we do?" Kadma said, discretely putting an arm on her friend's shoulder.
Once more silence fell on the room.
Finally Aisha had enough. There was too much tension this morning, and waiting until some else snapped was not something she planned on. "I don't know about you ... But I want to see my boyfriend." She stood up and walked out of the apartment, not waiting for the others' reaction.
...
Cassidy sighed, crashing on her bed. "Umph"
"Hard day?" Kadma came in after her.
"No, hard life." Cassidy smiled weakly. "I'm almost regretting death."
"I know what you mean." Kadma followed her lead, sitting backward on a chair. "We really have it bad."
"But we're the only one who can do the job." Cassidy sighed again. When she was little her mother had told her that each time she sighed she shortened her life, and she had believed it until her final day. Now she figured she was safe. "Even if we're kind of lousy at it." Cassidy slumped. "We've got two major menaces outside and we're almost at each other throat."
"Well, technically there is one major menace and the 'end of everything as we know' outside, but I digress." Kadma laughed bitterly.
"Don't remind me... I had forgotten it was so hard to be a leader." Cassidy sighed anew. "Not that I really had the time to profit the last time."
"She did kill you the same week." Kadma nodded.
"The week after actually." She smirked, feeling nostalgic. "It was a Sunday night and I was late."
"But you've been doing good until now. Way better that I could hope to."
"You would not have lashed out at Bloom. Nor would have Nissa or Yan." Cassidy felt compelled to pointed out. In all sincerity she knew Kadma would have just ignored her while Nissa would have probably manipulated her way out and Yan would've taken time to try guide her without ever telling the point. What really got to her was that she still couldn't see a better way she could have placated Bloom.
"True." Kadma said, closing the door with a look and a burst of her power. She had probably made the same way around what they'd all have done. "That's why you're better leader than us. We all have times when we need to be shout at. You only said what she needed to ear, in a way she was able to understand."
"So you say ... She'll probably hate me even more now." Cassidy had a dry laugh.
"Not for long. Her head is still clear enough to know you were mostly right... And she's having anger issue." Cassidy smiled. She must really look bad if Kadma was trying to cheer her.
"You're right about that one. I still don't know how Hay and Taranee cope so well."
Kadma composure faltered for a second when she brought up their companions' state of mind. It was just a minor thing but Cassidy knew her old friend enough. "What are you not telling me?"
"They didn't." It was Kadma turn to sigh. "I had said I would not tell you, but as thing are going, I think you need to know. Both Stella and Musa have been coming to me almost every morning for minor cuts or burns. I've had to teach them warding to protect themselves and Musa cast a mute spell on Hay Lin every nights so we don't hear her crying."
"It's still that bad?" Cassidy blinked, caught off guard. She had known they were not in as good a head-space as they pretended, but what Kadma described was still near the state they had been on Pyros.
"It's mostly the shock and nightmare still plaguing them, but they're still our best fighters." Kadma tried to mitigated.
"You're talking about them as if they were soldiers in a war." Cassidy gritted, even so she knew better. She didn't have to like it.
"That's because it's what they are... what We are." Kadma said calmly. "And you're our leader, want it or not. You may act like a teenager, and you are still one in some way, but we both know you did not pass your deaths doing nothing. In some way you're wiser than me."
"For the good it did us... " Cassidy sighed again. She sat back and hug her old friend. "Thank you for your supports, I needed that."
"I know, old friend. You're not the only one who learned things in all those years." Kadma hugged her back. "We've got to do this right... and protect the young ones."
"You should pardon yourself too, Kadma." Cassidy whispered in Kadma ear before breaking away and giving back a smile.
"I try ... The time will come." Kadma answered with an awkward smile and got up. "But not before we end this. I'll be back in my room if you need me. Flora wanted me to teach her more healing techniques."
"If only there was one to heal the heart." Cassidy whispered to her her friend's back before turning back in her own bed. She was so tired that she did not hear the door closing before falling asleep.
...
She had to find her.
She didn't know why but she needed to find her before it was too late.
She couldn't see anything and around her was only the purest darkness, but she had to find her.
Finally she saw her, a silhouette made of water, crying her own body into the darkness.
She looked so weak. Almost as if on the border of life.
She called out, but if the silhouette heard she didn't show it.
'She is too far' She realized.
She started to run for her, calling her. But the more she ran the more it seemed as the silhouette was farther away.
'Someone! Help her!' Her voice echoed in the emptiness.
For a moment nothing happened. But soon her prayer was answered.
A man in red ran past her and seemed to be able to catch up.
She sighed in relief, he would do anything to save her.
But her relief was short.
The red man was covered in strings, leading into the darkness high.
She followed them and froze. The darkness was alive, and smiling down at them.
She looked down once more and saw with horror that the red figure had disappeared
And the blue one had become red .
Cassidy woke up with a start, checking for her surrounding, and calmed down slowly when she saw Aisha sleeping peacefully next to her.
She let out the breath she had been holding back.
She was really awake, this time.
She also had an other dream to understand.
As she woke up, Will yawned and stretched, her eight limbs extending to their full length and working out the kinks. If there was one thing that had not changed in her, it was how much she liked her sleeping time. She may not need it as much as before, but Nymph was it always a wonderful moment.
'Bonk' Someone fell on the ground. "Good morning Elyon." Her smile widened. "Did you have any good dream?"
"Good morning... My quee~n." Elyon got up with an adorable blush, summoning her favorites red dress to her. "I had a good night thank you. But you know I do not dream anymore."
"How unfortunate." Will got up from her bed feeling her robe readjust itself after the night. "As for me, I had a very entertaining dream, do you want to hear it."
Elyon, halted her dressing and cocked her head, thoughtful. "How many deaths?"
"Only one that I care to remember." Will answered, walking to the other side of the room.
Elyon scowled. 'Unsure if she should congratulate that person for being noticed or disappointed there was only one'. She stifled a laugh. She knew her mad princess so well. She didn't need to read her mind to know what she was thinking.
After letting Elyon ponder for a bit Will decided to help her on both side of her troubles. "It was about 'Ten little fairy girls'..." She whispered, slowly tying the back of the red dress. "And, when they had one, their boyfriends." Elyon yelped, she had tied a ribbon a little too hard. "There were Broken-hearts, Tears and Betrayals." She punctuated each word with a pull on another ribbon, grinning all the while both at the memory and her girl's reaction.
"It seems like a really good program." Elyon purred.
She let her revel in her arms for a moment before letting her go. Elyon looked for a moment with a pout, then smirked and went to opening the door while she folded her wings in her back.
"Finally up Elyon?" Nigel's toneless voice came from the lounge as she passed the door.
"Ahem." Willl cleared her throat, sparks coming out of her body to zap the boy.
"Ouch!" Nigel yelped. "I had not known that you were up too my queen." He bowed, cowering.
A fraction of second later she stood in front of him, cupping his shin with a hand she made just hot enough. "You should have." She simply said, making him look up in her eyes.
When she was sure he had understood she smiled. "I'll pardon you this time. After all you do have quiet the punishing job this week already." She let him stand, and took her place on the sofa. "Will you be ready?"
"Of course I am. I may not be good enough to fight Taranee yet, but I can hold my ground against those so called specialists." He squinted his eyes. She felt the fire in his heart burn and was pleased. Even the name of his former girlfriend was enough to make it blaze. When the two would clash it would be magnificent.
He was, however not ready yet. She sneered, making him growl. "We shall see. As long as you don't kill him, you can loose for all I care." Which was true. For now nobody of import would die on her watch.
Unless she had no other choice, of course.
"Thank for the confidence." He said, sitting back to care for his sword. He knew he wouldn't win in an argument.
She let the pressure around her lessen. Even so she knew it would fall mostly on deaf ears, she would still give him advise. "I'm just being realist Nigel. They have the experience on their side. I know you can defeat most of them, I wouldn't trust you with that if it was not the case, but you should not get carried away." Nigel was loyal to her, but he still had his pride. It would cost him if he did not change, and this little exercise could serve as a remainder.
"Is that an order my queen?" He asked, looking down.
"When was what I said not an order?" She turned back and made sign for Elyon that she could sit. As far as she was concerned the subject was closed. "Did any of you see Miranda?"
"She went out hunting about one hour ago, said she would be back for 'her hundredth birthday'." Nigel pointed his sword at the blurred screen on the wall.
"Good." Will nodded. "Now. What was I about to do."
"Your dream, my queen. You were about to count it to me " Elyon supplied, loved on her shoulder.
"Yeah, That's right. Well." She closed her eyes, watching. "Lets start with that blond girl you seem to fancy ...
( ,-)
One day had passed since Tecna's disappearance.
Well, technically two days had passed. Stella had passed the first one dreaming of better time between her and Brandon, blissfully unaware. She had decided that it was better for anyone involved to forget that day had existed.
Dreams were the only place where she could be with him. She loved him so much, she would give her life for him. But since they had come to Earth their couple hadn't seemed to be able to work, each of their meetings finished with her walking away in tears.
She had always thought that Musa was stupid to fight with Riven. Now she just hoped it was a normal phase for all couples. Otherwise it meant that she was losing the love of her life, and she didn't know what she would do with herself it happened.
As she walked down the streets to the Frutti Bar, she was praying every benevolent divinities that he would listen to her, this time. She had never felt like she needed him as much.
The vanishing of Tecna had touched her more than she thought at first. She needed someone to talk about it, someone who would listen and comfort her, even if it was a lie. The other Winx were too deep in their own pit to be that shoulder to cry. Hell, it was usually her or Flora who had the optimistic role.
Her next logical choice would have been one of the Guardians, but she still did not feel alright around Taranee.
It only left her the choice of Brandon.
Reaching the entrance she steeled herself. She knew she was not ready yet to face him, but she had to, so she dared to hope. "Who knows, maybe he is back to normal?"
From the fence, she saw the tall and handsome brown-haired boy serving some clients. "Brandon!"
He didn't move, still taking the commands of some girls. Her hope had been short-lived.
"Brandon!" She called desperately. He turned to her for a moment, before going back to the girl, making her a sign to wait.
"Please ... Brandon ... I really need you now!" Stella shouted. She was sure everyone in the bar was staring at her, but right now she didn't care even if she looked like a clown. She was afraid of something far worse.
With insisting glare on him from the patrons, he finally let go of the bar and came to her. However, when she saw his harsh eyes she wasn't so sure she wanted to talk with him.
"That's the problems with you." He said once he was near enough that the clients wouldn't hear.
"What... What do you mean?" She asked dumbstruck.
"You only come to me when you need me." She felt his statement ringing a chord in her heart. "I never complained before, because I loved you, but now I do."
"..." She was at a loss for words. "I love you."
"I wonder sometime. You're always ogling other guys, flirting with them. And when you're tired of them you come back". That comment angered Stella to no end. How could he?
"And don't you think it hurt too when I see you flirting around with other girls." She shouted, her voice hoarse from having already cried too much. "At least I only ogle and talk with the boys I cross, and I don't do it when we are together."
"The only times we're really together are around missions. I asked Riven and Sky and even they have more time with their girlfriends than we do." He ranted.
"And that's my fault how? You know that I have responsibilities on Solaria. You knew it from the start." She growled, feeling the tears coming back, but holding them in. "I ditch most of them for you. Do you know how much time I pass in front of my glass wondering if I'm good enough for you?"
"You do huh?" Brandon snarled. "I thought you just loved admiring yourself."
"And you don't perhaps?" Stella retorted. They glared at each other for some times and Stella searched in those eyes the man she loved.
Finally Brandon was the first to crack, turning around." If that's all you have to say, then let me go. I've got something to do."
"Wait!" Stella pleaded, taking his arm by reflex. "I didn't come for that."
"Too late." He shook her hand away.
Stella fell on her knees, finally letting out her tears. She preferred fighting with him over being left alone. At least she could forget her trouble for a moment.
'SMACK '
As she wondered what to do now the sound of a slap echoed.
She looked up and saw Taranee hovering above Brandon. The girl was aflame and there was trace of burnt on the downed boy.
"That's how YOu ThrEaT HeR!?" She roared, there was something inhuman in her voice that made you wish you weren't on her bad side. "oF CouRse she wouLd COme to yOU when She Need hELp."
It was Brandon turned to be dumbstruck. And afraid.
Brandon, the love of her life, her knight in shining armor was backing away in fright, shaking like a leaf, while fumbling for his weapon.
She should be going in save him, put herself between him and the danger but..., she looked back at his opponent.
Molten lava was dripping from Taranee crooked wings and her eyes were like an inner sun. And Stella knew something about Suns.
Taranee took him by the collar with her burning hand "That What You Are Supposed to be HERE FOR!" She howled in his face, looking like an angry demon.
'Or an angel of wrath' Stella thought. 'My Guardian Angel. About to ...'
"Taranee stop! Please!" She jumped up, seizing the arm with which Taranee was about to send Brandon flying
"..." Taranee looked her in the eyes and Stella shivered. It was not the first time she saw Taranee angry but although she had never seen her angered she was reminded of Will.
"Please."
This didn't make sense. Things were not supposed to go like that. Why was deadpan, privacy invader and proven backstabber Taranee getting angry on her behalf? Why did Brandon seem more interested in serving unknown girls in a Bar than caring about her?
Then she felt the tension lower, and exhaled, her leg almost giving out. She could hear Brandon aching on the floor.
"That's your choice." Taranee finally said in a breath. "But you should really let him. He is worse than Nigel, and the bastard want me dead."
"I Can't." Stella shivered, feeling her heart miss a beat. "I love him. He may be... acting... like a douche-bag! But... I know... I love him."
"Love huh ... I only ever saw it hurting the ones I care for." Taranee said skeptically.
"Does it mean you care for me?" Stella said in a dry laughter. If it continued she would end up trusting the Guardian.
"It seems so, yes." Taranee said, her eyes closed. "Now come with me. You look like hell and you need to talk to someone who will listen to you."
"Listen to me? You were about to kill him. And now you just want to... Things are going too... I don't even..." She could feel the headache coming, between what she wanted to say and what she wanted to do.
'I wouldn't have killed him.' Taranee's shaking voice resonated in her head as she flatly declared. "He needed a lesson that would stay."
She looked once more between Brandon who was still trying to get up, and Taranee, hand extended. The people in the bar had made a large circle around them giving them looks that made her feel even more like fleeing.
"Why?" The question was so full of meaning even she didn't know who it was for.
She saw Brandon try to answer, but it was Taranee she heard first.
"I don't know."
Suddenly, everything came to a head as nothing made sense anymore. The lights became fuzzy and the line blurred. She wanted to laugh and cry at the same time and her head...
The next thing she knew everything was peaceful black, cradled by warm arms.
Sky strolled in the back of the store, a pack of animal food in his hand.
Without giving any explanation the girl had decided to open the store later tonight.
Sky had a guess. It was the same reason Timmy had not slept for three days straight. The girls were not taking Tecna's loss well at all and, as usual when something went wrong with them, they were trying to drown themselves in duty.
And so he had insisted to help them in the back of the store, to make sure they would not go overboard. He wouldn't trust the Guardians to watch over those small details.
He had not witnessed what had happened between Brandon, Stella and Taranee but he didn't need that to know Bloom would need him, even if she wouldn't say it.
'Hic ... sniff, hic.' He heard someone cry in the back room. He recognized those cries.
"Bloom?" He whispered, not wanting to frighten the girl.
As no answer came he looked through the opening of the door.
Here she was, hidden between broken pieces of equipment and foods for the Pets, the light of the moon descending on her by the window, giving her a white and cold aura. She was beautiful even disheveled, her fiery mane covering her face. She looked so frail. She was strong, the strongest woman he had ever met. But there was things even she could not bear alone.
Sky felt a little hurt that she had not come to him but because she was so strong she seldom came to ask for help .
Not wanting to spook her he silently entered the room. "Hey, Bloom." He whispered, making his voice as soothing as he could.
"Sky?" Bloom looked up. The reflect of the moon in her blood-shot eyes gave an eerie feel.
"Yes, it's me." Sky answered, maybe half a second too late. "Can I sit with you?"
She nodded. "Yes."
He sat down next to her, taking her hand. They remained like that for a moment. He looking at her, and her looking at the sky.
Finally, when he felt like she wouldn't just disappear, he asked. "Do you want to talk?"
"I ... don't think I'm ready." Bloom answered her voice shaking. She had finally looked at him.
"That's alright." Sky tried to sooth her.
"No, it's not." Bloom jerked. "It'll never be again. How can you say that when everything is falling around us."
"Because you're still here, with me." He kissed her on the cheek. "That the most important thing to me."
"But, Tecna ... It was my fault ... if only I had not..." Bloom started to cry again.
"We will bring her back Bloom, like last time. You never backed down until now. You always fought on until the end, and won." He grasped her hand harder. "I would lie if I said I do not wish we came back to Alfea. But we cannot, so you have to believe in yourself ... and in the others too."
"It's hard." Bloom stuttered. "I never felt like this. It's like she woke up something inside me. I don't know if I should believe in what my heart say anymore."
"And what is your heart saying, right now." He looked in her deep blue eyes.
"That I love you." Bloom sounded sure of herself for the first time since the start .
"Then you can listen to it." Sky smiled, kissing her one more time, even more deeply. He hated to admit but since that day he had feared loosing her. But tonight he had seen she was still there, with him.
And so they remained like that for some times, leaning against the boxes of magical cat's foods under the moon's light, hugging as if the other could vanish in the blink of an eyes. All the while, Bloom cried. She still had a lot on her heart .
Between two songs Musa sat on the beach-side of the scene, looking at the screen of her cellphone.
She had always loved singing.
She had never needed it so much as now.
For the last few days she had been here coming to sing as soon as she had some spare time. Only then could she forget about the pressure she had felt build up since Tecna was gone.
Yet she had just skipped a singing turn to read that message again. It was a message she didn't think she would come to see again.
Jason Queen was giving her an other chance.
He'd somehow learned she was still in the city and wanted to record the song they had worked on last time. If she read it right, there was even hint of an even bigger surprise for her.
As a singer, Musa was overjoye. He didn't mind she was a fairy, seemed to find it attractive even.
Really he was the perfect man for her .
Yet she couldn't really enjoy the proposition. Things were still over with Riven, but she couldn't help but look at him. He had been her lover for so long and in her heart she still hoped it was just one of their usual spats.
She had to admit it to herself, she still loved him, even if he had been such a jerk. She loved him like he was.
But could he accept her dream this time, even if it would only be a short-lived one.
"Hey Musa... troubled?" Hay Lin stood behind her. She could recognize her voice even in the middle of the beach's clamor.
"You mean apart from the fact that My best-friend is MIA, in the hand of your ex, psychopathic, friend?"
"Hun." Hay shied away. Maybe she had said that a little too harshly.
Hay Lin's eyes came back on her, thoughtful yet determined. "You don't have the same air about you that when you think about her. You're more wavering than distressed."
"You know, it's really not fair to be able to read people like that." A dry laugh escaped her. "But you're right, look at that." She showed her what was on her phone.
"Let see ..." She could see Hay Lin's face change as she read it through "Oh."
"Yes.'Oh '." It was exactly what she had thought when she had first read it. She lowered her head, feeling bashful. "Do you think I should accept his proposition?"
"This is about Riven isn't it ?" She felt the Guardian eyes roam over her, reading her, daring her to try and lie.
"Yes... I know that If I go there... it will definitely be the end between us." Her eyes went to the scene behind them. "This is my dream, as ephemeral as it would be."
"And the man is nice." Hay nodded with a strange wave in her voice. "You know, Eric was a musician too. You would have loved how he played the saxophone." She sighed, her eyes glazed over for a moment. "I wonder if he is still playing."
Musa almost gagged, caught off guard. "Eric ?... Your ex? The one who tried to kill you?"
"Yes. The one I left behind." Hay made to wipe a tear that was trying to come out, sounding almost nostalgic. "He was a really nice guy before you know. Always trying to help, making other pass before himself, standing up to everyday injustice." She made a pause, darkness covering the glint of her eyes. "Then he met me. The greedy, insecure and coward little old me."
"I don't think you're like that anymore." She new it was in a big part Hay Lin's fault their lives were on the line but she just could not remain angry with her for long.
Hay Lin looked at the night sky as if searching for something. "I try not to at least." She then turned toward her once more, there was an age there that looked out of place in a girl about her age. "As for your dream, I'll say the same thing I said last time. You should follow it to the end. If he can't support you then he was not meant to be ... Though I guess I'm not the best when it comes to love counseling."
"So... you think I should try?" Musa asked once more. She felt guilty trying to find happiness when they were still plagued by Tecna's kidnapping.
"I think you should talk about it with him." Hay Lin said, tilting her head toward the scene's curtain.
Musa jolted around, but only saw the curtain move and heard heavy running boots. "Look like he don't want to talk about it " She slumped down. She could guess who it had been.
Hay Lin sighed audibly. "As my grandmother said, only time will tell." Hay Lin quoted.
Before she could say anything back her phone rang a message and Hay handed her back her cell.
Reading it quickly, Musa had to hide a smile and shot up. "Time will have to wait. Cassidy wants us to train tonight."
The Guardian's face hardened "Well, that's a good distraction too." She took her hand with a strength you would not guess seeing her slim frame "Here we go."
"Sorry Andy but I really can't be your girlfriend." Kadma threw his flower, discretely making them take roots under the bench.
Andy looked at her dumbstruck. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No, you didn't." Kadma took her haughty tone. "I know it sound cliché, it even did back in my time, but the problem lies with me."
"There's nothing wrong with you. I don't mind that you're a fairy at all. You're so strong, so mature for your age."
Kadma couldn't hold back a small laugh. "In fact Andy, that's part of the problem in fact. How old do you think I am?" She did not see the need to correct him on her being a fairy.
"Well, you're Bloom's friend so I would say... around 20? Maybe a little younger?." He had a small embarrassed smile which Kadma couldn't help but find cute. "If you're worried about..
"Multiply that by five and you will be closer!" She said, cutting him out of That train of thought.
"A..An hundred years old? Woah!" Andy looked at her popeyed. She had the thought that if she told him the whole story he might break his jaw and bulged his eyes out.
"And you know what? If I don't die in a fight I'll probably still look as young when you'll be my age." She shifted her eyes to the sky, either solution terrified her. "So sorry but you and I, we are not meant to be."
"But we were so good together. You even let me buy your drinks." Andy made a step toward her.
She turned around, feeling her heart ache. He probably knew he sounded pathetic, but the way he clang to her reminded Kadma of her regretted husband. "I was trying to push you away." She should have guessed it would not work. It had not with Joe .
"I wrote a song for you, you know." She could almost feel the sad smile on her back as he gave up and his body relaxed.
"I'm sure it's beautiful. But believe me when I say you should stay away from me. I'm sure there is a girl out there for you." ' One who would not drag you down to hell like me.' Kadma added in her head, finally turning back to look at him. "One who would appreciate your music too."
"You did say you were not found of it when we met." Andy puffed, evading her eyes.
"What can I say. I'm more Jazz, It's more my time." She tried to alleviate his pain.
"I can't believe it. The first time she come from an other world, the second from an other time... I think It'll take time before I swallow this one." He mourned, slouching on the bench.
She didn't know what else to say and she didn't want to be here for too long or she would start second guessing herself. "Well, take care. I have to go." And she did have an appointment. Flora was waiting for her at the entrance of the Town Park.
"Will you still come to the bar?" He asked in a last ditch.
She closed her eyes. "Of course." She answered with a small smiled and walked to the exit.
She felt his eyes on her the whole time on her way.
She found Flora sited with Helia on a bench just outside the park. "Sorry for the wait."
"Kadma. What did you have to do here?" Flora asked as she met with her, looking shifty behind her. It had not been so long since their fight here with Bloom here and even so they had eliminated all traces she had some regulars staring at her the whole time. Outside the residents had closed their windows.
"Nothing of importance." Kadma answered sternly. She still couldn't suppress the waver in her voice.
"You won't have me like that lovely. I can feel you're not all right." Flora pointed out with a sad smile. "I saw Andy there with you. Did he reject you?"
"No, of course not. The boy was head over heel for me." She felt a small pride at that and let it show.
She knew she would not cut this discussion either way. Maybe it might do the three of them some good. "I was the one who pushed him away."
"But ... Why?" Flora asked. "I mean, you obviously liked him quite a lot to put up with his antics."
"The way you drove him around I would have thought he would have given up first." Helia opposed, both lover looking at each other in wonder. It was not everyday that they had different opinion on a subject.
"That's what I wanted Helia. I admit I had some fun time with him and if circumstances had been different..., But I couldn't do that to him."
"Do what?" Both asked at the same time.
She sat next to them, arranging her thought. "You know that we might die any day now. And you both saw how badly Timmy reacted to the loss of Tecna."
"Yes." Helia nodded as his featured took a solemn air. "He still won't get out of his room. Nabu was forced to give him a sleeping spell to force him to bed."
"I'm sure we'll find her." Flora said, squeezing her boyfriend's hand. Kadma could see tears glisten on her eyes. The mere mention of Tecna was almost enough to make her cry.
"I hope... " Kadma whispered. "But, coming back to Timmy, he may be weak be still is a soldier, he knew and understood it could happen. Yet he mourn so much for her. I don't want Andy to feel that way for me."
"I see." Helia said, steeling a long glance at Flora. "You didn't put it that way to him, didn't you?"
Kadma just made a 'no' with her head as an answer.
"He must be devastated." Flora unconsciously moving even closer to Helia.
"He his. But it's better that way." Kadma twirled her finger around a flower she had spontaneously brought to life. "And it's better for me too."
"What do you mean?" Flora asked.
"I mean that I don't want to feel like Timmy is feeling either. Not ever again." Kadma crushed her hand and gritted her teeth, making Flora quip in fright.
"Did you lose someone you loved ?" Helia asked, hugging Flora .
"You might say that." She forced her voice to be monotone, the wound having come to the forefront with the current events. "Of course I lost most of my family to the time, or In Heatherfield. But there is one death I still haven't quite swallowed, and probably never will."
"If may ask... who are you talking about ? Is it your husband ?" Helia continued. She could guess why. They rarely talked much about their past, but everything probably seemed buried in there to them. He probably saw the chance to get a glimpse of it.
"No, it is not. My husband died in his bed a decade ago, I was there to see him over." She paused. "I'm talking about My grand-son."
"Your .. grand-son. I always forget you're that old." Flora gasped, listening to her story with rapture.
"Well, I am. I never talk about it, but I was the first of us to meet Will. She was a lonely but cheerful child at that time. Her sole fault was that she was too trustful and bad had making faithful friends.
My grand-son, Angelo, was one of the lone true friend she had. That's how I met her. I was visiting my family from my duty on Zambala and saw that little girl leading him around his parents' house. I did not know she had been chosen as a Guardian at the time, but she was already shinning something special.
But as I said, she was not good with making friends. Even before she became a Guardian she was sourly betrayed, and my grand-son got trapped in the middle. He could not take her defense and she left the city feeling everyone hated her."
"So her rancor come back old." Helia nodded thoughtfully while Flora tears were finally coming down.
"Yes it does. Yet she tried a second time, feeling useful as she was endorsed with a mission. But we all know how that ended."
"With a second and harsher betrayal." Helia confirmed.
"Yes ... The Guardians declared her dead. But Angelo still felt bad after all that time. When he heard about her death he went to her grave. I heard he was the only one to go visit her in fact.
While he was visiting her grave he stumbled on her. He tried to get her back, tried to explain himself, to say that he loved her but she did not listen and had him be killed there." She muttered in an ice-cold tone. She had to hold it in as thinking about it made her want to lash out. "And as if it was not enough he died a second time, saving her in Candracar where he had been chosen to be a Guardian of the citadel due to his link to me.
He almost got her back. He had managed to diminish her darkness to a brink with his feeling." She moaned. "He got killed taking a back shot meant for her."
"It must have been so hard... I mean.. he was your last relative ... and.. he loved her." Flora hiccuped, stream of water going from her eyes.
"It still is. I was so outraged when I saw his body in her arm that I stopped thinking and just jumped at her with all I had. I just wanted to end it all." Kadma felt something wet on her cheeks, had it started to rain? "The marks I have on my arm are not some stylistic tattoo. They're last link I have to him, as well as a reminder." She sighed. "I don't want to feel that way ever again."
"And that's why you pushed Andy away?" Helia asked .
Getting herself back together she nodded. "If Will want to break us she will use our loved one. That's about the only sure thing about her."
Kadma closed her eyes and the three of them remained silent for a while.
"Still, he was a cute boy." Kadma whispered.
( ,-)
" ... And so we come to today." Will came to a pause, getting ready for what was to come.
"That was really fun Will." Elyon let out the laugh she had been badly holding back. "But ... is that all ?" She wiped a tear. "I feel like it lack a conclusion. Where is the gruesome death you promised."
"You're such an Impatient child Elyon. You must learn to wait." She admonished her. "As I said this dream came to today. But... you said earlier you couldn't dream anymore didn't you?" She grinned as Elyon nodded slowly, lost but hopeful. "If that's the case, why would you not see the remaining part of this one with me?"
"You mean It's today?" Elyon's eyes literally sparkled, ecstatic.
Will contemplated her choices once more. She had decided to go like last time, letting time pass between each of her move.
She enjoyed their pain as they tried to cope with what she had done as she moved the pieces of her next moves in the shadow. She had so much in store, not only for the Winx an Guardian, but for the whole Dimensions.
In the ends they would learn.
Yet she had time for those ends to come so she moved slowly, sipping the fear and pain like grape fruits, one at a time.
Elyon still lacked the patience she had acquired in her long awakening... But she would learn eventually. She, like her, had much time in front of her.
Pleased with were things seemed to be headings she nodded. "Yes my dear." She stood up and slowly bend over Elyon, leaving a peck on her forehead. "Today we get a new guest."
She barely could hold up the laugh at Elyon's antics, her princess was so fun to tease. She had managed to look at the same time peeved, disappointed, reverend and exited settling on a cute half-grin. Tilting her head to the side Will spotted a young woman who had just came out from her room. "Ah! Lisa. I was about to call fro you ? Have the rooms below been cleaned and dried?"
"Yes Will. They have all been done as you wished and the last door was delivered yesterday." Lisa bowed elegantly, offering her a gentle smile while trying to not make any of the used sheets fall. "Do you have anything else you wish of me."
"Not for now Lisa. Just ask the other servant to clear break-fast and you can go back to Candracar see Eric." She waved her of.
"Of course Will." The young woman bowed quickly to hide her blush and quickly jolted away, a skip in her steps.
Will stood up, gathering a little part of her power at her fingertips and feeling the tenuous layers between dimensions rip and bend. Her own added border was still there but offered no resistance to its creator. "Now, ready or not , here I come." She slashed, opening a purple colored fold toward her destination.
...
/!\The second part of this chapter is the main reason Horror and M are on the descriptive. The concerned scene are necessary for the story and the development of the concerned characters, but there I can understand if that particular scene would be a trigger. /!\
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