A persistent noise woke Fairy, Witch, and Pixie. As Lucy and Mirta stumbled out of their bunks, Zing weaved over still half-asleep and hit the 'off' button. The other two muttered thanks as they got their wits about them again.
One of the things Timmy had shown them during the trip was the mission suits they would be wearing. Right now they looked like white jumpsuits hanging in the closet. But they would automatically adjust for the size of the person wearing it, and keep a regular temperature inside, regardless of what it was outside. The suits would also take on the hues, shades, and tones of the surrounding foliage as camouflage. It also had a homing beacon woven in, so the wearer could always be found.
Since Zing had not been planned for, there was no mission suit for her. But that didn't matter, since she used her cosplay magic and created one for herself.
After a good breakfast, they checked their supplies one final time and got ready to leave the ship. Timmy lowered the ramp, and they went out into the humid morning air of Bekisan. Behind them, the ramp retracted, and the ship went into 'wait' mode.
The waiting woods before them seemed no different than any other forest on a habitable planet. No monsters ran out to eat them, no giant stinging insects to impale them, just ordinary sounds.
Timmy was aiming a portable sensor unit at the woods, slowly moving it back and forth.
"Anything?" Mirta asked.
"Yeah... seems to be some refined metals grouped together to the east-northeast," he replied, "It's the only sign of intelligence I can find, so that might be what's left of Grandaeus' home. That way."
The four of them stepped into the woods, the three magical beings making an involuntary shudder as they passed through the edge of the dark magic. Timmy didn't seem to notice anything.
They were all rather tense for a while as they walked, looking for a path leading in the right direction and also keeping an eye out for predators who might enjoy having them for lunch.
As they began to relax, Timmy suddenly said in a low voice, "So far so good, but keep your guard up. I don't like this forest at all."
"Me either," agreed Zing, "I feel like something's about to happen."
Mirta closed her eyes and listened for the Voice of Nature. As her Nature Fairy side had grown within her over the last couple of years, she became more sensitive to the lives of plants and animals. Living things changed as time passed to better fit the environment. But the mutations forced by the dark magic were unnatural, and Nature was very disturbed by it.
She sensed nothing threatening very close to them, but farther away... she shuddered.
"You okay?" asked Lucy, concerned.
"Yeah," answered Mirta, looking up at Lucy, "There's some really nasty stuff out there, but no immediate threats. Timmy, what about your sensors?"
"The readings for those refined metals are stronger, and I'm still not picking up anything else of that nature, so I think the odds have improved considerably," he replied.
Lucy suddenly looked around her, then took on a confused expression. "I could have sworn I felt something watching us," she explained, but the dark magic is so strong I can't really tell. It might have been an animal, or it might have been those witches."
They waited and watched for a few minutes, but nothing happened. "Let's move on," said Timmy, and they did.
wcwcwc
Several miles to the west, in the ruins of Beki City, a damaged spacecraft sat. Its passengers were three in number,
and all were witches.
A young woman with light pink hair, bright orange eyes, and skin with a distinctly reddish cast was leaning over a hole torn in the deck. Another woman with very dark skin was half in the hole, and mechanical sounds issued from it, along with a trail of smoke.
"How much longer, Megan?" asked Inez, hands on hips, tapping her foot.
"The more you ask that, the longer it takes," came a half-growled reply, "Now leave me alone, so I can fix this."
"I'm the captain here, and I want a progress report!" said Inez in a loud voice.
"I don't care if you're the Queen of Eraklion, if you don't leave me alone, I'm gonna turn you into a grease trap for the food synthesizer!"
Frustrated, Inez stomped away and went through the hatch leading outdoors. Another Witch was standing facing east, holding a sensor device similar to Timmy's. She had light blue hair cut short, intensely blue eyes, and light blue skin.
"Useless piece of junk," muttered the Witch, tossing it away. "Magic works better anyway."
She raised her hands to begin a spell, but Inez stopped her.
"Zee, what are you doing? Do you want them to detect us? I said no finding spells!" yelled Inez.
"With all the dark magic out there, they won't notice anything," answered Zee. "Besides, the ship's sensors are down, and this portable unit couldn't find Cloud Tower if it was sitting in Griffin's office."
Inez growled. "Why can't I get a break around here?"
"Look, you explained why you want that girl Mirta, and I'm with you, as long as it doesn't interfere with our mission. But we have to FIND her, first!" said Zee, folding her arms.
"Okay, okay, you're right. Go ahead, just don't tip them off!" said Inez.
Zee cast her spell, and a cloudy mirror formed in the air in front of her. It stayed dark for a few moments, then greenish streaks appeared, moving this way and that, like it was searching. Finally it stayed in one place, the picture cleared up, and it zoomed in to reveal three humans and a Pixie walking along a path.
"Okay, which one is Mirta?" asked Zee, studying the picture.
"The redhead. I researched her thoroughly to plan my revenge, and that tall girl is Lucy, a senior Witch at CT. Also Mirta's best friend," answered Inez.
Zee looked at her with doubt. "A Witch and a Fairy as best friends? How did that happen?"
"They're from the same realm, and have known each other most of their lives. Mirta was a Cloud Tower student, but transferred to Alfea. She's a senior. I don't know the nerd, but I'd bet he's a Red Fountain student," said Inez, shooting daggers at Mirta with her eyes.
"The nerd's kinda cute. If he knows anything about mechanics and electronics, maybe I'll keep him for a pet," said the voice of Megan behind them. Her skin was very dark, she had blond hair and light violet eyes.
The other two snickered briefly.
"Hey, is that a Pixie?" asked Zee, pointing.
"Yeah..." said Megan, narrowing her eyes. "I hate Pixies."
"So we've got a Witch, a Fairy, a Specialist, and a Pixie out to get the planet buster before we do," said Zee. She chuckled. "Sounds like fun."
"It's disgusting," interjected Megan, "They NEED to be destroyed. That's setting a bad precedent."
"You two can have the other three, but Mirta is MINE!" stated Inez, "Got that?"
"Sure, no prob. Have your revenge while we have fun," said Megan.
"Oh, I'm gonna have fun too. LOTS of fun. Let's go!" said Inez, and floated off the ground. Megan followed suit.
"HOLD IT!" shouted Zee.
"What?" asked Megan.
"Think about it a minute," she replied, "Sensors are down so we don't know where Grandaeus' house was. THEY on the other hand seem to know where they're going."
"Okay, so?" said Inez, eager to be off to her revenge.
"Why put ourselves out? Let them take all the risks and get the planet buster first," said Zee.
"And THEN we take it from them, and get rid of them at the same time!" finished Megan.
"Right!" agreed Zee, grinning.
"While we wait, we'll finish repairs to the ship," added Megan.
"I like the way you ladies think," said Inez, landing, "We should team up more often."
And the dead city rang with evil laughter.