Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club.

Reminder: Set after Season One - ignoring Charmix and going straight into Enchantix - Musa and Riven are tracking down the Trix in Black Mud Swamp. Having been attacked, the duo escape only to be trapped by a barrier spell. They track down the Trix's base in an old Homestead but the Trix are nowhere to be found. The barrier having been removed by the Winx, alert Musa and Riven to the fact that they're not alone. Musa wants to reunite with her friends, Riven wants revenge.

There was something wrong.

Musa had been walking for at least an hour with no sign of her friends who she had heard earlier. In fact, she hadn't heard their voices in a while. Pausing, she turned to Riven, noting absently that somewhere during his stomping off, she'd passed him. The woods closed thick and black around her and she froze.

'Riven?'

He had been there a second ago. She had sensed him following her close behind, like a humanoid shield, vibrating with awareness. His agitation had washed over her in waves, prickling her senses. It had been disconcerting but its sudden absence hadn't alerted her that Riven was missing.

Where had he gone? Had he snuck off the trodden path she'd been following? She studied the ground trying to see some evidence of his presence. The earth was hard and baked, and carried no mark of feet other than her delicate footsteps. Riven could move soundlessly but wouldn't his weight create a bigger imprint on the ground, wouldn't it?

She frowned and bunched her fists. Why hadn't she paid attention to tracking in class? Because she was a fairy, she reminded herself with a roll of her eyes, and fairies relied on magic.

She nibbled her lower lip but tossed away her worries. She needed to find Riven because she wouldn't survive the Trix without him – he might not survive them without her. She closed her eyes and started out with her heartbeat, following the rhythm of each thump as it echoed out from her body. The air was stale and heavy, thick with the spores of the Luna Luminaire flowers. Dense shadows of trees surrounded her, lifeless and cold, much like the dry stalks of the marsh reeds. Her magic crept along the ground and shrivelled back, touching a searing line of black magic.

Darcy.

Her eyes flew open and she stepped back, hands flying up in defence. Where was she? Was Musa trapped in her spell or was she closed out, away from Riven? She winced. What was that witch doing to him?

She should have known the darkness wasn't natural. It was too dense, too dead. She summoned a ball of light and hoped it would be enough to battle back Darcy's magic so that she could find Riven.

It was a trap. Even as Musa crept from the underbrush to the clearing behind where Riven was bound to a tree, she knew it was a trap. She was helpless to defend herself but she couldn't ignore him. He looked so vulnerable; his head had dropped to his chest, his hair shielding his face. Musa burst forward ready to save him when a thought crossed her mind that made her skip back, just as lightning stabbed the earth. It exploded in a shower of dust.

Musa hissed out a breath and covered her face. Peeking through her raised arms, she saw that Riven was gone.

'Oh, well. That was anticlimactic.'

Musa slowly turned around, looking up as Darcy hovered over her with a wriggling Riven bound in dark purple threads of magic. Lifting her shoulders, Musa made sure her expression was bored. 'That's where you went wrong with your illusion, Darcy. Riven would never look so defeated if captured by you. You may have dated him, but I at least know him that well.'

Maybe she was acting a little too cocky, but Darcy deserved it. The Witch had rubbed her relationship with Riven in her face over and over, it was satisfactory to get one jab in.

'Boring, who cares. Die, little pixie.'

She dived out of Stormy's reach as the curly haired, psycho witch lunged at her. Hitting the ground hard, Musa tossed a glare over her shoulder, bracing herself on her stinging palms.

'Two on one? That's a little unfair.'

'Stormy, go away. Go help Icy or something.' Darcy gestured with a brisk wave of her hand. 'This is my plan.'

'Icy doesn't need my help, besides, I want to get at least one good lick at little miss musical. She's so nauseating and –'

'And there are loads more nauseating fairies coming our way. Go annoy them!'

Stormy folded her arms as she hovered, ankles crossed, her lips pursed in a sulky pout. 'I guess I could help Icy with her pest problem. Releasing a few little winged vermin on the pixies could be fun.'

Pixies, Miss Musical, Musa shuddered. Just who was the nauseating one here? She eyed the two witches, keeping aware of Riven's struggling body. Dragon, this had to be frustrating for him. Was there a way to cut him down? Where was his weapon? If she could find it and throw it to him, could he release himself?

All answers seemed to be negatives.

He refused to look at her. It hurt but she understood. A little. She doubted he was pleased that he was being held captive by witches and about to be saved by a fairy.

Stormy tossed another thunderbolt at Musa – she barely dodged in time – before the witch swept off to find Icy, muttering obscenities under her breath. As she left, Darcy took a cleansing breath and smirked down at Musa, one hand propped on her hip, the other holding Riven captive.

'Now, for the real reason you're here. We're not going to –' she batted away Musa's energy ball, ' – fight. You're not a match for me; you're just a fairy. I'm a senior witch and a descendant of the Ancestral Witches. I'm out of your league.'

Darcy caught a stray hair and tucked it behind her ear with manicured fingers. Her utter dismissal of Musa and her powers stung, but that would give Musa the advantage. She just had to keep repeating that. Musa was an Enchantix fairy and Darcy couldn't know that yet. It was doubtful Darcy even knew what an Enchantix fairy was. They weren't exactly commonplace around Magix.

Just hold on Riven, I'll get us out of here.

'You're just here to help me torture, Riven. See, torturing one person is okay but two gives me a real buzz and you two, well you're just so juicy. Star crossed lovers, the princess and the pauper, the sweet good time girl and the rebel. You're just one big cliché simmering with unresolved sexual tension.'

Darcy must have swallowed 'Villain's speeches for Dummies' while she'd been in that prison. That, or her mind had begun to decay.

Musa found her base of power deep inside, a glowing kernel of magenta energy and began to fan it. She was weakened from the earlier battle with Stormy and the other uses of it but she built it up, drawing it from every cell of her body and feeding it into the growing kernel. She'd keep it banked, then release it in one big burst, a flash fire that would knock out Darcy, save Riven and prevent the Bats from getting a lock on her position.

Darcy smiled, razor thin, and flicked her fingers.

Darkness engulfed her. One minute Musa was in the clearing, the next it was gone leaving her caught in an oily, glistening black bubble. In the shimmering swirls of purple, reflections and remnants of her memories wavered and merged into others; then were gone. She saw her world of Melody with its spiral towers, fresh water lakes and coral reefs; the swish of bright lights in the night sky and the music players on every street corner, and concerts in the parks. Her mother smiled at her, beckoned as she glided past and Stella giggled, wagging her finger on another swirl of darkness. Aisha cocked a hip, quirked a brow and was dispersed by an image of Musa's father's tender gaze. She closed her eyes as they began to smart. A tickle began in her nose and her throat swelled, water streaming along the lids of her eyes.

'Musa!'

Riven.

She squeezed her eyes shut, refusing to look at the memories tormenting her and instead focused harder on her magic. She needed to break this spell of Darcy's. She needed to help Riven.

'She's fine Puppy Dog. See, I can be ever so nice.'

Like oil, the witch's voice oozed crass seduction.

'Don't touch me.'

She was touching Riven? Oh, that was not okay.

'You're so tense.'

'I'll kill you.'

His voice sounded anxious, as if without much effort, he'd pop his teeth loose from his jaws. She could almost see him straining on the bonds, pushing back from Darcy, his chin jutting out in stubborn ferocity.

'That hurts. We had something special and you act like I'm your enemy.'

'You put a spell on me.'

'Initially, yes I did but then I removed it because I wanted to see if your feelings for me were real. We had something good. I understood you better than any of your friends.'

'No. You imprisoned me.'

'Yes. Also true. I did it for your own good, Puppy Dog. I had to make sure the Army of Decay didn't hurt you. They aren't a very selective group. Anyone who got in their path would be destroyed. I didn't want that for you, so I saved you the only way I could. Everything I did, everything I said was to protect you. And then for me to arrive at that school and see you with them, with her? I was heartbroken.'

'You.., don't… have a heart.'

'I live, I breathe. Of course I have a heart. Physically impossible for me to exist without one.'

'Good… can be killed by… stabbing it.'

'Oh you are so frustrating. Stop wiggling so much. She's not going anywhere. Even if you get down there, you won't be able to save her. I just want you to listen to me.'

'Brainwash.'

Darcy hummed, a vocal confirmation.

Musa scowled. That witch! Pretending that she had done everything for Riven's own good. Ogre Balls.

'Maybe she's the one brainwashing you. I mean really, Puppy, you're not sweetness and light. You're not exactly evil either, but you know how the real world works. We have that in common. We do what we do so we can live.'

Oh yes, Musa thought. She often released armies of monsters onto the world in order to get a little downtime. She needed to block out Darcy's words, needed to calm herself, and listen to her inner music but Riven's song was out of synch, harsh chords and frantic beats screamed his panic. Then the music was lulling, long whines of violins and drops of piano notes depicting his defeat.

'We don't play by authority's rules. They were created by the rich, the well off. They skim over us ordinary people and give more to those that have everything.'

Was Riven buying this?

'I know. But we can change it the right way.'

Oh Dragon, he was.

'The right way? By being the good guys? The good guys always corrupt the quickest, and in the least moralistic ways. They close their eyes to the negative; explain away that which they don't want to believe. They delude themselves that everything is right. Riven, we're better than that.

'Don't you see what we could achieve together? Icy no longer rules us, Riven. Her plan backfired, now she knows she needs us and I have a bigger say in what happens in our group. I can bring you in properly. Look into my eyes, lover. You won't be my lapdog, I can be with you the way we were meant to be. We'll be together.'

No.

Musa's magic swelled, a steady throb from her bruised heart.

She was not losing him again.

It surged from the kernel deep inside, up through her thorax and exploded out of her shattering the dark bubble.

'Enchantix!'

Musa reached out and lassoed the magic back to her. It started at her hands, twisting into gloves, then she wound the strong chord of magenta coloured power around her body, cocooning herself in energy. Her clothes melted away, replaced by her Enchantix skirt, top and shoes. She felt the fizzle of her wings forming along her spine and fluttering out as she soared into the air, eyes furious.

'Darcy!'

The witch blinked out her shocked stupor and snarled. 'Fairy, stay out of this. Me and lover boy have a lot to talk about and I don't want to have to hurt you. Yet. Riven, wouldn't like it.'

'Stop messing with his mind. Get your claws out of him!'

Purple shadowy threads coiled around Riven, seeping through his eyes and his nose, shoving into his mouth. Musa almost retched at the sight. He was denied all his senses so this Witch could have a toy?

'I was just ensuring his co-operation. He knows I'm speaking the truth.'

'Then let him – Sonic Blaster!' she broke off, throwing an energy ray at the witch. Her temper focused the power, slamming it into the Witch, knocking her from the air. Riven landed on the ground, curled on his side, eyes black, his mouth and nose sealed.

Darcy spun and sent a funnel of dark energy at Musa. Musa surged into air, whipping around and deflecting it with another beam of energy.

She seized on her own song, a slow building tempo that she ratcheted up with a few taps of a cymbal and the thump of a drum. Darcy attacked and Musa took it, hissing as she concentrated on her song, on the upcoming chorus to end all choruses. The electric guitar swirled around her, quickening, thrumming around her. Another slap of dark energy and Musa dropped to the ground.

Darcy laughed.

Musa chuckled, lifting her gaze. 'You're underestimating me, Darcy. Don't. I'm a fairy, we're all kinds of bad ass that you can't even imagine!'

She pulled her song together and surged forward, yanking it behind; then gathering it in her fists, she threw the chords into the air and then lashed them down at the witch. The whips of magenta notes and strings flayed the witch's dark magic from her hands and knocked her back into the forest with a screech.

Breathing hard, Musa floated for a moment surveying her surroundings, music trickling through her fingers into streams at her feet but Darcy didn't return. A strategic retreat perhaps?

She couldn't hear anything and her energy was gathering in pools, like coiled rope. She dropped to the ground, absorbing it until she hit the ground. It trailed behind her, being sucked inside like a retractable cable as she raced to Riven's side.

He was still cursed by that Witch. Darcy wasn't defeated.

'What can I do Riven?' She couldn't leave him. Would he be okay until they got him back to the school? She would have to find her –

'Of course, Musa. You're an Enchantix fairy.'

Kicking off from the ground, she hovered over him and began to rapidly beat her wings.

Please work, please work, please work –

'Why are you sprinkling me with glitter?'

She yelped, clasping her fists together as she swung round to face him. 'You're okay!'

Riven – violet eyed, gorgeous, strong and not covered in black stuff – sat up with a disgruntled look and dusted down his arms. 'What is this stuff – wait, where's Darcy?'

'I – She's gone.' At least Musa hoped she was. 'Just hold still, I need –'

'Where?' he growled, scrambling to his feet and limping to the spot where his sword sat.

Musa blew out a breath and sank down, her feet touching the ground lightly as she slipped into step behind him. 'I need to get rid of any tendrils Darcy still has inside you.'

'Isn't that what the glittery stuff did?'

She shook her head. Stubborn boy, couldn't he at least be grateful? 'No, Riven. It broke the spell but there could be remnants. Please let me check you.'

'I'll be fine,' he muttered, scanning the area, almost scenting it for Darcy's path.

No, he wouldn't. Stalking up to him, Musa caught his cheeks in her palms and forced him to look at her. Alarm shot through his eyes, then they narrowed on her but she refused to back down. 'Darcy hypnotised you –' She pressed her fingers to his lips when he started to protest. She didn't want to hear him defending that witch. 'Just let me check. That way you'll know that all your decisions, whatever they may be, will be your own.'

'And you?'

'I can't influence someone else without music. Trust me, I'm not going to be leaving any traces of myself in your mind.' If Riven ever tried to pursue her romantically, she wanted him to do it because he wanted her.

He stilled then his shoulders sagged in compliance. 'Fine, just get it done.'

She acquiesced with a nod and plucked her pendant from her neck, calling on the healing powers of the Enchantix. Drawing through the air, she closed her eyes and focused on the ritual to boost the magical properties of the healing dust.

'What are you doing? Why do you always make a song and dance out of everything?' Riven huffed.

'Because if I'm not willing to put in the effort, why should the dust do its duty? This is all about belief and desire, Riven. I want to heal you and that need will empower the dust and allow it to do its job.' She lifted her gaze to meet his as the pendant began to spin, dispersing the cage that kept it safe. 'Magic isn't something so simple as a slash of a sword, there has to be a little bit of give and take.' The lid popped off and she poured the dust into her palm, blowing it into Riven's face – if she found some satisfaction in making him sneeze, she was careful not to show it.

He sniffed and rubbed his nose, blinking his eyes against the dust that shimmered over him. His head shook violently and he coughed. 'You poisoned me.'

She fastened her pendant back into place, and watched the dark cloud seeping from Riven's aura combust in purple sparkles, 'You're just a natural whiner,' she decided. 'At least now you know all your decisions will be your own.'

'Great, all my own precious thoughts.' He studied her for a long moment and his scowl grew darker. 'Don't you have some kind of spell to change your outfit? Is there anything after this? Maybe a costume with pants?'

She blinked down at her outfit. She thought she looked quite pretty and it was nice to be feminine for a change since she had always been outshined by the other girls' fashion. Well except for Tecna. Suddenly a sly thought made her smirk. 'Why Riven, I think I'm making you uncomfortable.'

With a gurgle of laughter, she stalked past him and led the way out of the clearing, pleased that she'd rendered him speechless.

And that was when the bats attacked.

TBC

A.N. Long wait, I know. I've been getting my degree and I'm not really smart so it really took a lot of focus. I was also on a serious block with this one when I finished my studying. I always started it and was so sure I knew where it had to go but then I finally just let it flow and it seemed to work. I've more written, I just want to skip ahead with my writing of it and then you'll have your next chapter hopefully soonish. All reviews are welcome, concrit is appreciated but please no grief over delays in updates - they don't inspire.