Category: Winx Club
Rating: T
Couples: none
Warnings: Major AU, Blood, Character Death
Chapter: 5
Copyright: © characters and places by Iginio; © Plot and OC by me
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The hallway tilted downward, leading them ever further away from the door. The lack of anything besides the smooth walls was slowly fraying their nerves.
So when there were footsteps echoing from in front of them, all three nearly jumped in surprise. In unspoken agreement they decided to wait for whoever was coming up the hallway. After a while the rustling of robes joined the soft echo of footsteps, heralding the approach.
Soon enough the man they belonged to came close. He did not seem older than Oritel, but his robes were out of date since centuries. His brown hair was short, only a few curls framing his sun-kissed face. It was his eyes that alarmed the three: white like fresh-fallen snow, not even a hint of a pupil or iris marring the white balls.
"Long has it been since someone walked this road." He greeted them. "Rumor reached me that the exam was about to be reinstated…"
"The Council of Light Rock wants it." Bloom told him. "Who are you?"
"The Test." He gestured they should follow him. "I will show you where you have to be."
"You're the test?" Layla asked, following him down the road.
"In a way. What do you know?" He looked over his shoulder at her.
"That people die in this test." Helia whispered. "That there are more corpses in Alfea's cellar than on many battlefields."
"Then you know more than those that preceded you." The man sighed. "I am bound to this place, and its' corpses. I cannot leave."
"What happened then?" Bloom asked, hoping he could tell them.
"They did not have enough control." He answered, his face dropping in sadness. "Please do not make their mistakes."
"You watched them die?" Bloom realized.
"No." He turned away, quickening his step. "I was what killed them."
"You?" Layla exclaimed. "Why?"
"A curse cast on me by Aegon." The man bit his lip. "You'll realize soon enough."
"How…? Why…?" Bloom demanded.
"If I knew, I would be a much happier man." He sighed. "He literally took me from the street, cursed me and imprisoned me here. I'm a weapon, at best. Faragonda tried to free me, but she was helpless against his magic."
"She knows you're here?" Helia's eyes widened.
"She faced me, and lived. Her friends and brother died in these hallways." He gestured to the walls. "What do you see?"
"Stone." Bloom said. "What else should I see?"
"Look closer." He pointed to a certain spot. "Do not worry, touching the walls is not considered 'touching anything else'."
Bloom reached out, carefully resting her fingertips against the cold stone. She leaned closer, studying the wall underneath her fingertips. There was a darker spot there.
Her eyes widened as she rested her entire hand against it: it fit. A handprint was on the wall, marking a spot she dared not to think about.
"The handprint was that of Faragonda's brother. You stand where he died." The man rested his hand next to hers. "Her friend died further away, having managed to put more distance between me and her before I caught her. Faragonda's boyfriend died in the very chamber where they activated my curse by not having enough control. He tried to stop me so the others could escape."
Bloom looked up, meeting his white eyes. Suddenly she felt something drag her away from the hallway.
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Bloom blinked a few times when she found herself in the same hallway, but without anybody else there. She nearly called out when a voice stopped her.
"No one will hear you." Darkar stood behind her, his eyes glowing like embers in the shade of his helmet.
"What did you do?" She demanded, stepping away from him.
"Your presence here allowed me to overrule the wards surrounding this place." He answered. "I have taken you with me to the past. But they cannot hear or see us now."
"When in the past is this?" Bloom looked around.
"Shortly before the print you were touching was made." Darkar stepped closer. "Like you, I am curious as to what killed these students."
"But why? Surely this is no different than when you unleashed the Coven?" Bloom looked at him with a mixture of trepidation and suspicion.
"This was very much different. I acted according to my nature, and I was inconspicuous in my killings. Yes, I killed thousands, but I did not select those who were to die. Aegon did select: the next generation, the young. And he reveled in their deaths, while I did not. I had no qualms about killing, but he celebrated the students that died. The more, the better." The Shadow Phoenix turned at the sound of footsteps. "There they are."
Bloom turned too, coming face to face with two boys and one girl who were talking softly.
"The boy with the blue hair is Faragonda's brother." Darkar remarked as said boy walked right through him. "The other her boyfriend."
Bloom watched as they disappeared deeper into the hallway. "Can we follow?"
"No." Darkar crossed his arms, the metal that made up his body clanking at the move. "We are bound to where your actual body is and that is right here. Besides, I have a feeling you don't want to see what will happen."