Chapter 11- Affect

Layla watched as Sky paced the length of dorm room. She watched as his hands clenched themselves into fists and then unclenched. She watched as his jaw tensed and slackened. She watched as he gave nervous glances across the room to where Tecna and Timmy were hard at work hacking into the Red Fountain school satellite.

'He's so nervous for her.' Layla thought to herself. She pulled up her knees and hugged them. 'Poor Sky.'

"How much longer?" Sky asked for the third time.

"The school has updated their firewall Sky. It's a lot more complex than the version I hacked in to when I looked for Tecna." Timmy said as his fingers flew over the keys of the keyboard. "It will take us a while to break our way in."

"I don't see why we can't just ask permission to use the satellite and get the password." Tecna grumbled.

"Because that'd require us asking the tech department for permission to use the one satellite we have, which is funded for by the city of Magix for educational use only might I add, and that would mean months worth of paperwork to fill out. We don't have months. Breaking in will take at most a day." Timmy stated. "I can do it. Just give me some time."

"We don't have much time!" Sky took a deep breath and plopped down on the sofa next to Layla. Layla watched him hold his head in his hands. "We've already wasted a day trying to find the cause for her disappearance."

"Constantly interrupting Tecna and Timmy won't help find her faster Sky. They're doing the best they can. All we can do now is wait patiently." Flora chimed from the other side of the dorm.

"The moment we've got Eilian's location, we'll be there." Stella added. "I'll fly at the speed of light!"

Sky didn't smile at that. Nor did he look up. Layla unfurled herself from her huddle and scooted closer to Sky. "Hey. Everything will work out. You'll see." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "If I know Bloom she'll get through this. She's probably already got a plan to get herself out of this situation."

"I hope you're right Layla." Sky murmured. "I hope you're right."

Watching Sky like this, Layla wondered if she was ever like this after Nabu's passing. The moments before he'd died were so sharp in her mind, but after that it was all a blur. She recalled going on a revenge streak. She recalled taking Nabu back to Tides. But she didn't remember what she was like. She supposed she'd been sad and upset of course. But was she angry and nerve wracked like Sky was now? Layla even remembered a couple of crying episodes. Losing Nabu had been so traumatic for her.

What if she was lying? What if Bloom didn't come back and they couldn't find what had happened? Would Sky be able to heal like she had if Bloom died?

'Would I be able to heal?' Layla asked herself. Bloom had been such a close friend. She'd been broken after Nabu, but Bloom would probably shatter her completely. Not just her. Layla glanced around the room. Bloom was close to every person in that room somehow. Everybody would suffer from the loss.

"It just isn't right." Layla whispered. Sky looked up at her in surprise. Layla shook her head. "Bloom's affected so many lives now, her loss will impact the whole universe. Why would a greater power give her to the universe then take her away like that? It just isn't right."

"A lot of things aren't right in this universe Layla. You of all people should know that." Riven said from where he was leaning against the wall.

"Damn!" Timmy shouted. Every set of eyes on the room locked on him. "I can't do it! I can't get into the system even! My hacking skills must be rusty!"

"Well, dust them off and polish them shiny dude! We need to get into that system or else we'll never find out where Eilian is." Brandon walked over and leaned against the back of the computer chair. "Come on Timmy!"

"Enough." Tecna shoved Timmy's chair aside and it wheeled away from the keyboard, Brandon stumbling after it. "Let me at it." She held out her hands palms down and fingers splayed over the keyboard and closed her eyes. Layla could see her fingers twitch just the tiniest bit as though in time to some unheard beat. The screen of the computer flashed as numbers blinked across the page.

Sky and Layla glanced at one another and walked over to the computer. A number of different programs were being opened and them closed before there eyes. Layla saw that with a every twitch of Tecna's fingers a window would open and close. Tecna was totally in tune with the network.

"Be careful around that firewall Tecna." Timmy warned. "It sends out tracers that will attach and trace the location of the hacker. If we get caught the guys will get in serious trouble and we'd have to explain ourselves to the Magix council as well as Professor Saladin. That'll waste even more time."

Tecna didn't appear as though she heard him. She remained in her focused state. The room had fallen silent and everyone's attention was focused on Tecna and the computer.

The whole group jumped when Tecna flinched and yelped. Her hands clenched into fists and her shoulders tensed. Timmy looked fearful as he watched her and Layla felt her stomach drop. Would the firewall hurt Tecna? But then Tecna's fists unclenched and her mouth curved into a small smile. Layla held herself back from a whoop for joy.

"I've got it!" Tecna cried out. "I'm in."

"Go Tech!" Musa cheered. "If she couldn't do it we'd have nothing to go on!"

"I'm picking up a reading!" Tecna's smile became wider. "The reading is here on Magix! In fact it's not too far from the Red Fountain School! She's headed through the forest toward Lake Roccaluce!"

Layla had already ran for the balcony. "Winx Enchantix!" She shivered in delight as she felt her powers wash over her. Her everyday clothes faded away and were immediately replaced with a glittering skirt, long gloves, and a strapless top. Adornments wrapped about her bare feet and a tiara appeared on her brow as her hair arranged itself. She was over the edge of the balcony as soon as her wings popped on her back, flying fast over the raw wild of the forest.

It was hard to see through the dense trees, but Layla caught glimpses of the forest floor when she passed over intermittent clearings. She glanced behind her and watched the Red Fountain school fall further and further behind her. Ahead of her Layla saw the blue outline of the beautiful Lake Roccaluce. The wind whistled in her ears as she flew.

"Whoah Layla!" Stella flew up next to Layla. "And I said I'd fly the speed of light."

Layla glanced back and saw the rest of the Winx, minus Roxy, all transformed and flying, their wings fluttering rapidly. "Sorry. I'm anxious."

"We all are honey." Flora called.

"The boys are coming with Roxy on the leva-bikes." Musa shouted. "We're supposed to locate her and make sure we don't lose her."

Tecna held her hand out and a holographic map of the forest appeared, a trick Layla had seen Tecna used a number of times before. "I'm still logged in on the satellite." A blinking dot appeared on the map. "She's moving so fast." Tecna frowned.

"We'll be able to catch up with her right?" Stella asked.

"Maybe if Layla were to fly ahead and cut her off. Layla's the fastest at flying." Tecna called.

Stella looked at Layla, her brown eyes bright and glittering. "You go on ahead Layla. Cut her off and we'll catch up to her from behind. We're counting on you."

"Fly fast sweetie!" Flora gave Layla a reassuring smile.

Layla glanced back toward Lake Roccaluce. "Don't worry. I will." With that said, Layla urged her wings to beat even faster and she was propelled forward, ahead of the rest of the girls.

As she flew Layla's eyes roved the forest below for even a glimpse of her target. Her heart beat fast as she caught sight of a brown-cloaked figure running through one of the clearings. Just seeing their target gave Layla hope and motivation to keep moving. She looked ahead and pushed herself to fly even faster, ignoring the fatigue screaming at her in the back of her mind.

'Fly faster Layla.' Layla though to herself. She closed her eyes tightly and forced herself to go even faster. She could barely hear her wings buzzing like those of a hummingbird's over the whoosh of the wind. 'Fly faster for Bloom.' She glanced down toward the forest again and saw the figure still rushing. 'Why is she rushing? She couldn't have spotted me or the other girls. Maybe she heard the guys on her Levi bikes? She's really fast anyways.'

Suddenly The cloaked figure stopped running together and Layla whipped around to follow her. 'Why did she stop?' Layla wondered. She stared hard down at the forest below, then glanced back up to see how far back the rest of the group was.

Then Layla found out why the figure had stopped. Suddenly, Layla saw an inferno of fire rise up in front of her and she stopped her flight altogether and instinctively threw up her arms to protect her face from the scorching heat of the flames. Without the lift the fluttering of her wings provided, Layla fell flailing from the sky, plummeting straight down for the forest below.

Author's Note- And Tecna pulls through for the Winx again. What would they do without her? As for Layla, it sure is going to hurt when she hit's the ground. And they all may be in for a rude awakening when they find out who all is down there in the forest. I hope you all liked the chapter.