Adrenaline still flooding her body and fear welling in her mind, Katt relied on the same thing that had saved many a tournament to now save her life: muscle memory.

She dove to the ground and moved immediately into a series of somersaults, keeping her body small and compact as she rolled forward. Technically, she couldn't help but think, I didn't take another step.

Realizing that while compact might work for now, but it wasn't letting her move very quickly, she jumped onto her feet and ran forward, gaining enough momentum to launch into a triple front flip. This was harder, but covered more distance. From the corner of her eye as she was in the air, she saw that her pursuers were the two teenage girls from before. One was dark-skinned, with kinky natural hair pulled into a ponytail, and the other was some sort of punk-rock princess whose pink hair and skinny jeans couldn't hide her almost regal femininity. The ponytail girl looked furious and had her arms outstretched, and the punk looked almost scared… but of what?

Katt appraised the street for the best escape. She found a clock hanging from the side of the building, welded onto it sturdily, and she jumped to grab it, swinging from it a few times before landing a little ways away. As her feet touched the stone, however, she felt something whiz inches above her head and watched as something silver flew over her, exploding with a bang against a nearby wall.

What the heck?

Katt thought for a split second about where she was, how she could escape. There were two strengths on her side… Bergen was hers, a city she knew like the back of her own hand, and she was a talented acrobat. She knew as soon as she thought of it that there was one place where no one, no one at all, could catch her… if she could only get there.

She feigned movement forward, then ducked into an alley where stairs waited to usher her to the next street down. As her pursuers passed the alley, their momentum too strong to let them turn, Katt slid down the railing.

It had been nearly a week since Bloom Peters had talked to anyone from Magix, and she had no clue where to place the blame.

Yes, she should have called. Then again, shouldn't her friends have as well? They knew she was lonely; they knew she was busy and may not be the best at keeping in contact. And yet, not one of them, not a single one… not even her fiancé… had tried to reach her.

She swallowed her loneliness and started to dial Stella.

Hi, you've reached the private number of Princess Stella of Solaria! If you're a reporter or paparazzi, please leave your company name as well as a number where I can reach you! If you're one of my many admirers, please leave your name, number, and a compliment! If you're one of my friends, just tell me which one and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Have a super sunny day!

Bloom had never actually heard her best friend's voicemail message before; she almost laughed as she left her message. Still, she wanted to talk to someone now, not later. She hung up and began to dial Sky.

Um, hi! I guess this is the private number of King Sky of Eraklyon! Her fiancé's voice laughed nervously, almost unsurely. T-that's me! Uh, leave a name and number? I'll call you back maybe?

Bloom frowned. What was going on? She hung up without leaving a message and tried Flora.

Hello! This is Flora of Linphea, fairy of plants. I'm currently occupied, but if you leave your information, I'll return your call as soon as I can. Thank you!

The headmistress of the Royal Fairy Academy set her cell phone down with a huff. Why would no one answer? What were the chances that they were all busy? As far as Bloom knew, they didn't have any missions. Were they in class? Bloom knew that all the Winx besides her had decided to go to graduate school at Alfea, and Sky was taking extra leadership classes at Red Fountain after realizing he wasn't sufficiently prepared to be king.

Maybe Faragonda would know. Bloom wasn't above calling her under the guise of asking for headmistress advice.

Poesia Faragonda picked up first ring. "Bloom, dear!" she exclaimed. "How is everything at RFA?"

"It's pretty good, Miss Faragonda. We're really starting to grow in size. There are eight students, and three of them are on a trip right now to bring another one here. It's so incredible how the fairies of Earth do things differently than I learned, and I'm gaining new knowledge every day. They've been toying around with using spells from fictional books… and they believe in it enough that the spells even work! That was dreamed up by Safeyah Hafeij, fairy of lightning. You'd like her a lot."

Bloom could almost see the gleam in her mentor's eyes. "Earth fairies are historically curious and inventive by nature. Since some of them have grown up without the tradition and guidance of older magical beings, I expect that their inventiveness will be beyond even that. You have a lot to look forward to, and I expect once the barrier comes down, some of your girls will be hailed as modern geniuses for the things they come up with."

"Still, they're teenagers. They're worse than the Winx and I were! Five of them snuck off to fight the Apprentices, all on their own!"

"Oh? I thought you said they were worse than you were?"

Bloom laughed. "I feel like I should apologize for everything I put you and Miss Griselda through."

"All's well that ends well, dear. Now, what did you really call me about? If everything is as good as you say it is, there should be no issue."

Bloom hesitated, but Faragonda urged her on. "You know that you can speak to me about anything."

"It's the Winx Club!" blurted the younger headmistress. "I haven't heard from anyone in forever. Do you know what's going on?"

There was a beat, a pause, then… "They didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

Slowly, Faragonda told Bloom about Tritannus and the return of the Trix. She told the story of the decision to gain the cursed powers of Sirenix… she told her about Sky's amnesia and Diaspro's advances. "They've done the best they can without you, and I promise that it's been difficult for them," she said. "They feel your loss. Daphne, your sister, was the only one who knew the location of the Book of Sirenix, and without her guidance, they tore the school apart to find it. Sky's memory was lost, and though we believe you may be the key to restoring it, he won't talk to a girlfriend he doesn't remember… he downright refuses."

"That's terrible!"

"It is, but they are the Winx Club, and their hearts, like yours, are powerful and determined. Trust in your friends. They will figure it out."

"That doesn't solve the problem of them not calling," Bloom said, then winced. She sounded like a child.

Faragonda chuckled. "They're representing Alfea in a competition, in hopes of gaining powers to make their coming journey easier. I am confident they will return your calls as soon as they return. Don't write your friends off so easily."

"I won't," said Bloom. "Thank you, Miss Faragonda."

"Of course. Now, good luck and I'll await hearing from you again."

"Same to you!" Bloom said as she hung up. Smiling, she hugged herself, grateful her friends hadn't forgotten her, before the gravity set in.

This was not the first time her friends and her had been separated, but this was the first time it had been this long, and with not one, but two major missions. She would not write off her friends though, she had meant that when she said it.

The question was, would they write off Bloom?

Roxy and Avalon looked at each other as the new fairy (named Katt, if they had heard correctly) started on what seemed to be an elaborate gymnastics routine, unsure of what to do. After a moment, Avalon put her hand out, gathering her energy, and sent a flash of magic rushing towards the girl, who seemed to take it as an escalation of the threat, picking up the pace of her parkour and continuing the footrace.

"Avi!" Roxy exclaimed, "Don't try to hurt her! She's never going to believe we're on her side now!"

Avi frowned. "Excuse me! I thought I could knock her out and we could explain when she came to!"

They ran down the stairs that Katt had slid down the railing of and caught a glimpse of her jumping off a platform and onto an alley slightly down the large hill they were located on. The Norwegian teenager landed on her feet with no issue, like… well, like a cat. Roxy looked at Avi. "Time to transform?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Twin flashes of light in green and silver lit up the narrow street, and the two teens took the sky as soon as they emerged. "We'll try to keep an eye on her from above, then dive in," Roxy decided, but Avi seemed to ignore her and swooped down almost immediately.

Katt looked behind herself and saw the fairy. Her eyes widened, but she turned and vaulted over a wall, then jumped onto a thin fence railing, balancing on it with practiced ease. Just as Avi seemed about to grab her, she launched herself into another flip and broke into a run the millisecond her feet touched ground. Avi crashed into the pole face first and fell to the ground, and Roxy landed next to her. "You're bleeding!" exclaimed the princess.

Avi grabbed her nose. "It's just a nosebleed," she said, and though it was, it dripped nastily all over her silver jumpsuit. "Damn, now my hands are gonna be sticky."

Roxy bit her lip. "I think we should call Lysis and Saf. Dragon knows we've already scared poor Katt enough… maybe she'll listen to them?"

Angrily, the fairy of tools stood up. "What, do you think we can't do it on our own?"

"I never said…"

"Look, I know you're cautious after what happened in Kentucky, but that's no reason to not go after our goals with all the force we can manage." Avi cracked her knuckles. Blood dribbled down her face, off of her chin, and onto her sparkly silver jumpsuit. "I love Saf, and you know it, but between her and Lysis, we'll never get anything done. Saf's cautious, and Lysis doesn't think we can do anything, so she doesn't even let us try. Aren't you eager to prove them wrong?"

"Well, yes, but…"

Avi wiped her bloody nose on her arm, her brown eyes flashing dangerously. "Well then, let's go do it!"

"You know," said Saf, "I never really get to spend time with you or get to know you. One of us is always off with the others, it seems."

Lysis's normally solemn face cracked a half-smile. "Well, someone has to watch them and make sure they don't get into any trouble."

"You think they'll be okay now?"

"I hope so." Lysis's half smile became a completely full one. Her face looked youthful and untroubled. "It's very hard to imagine them stirring something up in a place as timeless and lovely as this."

Saf was opening her mouth to agree when a tiny redhead fell from the sky, and landed on Lysis, knocking the older fairy onto the ground. "Uff!" exclaimed the girl, making it sound vaguely like a curse, then added a half-hearted "Oi!" by means of apology as she broke into a run.

From the ground, Lysis lifted her head to watch the girl run off. "You know, I'm starting to think…"

Two blurs of color, green and silver, flew right over Saf and Lysis. "Perhaps we were wrong?" Saf finished.

Lysis narrowed her eyes as she stood. "Yes, exactly."

In flashes of blue and teal, the two transformed and rushed to meet up with their friends. "What in the world is going on?" Saf asked Roxy as soon as they were near.

"We found Katt!" replied the princess. "She's scared! Killian told her something, and she seems to be afraid of us, and she's really elusive."

"What do you want us to do?" asked Lysis.

Roxy seemed to be taken aback. "I… I want to hear your ideas first," she said after a beat.

Lysis stopped pursuing, and Saf and Roxy followed her lead, leaving only Avi chasing after Katt. "Chasing is no good. She knows these streets, and fear only makes people desperate. You saw what happened with Amanda."

Saf and Roxy nodded. Though at first the gravity of what they'd driven their friend to do (no pun intended) did not sink in, they later realized that had Amanda's wings not made an appearance, the teen would have died. Realizing that Katt may also find herself in danger if she felt threatened also brought on the realization that she may not be so lucky. "Every little thing is life and death now, isn't it?" Saf whispered, and Roxy sighed in solemn agreement.

Then, Roxy lifted her head confidently. "Fly towards those alleyways." She pointed downwards at a series of small, narrow passages that were not paved, but rather had wooden floors. "Make sure she doesn't see you. Then detransform and wait for her. She's expecting me or Avi, so you two may be able to catch her off guard. If you do, use any method you need to in order to subdue her and calm her down. If you can't do that, transform and find me and we'll try a different method."

Saf felt a twinge of pride in regards to her friend. Roxy was often so worried about her leadership skills, sometimes even allowing her doubt to cloud her judgement. However, there were times when she could make any war general jealous of her calm command.

Lysis and Saf flew off towards their stations. Before landing, Saf turned to Lysis. "We should split up," she suggested. "It'll make us look less threatening, and give us a better chance to run into her."

"I agree. Good luck, Safeyah."

"And to you as well, Lysis."

If Avi paused to think, she could probably have found lots of reasons why her reckless pursuit of Katt was not a good idea, including, but not limited to, the fact that her nose was still extremely bloody and the realization that her friends were no longer beside her. However, Avi was not one for thinking much beyond the immediate, so the only problem she could find was a sudden mouthful of long underwear.

"Ack!" she exclaimed, spitting it out as she glanced behind her to shoot a mean glance at the clothesline she had run into. She stuck out her tongue, then looked forward again, barely in time to swerve so she missed a protruding bit of roof.

Katt had led her out of the lovely Sandviken area of Bergen and into the slightly different, but equally beautiful Bryggen. Avi felt a small pang of admiration. It was a brilliant move, for Katt at least. There were many low roofs, stairways, railings, and other platforms for her to utilize. In addition, the narrow alleys made a fairy's flight difficult, to say the least.

The new fairy had gained so much ground that she was almost out of Avi's line of sight. Avi saw her in the distance, leaping from one roof to another. She would have been impressed if the roofs were not so close to one another; she supposed that it was still fairly good, considering the girl didn't have wings yet to catch her if she fell.

As though her thought jinxed it, Katt slipped.

Avi's eyes widened as she watched the redheaded teen dangle, hanging onto the roof for dear life. For a moment, she stared in shock. Then, she had an idea. If she caught Katt and set her down gently, the girl would have to know that they meant her no harm. Right?

Avi began to fly closer, preparing to catch Katt. She was right under the fairy when she noticed that Katt was hoisting herself up, using an amazing amount of arm strength to do so. Within a few seconds, she was fully back on the roof, running like nothing had happened.

"What the crap?!" exclaimed Avi. "Hey, Katt! I was supposed to catch you!"

Katt turned around, started running backwards, made a face at Avi, did a couple backflips, and then turned back around to face forwards and kept running. The fairy of tools narrowed her eyes. "Oh, it is on!" she yelled.

"Avi?" yelled Saf from nearby. Avi looked around until she saw her best friend waving from a nearby alley. Cursing, she flew down to meet her friend, who did not look pleased. "Avi, stop antagonizing her and chase her towards me and Lysis, please? We'll explain to her, and the whole mess will get cleared up."

"Antagonizing her?" shrieked Avi. "I'm antagonizing her? Look, I just want to talk, but she won't give me a chance!"

"Yes, I understand that," said Saf, with more patience than Avi thought necessary. "Please, just try to ignore your pride and help us do this diplomatically. You can even scare her towards us, if it makes you feel better, but we really need your help."

"Really? Cause it sounds to me like you just wanna do it your way."

Saf looked taken aback.

Avi continued. "Every time I have an idea, it turns out to be a bad one! Go to Kentucky? Chase Katt down? Burst in to rescue you? Even fighting Trudric! But guess what? Whenever I do something like that, I'm always interrupted! Maybe, just maybe, if I could be allowed to do things the way I wanted to do them, maybe then they'd work. If Lysis didn't insist on talking to Roxy, or if you guys didn't try to call me off the chase… if all of you didn't fly me out of the fight with Trudric… heck, if when I came to try to take you back home, you didn't tell me everything was fine!"

Unexpectedly for both of the girls, Avi began to cry. "I feel like I can't do anything right, and now Katt's gonna be driven right into Killian's arms, and all because of me."

That was the problem, what she couldn't say outright. Maybe sometimes, maybe even often, her brute force would work. Sometimes, though, and today was looking like one of those times, it only served to make things worse.

If Katt was captured by the Apprentices, the blame would be placed on Avi.

Katt had reached the harbor by the time she felt safe enough to stop. Her entire body ached, and her lungs burned, begging her for air. She breathed in the scent of salty sea as she tried to appease her needs. She felt quite a bit better by the time a hand rested on her shoulder.

She turned to face it, prepared to run faster and farther, only to find that it was Bertram. Relieved and scared in equal measure, she collapsed into his chest, squeezing her eyes tight so the tears wouldn't start, so that her brave face remained on. "What is going on, Bertram? Who are you? Who are those two girls?"

"Do you really want to know?" he asked gently. She nodded. "Fine. I am a wizard."

"Like… like the kind on television?" She had seen news stories about a group of evil wizards who had nearly committed a mass genocide and wiped out the fairy race. "Sorte Veivisere?" she clarified, using her country's name for the Wizards of the Black Circle.

"I am not one of the Black Wizards, Katt," Bertram promised. "In fact, I think they were very foolish. Still, my magic is similar to theirs in many ways."

"Were the people chasing after me fairies?"

"Yes. They'd see me dead if they had their shot."

She frowned. "So why would they chase after me, then, and not you?"

Bertram cupped her head in his hands gently. "There's something I hoped I wouldn't have to tell you until we knew each other better… you have innate magic, and I think you have the ability to become a wizard."

Katt took a step backwards. "What?"

"You're strong, smart, and very, very brave. You exist in two culture, always giving something up in favor of the other one. You are constantly making sacrifices, and that, Catherine Bloom, is what makes a wizard."

"I have magic? I'm a wizard?"

"Not yet. But you could be, and a very good one I'd bet."

She looked at her hands, as if they were already shooting off sparks. Her legs chose that moment to seemingly turn to jelly, and she landed on her knees, slightly in shock. "How…?"

Bertram kneeled down so he was face to face with her again. "There are three steps to the ritual. First, we need…"

"Stop!" yelled a low voice in English, complete with a slight British accent.

Katt and Bertram looked up, and the man narrowed his eyes. "You again."

There were not two girls this time, but four. The pink haired one from before was in the center of the new girls, and the one who was so intent on pursuit lingered a little behind. Speaking was a lovely girl with dark brown hair and a neat, professional appearance. "Katt, he's lying to you. Don't trust him."

"I never said a single lie," said Bertram in Norwegian, and Katt instinctively believed him.

"He's using a truth spell," said a mature-looking blonde. "He must be being very careful with what he says, because each word will automatically make those nearby feel if it is something that is true, or if it is a lie. I don't even speak Norwegian, but I can feel the validity of his words from here. Can't you?"

The other girls nodded. "What do we do?" asked the punk.

"The only thing we can. We have a truth-off." She smiled darkly, and she made a sweeping motion with her hands. "Proofius Theoriosis!" she yelled, and the gleam of the cast magic was only matched by the gleam in her eyes.

AN: I have literally no clue whether to categorize this chapter as action, or character development, but I hope you enjoy it either way! Poor Avi. Things really haven't been going the way of the Core Four, but that isn't her fault... is it? And while we're asking questions, why is Killian going by the name of Bertram? Is Bloom growing apart from the Winx Club? Is FoF really now the correct size to be referred to as a novel?

Keep telling me who you're excited for if you haven't, but if you have already, then this time I want to hear what has been your favorite scene so far? Fly or Fall started as a submit your own OC story, and though OC submissions are now closed, answering these questions helps me keep it based around the readers. It's a tradition I started three years ago, and one I intend to keep with!

Last, but DEFINITELY not least, I completely forgot to credit Katt! She's by Roxy Fan 4 Ever, though I made a lot of changes. Like, a lot. Still, I hope I kept fairly true to her character, even if details and backgrounds got a little makeover. Plus, I promise we aren't through with her story yet, and so many details will make their way in.