Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club.
This chapter and the next were originally going to be one chapter, but I decided that the new character deserved a full chapter for her introduction. Amelia's, Nyssa's, and Allanya's explanations are going to be delayed. Sorry, but I think you'll like my friend here. After all, she did help found Solaria.
On another note, Artis's powers are about to get really weird, so I'll do my best to explain what she's doing at the bottom. Most of these new moves are really inefficient, but Artis has spent a hundred years getting stronger so she can still get some use out of them. She's by far the most powerful member of the team now, and she has much greater control over her powers.
Anyways, on with the story!
The Classix stared at the sleeping girl. Sure, Amelia had explained her theory to them, but they hadn't actually believed it. But now...
"It really is her." Reyva said. She paused for a moment. "She'd better have a really good explanation for all this."
"That can wait." Dhalia replied. "Right now we have bigger problems to worry about."
The Wornath Drakes had seen the fall of their leader. The volume of the buzzing increased menacingly. The circle of flying oddities tightened.
"Girls, time to transform." Amelia said. "Let's go Magix!"
(Cue transformation music)
"We have to protect Nyssa." Amelia said.
"Why?" Reyva demanded. "She's the same creature who attacked us!"
"Just trust me on this one. It's important."
"Whatever you say, but if this goes wrong I'm blaming you."
"Enough." Dhalia said. "Let's do this."
The creatures swarmed around in spiraling cloud of lightning and claws, their wings pushing them to unbelievable speeds.
"Chronal Concussion!" Artis yelled. A shock wave ripped out from her, striking a dozen of the beasts from the sky.
"Since when can you do that?" Perdi exclaimed in surprise. She'd never seen Artis do anything like that before.
"Since about eighty years ago."
"Oh."
"You learn a lot about your powers when you spend years trying to break one of your own spells."
"Shock Shell!" Dhalia shouted. A sphere of electricity went up around the Classix as lightning bolts poured in from the beasts. Dhalia was driven to her knees by the force of the assault.
"Dhalia!" Amelia shouted. "Look out!"
One of the beasts dove into the wall of lightning. Bolts of electricity rippled across its body, frying it. It fell to the ground, dead. The shield went down, its power spent. The beasts closed in as Dhalia collapsed.
"Mystic Spark!" Amelia shouted, shooting small orbs of magic from her outstretched hands as she shot into the air. Spinning like a top, she scattered the orbs across the oncoming horde of drakes. Small explosions filled the air as the orbs began to detonate. Many of the drakes fell from the sky, badly injured, but many more still flew.
"Gravity Crush!" Reyva shouted. The force of gravity quadrupled on a squad of the beasts, dragging them to the ground and crushing them with their own weight. Soon they resembled nothing so much as flattened bugs.
Bolts of lightning rained down upon the Classix.
"Chronal Distortion!" Artis shouted. Time began to twist around the Classix, diverting most of the blasts. However, she wasn't fast enough to stop all of them, and several bolts struck Amelia and Reyva. The two fairies fell to the ground, barely conscious.
"Back to back!" Artis shouted. She and Perdi hovered together, each guarding the other.
"Perdi, if we don't make it through this..."
"Yes Artis?"
"...I'm glad I got to see you again."
"Thanks Artis." Perdi placed her hands on her temples. "Mind Shock!"
A pulse of psychic energy blasted out from Perdi, blasting the creatures' minds with a ravening power. Many fell from the sky, roaring in pain. The rest kept coming.
"They're about to hit my shield!" Artis said. "I won't be able to hold them off!"
"Solar Screen!" A voice shouted. A wall of golden light went up around the girls, cutting off the beasts. Through the golden veil Artis and Perdi could only watch in disbelief as a fairy, three witches, and a wizard cut down the beasts with amazing speed. Soon, all that remained was a collection of oversized dragonfly wings. The shield went down.
"Are you girls okay?" The fairy asked as she landed in front of them. Her long golden hair streamed behind her and her bright yellow dress shone in the sun.
"We're fine, thank you." Artis said. "Who are you?"
"My name is Luminé, first queen of Solaria and commander of Melivon's Midnight Sun team."
"Luminé, these girls need help!" One of the witches said from where the other Classix lay. Her hair was jet black and she wore a skintight jumpsuit of the same color.
"Understood. We'll take them to Vivian. Umbra, Corona, can you take them?"
"No problem." Said another witch who looked identical to the first one, save that her hair and outfit were bright white. "What about Nocta and Selvus?" She pointed to the other two members of the team. One was a witch with very faintly purple hair and a dark blue dress. The other was a wizard who wore an almost comical pointed hat and robe. Both the hat and the robe were a dark blue with a pattern of stars strewn across them.
"They'll stay behind to clean up."
"Oh good, I was hoping to add a few more of the wings to my collection." The woman named Nocta said.
"Don't get carried away." Luminé said. "But if you find any of the red ones..."
"All yours. I already have three."
"Thanks Nocta. Midnight Suns, let's go."
Melivon was the strangest city Perdi had ever been in. Magix included. There was even more magic here than in Magix, but the city itself seemed almost confused about where and when it was from. Different styles of architecture were everywhere, from small castles to tree houses to a house made of different colors of glass. People walked past in outfits that ranged from forgotten to ancient to the merely outdated. Extinct animals wandered around as pets and mounts. Perdi wished she had a dozen more eyes so she could take everything in.
Luminé suddenly came to a stop. Turning left, she walked up to a simple building composed of uncut logs, stacked together. "This is where you friends will stay while they are healed."
"What about us?" Perdi asked.
"You are free to stay here too until your friends are well." Luminé looked out towards the edge of the city. "We'll see about giving you a more permanent home once you've settled in."
"We're not staying." Artis said.
Luminé turned to Artis with an expression of mild surprise. "You intend to leave Altivix?"
"Yes. We came here for a reason. Our mission won't be complete until we return to the Magic Dimension."
Luminé paused for a moment, then chuckled. "Well then. We don't get many temporary residents here. Most people stay once they realize what they'll lose if they leave. May I ask why this is so important to you?"
"Yes. Once our friends are awake."
"Alright then." Luminé said. She knocked on the door and a young woman stepped out. "This is Vivian, our best healer. Hello Vivian."
"Hello Luminé." Vivian said. "New patients for me?"
"Yes, four."
"Bring them in." She glanced past Luminé to see the others gathered there. "Hello Umbra. Hello Corona."
"Hello Vivian."
"And hello to the two of you." Vivian said to Artis and Perdi. "Is there anything I can do to help you get settled?"
"They're not staying." Luminé said.
"They're not? You mean they plan to leave Altivix?"
"That's what they said."
"Well then." Vivian looked the two Classix up and down. "Why would you want to do that?"
Artis and Perdi remained silent.
"Oh well, I don't suppose it matters. Bring your friends in. I'll have them good as new in no time." Vivian turned back into the building and the women followed her.
A/N: Well that was fun. Luminé is fun. Umbra and Corona are fun too. Little fact about them, they're twins. One is a witch of darkness, the other is a witch of light. (If you don't think light is a suitably witchy power, I beg to differ. One spell, instant sunburn.) Nocta is a witch of twilight (no, not that Twilight, I mean dawn and dusk), and Selvus is a wizard of the stars. Luminé is of course the fairy of the sun, much like her descendant Stella.
Now, Artis's new spell, Chronal Concussion. This spell works by using a mixture of accelerated and decelerated time to synchronize little currents in the air, resulting in a shock wave as they combine. Time manipulation is a lot more versatile than you'd think.
That's all for now, next chapter we should get some explanations. Unless I decide to write a filler chapter of Perdi and Artis in Melivon. That could be fun.
One minor side note, Wornath is pronounced VOR-NATH. Yes, it's pronounced as though it had a v in it.