Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club.

Hey, stop that! Put the sparklers down! Where did you even get fireworks? None of you are old enough to buy them! You had Nyssa buy them? Okay then, I guess I need to have a talk with her too. Now stop with the celebration and get back to the story! I mean it! Thank you!

Sorry, the girls were celebrating their first major unambiguous victory of the series. Although, I guess I'm pretty happy about how last chapter turned out too. It had a lot of great action, the first convergences we've seen used during battle for this book, some interesting comedy from the characters who now feel safe enough to start making wisecracks, an excellent semi-cliffhanger ending, and I finally got those Ember Blades out of my hair. They were great for a while, but they kind of played out.

Points will be distributed once the reveal is made, probably next chapter. Instead, we have Luminé's story and some surprise guests.

With that said, let's get moving.

"Sealed?" Artis asked, somewhat startled. "By whom?"

"No one knows. All we know is that it happened from the other side."

"We can solve this problem in the morning." Dhalia said. "For now, let's get some sleep."

When dawn came the Classix descended to the entrance of the hospital. Luminé was waiting for them.

"I wanted to thank you girls for bringing in the Ember Blades. We owe you a great debt."

"Thank you, Lady Luminé." Dhalia said. "We need to find someone and take them home, but we've heard the Gates are sealed."

"Yes, we discovered that they were sealed a little over sixteen years ago. Some of us have tried to reopen the Gates, but with no success."

"There must be someone here who can help us." Dhalia said. "Someone who can figure out how to open the Gates."

"Your best bet would be Kobet the Hermit. He came here specifically to watch over the portal. Funny, after he arrived, we got a lot fewer people coming through. You were the first in fifteen years."

"When did Kobet arrive?" Amelia asked.

"Something like eight hundred years ago."

"We should visit him. Maybe he knows something that can help us." Dhalia said.

"Kobet lives out in the Crags of Derril. He's not particularly fond of people. We occasionally send people there as punishments for certain crimes. They help him with whatever he needs and when their time is up, they're free to rejoin our city."

"Can you show us?"

"It would be my pleasure." Luminé said. "If you're ready we could leave now."

Dhalia glanced around. "I guess we are."

"Excellent!" Luminé said, her wings forming behind her. "Let's go."

(Cue transformation music)

The girls took to the sky, flying alongside Luminé as she headed north.

The girls flew over a sparse and rocky landscape. Very few plants grew here, and the animals were nowhere to be seen.

"Lady Luminé, we keep hearing about you, but no one has told us the full story." Artis said. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here so I can maintain the curse I laid upon the Ancestral spirits, over eight thousand years ago." Luminé said. "As long as I live, the curse holds."

"So you came here so you would live forever."

"Exactly."

"What does this curse of yours do?"

"It makes it harder for them to find hosts. Originally, the Ancestral Spirits were created by Lord Darkar to spread chaos and destruction. There were three of them, one for each of the major magic races. They would find the darkest wizard, witch, and fairy, and possess them against their will, using their powers to attack former friends, loved ones, and others. These three hosts would eventually meet and form a powerful alliance to wreak havoc on the realms.

"I was the Queen of Solaria, still a young kingdom, when they attacked. I fought them with the help of other powerful people from across the Magic Dimension. After many long battles, we finally won."

"Then why are they still around today?" Reyva asked.

"They can't be destroyed. They aren't like you or me. They aren't alive. They are simply a manifestation of Darkar's power. As long as he lives, they continue to exist. I knew they'd come back, and I knew I couldn't stop them. But, I could make it hard for them to do so."

"So you cursed them."

"Yes. I bound them together with my magic, and I cursed them. Now, their hosts must be siblings who all share the same magical identity, and their hosts must invite the possession. I couldn't stop them from speaking to their would-be hosts, but they have to chose for themselves to be possessed."

"Their spirits were destroyed about sixteen years ago by the fairy of the Dragon Flame." Perdi said.

"Excellent. That means they can't do anything unless and until a trio of siblings deliberately invokes them." Luminé turned to look at the girls. "Just how likely do you think that is?"

"Given that we thought they were real witches, not spirits, I don't think it's all that likely." Amelia said.

"Then maybe the Magic Dimension has seen the last of them."

"That would be good." Dhalia said. "Vivian said something about them manifesting as fairies?"

"It's not impossible." Luminé said. "While most fairies are more scrupulous about their ethics than witches, there are some exceptions. There may indeed have been a trio who desired power badly enough to submit to the Ancestrals. It could happen again."

"Can they manifest as wizards?"

"I suppose they could, but wizards don't usually work together on family lines. Something about male rival mentalities I guess. It would make it very hard for the Ancestrals to make such a thing happen."

"Ah."

"Speaking of wizards, we've arrived." Luminé pointed to a massive outcropping of rock. Atop the rock sat a trio of buildings. One looked like a small house, the other one looked like some sort of dormitory, and the third looked like a green house. Outside the green house, three men in black robes tended to some small vegetable patches.

"Luminé, who did you say came through before us?" Reyva asked, staring at the trio of gardeners.

"A group of three wizards. They caused quite a bit of trouble when they first arrived. I think their leaders name was...Ogron? Yes, that's it, Ogron. We sent them here to learn some proper manners."

"Ogron." Dhalia said. "You've got to be kidding me."

A/N: Remember that pit the Wizards of the Black Circle fell into? Yep. That's the portal to Altivix. So now they're here, but are they still as evil as ever, or has fifteen years of community service taught them the error of their ways?

Speaking of people who learned the error of their ways, it's a good thing the Trix reformed, otherwise the Ancestrals could have come back. Now that the Trix have reformed, I doubt we'll be hearing from the Ancestrals for a very long time.

That's about all for this chapter. See you all next time.