Chapter3-New Friends and Allies pt2

At Alfea

There was a knock on the dorm which Sky and Riven shared and the five other member of Winx came in and were greeted by a chorus Hi's and a few hushes. The only light that was in the room was filtered through the blinds, Stella wrinkled her nose 'what is that smell and where is Sky? Riven sent Musa a message saying he was back so where is he?'.

'Quiet down, he's asleep, as for the smell he vomited the minute he walked in, we've just cleaned it up', said Brandon. It was then that the faeries realised there were others in the room, the guy who had spoken smiled at them.

'Yeah, he's feeling a bit hungover as one would expect after two days in a pub doing several rows of shots and downing a lot of pints' said another who was sat by the window light glinted from his phone reflecting in his rectangle glasses. Aiysha stared at the newcomers 'who are you?' she asked after what happened with Grey was wasn't feeling particularly trustful of newbies. The guy with the glasses rubbed the back of his head 'Oh right sorry. We're friends of Sky's from outside of Alfea we use to train together then we went to Red Fountain in Lynphea and he came to Alfea. I'm Timmy, that's Brandon sat on the chair and Helia is passed out on the floor.'

'Red Fountains full of weirdo's' grumbled Riven rolling his eyes.

"Well at least they're not pigs' responded Terra.

'I'm human thank you very much' Riven snarked back.

'Could have fooled me' snapped Terra. Flora rolled her eyes at her cousin's remark, yeah Riven was a bit of an ass but he was a good friend when needed. The moody specialist scowled and opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by Musa.

'Riven before you say anything else, we need to come with a plan one which will protect Alfea, we aren't ready for another attack so soon and right now my magic is off the cards, so get yourself some rest because next to Sky you are one of the best warriors at this school' the tone of Musa's voice clearly read back off. Leaning against his pillows his closed is eyes, Brandon looked at the girls with a raised brow 'so is that mood normal for him or did his girlfriend go through the magic portal too?' he asked.

Stella fixed the brunette with a sad smile 'no his ex-girlfriend was killed going up against the Blood Witch Sebastian, she saved our lives'. He was rather cute Stella couldn't help thinking she found it adorable the way his brown hair flopped across his face as he sat reading a book he'd pulled off Sky's desk. Timmy looked up from his screen, 'so aside from what Sky has told us about the last few months here in his drunken stupor what other stories can you tell us'

With Bloom

Time in the shadow realm had no relevance it could have been days weeks months since she had arrived, since then her mother had been training her in making her magic stronger and as such enabled her to exercise more control over it. 'Again, if we want to defeat the phoenix you must be strong' her mother still as Bloom was knocked down for the nth time that session. 'Your emotions are out of sorts you must pick one use it to help expand your magic'. Bloom huffed as she shook the dust off her clothes and readied her magic, her mother was centuries older than she was that is if Sebastian was to be believed. She focused her thoughts on her friend's back in Alfea and on her love for Sky, letting her magic pool at her finger tips. Her mother launched a stream of magic her Bloom feinted to the left then threw a stream of flame at her ducking intime to avoid another fireball. They continued on for the next hour until it started to get darker. Heading inside, Bloom light the fire in the central hearth and turned to face her mum 'how's the return plan coming along?" she asked.

'Slowly my little ember, the magic alone to open a one- sided portal from this realm is more than I have and the crystal needed is in the tower of the Phoenix' her mother explained.

'Then let me help you, Sebastian needed my flame to open the portal so perhaps if we pool our magic together to jump start the crystal then we will be able to open a portal just long enough for us to slip back into the otherworld' Bloom explained. Her mother sighed, there was no harm in trying it was one of the better plans and if the Shadow phoenix had returned to the other world then they had to get back as quickly as possible.

'Fine then we'll do it, the quicker we return the better'. The mother daughter duo, gathered supplies and warm clothes the trek to the dark tower was a long one.

……. At Cloud Tower

'What's in it for us if we help you' Isobel's frosty voice cut through the long-winded villain speech the self- proclaimed Lord Dakar was giving.

'Enhancement in your powers. I can gift you with more power if you are willing to help me'. The three sisters looked at each other, power enhancement a tempting offer, Isobel looked mildly interested as did Darcy, Beatrix however was a bit more cautious. Yeah, so what if she owed him for bringing her back including her own enhanced powers, but she wasn't going to follow him into fire because of it.

'Sister's wait' Beatrix spoke before Isobel could respond, 'Who are you going after?' Beatrix questioned, she didn't trust this guy after what happened last two times (Rosalind and Sebastian) she wanted to be sure that she and her newly found sisters would not be tossed aside like some old shoe. Dakar gave them a thin smile 'We're going to finish off the Vatra De Arre family'. The two blonde's eyes widened almost comically.

'You are joking' hissed Darcy.

'They were wiped out long ago' added Isobel. 'They fell during the Dominion wars, unless…' The Icy fairy trailed off 'unless the rumours spread by the witches are true that the flame is still out there.'

'Well done, the portal to my realm must be powered by the dragon's flame. I want that flame gone' a sinister smile formed twisting his face to look even uglier if it was possible.

'We'll help you, that flame, the power we could wield' stated Isobel. Darcy frowned she hadn't exactly given her agreement but she didn't trust him anymore than Beatrix. Isobel had always been more headstrong and the idea of unlimited fire power well that would entertain even the most frozen of hearts. Shadows reached out and wrapped themselves round the two sisters, darkness and power poured into them. Isobel's golden hair turned white and her eyes paled to a frosty blue, while Darcy's darkened ever so slightly becoming a more brown-blonde and her eyes turning from brown to amber.

'Well well it's time for a bit of fun.' The three of them cackled.