"Hey Sophia." Darcy said as she and her sisters entered the library, where Sophia was busy reading a book. The teenaged girl looked at the three of them from over the top of said book, then raised a brow and lowered it to her lap.
"Uh, why do you guys look like the technicolor squad?" She inquired.
"The what?" Stormy asked in confusion.
"Forget it..." Sophia sighed as she set the book aside, "Technicolor is a thing on Earth from back before magic was brought back. What I meant was, 'What's up with suddenly being all bright and colorful'?"
Icy smirked. "Today is the Sparx Festival at Alfea."
"I'm well aware of that." Sophia said flatly, "I'm stuck with a 24-hour live feed of Bloom, remember? Well, at least I have an idea of what time it is because of that. Anyway, what about it?"
"Hm, there's a chance that the Star Case will reveal the location of one of the Prime Stars today, and when it does, we'll be right there to steal it from the Winx!" Stormy said boldly.
Sophia raised her brow again, "Okay, one, I doubt it's gonna be that easy, and two, you guys do realize that you look exactly the same except for your hair color and outfits, right? Surely you're capable of coming up with better disguises than that."
"We are." Darcy assured her, "But we don't need to."
"If you say so." The teen replied before going back to her book.
"What, not going to tell us what's wrong with them?" Icy asked.
"I've already told you the most obvious points, but what do I know about infiltrating fairies and witches? I mean, personally, I think that a yellow dress does not go with pink and blue hair and that that purple lipstick is just gaudy and definitely does not go with the rest of what you have on, but then again, what do I know about fairy fashion? The vague knowledge that I do have is that the trends are different on every realm anyway. Besides, even on Earth, what colors people will and will not mix varies from one country to the next. Not my area of expertise."
Darcy shook her head, "Whatever. Here, take this."
Upon seeing the witch's outstretched hand in her peripheral vision, Sophia held her own hand up to accept whatever Darcy was giving her. Upon feeling it dropped into her hand, she glanced at it and saw that it was some kind of earpiece or something. "What's this?" She asked.
"A communication device." Icy told her, "Since you don't have magic, you can't come with us to Alfea. You'll use that to stay in contact with us once it comes time for us to track down the Star. Got it?"
"Yeah, yeah, got it." Sophia replied as she placed the device on her ear, "Stay in the library, keep reading books, keep an eye on the hologram, give you directions when you need them. I'm on it. Good luck not getting caught."
望むの星
"Headmistress Griffin, welcome to Alfea!"
Upon hearing those words, Sophia set her current book down in her lap and looked up to see Faragonda, the headmistress of Alfea, greeting Griffin, the headwitchtress at Cloud Tower. She briefly wondered why the feed was focused on this—up until now, she'd been largely tuning out the Winx's chatter related to the Sparx Festival and Bloom's relationship problems—but decided not to worry about it as she observed what was happening.
"Thank you, Faragonda." Griffin replied, "My students are impatient to start their performances." She added as the two of them turned to watch a young witch directing a large slime monster that looked rather goofy in Sophia's opinion.
"I can see that." Faragonda said with a chuckle. "They can go inside and get ready together with the others."
Sophia raised a brow. Wouldn't that be a disaster waiting to happen? Or were witches somehow... better behaved these days? She sighed and prepared to go back to her book, but stopped when she caught sight of Stella's blonde hair in the corner of her vision.
"Hurry up!" The Solarian princess exclaimed to her friends, "We're late!" She started to dash off, only to smack into Stormy, and Sophia face-palmed. So much for avoiding the Winx until it was time. Stormy and Stella both grunted as Stella stumbled back.
"Huh?!" Darcy exclaimed in surprise. Stormy moaned anxiously while Icy laughed nervously as they found themselves at the center of the Winx's attention.
"Oh! Sorry about that!" Stella apologized cheerfully.
Stormy growled angrily while glaring viciously at the fairy.
"Keep a cool head, Stormy." Sophia said into her earpiece. "You're going to blow your cover if you go all 'Witch of Storms' on her right now."
Meanwhile, Stella seemed to be oblivious to Stormy's rage as her attention shifted to Icy's shoulder bag. "Ooh! Your purse is super cute!"
Icy glanced at the purse awkwardly and then groaned in annoyance, though her less-than-happy reaction went unnoticed as the Winx dashed off, the Trix glaring after them in annoyance and growling quietly.
"Hm... I'm gonna crush her." Stormy muttered.
"Me too." Icy replied.
"Relax, Trix." Darcy said as she turned toward them, "Our disguise worked. Don't blow our cover."
"Darcy is right." Icy agreed, relaxing instantly, "They have the Star Case, and they'll lead us right to the Star we're looking for.."
"Not if you three keep that up." Sophia said through the device. "It's a miracle you didn't blow your cover just now. Stormy's anger issues aside, Icy, Stella paid you a compliment. I get that 'cute' isn't really your thing, but given that you're trying to blend in as fairies, you should be glad for the compliment, because it means you made a good choice on your bag. Also, fairies take etiquette courses, and the polite thing to do when somebody compliments you is to smile and say 'thank you'. Keep being so rude and you'll stick out like sore thumbs. Also, Darcy, flat out saying you're the Trix in an open space is nothing short of a great way to blow your cover. Don't do it again. And don't respond to me or people are going to take notice."
The three witches groaned as they listened to the human girl's criticism, but they couldn't do much. It was technically her job to advise them. They headed inside, where fairies and witches alike were practicing for their upcoming performances. Icy smirked as she watched.
"Before I take care of the Winx, I wanna play a trick or two on these boring fairies." She said while snapping her fingers, causing a young fairy's bubble spell to come undone and the fairy herself to fall to the bleachers. The girl landed on her feet and looked around before recasting her spell.
"Knock that off, Icy." Sophia said into her headset, "Fairies don't play mean tricks on other fairies. In case you've forgotten, they don't gain power from such things. You're supposed to blending in. Stop doing things that will make you stand out!"
"Why do you care so much?" Stormy asked.
"I told you not to respond to me." Sophia reminded, "And in case you've forgotten, I do have a vested interest in your success."
Stormy shook her head and walked forward, "I can do better than that, Icy."
"Stormy!" Sophia exclaimed, just as Stormy created a small gale of wind that sent the poor fairy from before bouncing around the room before her bubble burst again.
Darcy scoffed, "You call that a 'trick'?" She asked, "Watch and learn."
"All teams, fairies and witches, are invited to the courtyard to begin their performances." Faragonda suddenly announced over the PA.
"Oh thank goodness." Sophia said in relief. "You guys do not comprehend the concept of keeping a 'low profile', do you?"
望むの星
Once everyone had gathered in the courtyard, Faragonda and Griffin entered the stage from opposite sides to open the festival.
"Everything in the universe has its opposite." Faragonda said as she created an orb of light in her right hand. "Light..."
"And shadow." Griffin finished as she formed an orb of darkness in her left hand.
"Fairies..." Faragonda said.
"And witches."
The two headmistresses combined the orb to create a translucent, dark purple orb with a light shining brightly within it.
"But the same magic spark unites us all." Faragonda continued.
"The Sparx!" The two said together as they launched the orb into the air above their students.
"Sparx is the energy that created the magic universe." Faragonda continued. "The Sparx granted powers both to us, the fairies, and to our guests for this very special day, the witches."
"I wouldn't mind if the Sparx had skipped the witches." Stella muttered, and Sophia rolled her eyes.
'If it had, it would be a much bigger problem than you realize, Stella.' The teenager thought.
"You'll divide into groups and perform for the event." Faragonda announced, "Now fairies, prepare, and let the celebration begin."
Bloom turned to the other Winx at the very back of the crowd, "Girls, we're out of time! Let's pick something we like doing together!"
"We like playing together." Musa suggested with a smile.
"Musa is right!" Bloom declared upon seeing that the others were in agreement. "We'll put on a concert."
"Don't they do that all the time...?" Sophia muttered to herself when the Star Case suddenly appeared amidst the Winx. "Heads up, Trix. The Star Case is in the house."
"The Star Case!" Bloom said as she reached out her hand and took hold of the case. "Look! The Compass is moving!" She added as the needle of the Star Compass spun. "The Prime Star is in that direction!"
"Good job, Sophia. Now keep watching them and make sure you get that riddle once the Star Case spills it." Icy said.
"Let's follow it!" Aisha said, the six of them promptly running off as the Trix lingered nearby.
Icy smirked from within the shadows. "They must have found something. Darcy, Stormy, let's follow them!"
The Winx were in a different part of the quad, looking around as Bloom followed the Compass until she was standing beside the well. "The Compass is pointing to the well." The redhead said in surprise when the Case suddenly flew out of her hand and floated above the well in question.
"The first Prime Star is near, and you'll find it here." The Case said, "There will be tests and traps before you are done. Remember: you can reach your goal all alone, or reach the Stars joined as one."
"What?!" Stella asked in shock, "We have to go down there?! But... i-it'll make my hair frizz up!"
"Boy, does she have her priorities mixed up." Sophia remarked as the Winx entered the well.
"Got any clues about that riddle yet, Sophia?" Icy asked.
"Not much. But it seems like you'll need to work as a team to get it. So that whole 'I might give the reward to just one of you' thing that Valtor mentioned? I suggest you put it out of your minds for now. Competing with each other will get you nowhere. That much is certain." Sophia raised a brow as she watched the Winx walking through the well. "That is the strangest well I have ever seen."
Amazingly, there actually was water when the Winx reached the bottom of the well; albeit, only a pool of it. The Winx stopped to observe their surroundings.
"So many doors..." Aisha remarked. "Where do we go now?"
"Look!" Bloom replied as she glanced at the Star Case in front of them. "The Compass is pointing at this door of light!"
Sophia sweat-dropped. "They needed the Compass to tell them that?! It's the only door that's glowing for goodness sake!"
"Looks like a magic door." Tecna remarked, causing Sophia to roll her eyes, "Impossible to cross without magic powers."
"Then we'd better bring on the magic, girls!" Bloom said. "Magic Winx! Cosmix!" In a flash, the six fairies had transformed into their Cosmix forms, and Sophia sweat-dropped.
"How many forms do they have?" She wondered aloud.
"Let's go, Winx!" Bloom explained. "And remember what the Star Case said: We can reach the stars if we're joined as one!"
Icy smirked as she watched the Winx fly into the door. "Our turn, sisters."
Meanwhile, the Winx exited the door and found themselves in a cube-shaped room that seemed to have nothing in it, although there were plants growing on all sides, so Flora approached the nearest flower. "Excuse me, creature, can you tell us what to do in this room?" However, the flower just snarled at her, so Flora turned to her friends. "Girls, the plants here don't wanna talk to me." She said, sounding oddly hurt. "Maybe we should all ask together."
Tecna flew down to the bottom of the room and snapped her fingers, causing some of the plants to retract from the center of the floor. "Look. There's something behind all this vegetation." She remarked as a keyhole with a key was revealed.
Flora grinned and snapped her fingers, causing the vegetation on all sides to retract and reveal five more keys with keyholes.
"They're mismatched..." Sophia muttered to herself, immediately seeing what needed to be done.
"What Sophia?" Stormy asked.
"Nothing Stormy. I was talking about what's happening with the Winx. Go ahead and get started. I can't clue you in if you're just standing at the entrance."
"There are six walls, six locks, six keys... and there are six of us!" Tecna realized with a smile.
"Um, it doesn't take a genius to realize that..."
"Will you stop muttering?!" Icy exclaimed in annoyance, "The Winx can't hear you, and even if they could, you're supposed to be helping us, not them!"
"Then pick up the pace! I'm bored with watching the Winx take forever to complete a puzzle that a second-grader could solve!" Sophia retorted while watching as the flowers in the room began snapping at the Winx.
"Hey! Temper, temper!" Aisha exclaimed to the plant that lashed out at her.
Another of the flowers reached out and latched onto Stella's hair. "Watch it!" The blonde fairy cried, "You're ruining my hair!"
"Looks like these plants are protecting the keys..." Flora remarked as they all managed to evade their attackers by gathering at the center.
"But we have to turn them all to get out of here. What do you say we make them a little dizzy?" Aisha suggested. The six fairies flew around the room as the plants chased them until eventually, the guard flowers found their stalks all tangled together and Aisha laughed in amusement.
"Now let's turn these keys before they get free!" Bloom exclaimed. "Nice job, Winx!"
Meanwhile, the Trix were finally preparing to go through the door.
"Let's get serious." Darcy said.
"About time..." Sophia muttered as the Trix returned to their standard witch outfits.
"Trix, I'm going first." Icy said casually before flying toward the door, only for Darcy to immediately catch up and begin flying alongside her.
"Why not me?" The witch of darkness asked, and the two of them both flew toward the golden door.
"Because I said so!" Icy exclaimed.
"Oh really?" Darcy returned with annoyance.
"I'll just go ahead since you're busy." Stormy said with a grin before flying through the door ahead of her distracted sisters.
"Icy! Darcy! Knock it off!" Sophia yelled into her headset, "Stormy's already gone through! Weren't you paying attention? This test is about teamwork! It doesn't matter which one of you goes through first, just go through already!"
"But if we both try to go at the same time, we'll just get stuck." Darcy complained.
"Ugh, fine. Then Icy goes in first. Last I heard, she is the leader! At least, that's what you said in the throne room the other day!" Sophia retorted.
"Ugh. Fine." Darcy agreed before following Icy through the gate. On the other side, they found Stormy standing on a glowing dot. Another one was lit up beside her, and she began leaning to reach it.
"Oh for goodness sakes, it's not a game of Twister, Stormy!" Sophia exclaimed. "This is about teamwork. Darcy, you take the second light, Icy will take the third."
"What's Twister?" Stormy asked as Darcy moved to take the position ahead of her.
"Oh right. It's an Earth thing. A game, basically." Sophia said, "I keep forgetting how disconnected Earth is from everywhere else in terms of culture." She watched as the three witches all attempted to fly through the next door at once and began fighting with each other. She face-palmed as they were somehow sucked into another room. This one had a die with symbols on it and symbols on the walls as well.
"What now, Sophia?" Icy asked.
"Darcy, do any of the symbols on that die match the ones on the walls?" Sophia asked in reply, and the witch in question flew around the object to check.
"Yeah, looks like each one has a match." Darcy told her.
"Then the solution is obvious. Push the die so that one of the symbols on it touches the matching symbol on the wall." Sophia explained, "You have to push in the same direction as a team. So just... go in whichever direction is the easiest. I'm assuming that the sides of that thing aren't just conveniently lined up with each corresponding symbol."
"Got it!" Icy said as Darcy compared the sides of the die with the symbols on the wall.
"Pushing it that way will be easiest." The dark blonde witch informed the other two. Stormy and Icy nodded and the three of them carefully moved the die to the wall as Sophia had said, then flew through the door that had opened.
Sophia glanced at the dark hologram of the Winx and saw that the Trix had managed to get ahead of them with her guidance, but she opted not to point that out to the three witches—mostly just because she preferred not to admit it out loud.
Icy, Darcy, and Stormy passed through the portal to find themselves inside some kind of storage room for magical items. "Move it, Trix!" Icy said with excitement, "Let's find the Prime Star!"
"There's nothing in here!" Stormy said in annoyance as she scanned the shelves before hearing a soft thump. "What was that?"
The three of them flew toward the sound before landing to look around. A moment later, Icy noticed a small, green orb rolling quietly along the floor before stopping by her foot and grinned. "The first Prime Star!"
Icy reached down and placed her hand on the orb, Darcy placed her hand on top of Icy's, and Stormy placed her hand on top of the other two. "Got it!" They all exclaimed at once. They glared at each other, and then screamed as the orb suddenly burst into multiple orbs, which continued to multiply rapidly. Sophia sweat-dropped.
望むの星
"Oh... think Sophia! Think!" Sophia muttered with frustration as she paced back and forth in front the two holograms. "'Reach the stars joined as one.' What does that even mean? There's only one star..." She sweat-dropped again as she looked at the overwhelming number of orbs that was still growing around the Trix. "At least in theory. They can't all pick one up at the same time, right? Those things aren't big enough." She looked over at the other hologram. "The Trix certainly aren't joined as one right now, but... the Winx are having the same issue, and they're like a well-oiled machine in terms of teamwork. What does it mean to 'reach the stars joined as one'?" She continued pacing in search of a solution when she heard Bloom speaking.
"'You can reach your goal all alone, or reach the stars joined as one.' We need to work out that riddle." The Fire fairy said.
"The only solution that makes sense... is that we have to work together." Tecna replied.
"But... girls... isn't that what we've been doing... uh, til now?" Stella asked.
Bloom looked thoughtful, and then smiled. "Winx, the only thing that can get the Prime Star is... our team."
"Huh?" Sophia said in confusion as she looked over at the hologram.
The human girl watched as a Bloom caught one of the orbs in her hand. "Our friendship..."
"Oh..." Aisha gasped as she saw that the orb didn't multiply.
Musa saw what Bloom as getting at picked up one of the orbs by her feet. "Our unity..."
Aisha reached out and caught one of the orbs herself, "Loyalty..."
Stella caught another orb. "Sincerity..."
Tecna caught one in her palm, "Collaboration..."
Flora caught an orb of her own. "...And mutual understanding."
Sophia watched in shock as the Winx rose into the air with the orbs, which then lifted into the air and combined to form a transparent sphere that held the Prime Star. Bloom gasped and giggled as the Star Case suddenly appeared in her hand. She flew forward and took the Star, its protective sphere disappearing as she inserted the Star into one of the slots on the Case. She gasped with excitement as the six of them suddenly vanished in a bright light.
Sophia watched the events with shock before her attention shifted to the Trix, who were being swallowed up by the flood of spheres.
"Keep looking! Keep looking!" Icy insisted desperately.
Sophia sighed, questioning how to break the news to the Trix when a portal suddenly opened to her left. "Huh?" The teenaged girl yelped as she was yanked through the portal by the mark on her hand and just managed to avoid taking a hard landing on her knees as the Trix suddenly fell through another portal, accompanied by an endless number of spheres. The three witches groaned upon landing.
"Does anybody want to tell me what just happened?" Valtor asked as the Trix sat up.
"It's Sophia's fault!" Stormy exclaimed as she pointed at the human girl, "She didn't tell us what to do in the end!"
"That may be the case, but without her advice, the three of you wouldn't have even come close to beating the Winx!" Valtor reprimanded before turning his attention to his young captive, "Sophia, why weren't you able to solve the riddle at the very end? That is the reason you're here."
Sophia looked down, something like shame crossing her face. "I guess because... I've never really been able to work with others. I've had to do team projects in school and stuff, but they always wound up with me doing all of the work and my classmates just... not even trying. Teamwork requires being united in achieving a single goal, but I've never had that. My goal was to make high marks, my classmates' goal was to do as little work as possible. Because of that, I came to adopt the sentiment that 'If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.'"
"I see..." Valtor said thoughtfully, "In other words, you're used to achieving success through your own efforts, rather than working with others. In that case..." He turned his attention to Icy, Darcy, and Stormy, "Trix, give Sophia a bit of your power. Just enough that she'll be able to fly with you and pass through those magic portals."
"Why don't you do it?" Darcy asked as Sophia stood up.
"Because my magic will not enable her to pass through the portals since it does not come from Sparx." Valtor said as he returned to his throne. "Consider this your punishment for failing; next time, you will be taking Sophia with you." He sat down on his throne, "Sophia, I'll let it slide this time since you were at a disadvantage, but if you fail next time, know that your family and your planet will pay."
"Yes Valtor." Sophia said quietly.
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