Step by step


The girls had divided into two groups. One group went outside to collect cleansed earth from the wisps and scout for enemies. Tasu and Nebula stayed behind to bring the seeds back to life and plant them in pots. The girls agreed to ration their magic closely from now on. There always had to be at least one person not using magic at all besides Blade.

"Alright, let's check this seed," Nebula put the seed into the earth they had placed into one of the cooking pots. "Grow little once, sprout!" The little saplings broke through and green leaves grew.

Tasu added a bit of water with her magic and then continued "Rise and grow, bloom and bring fruit!" She infused more magic all while Nebula checked exactly then she could stop.

"Alright, hold it." Nebula gave her the sign. Finally, they had grown a bush that showed some fruits. They already had created a bundle of grasses and weeds and trees. Yet all those plants had been rather extravagant. They already had guessed that the seed pouch was some sort of present for the royal gardens, or rather the rest that had been left over. "Voice of nature." Nebula pulled the fruit from the bush. It was a bright yellow one with some dimples, slightly squishy.

"And?" Tasu awaited her answer, waiting for Nebula to finish asking nature if it was poisonous to them or not.

Nebula bit into it, "Hmmm, so sweet. It's a variant of yellow plum, just more bush-like growth. So, they are smaller." She grinned and spit out the seed inside. "Let's get to work then."

"Hey, no fair, I want one too!" Tasu picked some herself and stuffed her face.

"Wow, the others need some as well, you know," Nebula giggled a bit and picked some more as well.

Tasu nodded, "Sure, sure, but we need more seeds. Growing bushes is hard work and we need enough for all. So, I say we better get some more seeds first."

Nebula shook her head, "Let's hope they don't catch us. Definitely tastes better than those weird power bars Blade had."

"We should plant some of them outside as well. We won't be able to use magic all of the time to grow fruits. And we can't keep all the plants inside this small kitchen." Tasu suggested.

"Let's clear out one library then turn it into a greenhouse and everything that grows too big we put outside. As well as all the plants that have no use to us at the moment." Nebula agreed with her. "Though won't the Lou eat it then?"

Tasu picked one of the yellow plums and through it next to the Lou, but actually hit its head. "Oops, sorry…" she apologised.

The Lou turned to inspect the attacker with its tentacles and squeezed the yellow plum to pieces. It rolled the tentacles a bit to get the mash off, but its tentacles were still full of slime from taking care of the eggs. Annoyed not to get the leftovers off it flicked the tentacle and the seed flew straight into the air and landed on the Lou's tower shell. The seed glued to it through the slime and didn't fall off. The Lou ignored the fact if it at all had noticed it. The girls weren't sure. It continued to the entrance to eat more zombie goo.

"Welp seems for now it has no interest." Nebula sighed relieved.

Tasu smiled, "Well, it was stuck in an underground cave. Probably only knows algae. I'm not sure what they fed them…maybe they ate themselves. Many animals eat offspring and the other way around as well."

Tessa, Birdy and Blade had gone a bit astray, after collecting several buckets loads of earth. They were curious to check out what was behind the temple. It was another wide-open space. Yet far off there were some more hills and even further in the distance was a mountain range. The wisps were still close by cleansing the earth all around.

Tessa used the axe to poke around in the mud, "This truly is a sad sight, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Birdy flew upwards to check if something was hiding in the hills.

"Well, all of this was fields and forests back in the day. And now it's nothing but a muddy shithole," Tessa sighed.

"The wisps are turning it around. Don't worry. They are resourceful creatures," Blade tried to cheer her up.

"You think?" Tessa wasn't so sure. "I still don't get how they came to be. Didn't you meet another wisp in the Black Mud swamp? You said you could talk to them or something. Those things don't seem very chatty to me and not shy at all."

"That's true. But who knows, they are a rare breed, normally at least. Anyways, just by looking, I didn't spy anything in the hills. We definitely should do something to secure our perimeters We should use the dragon shield only in emergencies," Birdy set down again and transformed back.

"Well, I actually read up on wisps after my first encounter." Blade replied as she drew a basic map of the region into the mud with her foot. "Wisps are magical creations mostly created by wizards. But, basically, anyone could be able to create one, even us."

"Really? You don't know the spell by any chance, we could use plenty." Tessa added to the mud map as they talked.

"Ha, no. Sadly, it's old forgotten magic. Though we might be able to reconstruct the spell from the magic circle in the temple hall. The wisps are connected to it. The biggest problem with wisps is, though, that they are in the category of pseudo-life creatures. They are alive to a certain extent but have no soul or own will so to speak."

"They don't?" Birdy frowned, "Yet they seem to communicate and think…"

"Yes, that's because they have a wish or task inscribed into them. And if wisps of the same task meet, they form groups to achieve it," Blade elaborated as she inspected the landscape. "Maybe some ditches would be good to slow the zombies down and funnel them."

"Wait, didn't Tasu say they are curse-breaking wisps…" Birdy remembered as she inspected the map. "Yeah, ditches are great to protect structures. But creating ditches will take time and loads of magic. Ahhh, Dahlia would be so helpful right now with her stone magic…"

"We could use right about any magic-user of our class," Tessa chuckled. "We should make a ditch right around the temple first."

"I agree," Blade nodded as she drew a circle around the temple's x on the mud map. "Some spikes would be nice as well, hmmm. Well, it's clear these wisps are curse-breaking since that's what they are doing. Yet, don't forget they can be destroyed. I am actually quite glad they stay close as of now."

"Indeed. So what else does one need besides the right spell, Blade? You said they are hard to come by." Birdy deepened the conversation as they all scribbled along on the map.

"Well, the biggest problem is that one needs the dragon flame. As I said, they are pseudo-life creatures. They are not the real deal but pretty close. The Great Dragon created life in the whole universe. So, you need a pinch of that spark of life, so to speak." Blade explained further as she input the best ideas into her bracelet notes.

"You mean someone tried to use the corrupted Dragon Flame to create curse-breaking wisps? that's foolish," Tessa stated as she shook her head.

"Nah, I think that spell is a spell gone wrong. I think someone from Phere-Moan tried to stop the zombies with wisps. I mean have you seen the size of the altar. It's huge. The flame granted is strong but compared to the size of the alter small. And we got quite a few wisps besides that they are rare. Maybe the caster got attacked as he or she tried to summon them." Blade hypothesized.

"Hmm… but the flame was in the sword in the end. You think Retav maybe killed Daryune at the same moment as he killed Retav and Daryune fucked up his spell?" Birdy joined in on the mind game as they walked back.

"Nah, that's so cheesy. I bet it has nothing to do with any of the Phere-moan people. Mister G said there were many raiders in the temple. Especially at the start. I bet it was a last-ditch effort of one of them." Tessa presented her idea.

"But then, why was the Dragon Flame in the sword?" Blade thought about it.

"Well, since the wisps are coming from the zombies. Maybe the sword, because it had electrical magic, you know attracted some Dragon Flame? I mean metal reacts to my lighting differently if I do it right. Maybe it was supposed to help Mister G but instead went into the sword." Tessa looked into the sky still filled with dark clouds everywhere. Mister G was the nickname they had given the ghost since he did not remember his name, which wasn't that big of a surprise to them, since he had been struck with a curse for thousands of years.

"Nah. Records said that the zombies were unkillable then the Lightbringers tried to save the planet." Birdy rejected that idea completely.

"Actually, the records only said they couldn't break the curse so they freed the souls of the dead." Blade recalled.

"Right… hmmm… maybe they screwed up back then? The old records never said what they did. Maybe the immortality of the zombies was a side effect of the soul release," Tessa corrected her hypothesis.

"That is not too far off. Yet, why would they leave the ghost?" Birdy scratched her head ignoring her tummy grumble.

"A warning? I mean the curse weakened with the time, that is obvious to us all. The records included animals and the green lightning from the simulator room practice. Yet, those are gone. Even before we got here." Tessa smiled and waved as she saw Mister G on the roof, who immediately waved back. Her tummy grumbled as well. "Uuh, come on, let's check if the others got some results before we start digging."

"Agreed." Blade rubbed her stomach as well. "Whatever happened, we might have enough time to find out. I mean without the location on the ocean gate, that's a good side task. Might even get us the location of the gate... if we get lucky."

The girls were happy to hear that they had finally found some eatable plants and decided to use their magic to grow more plants for the time being. Blade started digging the ditch in front of the temple gate instead. Since they had agreed she should save her magic nonetheless. Out of all of them, she had the smallest magic pool and regeneration rate after all. Plus, all wanted her to take it easy. That weird dark magic transformation was a mystery to all. It was evening or rather that was what Blades watch told them since there was no real distinction with the cloudy sky in place. After a whole day of scouting, gardening and ditch-digging, they all joined up on the roof for an evening meal. They wanted to keep the ghost some company before going to bed. Yet a new problem arose for Blade. She wasn't able to activate her Winx form or the other form for that matter. So, the others had to carry her up top. After everyone had their fill of yellow plums they all flew back down caring Blade down. There was not much they could do after they had exhausted most of their magic for growing food plants. So, Blade's problem had to wait till the next day. Mister G gladly took watch again. He was a real asset. The Lou had laid tons of eggs and grown a bit over the day, but also finally had calmed down some more.

Blade couldn't sleep, she woke up in the middle of the night. Woken by a nightmare where she wasn't able to save her friends from a zombie attack because she couldn't transform. Silently as a cat she slipped out of the temple. Outside she breathed in deeply. She stared at her hands opening and closing them.

Jewels ring was still on her finger she turned it a few times. 'What am I doing here?... Desertia needs us now and we're stuck at this shithole.' She got into her close combat fighting stance and practised some air kicks and punches. It always helped her to relieve stress. "Fuck this." She stopped. The dream had really scared her. It was one thing not being able to fly up the temple to the roof. Yet, it was more than that. She had noticed generally that using magic was infinitely harder at the moment. "We need all the power we have. I can't be sidelined…" She mumbled to herself. 'Alright, calm down. You can do this.' She closed her eyes and focused on her Winx form and made the hand signs. "Fairy of Blades," she whispered. She felt the flow of magic run through her body. She opened her eyes. However, she felt the magic suddenly destabilising. Her Fairy form still translucent began to flicker as a sudden pain hit her. And her Fairy form flickered between the normal and the new one. Shocked as she felt more dark magic arising she abruptly stopped the transformation process. "What the heck!?" She hissed.

"What are you doing?" a tired and annoyed Tessa stood behind her. She crossed her arms. "Didn't we agree that you are not to use your magic since we need you to build weapons when the zombies attack?" She had a hard time sleeping herself. There were so many questions unanswered. Se had actually thought Blade had gone to relieve herself, when she took forever, she had gone to check up on her.

"Tessa…" Blade turned to face her. "I, I."

"You are freaked out by your dark magic form. It seems to take over our normal one," Tessa sat down on a spot of cleansed earth. The wisps were like wandering lanterns in the dark. "They never seem to stop with their work. Just like you never stop training – alone."

"Sorry, I just. It's weird not being able to transform. What if I can't even create weapons for you? If we need them and I simply can't." Blade was scared of the thought and even more frustrated.

Tessa sighed, "Fine. I keep watch and you try to create a sword or something. Best use that hilt we got from Mister G. That should help you right?" She sat down readying an Energy Bolt. "I'll knock you out if you go nuts. Promise. Now turn around and move some steps along." She grinned sheepishly.

Blade shook her head as she followed her instructions. With her Back to Tessa, she commented, "You are enjoying this too much…" Blade took out the ancient hilt. She inspected the runes once more nothing seemed broken. Yet it was still an unknown constellation for her. She tightened her grip around the hilt and placed the other hand on top. Closing her eyes once again, to keep her focus. She slowly moved the hand away in a straight line as she conjured the weapon, "Fairy edge!" It was hard without her Fairy form. She felt her magic deplete much faster. It was just like Saladin had explained back at Red Fountain. The Fairy forms cost magic to invoke. Yet all the spells cast while transformed needed significantly less magic. In Desertia she had to have wizards to empower her if need be, but now she was on her own. She was halfway through with finishing the sword she depicted in her mind as she felt dark magic creeping in. IT was weird. It somehow felt right, but also wrong. She could hear crackle noises very much like those when she first started out creating weapons. 'Shit, it's destabilising.' Quickly she formed a sword tip and opened her eyes, ready to throw the weapon away if it would collapse and exploded.

"Ahahaha, when I said create something I didn't mean a crocked old branch you know," Tessa was laughing so hard. She had jumped to her feet as she had noticed the dark magic and flew around Blade to see what was going on.

Blade stared at the weapon she had created. "How, why…what?" It wasn't even close to a sword edge. It really looked like a branch and it was curvy and unbalanced as well. At best one could use it like a bat or mace. "That never happened before. Damn, I'm so screwed. We are screwed!"

"Shh, don't wake the others." Tessa cautioned her to be quiet. "Well, maybe you did something wrong? Or the hilt is broken?"

"No, I did everything the same. Maybe it was the dark magic…" Blade scratched her head in confusion.

"But then there should be half a sword. There was no dark magic from the start," Tessa was baffled as well. 'Why does always dark magic appear after a few seconds? Is it overwriting her abilities?'

Blade swung the stick. It was awkward to handle but it held. "Well then, fire your bolt. Let's see how much it can take." Blade got into a ready stance.

"No way. It could explode in your face or worse," Tessa landed and transformed back.

"Fine…" Blade rammed the hilt into the ground and stepped away. "Then fire at it that way. It's not worth anything if it doesn't hold. We need to know."

Tessa nodded, "Alright, but don't get your hopes up." She aimed and fired away. Both of them watched as the lightning sphere hit its target and sparks deflected. The weapon or rather the branch was still intact. "Okay. Hard branch."

Blade stepped in to inspect the damage. There was next to none just like it should be after blocking the first spell. "Hmmm… weird. It behaves as it should."

"Yeah, just looks ugly as fuck. I thought you would make an elaborate nice-looking sword. But damn, was I wrong." Tessa giggled.

"Hey!" Blade complained a bit. Yet Tessa was right. The electro blade had been of marvellous design. It had looked like a proper Paladin weapon, not some plain training sword and certainly not like a branch. "I just don't get it. I went to create a sword and got a stick. Maybe I missed a mechanism or rune…"

"Well," Tessa yawned. "We now know you still can make weapons even if you have no access to your Fairy form. As much as I enjoy night-outs. We really should go to bed again. Alright?" She rubbed her eyes.

"Yeah, your right." Blade felt a bit down. Yet it gave her at least some peace.

Once they all woke up, they used some magic to help the bushes grow more yellow plums. Blade insisted to train every girl in the use of their weapons. Especially since they were able to get some sturdy, long branches from other seeds they had randomly tested at breakfast. After quickly crafting some staffs and shorter sticks she made her way outside with Tessa to start training. Birdy and Nebula decided to continue digging and creating a ditch around the temple. Tasu had taken Blade's bracelet with her to the library. She was eager to find some helpful information on the Ocean gate, the historic events and a book to classify the seeds they had. Currently, she was reading some sort of diary. She had found it under a loosened tile.

28th of Rilap,

more villagers are showing the sign of this summer flue. We even got reports from the Doha region. It gives me a bit of the creeps. I mean it's summer and people are catching a cold as if the winter storms have hit us. Anyways, as always, I searched the library for the appropriate healing plants and send some workers to the edges of the forest to collect them. Really, why do people always take books and never put them back where they belong!? I searched over an hour for the stupid book. Retav didn't say anything really, but I am so sure he thinks I am a complete idiot. Ahhh…oh well, next time I'll be faster… I prove to him I can do my job! Yes, definitely. Oooh, I just can't wait for the festival. I think the flowers are growing along nicely and this year's corn yield will be great.

Tasu looked up from the book. 'Flue in summer… and it's spreading fast it seems. Could it be this be the start of the curse?' Tasu skipped through the pages, but many of them were smeared or had withered away with time. It was written on magic paper but it was of bad low-end quality. "Oh, come on give me more…" She searched for the next bit she could read.

12th of Ima

The King has ordered a team of specialists to check on the wildlife. Some of the farmers claim to have seen less. I have so many requests for the herbs for the flue potion. I really hope Retav will approve the request of the temple priests to send someone over to help out with magic. I Can't believe how beautiful Daryune's performance was at the festival of course he won the gauntlet tournament. I bet every girl in town has a crush on him… I mean he is sooo hot.

"Really…" Tasu shook her head. "Sounds like all the students going nuts over Avalon…ha, as if there is any instructor who is hotter than him. Ha. You are missing out on the future girl." Tasu giggled as she noted the wildlife down in the bracelet file she had created for the curse. 'Kinda funny to see how things were back in the day.' Tasu searched for the next page that was readable.

9th of Enju,

Urgh, stupid me. I broke the damn vile with the potion for the king. I hope no one will find out. Daryune will have my head! He is so busy organising the troops and forces to help out in the far-off towns all over the planet… And I made such a good impression on him just last week. If Retav tells him, I am so screwed. Though I can't believe that guy, Retav is as cold as ice. He simply walked up to me gave me a cold stare and collected the potion with his magic from the ground and simply put it into a new vile. "Be careful we don't have another shipment of viles coming in till next month," he said. How can he give that to his king? It was on the floor. Ridicules! I know he has his trust… but… I will never understand that man. Not that I should complain, he saved my ass after all…but still…He is so awkward and weird.

"So, the king caught the flue too? Or was it for something different? Come on, give me something good." Tasu skipped more to the end of the book. The page was in bad shape but after she scanned it with the bracelet she could read it much better. Still, there were some smears even the bracelet could not clean up. "Did the girl use different magical ink? Great… now it's low quality all around. Gesh," It took Tasu a while to figure out what had been written down.

31st of Peseremt,

The people … scared. This disease is everywhere. Retav … big fight with Daryune. …. … … to see those two fight out loud, they're such good friends. Retav was against the quarantine. … waste of time … … no way our ally Desertia enchanted their goods to harm us. But Desertia … … … like the fact that the king decided against sending troops to help in the war efforts against … Though we closed borders for trade last month. Maybe Retav is right, … … merchants went to collect the ordered merchandise over a third-party Kingdom. I wonder …. Maybe Domino…still people …. …. sicker by the day. First it ….. flue, but now people have fevers and their bodies growing weaker …. Day. It's horrible.

1st of Cotrebo,

I'm feeling it too… My … … … damn it! Keep it together. Just today another wizard came by asking … a book. … … weird. He didn't even take it with him. He checked if a spell was inside and then he checked the registry… …. …. Retav. … …So rude, leaving without a word. … … … … … ... … I checked myself the regs… … Retav had lent the book last, like over …. months ago. If those mages ….. e..ch …o…. blaming and fighting each other, … … … found the source of the disease already, I swear…

Tasu's eyes widened she had finally found a book which had some useful facts. "Wait a second. So, it started with a summer flue. Wildlife got infected. It spread so quickly. I wonder why they didn't take it seriously. Maybe because of that war." She scanned all the pages immediately and saved the files.

Outside Birdy and Nebula were digging away at the mud using their magic here and there to break down some stones and boulders while Tessa clashed with Blade. They were giggling away at her attempts to finally hit Blade.

"Again." Blade waited until Tessa got up to her feet again. She was enjoying herself. Finally, it was her who was dominating her opponent. It was a strange feeling. She had been superior before, but she had to really concentrate normally and take it seriously, awaiting a feint at all times. Tessa on the other hand was a simple beginner. She made about all the mistakes one could make.

"Ahhhh," Tessa jumped to her feet. The stick raised high she ran directly at her and took another wide swing. "Will you stop hopping around like a bunny!"

Blade shook her head as she sidestepped at the last second and hit Tessa with her stick on the ass. She was overswinging all the time and practically announcing where she was aiming at. "What are you a bull?" She couldn't help but chuckle.

"Hey!" Tessa tried a backhanded swing. Yet, her attack simply ended with the fact that the training sword was slashed out of her hand. "Ouch."

"I told you to hold a tight grip. What was that pathetic attempt? Oh, boy…" This would be much more work than she had anticipated. She had good stamina and flexibility, yet the strength department was lacking severely. "You gonna need to improve your grip strength, among other things."

Tessa picked up her stick, "Fine. What else?" She asked frustrated since she had not made any progress.

"You need to stop overswinging. These are supposed to be swords or axes. You are way too slow because of it." Blade explained calmly. 'Holy shit, was I that bad then I started out? No wonder Codatorta always gets so upset at us.'

"What do you mean overswinging? How else am I gonna create enough force?" Tessa made herself ready again.

Blade sighed, "Right. You defend I attack. I'll show you." Blade charged at Tessa her wooden sword high above her head at full speed she hammered it down when Tessa was in range.

Tessa slightly startled by Blade's general speed jumped backwards to get away. Blade missed her, yet continued her downward slash and was completely open. "Oooh," Tessa gave her a clap on the head with her stick.

"Ouch, hey," Blade complained.

"Ha, ha, I hit ya!" Tessa waved to the others. "Did you see that! I beat Blade! Ahaha."

"Nice one. But what will you do now?" Nebula grinned. As she leaned on her solid fog shovel she had created to dig.

"I would transform and run if I were you," Birdy laughed her ass off.

"Tessa…" Blade growled behind her as she rubbed her head, gripping her training sword tighter. "You will pay."

"Yikes!" Tessa turned tail to run. "Help, help, help, help, help. Help me!" She ran as fast as she could. Blade closely on her wheels quickly catching up to her. "No, no, no! Ehhh!" Everyone was laughing even Tasu who had stormed out of the library as she had heard the screams just to see that two goof around.

"ZOMBIES!" Mister G's shout to arms broke the relaxed atmosphere without a warning. He pointed them out near the hills behind the temple.

"Let's go! Fairy of feathers!" Birdy transformed dashing upwards.

Nebula dropped her shovel, "Fairy of mist! Tasu You hold the fort, ready the shield.

"Fairy of streams," Tasu smiled, "Gotcha, I'll check from the temple roof."

"Fairy of lightning," Tessa in a purple light darted to face the enemy.

Blade stood there still for a second as she checked for attackers from any other direction, but the coast was clear. "Fairy of blades!" She shouted out without thinking just to realise that dark magic was flooding her system yet again as she tried to get into her Winx form. She stopped running. "Damn it. HOW MANY?" she screamed and asked for an estimate from Tasu who was already on the roof.

"Twenty spread out!" Tasu shouted back.

"Fuck it." Blade let it happen and her dark magic Fairy form appeared.

Tasu was shocked to see the green wings, "Blade?!"

Blade just gave her a thumbs-up as she activated the red phanto-axe rushing to the front.

"Veil, Solid fog!" Nebula created a thin shield against the tentacles trying to snatch them from the sky

"Feather shot!" Birdy sharp shot the zombies who were standing still.

"Energy bolt! Energy bolt!" Tessa sent her electrical spheres flying.

"Let's get them all quickly!" Birdy evaded another tendril. "Decoys!"

Nebula nodded, "Fog image! Mirror space!" She created her clones and swapped positions. "Plasma sphere!" She hit another zombie in the back who tried to snatch one of the clones.

"Keep a circle formation!" Blade shouted as swooped in to behead her first target.

Birdy shot at the enemies to her right, "Blade, you…" She was worried as she saw that over Fairy form. It just didn't sit right with her. Fairies used light magic or Fairy magic after all. And Fairy magic was just a special subcategory of light magic. 'This is wrong on so many levels…'

Blade sprinted past her, "I know. I'm fine," she blocked a tendril meant for Birdy.

"Energy bolt!" Tessa decimated the zombie. "Fall back! I need more space!"

Everyone flew backwards. They never had been so close to the ground near the hillside and more zombies seemed to have come closer. Their dark rotten skin could camouflage them well in this desolated area.

"Be ready!" Tessa gave the last warning. "Static field!" The lighting sapped throughout the growing hoard.

"Feather shot!", "Plasma sphere!"

Blade watched as her friends started picking them off one by one. She looked behind them and noticed that some wisps were attracted to the new zombies. "Wait look!" She cautioned them. Quickly three of the wisps spun around one zombie and it fell to the ground turning into goo.

"Good catch. Tessa, can you hold the field until they are done?" Birdy asked her concerned.

"Sure. If you think that is best." Tessa closed her eyes and kept the field alive.

They watched as the wisps took care of the zombies. The more wisps came the fast the job got done. And they could save some more magic. They had to protect them here and there from zombies that broke free or were out of range of the field. Besides that, there were no hick-ups. What was even more surprising was that out of the goo another new wisp arose. Tasu had noticed that the magic circle inside the temple had a lid up at the same time. Once the zombies were gone the Wisps had just started to cleanse the earth nearby. All of the girls regrouped at the temple after caring the wisps one by one back to the temple.

Birdy set down the last one and transformed back, "That went well. Thanks, Mister G!"

"Your welcome kiddies." The ghost chuckled.

"You scared me half to death Tessa! Screaming like that…" Tasu complained eyeing Blade who still was in her dark Fairy form.

Tessa scratched her head, "My bad, my bad. We need like a safe word. Or rather a danger word."

"Great idea," Nebula agreed, "Blade, you can stop your Zombix form, you know that, right? There are no more zombies around." She was a bit confused Blade seemed a bit out of it.

'Shit, how the heck am I getting out of this form. Nothing works.' She looked at the girls who were staring at her. "What did you say, Zombix?"

"Zombix?" Tasu tilted her head. "Did you find something out while digging?"

"Oh, come on, guys, she got it while fighting on a zombie planet…all Fairy forms always end on -ix. Dark magic Fairy form is simply too long." Nebula explained the obvious.

"Ohh, Zombix. Yeah, why not, has a nice ring to it." Tessa grinned, "But really Blade even if it's dark magic you really should safe it for emergencies."

"I know. I just don't know how to get out of it…" Blade concentrated once more.

"Wait, you're stuck again?!" Birdy couldn't believe it.

Blade opened her eyes impatiently, "Hey, this is my second time. And last time I had no clue either."

"Don't tell me you gotta go unconscious each time you activate it?!" Tessa tried not to laugh. It was a serious problem but somewhat hilarious as well.

"Not funny. If that happens mid-battle…" Tasu rubbed her forehead, "You gotta concentrate Blade."

Blade stared at Tasu, "You don't say…" But no matter how hard she tried to interrupt her flow of magic the best she got was a flicker. "I'm so screwed…" She whined.

"What's up?" Mister G gazed at Blade. "I thought you wanted to save your magic, did you not?"

"Yes, Blade is just stuck in this weird Fairy form," Birdy stated blandly.

The ghost chuckled, "Weird Fairy form? She looks normal to me. You lot, though, with that sparkly stuff. You look weird."

"Say what now?" Nebula gave him a questioning gaze.

"Well, all the fairies I ever saw on Phere-Moan looked like that. Even before the Zombies." He shrugged. "Is it not the same for you? I thought you are like some special strong fairies. With all that sparkly stuff you seem much stronger than her, in general. Not that I am any good with magic. I can't really tell the difference."

Blade inspected her grey-brownish skin, "This was normal? Dark magic fairies were the norm?! Then how did they get out of the form? Tell me."

"Maybe it's because of the planet," Tasu wondered.

"Nah. Even fairies from over kingdoms looked similar. As I said, you lot are the sparkly once. Especially so. I think Domino had some who were more your style. But really most were just simple, plain, old fairies," Mister G expanded on the topic. "But to be honest Fairies are kinda rare, well were. They mostly were the daughters of kings and queens which kingdoms had faced many wars and won."

Blade breathed in deeply. "History lesson is great and all, but how do I stop the transformation?" She was getting a bit nervous, that she really had to go unconscious each time now. 'Ancient Fairy forms my ass…where is the off switch!?'

"Hmm," The ghost thought about it. "Well, to stop the transformation. Well, they simply landed and poof it was gone."

"So, you have no clue." Nebula summarised crossing her arms. "So, what do we do? We can't leave Blade like that. I mean now we are safe, but what if at any point in time we are not. Can you switch over to the Winx form?"

"I tried to enter Winx and ended with Zombix, so no." Blade felt that she got tired. This form was really draining her stamina. 'This is not good. This form is out of balance. How did the ancient fairies get anything done?!'

"Well, I got an idea." Tessa interrupted. "But it's a bit out-of-the-box thinking."

"Anything is better than her fainting," Birdy was eager to hear the idea.

"Alright, Blade, just relax and let my magic pass through you, alright?" Tessa stepped in front of her. "Otherwise it will not work at all."

"Hmm, fine," Blade was a bit sceptical but closed her eyes nonetheless and slowed her breathing to relax.

Tessa tipped her two fingers on Blade's forehead and focused, "Darkness break!"

"Ouch!" A surge ran through Blade's body and knocked her off her feet. She had not expected Tessa to use a dispel chant against witch magic. It was the most basic one they had learned in Griselda's defence class. To her surprise, her skin was turning back to her normal slight taint. "That hurt! You could have warned me. Gesh."

The other girls were giggling or were simply amazed that it had worked. "Ha, if I warned you. You would have put up resistance and the spell would have not worked at all." Tessa couldn't help but laugh. "Though, I never expected it to work that well. So, we can practically use a dark magic dispel chant to break you out of it for now. And remember the less you resist the less magic we have to use." She grinned sheepishly.

"So, we only need to sap Blade to get her out of the Zombix form? Sweet. Well, then who is up for dinner?" Birdy asked into the round ignoring Blade's unhappy stare.

"I hope not… but yeah, let's eat." Blade walked to the kitchen grabbing some of the yellow plums they had collected for the day. "We should seriously discuss what we do in case of more zombies coming back as well, but first, Tasu what did you find out today? Any lead on the ocean gate?"

"No, but I found a diary from the times of the zombie outbreak from a girl who worked here in the temple. Might be helpful to get a pinpoint of places where we could find a map." Tasu replied chipperly. "She wrote…."