A bridge to cross


Blade was sitting in the comfy chair in Shanna's office in Zenith. Two weeks had passed since the fateful hearing in Alfea. And besides all the trouble it had caused them. Life went on. Her friends were back and the group was as complete as it ever could get. They had had a beautiful victory party at the lake. And they had all held a private memorial ceremony on Phere-Moan for Jewels.

Basil had indeed bought the planet with all rights even before the hearing under the name of the Lunasteel company. And there were many eager to restore, research and excavate on the planet besides the weapons testing, they found a spot for as well. And Lunasteel had offered any school the ability to train on the planet if they submitted a form with their plans and ideas. There now actually was a small teleporter station connecting only to Zenith on land. And a new Selkie was currently searched for to oversee the Ocean gate to reconnect the planet back into the magic realms by the Magic Council. The elves were busy copying the books from the temple library so the knowledge wouldn't be lost. And Blade had gotten a text from her Uncle just this morning that Lady Flora from Linphea and a member of the Winx Club had agreed to help restore nature.

Desertia still was in some crazy political times. The people weren't happy with any nobles that were left to take over as King or Queen. The distrust was deep. There were many actually sparking a discussion of following the idea of democracy like Gardinea or some version of it. Madu was actually the one steadfast political figure the Magic Council could work with since he had the support of all the farmers and he was a former dropout from the Oskuria College for Wizards. Plus, he had made a good impression on many of the diplomats of other realms. Yet he had no noble bloodline. And the Council wasn't willing to just crown him in the face of possibly more hidden enemies. And Esra had been taken in by Rabia and Anai after Blade had asked the old Lady.

The Sorceresses were free of all major charges and they had dealt a devastating blow to the traitors, which had cost Jewels and her parents their lives. Yet of course every other little incident and report had to be investigated further. Blade had expected that the Sorceresses' image would improve greatly again since they were proven innocent on the big charges. But the MagicWeb was full of bad chatter and stories no one could possibly prove or disproof. The Magic Council had their hands full with the aftermath and that wouldn't change any time soon.

Shanna tilted her head. She had sat there for a while now just to wait for Blade to speak up. But the young Fairy hadn't spoken a word in the last twenty minutes or so, "Something specific you are thinking of?" She finally asked to break the silence.

"Can't you just read my mind?" Blade answered a few seconds later. She wasn't really in the mood for talking any more than they already had about meaningless things. It just had been one of those sessions.

"I could, but that's not the point of therapy, now is it?" Shanna smiled shortly.

"Yeah…" Blade puffed and leaned backwards. 'What the heck is wrong with me?' She looked back at Shanna, "I-" She stopped. "This is stupid…"

"What is stupid?" Shanna followed up.

"Sitting here, talking doesn't solve things…" Blade removed the dirt from beneath her fingernails.

"Oh?" Shanna petted the living plant seat she was sitting on, "What things?"

"You know…" Blade didn't know where to look and searched the room for something to stare at that wasn't Shanna. Her mind was still spiralling around her reaction to Philopa's brain death.

Shanna chuckled, "I don't." She answered a bit cheekily.

"…" Blade glared at a crystal ball on the shelves of Shanna's office. "I just…" She couldn't bring herself to speak up. "Why do I feel like shit? We won, we got justice. The Sorceresses are cleared as much as possible. Tasu, Tessa and Birdy are back safe and sound. School is school. And life is …" Blade didn't even know how to finish the sentence.

Shanna breathed out and folded her hands, "Life goes on as if nothing has happened."

"Exactly!" Blade hammered down on the seat rest. "I, - I thought, I'd be happy or relaxed or anything…positive… you know like happy. Not that I am not happy. I mean we are all back together again. We got justice."

"All back together, besides Jewels." Shanna stated with a slightly questioning tone.

Blade clawed into the chair, "Well, yes, she died. There is no second secret Phere-Moan… uurgh, how often we got asked THAT stupid question. As if one miracle wasn't enough." Blade was pissed just thinking about it. "You know that I voluntarily let Councillor Eaden check my memories of her death, so the Council would fucking shut up. Urgh…"

"Yes, I heard. And I am sorry. They are a bit upset with me for keeping secrets from them. So, my word wasn't good enough either," Shanna sincerely apologised.

Blade sighed, "Not your fault. He was really quick as well. It wasn't much of a bother." She traced the seam on the chair.

"Impressive," Shanna commented. She seemed rather surprised.

"What do you mean impressive?" Blade was confused.

Shanna looked the Fairy in the eyes, "Well, I thought you would be more shaken. So many Psi attacks happened during the hearing. And you were a victim of some of them. Yet you simply let a stranger check your precious memories of Jewels."

"Well, yeah, Eaden helped me in the hearing. He knows what he is doing. Not that I would let him just do this just for the fun of it. Not that I could stop him either, though…" Blade looked to the ground. There was her other sore spot again.

"Hm, but even being able to try and stop him is an achievement," Shanna tried to make a reality check with Blade. Faragonda had sent her messages that Blade was second-guessing herself a lot over the last two weeks.

"Try? He nailed me to the ground. They all did…" Blade ground her teeth annoyed.

"All?" Shanna leaned forward. "Who is all?"

Blade dead pan stared at her, "Griffin, Palladium, the Horror mud, Reapers, Shadaka. I mean, I even lost against a splinter not too long ago… a stupid mouldy splinter." She was super upset about this.

"And yet you won against all odds and survived the palace collapse, you helped greatly to rid Phere-Moan of all zombies. You gained a new power. You freed yourself from the Horror Mud if I heard correctly. You saved a young girl's life. You fought off the psi attack, and you saved yourself from the reapers. You even made it out of the collapsed room when Shadaka attacked you."

"I was down on the ground after all of those accounts. That's not winning," Blade protested.

Shanna laughed, "It's not losing either. Don't sell yourself short, Blade. You even beat Lady Philopa in court."

Blade held her breath for a second there, "Lady Philopa…so you did read my mind…"

"I don't need to read your mind for that." Shanna leaned back again, "Your body told me enough in last week's session. So, does the wording, 'we won or we got justice'. If you're not ready to talk about it that is fine." Shanna gave her some space as she noticed that Blade got rather tense.

"It's stupid…" There she was back again at what had bugged her so much all these days.

Shanna tilted her head. She could sense a bunch of negative emotions from Blade and a lot of confusion, "Every emotion has its right to be."

"Yes, no, I'm a Fairy," Blade was uttering without context.

"And Fairies have the same range of emotions as any other person," Shanna stated blandly. "This is a safe place. Just like I didn't tell the Council about Phere-Moan I will not talk to anyone about your statements here." She wanted to reassure her.

"I… urgh… fine. You want honesty?" Blade jumped off her chair there was no way she could sit still, "I'll give you honesty. I am so pissed that Philopa is not in one of those fucking prison dimensions! Nooo, she is chilling in some hospital bed somewhere in nowhere. With hundreds of people caring for her making her bed every single fucking day. They are still trying to save that stupid hag! After all she did… all they did!" She balled her fists, "Quite frankly she deserves to be a drooling empty shell. I am thankful to whatever idiot did that! Okay?! They did what I never would have done!" Blade was so riled up that some dark magic sparks had risen from her. "And yes, I know I am a Fairy and we are good and the light and justice and bla bla bla. Sunshine and unicorn sparkles. So why don't I feel horrible? Huh? I should root for them to get her back and tell us everything. But in truth I want her to rot and shit herself till she dies! But alone somewhere buried in a stupid cave!" Blade waved hysterically around with her hands and as dark magic flared up bigger it swiped a fern next to her off the coffee table. The pot shattered on the ground. "Oh, crap… I'm so sorry!" Quickly Blade kneeled down and tried to use light magic to fix it but it failed at first. "Calm down, calm down…" She breathed in and out slowly and tried again. And then it worked. Carefully she placed the fern back on the table.

"Hmm, so that is what was bugging you?" Shanna seemed a bit relieved. "Why do you think it's wrong to be happy that a person who hurt you got hurt?"

"It's not. It's just…" Blade let herself sink back into the comfy chair. "A Fairy saves people. We don't condemn… that's not our job…"

"Your job is being a Fairy, yes. That doesn't mean you are not allowed to have those feelings, Blade. To tell you the truth I kind of was happy myself at first too," Shanna admitted.

"You?" Blade didn't believe her.

"I have worked with so many of your class. I know the pain probably better than anyone else. My reaction was very similar. And yet, when I have time to breathe. From my personal standpoint, logically thinking, I wish no such fate or a prison dimension to anyone. My job has shown me time and time again, that every person has a story that brings them to the decisions they make, the good and the bad ones. And bad ones often have a long history of psychological scars. Doesn't excuse them, but explains them. My job and focus are to help anyone fighting his demons. I still allow myself though to feel these feelings of revenge. These feelings are valid." Shanna explained with an overflow of sympathy.

"Valid? I don't see you running around punching every douchebag in the face," Blade held against it.

"Neither do you." Shanna chuckled. "Any feelings are valid. And it is very important to name them. Naming them helps you to be honest with yourself and helps the healing process. There is a big difference to acknowledge feelings and blindly following them. Feelings are temporary. Some might never go away completely but they will subside to a certain degree. And sometimes they vanish once you get a new perspective. You already experienced that with Esra, the little girl you saved. So, in my professional opinion. I think it is totally normal to want Philopa to rot. I would be concerned if you would start to hunt after her, trying to find her and kill her off. But that's not the case, now is it? I think seasoned Sorceresses, like Griffin, are great at dealing with this problem. Negative emotions fuel their powers to a part, yet they rarely go overboard. They are true masters of their emotions."

Blade stared at Shanna a bit perplexed, "But I am no Sorceresses…I am a Fairy, we're supposed to be…"

"Perfect, shining light of hope, good-hearted, forgiving… flawless?" Shanna laughed so hard but she also sounded sad. "Show me one Fairy that is all that all the time. You won't find one, besides the glorification, your profession has earned over the centuries. You all are simple people. You would do good to remind anyone who tells you otherwise." Shanna looked at the clock. Their time was up. "It's late. Think about this, okay? Oh, and Blade, please, don't forget your homework from last week again. You were always focused on a mission all these weeks. Survival, justice for Jewels, keeping secrets and such. Now that you are back to a normal life, you have lost your prior distractions and that means feelings that already were brewing beneath the surface will bubble up. It is very important that you write them down so we can talk about them. We'll pick up all of this again next week. I wish you all the best."

"Yes… I know…" Blade sighed. She hadn't brought the paper on purpose, since it still had been empty. She didn't know what to write which didn't sound totally stupid. Blade nodded, "Thanks. You too. And thank you again for helping us all out." Blade breathed out. She was at least a little bit more relaxed and closed the door behind her. She made her way home and had a wonderful meal with her parents, uncle and aunt before she made her way back to Alfea in the late evening. She had been home more often these past days. Enjoying a bit of family and home cooking.

It was the next day and the girls as a full class had their first practical Convergence class with Headmistress Faragonda. The group had cheered up quite a bit and was less tense and gloomy much to Faragonda's delight.

"So, girls, hope you are ready for some convergence. Today you'll actually try some spells," Faragonda was standing with the girls on one of the meadows next to Lake Roccaluce. She had quite the spark and bright smile today. "So, who of you can give me a short explanation of what convergence is good for and what the differences are to layering and connecting spells like most of you are already doing?"

Tasu rose her hand quickly, she had been so eager these two weeks to catch up and basically had an answer to any question despite the fact that she had been on Phere-Moan. "Convergence is a simultaneous cast of two or more people. It is faster and stronger than connecting spells and the spell a group creates are of a higher level. The tricky part is to synch with each other. The casters have to synch the Mana and Drion output so the spell is stable as well as their magic sources. Casters also have to envision a clear goal and function of the spell. The hardest thing is to converge dark magic with light magic, because of the different emotional states which often lead to a destabilisation of the spell."

"Correct, Tasu. You used your time well on Phere-Moan I see. Fact is that with a convergence spell it is like multiplying the power versus the connecting spells which is more like adding them up in comparison. We also discussed in the first school year that certain magic sources are easier or harder to combine. For example, Amber and Snow will have more difficulties creating a convergence spell, while Snow and Tasu are very compatible. However, if you three were to converge it would be easier again because Tasu's water magic can bridge some of the problems quicker. Also holding hands will help you to feel the other person's magic flow and therefore make it easier to do. But don't forget, it is possible to converge even without body contact if you train hard. But enough of the theory. How about we try some exercises?"

"Yeah!" Sienna was ready to go. And so were the others.

"Well then, let's group up into pairs of two…" Faragonda divided the groups. She gave the girls a bit of time to figure out two spells they would simply connect first and once that was archived they would do the spell as a convergence spell. Tasu and Tessa were first to figure it out, which didn't surprise Birdy whatsoever. Once Nebula and Blade had left them on Phere-Moan they had already tried and succeeded in some convergence spells against those hordes of zombies.

"Alright! Let's do this!" Tessa was ready to go.

"Right, Still waters!" Tasu created a water bubble. "Parting waters!" She chanted to keep it stable.

"Static energy!" Tessa charged up the bubble and watched Tasu splash it at some practice targets. The bubble exploded and the lightning showed a proper stun effect that lasted for a good three seconds. "And the best thing is, Static field!" Tessa used her other stun spell which also had grown in strength, "That bubble has more range and I can connect to the remaining water with other spells once it splashed." She grinned satisfied.

"Alright, looks good. Very impressive," the Headmistress smiled. "Now, try the bubble in convergence. And remember you have all the time you need today. Don't rush things."

Tasu and Tessa took each other's hands, "Static bubble!" they shouted and magic flowed through their hands and as they raised them an even bigger bubble was created with more lightning in it. It was a bit wobblier than the first one though luckily it held and they sent it off even further. It splashed on the ground and the lightning zapped around it was a tight network of lightning and it hold for around ten seconds.

"Wow," The rest of the girls were in awe. "How did you figure that one out so quickly?" Sienna was astonished. She and Blade had quite the trouble even with connecting spells.

"You know after the first hundred zombies you kinda get the hang of it," Tessa laughed. "Still, feels weird to do it this way. We used to move around a lot while battling. I don't think we would be able to do that at the moment…"

"Yeah, I agree. If we have cover that works much better. Without…not so much," Tasu pondered a bit longer.

"It is all up to training, but yes. Some convergence spells you might not ever be able to do apart. But never say never," Faragonda tried to cheer them up. The rest trained a bit longer until it was nearly the end of the class. Tasu and Tessa watched the others or tried to help them out. Then the Headmistress called them all together. "Alright, let's see what we've got. Amber, Dahlia how about you?"

Dahlia stood ready and they timed it precisely, "Stone volley!"

"Fox Flames!" Amber shouted directly after her. They created some slightly burning stone hail. Yet the flames had a hard time hitting the stones and set them on fire as well.

"Hmm, not bad, show me your convergence," Faragonda asked patiently.

"Burning stone volley!" They shouted together. It was a bit weird. Some stones exploded before they hit the ground. Yet the stones were burning brightly. On the other hand, there were fewer and smaller stones.

"Yes, good try. Amber, you need to control your magic source more. And you Dahlia trust in Amber to have flames strong enough to light your stones up." Faragonda nodded pleased. "Next is Rise and Birdy."

"Ha, don't screw this up, Birdy," Rise joked around.

"As if, you missed half the time," Birdy giggled, "Feather shot!" She shot one of her magical feathers.

"Blinding light!" Rise aimed to hit the feather but her beam was too fast and shot past. "Whoopsie…"

"Ahh, Rise…" Birdy sighed. "Convergence works so much better." She took her hand and together they chanted, "Blinding feather!"

What got created was a very, very bright light and everyone squinted their eyes as it shot over the lake and fell into the water and became a sinking light bulb. Faragonda raised an eyebrow. "That was…bright…Birdy you need to watch the structural density more. You two should refine this spell so the light breaks out of the feather once it hits your target point and not all the way before. You're blinding yourself and I doubt that was your goal." She smiled kindly. "Snow, Nebula your up."

"Ha easy, White fog!" Nebula simply cast and laid a thick fog layer on the grass.

Snow got a bit hectic, "Fre-Freezing heart! Nebula!" She complained. She had not expected her to be that fast. The meadow froze over within seconds.

"What? You can do this, Snow." Nebula pressed her hand into her hip. "Ready?" She offered her hand.

Snow took it, "Just chill a bit…" She sighed, "Freezing fog!" Still, she was a bit hectic and nervous and instead of freezing everything in front of them. They actually froze their feet to the ground.

The class started to burst into laughter. Even Faragonda chuckled, "You two really need to watch your emotional state. If you don't concentrate, well, you see it yourself. Your power output is good though." Faragonda looked to Sienna and Blade who were last and had had the most trouble even while training.

Sienna scratched her head, "We kinda didn't really know how to layer our spells."

"Indeed…" Blade wasn't happy about that fact at all.

"Yes, I saw," Faragonda nodded, "Still, show us, so everyone understands your thought process."

"How much magic do you have left?" Sienna asked Blade as she flew up high with her.

"Will do. You go first, though. Had the better effect," Blade slowed her breathing down to concentrate.

"Alrighty, Sound scythe!" Sienna shot a sickle into the water's surface.

"Pierce!" Blade followed up with her spear shot. The water surface was cut by the soundwave and the spear went straight in and pierced through the water even deeper. "Nice shot."

"You too. Alright, let's get this over with…" Sienna bit her lip, their success rate for a stable spell had been small. Plus, the fact that Blade was already low on magic from the prior tests. "We going smaller?"

"Hmm, if we go too small it will shatter…" Blade thought about it. "Ten per cent smaller I think…" They both hovered next to each other and held one hand close to the other yet they didn't touch. Since they had not been able to make it work if Blade didn't have the hand free for throwing. They took their sweet time. Blade felt sweat drip down her face it was really hard to hold the form while also giving it a vibration. "Now!" Blade gave the command and together they send off the spell, "Booming pierce!" The spear soared through the air and before it entered the water, which already got parted away from the vibration. It definitely didn't get as deep, because the spell destabilised and shattered. It was a nice explosion though.

"Ahh, so close. If done right, we should be able to reach the bottom of the lake though…" Sienna ruffled through her hair. The two girls landed and transformed back.

"Hmm, interesting, concept. A little bit hard for the start, I would say. Here we see a good example of how some magic sources are harder to combine. Blade's magic is based on forming an object while most of you have simpler energy-based sources. I am impressed that you made it work so far. Yet you all have to remember there are many base spells any Fairy can use without her element and can be combined as well. If I were you two, I would have used one of the basic light spells rather than trying to use two spells which are more difficult. Good effort on your part though. You all can be proud of one another. And remember Convergence is nothing you learn overnight. There are many factors you need to consider, be patient with yourselves." Faragonda crossed her hands behind her back and walked back with the Fairies to Alfea. The class kept discussing the convergence spells and what they possibly could try out next.

"Oh, I am sooo tired…I'm going to bed…" Tasu yawned. They just had finished dinner.

Rise rolled her eyes, "You're no fun since you are back. Always studying. Where is the crazy Tasu?"

"Ha, she drowned in the books and homework… I can't believe how fast you are catching up. It's insane!" Tessa threw her hands into the air.

"Well, just because we kind of have all the time we need to finish what we have missed. Doesn't mean I should ignore it till the last second. We still have to hand it into the half-semester break," Tasu rubbed her eyes.

"Sure, but that's like months away," Birdy giggled, "Don't forget to live a little now that we are back."

"We had holidays for weeks with nothing to do," Tasu shook her head.

Blade laughed so hard, "And you made homework and translated texts. Plus, training. Admit it you always were and still are a little tiny bit workaholic."

Tasu grinned, "Well, being a Crown Princess comes with its burdens and expectations. Anyways, I wish you all a good night." Tasu made her way to the dorm room.

"Pfff, she'll fall over at some point if she keeps that pace up," Sienna commented as they stood on the promenade.

"Ah, Blade there you are, nearly forgot," Professor Wizgiz had his bag packed for the weekend.

"Good evening Professor," The girls greeted him.

"Thanks, since Professor Palladium is currently with Hagen in Hoggar preparing for next week. And Professor Avalon had a meeting with some Magic Council members. Palladium asked me to give you this," The Leprechaun pulled out a piece of folded paper.

Blade took it a bit confused, "And that is?" She unfolded some sort of map.

"Well, they were in a bit of a hurry, and so am I. But as I understood it, it is new workout parkour for two hours. They planned it out for you. I think they'll have time to implement it next week with you. It should all be stuff you are capable of doing. So, have a look at the special sites and familiarise yourself with the route over the weekend. So, you have an easy start next week, okay? Well then, clocks ticking, gotta go!" he transformed into a brightly coloured bird grabbed his case and flew off.

"Thanks!" Blade called out after him and scanned the map directly with her bracelet.

"Wow, that's one long route…" Rise stared in disbelief at the map.

"Yeah, this goes all around the lake, look you even go into the wit-Sorceresses' Forest," Dahlia traced the route.

"Running, swimming, flying, climbing… that's an awful lot," Rise scratched her head. "When they said they wanted to give you some extras, they weren't joking around. No shoe sale would get me to do that crap."

"Two hours? Isn't that a bit…short?" Nebula asked confused.

"Hmm, well, if they say it's possible. It probably is…" Blade had a bad feeling about it. The route in itself wasn't too long if she would just have to jog it or fly. The challenges on the other hand seemed to be all in the middle and near the end. "I mean, they are really good at estimating our abilities. Besides they also mentioned the new training will be a challenge. Wanna come?" Blade was kind of curious now to test the route after all the time she had done less than normal to give her system a well-deserved break.

"Ha, no way. I am a good runner. But I'll never get this done in two hours even without the challenges. If you really want to do this before the dome comes down, you're on your own. I'll only slow you down," Nebula rejected the idea.

Sienna chuckled, "Yeah… you complain about Tasu hitting the books. But you're just like her just in the sporty way, you know? But good luck."

"Ah, and I thought we could bond on the road," Blade laughed. They were probably right. All of the girls were kind of scared by that workout. They already had enough from the new sports and battle classes. Since Professor Avalon had joined up with Palladium they had gotten exponentially harder. Simply because Avalon loved to confront the students with their weaknesses. "Well, your loss, I got like three to four hours that's twice the time this is supposed to take since we moved movie night… I'm checking this out. If I really put my all into it, I might even beat the two hours mark, ha!" Blade rushed off to get her sports clothes from the locker room.

"What a whirlwind and after all that hard training from the classes. Have you also noticed that she's been really eager to improve her skills… she takes everything so seriously," Amber sighed.

Snow looked a bit worried, "She had some tough battles… and setbacks. I wonder if she thinks that she's not good enough…"

"Don't be ridiculous, Blade's reflexes are better than any of us. Sure, she's rash sometimes, but whichever team she's on wins. She has the best battlefield awareness and a wide range of tactics." Birdy disagreed vehemently.

"Eager? Nah, it's because she battles like it's life or death, every single time. I am actually a bit glad that that's not the case anymore. There was nothing better than to lay back in Phere-Maon and watch those wisps go get all those zombies. Blade is still hyper-focused," Tessa laughed. "So, anyone up for some spar treatment? I got these new facial masks..." The girls made their way towards the dorms.

Blade's chest rose and sank. She was running so fast and her breath puffed out in the cool evening air in the form of little clouds. It was beginning to get dark. So far, she had run around the lake and then swum across the lake to shortcut around Magix City to the east as the map had indicated. She had run a bit afterwards till she had crossed into the Black Swamp area near Cloud Tower, where she had speed flown along the edge. That way had led her into the northern borderlands of the Sorceresses' forest, where she had cancelled her transformation and parkoured through, without touching the ground if possible. It had worked more or less. But it actually was way harder than she had anticipated. The moss on the trees was slippery and sometimes she had manoeuvred herself into positions where she had a bad connection to anything to grab on or land upon that wasn't the forest floor. It was doable with her body enhancement magic to some degree. Yet her magic had depleted so much because she had wasted a good amount by taking a bad path. Blade hated cheating so instead of accepting that a jump was too far she circled back and tried another way. That had cost her lots of time though.

Currently, she tried to make up for lost time as she had barely made two-thirds of the whole route. And there were still some rather hard obstacles up ahead. Blade checked for the time. 'Shit, I'm still way too slow…How am I supposed to do this in two hours!?' She was frustrated with herself. She was way beyond the two-hour mark already besides giving it her all. And her body started to show signs of exhaustion. She could spy the stone ridges peaks that were at the border of the Sorceress's forest. It was near the old crash site. She was still confused about the tornado symbol she had seen on the map. But it was the next obstacle.

Blade swiped away some sweat and suddenly had to hit the brakes. She was standing on top a small chasm of one of the ridges. The forest had mostly parted to the ridges, which tunnelled the wind. The harsh currents were bending the trees that grew spread out through the area. "Are you fucking kidding me?!" Blade stared at the area. And pulled up the map from her bracelet. The map indicated that she was supposed to climb here. "But crossing this … that's like another hour or something…" She growled loudly. The fact that it was getting dark was not helping at all, it would slow her down even more in fact. Blade kicked away some dust and dirt. 'I'll never ever make this route in two hours! Not even in daylight. What the heck are they thinking?! This is impossible!' She was close to crying. She had giving it her best. The first half had been easy in comparison. Blade leaned against a stump, she was so ready to just give up and fly back. "Why do I always falter? Why can't I just for one finish the damn job!" She balled her fists. "What good am I if I always fail in the end…" She ground her teeth and closed her eyes. 'No. Not today. I still have around one and a half hours…' She breathed in and out deeply. "Gotta be smart about this… if I can't climb it all… then I just climb down search for the pathways on the ground and go up the other side. Should still be faster than climbing every single ridge." Blade pulled herself up and made her way down carefully. There was no way she would give up so easily, not today.

The gusts were strong. Sometimes so strong that she had to use magic to hold on to the stone walls. Not to mention once she was down on the ground it felt like she was making one step and getting pushed back three. Blade had to do dive rolls to hide and jump from cover to cover. She was getting a bit off track. Never had she been in this part of the forest. Which made the search for the pathways through the ridges complicated. She had reached the other side as the sun went down and the stars began to light up. Blade held as tight as she could to the stone ridge she was ascending.

It had taken her so long to find the spot that was marked on the map to climb up and finish the challenge. Her bracelet was giving her a cone of light. Blade's teeth chattered. It had gotten really cold since the sun was gone. In the breaks between gusts, Blade opened and closed one hand a few times to not lose the feeling in her fingertips. "Am I glad I brought my combat gloves. Otherwise, my hands would freeze off…" she uttered to herself. She reached above and searched for a hold. She clawed down on a rock trough. An unhealthy cracking sound echoed through the ridges as she pulled herself up and her hold broke away. Blade lost her grip and dangled from the other arm. Quickly, she tried to get her hold back with her feet. Her arm scraped on the walls and started to tingle. "Oh, come on…" She found her grasp again. She glared upwards. It was just a few meters. Blade puffed. "Kiss my ass you stupid…" She cursed as she continued her way. Finally, she reached the top. She placed her elbow on the ridge top and made the last push and tumbled over. Her body was trembling from exhaustion. "HA…ha…ahahahaha." She couldn't help but laugh relieved. She opened the map on the bracelet again as she was facing the stars. "Alright… so one big jump by the bridge ruins from the old Red Fountain school. Then another flight and the last meters are parkour like in the Sorceress's forest… Ha… that's all easy! I can do those no problem. I know those forest parts..." Her initial joy was shattered once she caught the time in the upper corner of the display. "Shit!" She had less than an hour left, which wasn't a problem. She should be able to reach Alfea in time before the dome went up. And even if not, she could easily spend a night outside. The devastating part was that she needed twice as long than the professors had estimated. Never ever had she been so far off their mark. "No…no, no, no, no…" She wanted to sit up, but her head was still a bit dizzy. So, she laid back down. There was no point in trying to stand up right now. "Okay, five minutes… then I go… I can make up that time when I fly. Yes, definitely… I have to I can't possibly be that bad…just five minutes…" She deactivated the bracelet and covered her eyes with her elbow. "Shit, how weak am I?! Pathetic…"

Snow was pacing in front of Alfea's school gates. 'Where is she? She should have been back by now…' It was twenty minutes before the dome would get up and Blade was gone for over three and a half hours already. Most of the girls were already in bed or at home visiting their kingdoms. Snow simply hadn't been able to sleep. She herself knew how it felt to feel lacking. She remembered the time she had talked with Blade in the forest very fondly. Blade always had an ear for her troubles and doubts ever since. Snow wasn't a hundred per cent sure that her guess was right. Blade tended to always come off as a fighter and nothing could touch her. Yet something wasn't sitting right with Snow about how Blade had behaved these past days. "Come on…" Annoyed she stared into the direction of the lake. "Maybe I should just go and find her…" She checked the clock again; another two minutes had passed in the blink of an eye. "That's it. Fairy of Ice!" She transformed and flew up, just to hold again. "Crap, which way? …She's not directly at the lake… Should I go counterclockwise? Oh boy… Voice of nature!" She closed her eyes trying to focus if Blade was close by she would get a read rather quickly.

Professor Avalon stood up, said goodbye to the bus driver and stepped outside. The meeting had gone longer than expected. He enjoyed the fresh air and walked along the school wall as Snow caught his eye. "Lost something?" He asked kindly as he stopped beneath her. "The dome gets activated soon. Not that you end up on the wrong side."

Snow flinched. She had not expected to find anyone out here that late besides her and Blade. "Professor…I eh, yes…well…"

Avalon smiled kindly, "Well, what are you looking for? I can spare a minute." He offered as he looked around.

"I…how to put this… I am looking for Blade," Snow landed. Blade wasn't in her range of voice of nature.

"Blade? Out here at this time of night? Hmm, if she is sparring and forgot track of time, again, she most likely is behind the school in the woods. Please tell her to set an alarm or Professor Griselda will have a field day with her. She already had several close calls this week," He turned to go inside.

"No. Wait! … I mean, please, wait," Snow transformed back. She felt as if she was snitching. And she was terribly nervous.

Professor Avalon picked up on that straight away, "What's wrong? What has she done now?" He knew that look all too well. Every student had that look as if something was up.

"Nothing really. It's just… well, Professor Wizgiz gave her your map. And she said she would be back in two hours… But that was straight after dinner. I know she can take care of herself… and she's quicker than any of us. But it's nearly been four hours now…" Snow looked to the ground. "I mean, maybe she ran the route twice or something…" Snow wasn't sure how to put it without ringing all the Professor's alarm bells. "She also hasn't read any of my messages. But she never does that when she is training…"

'Typical, of course, she would try the exercise the first chance she'd get,' Avalon activated his golden wings. "Alright, which one of the challenges did she pick for the run?"

"Pick?" Snow looked at the Professor perplexed. 'What does he mean pick? It's one route.'

"Yes, to make the route in two hours she probably can pick up to two challenges. The rest is normal cardio training to raise her body energy levels or well Drion. Everything else would exceed her capabilities."

Snow got even paler, "I don't think she picked… Professor Wizgiz said nothing about picking. He said, it is doable in two hours and she should check the sites out during the weekend."

'You got to be…' the Professor sighed, "Stay, inside the dome."

"I can come with and-" Snow offered.

Avalon shook his head, "That's a nice offer, but you'll only slow me down." He rose into the air. He saw that Snow looked rather down. "If you want to help. Go to Faragonda's office. She should be still up. She can send me the coordinates from Blade's bracelet."

"Right!" Snow turned around and ran towards the main hall. She had a smile on her face. Now that she had actually a plan of what to do.

'What is that girl thinking, going on that route all alone this late?' He pulled up Blade's coordinates and data. Of course, he had a direct link set up by now. Especially to track her on that route during her training. He didn't want to rely on the simulator room when Blade was on Magix. He had not told Snow simply because he wanted Snow to stay inside and inform Faragonda. And since she was such a nervous rack, he wanted her to feel helpful. Faragonda would find a way to calm her down. He flew the route backwards. "So where are you… the ridges maybe? Oh, she got that far?... Well then, destination school ruins, I can intercept her there." He adjusted his course. And swapped to the analytics. "Those magic levels of hers aren't too low yet, but she's burning through them like crazy. Is she being attacked again?" He dialled Red Fountain. "Hey, Codatorta, anything on your sensors near your old school ruins? ..."

Blade rushed through the woodwork. 'Damn it, how could I pass out of all things!' She was boosting her body with magic all the way for around five minutes by now. "Stupid… argh, I should just cut to flying and… no, there is no way I gonna make it in time. And if I have to go to Magix city anyway…" She was bickering with herself as she got slower and slower. Yet she was so close to at least finishing the route. She simply didn't want to lose again. She had lost against the clock by far, after all, being at around four hours. The last thing she wanted to lose against was herself. The old Red Fountain ruins came into sight. "There…now then let's get this over with… after that just a bit of flying and the don't touch the ground game." Blade was panting heavily again. She tried to reserve her Drion by using light Fairy magic so she could swap into Zombix for the last part of flight. She entered the old paved pathway up the castle ruins. It was really dark outside. 'So where am I supposed to jump here?' She activated the bracelet as she ran further to check the precise route. She slowed down the cleft was straight up ahead. She had seen it from afar. She pressed her hands down on her knees to catch her breath. "Holy electron, how am I to jump this…" Her eyes widened as she pointed her integrated flashlight towards the other side. 'How long of a jump is that?!' It was hard to estimate with only the flashlight. Blade swiped away more sweat. "Crap… how am I to aim my jump in this darkness…" She balled her fists. 'I'm not giving up on the easiest part of the whole route, am I? No, never. I should be able to do this. I can do this.' Blade took heart. "Daylight!" She used a bit of her magic to create a light sphere and shot it to the other side. She breathed in deeply. "Alright… I can do this… and if anything goes wrong I should have more than enough time to activate my Winx or Zombix." Blade looked down the cleft to make sure. She turned around to get a straight and long enough runway to speed up. "I'll have to catch the edge so I have less to jump. If I jump too early… stop second-guessing yourself Blade, shut it and jump!" She kneeled down she wanted to start her run deep.

Blade breathed out, her goal right in her sights. She tensed up her muscles and ran, ran like the wind, infusing magic into every step. Closer to the edge she raced, adrenaline pumping, it was a crazy good feeling when she pushed off, rotated her arms. At the pinnacle of her jump, she felt as if she was soaring, flying through the sky without using her wings. She dropped even faster towards the other side. 'CRAP! It's too far away!' Her heart skipped a beat. She already had readied herself to activate her Winx. But her foot landed on the other side. 'YES!' she rejoiced as her second foot touched the ground. "Ha, I did it," She couldn't quite believe it herself. That jump had to be around fifteen meters.

Crack!

Blade looked down, she barely had reached the other side. She had jumped off too early and miscalculated in the dark. Across the bridge, a black line of doom milled through the crumbling stone. And the ground gave way beneath her feet with an echoing sound. "SHIT!" Blade cursed. She was in free fall debris around her. 'Not again, not this…why can't I just…' She covered her face as some small stones hit her. "Fairy of Bl-" WHAM! In her affords to block the stones from her face. She had overlooked one boulder that hit her right in the stomach. Blade couldn't breathe, her transformations got disrupted. 'No, no, come one!' She tried to restart the transformation, but she was so distracted from the self-doubt that flooded her mind. 'I can't even make this stupid jump!? Why do I always lose?' Frustrated and in pain she squinted her eyes. 'What was I thinking!? I can't make this, I'll never make this… Weak! Stupid, Stupid!' Out of the blue, a jolt ran through her shoulder and the boulder fell below as she dangled from her arm in the middle of the ruined bridge.

"What were you thinking?! Are you trying to break your neck, making this jump in the middle of the night? The stupidity! Have you left your self-preservation on Phere-Moan!?" Professor Avalon's shocked voice resounded, he held her arm in a tight grip. She had given him quite the jump scare, which showed in his uncharacteristic outburst. Avalon had spotted Blade from afar, because of her Daylight sphere. As he had flown towards her, he had watched her. He had thought, that once Blade checked the gap and turned around, she was skipping the jump. But no, like a beast she had turned around and raced to the edge and jumped. He pulled up as still some dust and pebbles were falling down. Avalon sat her down in the ruins.

Blade caught her breath. She pulled her knees in and folded her arms around them and simply hid her face. The last thing she wanted to hear now was Professor Avalon of all people to flip out and give a lecture. She already knew she screwed up.

His original shock was gone and the Professor was scolding her harshly, "You can be glad that Snow was worried about you and informed me. What do you think would have happened if one of the roaming monsters would have found you pinned down? You can't just-"

Blade cut him off. She didn't want to hear it. She was done. Done with everything. All the pent-up frustration she had tried to ignore. All the doubt and self-hate gushed to the surface. "I get it! OKAY!? I am weak! Pathetic, incompetent. I'll never be as good as any of them! So, why try? I'm a waste of your time! Of everyone's time. Don't worry about detention, I'll be out of your hair in the morning!" Blade had scrambled back to her feet. She was so sick of failing everything halfway through. And wildly chose a direction to leave as tears dripped down her face, 'I'm a stupid fucking idiot… why did I ever think…?'

Professor Avalon stopped. He didn't need to read her aura to gasp at what got thrown into his face right now. He sighed deeply, "Hold it, right there." He grabbed her arm since Blade wasn't stopping. "I said…"

"Why?" Blade tried to get loose but he wasn't budging. "I'll never be a Fairy!" She glared at him. She was so pissed.

Avalon raised an eyebrow, "Weren't you the one stampeding out of Songwind's court saying that you already are a Fairy?" He had seen it hundred times with other students. Blade, of course, was no exception, even with all her strength and achievements. She was doubting herself. She simply couldn't see what she had achieved in the face of all those devastating trials, 'What is the root of all of this?'

"A pair of wings don't make a Fairy. Queen Swallow was right!" Blade still tried to get loose.

"Queen Swallow gave her best regards to Council once your class's charade was over and revoked all her prior statements. She even joined the kingdoms that fund your scholarship. Birdy already told you that." The Professor confronted her kindly. 'This can't the root, it is too simple.' He tried a more direct approach, "Where is all this coming from Blade? You're always stubborn as a bull and push through no matter what lies in your path. Do you really wish to end your education as a Fairy here? Because of a missed jump?"

"The jump, the monsters, the reapers, horror muds… Phere-Moan… fucking convergence, I am the weakest Fairy in class! And the gap will only grow. I have made no progress whatsoever. And the others will only get stronger. What good will I do in a freaking sickbed after every single mission! If I can't hold my own then I am worth nothing!" She hissed at him and really got aggressive trying to free herself from his grasp. 'I'm a liability for any team I'm on… it's obvious…'

'Nothing? Why do these kids always bottle everything up instead of coming to us and talk…' Avalon was concerned, because her self-awareness was utter shit. She only saw her flaws. The only thing that would help her now was to just get it out of her system. "You are missing years of magic training and expect to be as good as your peers? Do you hear yourself talking?" He opposed her. "Besides your teams in battle class have always won because of your leadership."

Blade had it, "What the hell are talking about?! I am not a leader! I don't need your flattery…" Blade flared up dark magic subconsciously. She tried to break his hold on her. She rolled her arm against his thumb and with her other palm hammered down on his elbow. She got free for just a second as he caught her other hand. "I'm just a stupid no one! If the rest gets their Charmix that will be it! Have you seen how strong Birdy and Nebula are?! The elven guards knew… I know. The boys know. I lost every single sparring match this week in Red Fountain! So just be happy I realised on my own and leave me the fuck alone!" She went in for an obvious straight punch.

Her moves were erratic at best. Like a fury, she was trying to fend him off. There was no way Professor Avalon would leave her alone that low on magic and in that mental state. "Blade, we're adjusting your training for that exact reason. Your fighting style is much closer to that of a Paladin. And we as your teachers have to admit our shortcomings there and will help you to catch up. You're not using your abilities to its fullest potential currently. Improvements don't happen overnight. Give it-"

"TIME!?" Blade transformed into her Zombix. She really had it now. "I am so sick of THIS! JEWELS DIDN'T HAVE TIME! SHE FUCKING DIED! So, tell me, do you know how much TIME I've got? Before someone stabs me or my friends IN THE BACK?! Time is a luxury none of us have as long as those TRAITORS ARE STILL OUT THERE!" The hearing had gone great. To the point where most involved in Desertia had been caught and arrested by now. Everyone knew and the news had stated the same thing, the Council still was searching for Co-Conspirators outside of Desertia. There were more people out there and Blade feared they would come for their revenge. 'How can I save them when I'm so weak!?' She was beside herself. 'I can't even get loose, damn it!' Blade was fed up with the endless struggle to get away from the Professor. She just wanted to run. Hide. Leave it all behind. She flared up enough magic so he would have to let go unless he wanted to get burned.

Avalon let go. He wasn't keen on getting burned. And there was no way she could fly faster or longer than him. 'So, she does feel at fault and blames herself. Wizgiz was right… this talk can't wait till Monday,' Professor Avalon relaxed his shoulders, "Blade, you are a Fairy in training. You are not alone any longer with this. You'll have the time to grow and get strong…"

"You said that to all of us. And yet Jewels died alone, because-" Her body trembled she was so angry at herself. "Because I was too fucking WEAK to stand by her side! And yes, I know the others weren't there. They don't blame me like anyone else they say it's not my fault, but it is! They had other jobs to do, protecting Jewels was mine! I FAILED! I should have…"

"Blade… you did your best," Professor Avalon tried to calm her down. It was horrible to see her like that.

"Well, my best isn't cutting it! IT NEVER WILL!" All she wanted was to run and on the other hand, she wanted someone to finally say it, be honest, to just say it, that she was a liability, pathetic and weak.

Professor Avalon held against it, "Your best was already cutting it, Blade. You saved so many people in the palace. You built the weapon that took the mother Lou down, you broke the curse on Phere-Moan. You saved lives. You saved your friends."

"But not the ONE life I had to save! I promised her! URRGH, why am I even trying? How could you possibly understand?! You're a prodigy in magic! You just swoop in and save the day!" Blade punched a ruined wall next to her and a bolder broke loose.

"Blade," the Professor looked her straight into the eyes, "We are soldiers. There are no two ways about this. I lost friends, too. Faragonda saw all of Domino burn to the ground. Death is part of the job. Sometimes you lose those you try hardest to protect. Life isn't easy and our jobs make it even worse. You'll always wonder what you could have done better. Or if you only had more time or were a second faster… It sucks. Being a prodigy never saved anyone from hardship. I couldn't save Jewels from her fate either. And I promised her, like any of my students, to see them grow up to be full-fledged Fairy. I failed her, too."

Blade evaded his gaze. She squinted her eyes. She heard his words, but she simply couldn't accept them.

"There are two options at every crossroad in life. You can either let it destroy you and all you have worked for. Or you put trust in the people in your life, stand up, learn from your shortcomings and make it better next time." Avalon could feel that he wasn't reaching her. 'What can I say to help you, Blade?'

"What's the point? Next time will be just the same…" Blade mumbled. "I'll never be strong enough! There is nothing else to learn, here!" Blade ground her teeth. She was trapped in her endless cycle of self-blame.

Avalon looked to the stars, he knew that feeling all too well. "Anyone no matter how strong or weak had those exact same feelings along their journey in life. Sure, I am a prodigy, however, I faltered in the tests in the White Jade Order. I was ready to walk out the door back then. You view me as undefeatable. That's not the case, I assure you. I am so strong now because I decided to stick around. I decided, my wish to help people overcome their darkness and find back to the light was more important than my shortcomings. I had to guide my heart, my feelings, through making that decision before my heart was ready. You can't always just follow your heart, Blade. If I just had followed my feelings I would never have become a teacher either. My first lessons at Malacoy Academy weren't so popular. You probably won't believe me, because all you have experienced is my current self. Still, it's the truth." He smiled remembering the old days. Yet his smile vanished as he focused back on Blade. She was devastated, probably still not hearing him. At least she was calming down. 'Why can't any of us see that sometimes you have to lead your heart instead of drowning in your own feelings? On good days it's so obvious…' He stepped closer to Blade.

Blade had listened and even if the words made sense and she really wanted to believe him. It all was just empty words to her. 'Glad that's the case for him, I am different. I'll never be strong enough, never…'

"It's okay to feel powerless and worthless at times, that's human. Your feelings are valid, but they are temporary…" Professor Avalon walked only a few steps as without warning Blade's dark magic burned up more brightly instead of subsiding. Roaringly Blade rushed towards him like a crazy person, she had his full attention now that she went into a rampage and he possibly had to stop her from going berserk. 'Is she losing her mind because of the new form?! She had calmed down. Shit!' He readied himself to take her punch. Out of the blue Blade shouted her spell and summoned her dark Fairy sword, coming straight at him, her eyes brimming with bloodlust. 'Has she lost it completely?!' He activated his aura read to see what the heck was wrong with his student.

"Die, you little-!" Blade roared as she aimed her sword.