Detention? Training? Oh, you…


Snow, Amber, Dahlia and Blade were in the courtyard. The sun was out and they were studying on the grass. Since the Sandbox had been built there were way fewer classes in the courtyard and so many students had taken the chance to use the space in other forms.

"No, no, we need to swap that word," Dahlia shook her head.

"You sure? I think we are missing something…Amber, have you found the older version of the spell?" Snow asked as she scratched her head with her pen."

"Yes… but even if we translated that old runes script into the newer one…The exercise in the old books still states the same spell to the letter, lkaelaut be bafmob… I can't find any translation or solution anywhere. Was a good idea though to check the older schoolbooks," Amber let her head fall down on the books in front of her. "If we don't figure this out soon I'm going crazy."

Blade rose an eyebrow, "So we have no clue what rune script, what kind of spell, we don't know the language, we just have a mumbo jumbo spell phrase?" Everyone nodded slightly. "Hmmm…." They weren't the only study group having problems trying to figure that one out in the courtyard.

"Ah, cute, every year students bite their teeth out on that one," Wizgiz laughed amused.

"Well, that's normal, isn't it?" Avalon smirked as he just had finished grading some texts from the philosophy class of the third-years. "It's an anagrammed Witch, or well Sorceress, spell, in fairy script. They can't even make it work with light magic."

"There is only one goal, it shows that there are many ways to hide the truth or protect the information," Palladium recapped.

Griselda shook her head, "Did anyone ever get that one done? I remember I had that exercise too and didn't figure it out at all. Neither did Faragonda she was so worked up about it. We spent weeks on it. She simply hadn't expected a Fairy school to use such an underhanded trick," She looked to Wizgiz and chuckled.

"Well, of course not, only way would be asking a dark magic user to use the spell and put the syllables back in their original order or the spell misfunctions," Wizgiz stopped laughing, "Oh boy… Palladium…." Too late, he already could feel a dark magic build up outside the school gates.

"IKAELAUT BE BAFMOB!" Blade amassed some dark magic, after all, if light magic hadn't worked this was the last thing to try and since Faragonda had told her that for now, no one could politically do anything against Shadion, why not use it for the good of all second years.

And indeed, every one of the students stared at Blade on the street right in front of the school as wind was drawn in towards the amassed magic. In the bat of an eye, a black tiny ball appeared, shrank, glowed up and expanded rapidly with a thundering blast that thing exploded right in front of Blade's face.

"WOAH!" Blade got catapulted back into the school grounds. Gladly she had been the only one since she had asked others to move to a 'safe' distance just in case and gave a prior warning not to scare people off and be polite about her dark magic, a bit of etiquette couldn't hurt after all. Now she was flung several meters back onto the main path of the courtyard. "Aaaaah, WINX!" She activated her fairy form to stabilise but she was too slow and overturned a few times before she got to hold, by clawing into the ground.

"BLADE!" Amber jumped to her feet and ran towards her with the others.

Snow was scared half to death, "You okay?!"

"Did you hurt your wings?" Dahlia skidded past her, she had run so fast.

Blade fluttered her wings shortly to check, "Uuuh, that went haywire, all good though," and couldn't help but laugh. "Should have gone for Shadion really… I always have to wait for dark magic to get out of the system such a pain in the ass…"

"Blade, everything in one piece?" Professor Palladium hugely concerned had rushed outside. The first-year students watched from a safer distance. But her peers in the same year looked at each other somewhat happy, finally, someone had gotten a breakthrough in that assignment.

Professor Griselda on the other hand was furious, "NO dark magic at this school, Blade. You know that!" She growled.

"I wasn't IN the school…" Blade brushed off the dust from her clothes. She wanted to transform back but was halted by Palladium. "The street belongs to the Council… basically…" She had learned from her Sorceress friends how to use the law in her favour or well bypass school rules.

"Not so fast," Professor Palladium walked around her and inspected her wings closely. That overturning had looked rather grim.

Griselda grumbled deeply, "Don't you get cheeky. You know exactly what I mean." She rose her finger warningly, 'Thank the Great Dragon she is alright… that girl, she has no defences and just blurts out a spell she doesn't know?!'

Blade looked at her friends, "It's dark magic that's for sure, nothing happened at all when we tried light magic in the start. Oh, wait a second!" Quickly she opened her rune pages from Cloud Tower on her bracelet. "… if that… and here… running script detection for dark magic rune script…that rune can be translated into that script… here another…HA! That's it!" In her enthusiasm she simply dropped the light fairy form and waited for a second, "Make a bubble float!" she amassed dark magic right under Griselda's nose. A tiny soap bubble appeared.

"MS ASHFALLOW!" Griselda scolded her sternly. "No. DARK. Magic." The students were fascinated or a bit creeped out there was no way to keep them all apart.

Blade looked up, she was on school grounds now, "Oops…but it worked! We figured it out!" She dropped the spell directly and proudly stared at Professor Palladium.

"…" He sighed, "Yes, but try not to blast yourself into smithereens. So, that's an A+ for figuring out and an F- for approach."

"F-, oh come on, I didn't get hurt, and I watched out for the health of others…" Blade bargained.

"Alright, you got a point F+, so D+ total," Professor Palladium bluntly stated.

"But that should be a C+," Blade was a bit confused

Palladium shook his head, "Well, don't forget the H for bad HABIT."

Griselda nodded, „That would make it an E though…"

"You're right. E it is," Palladium agreed and laughed.

"Seriously…" Blade was disappointed.

Griselda commented superiorly, "Well, who bargains like a Witch, gets the results of a Witch."

Blade grimaced, "Discrimination even at an Elite school? And I thought we are above petty sentiments and are 'better than this'…" Blade remarked and shook her head to which the Professors were a bit speechless. That on the other hand got some reaction from at least Aurum's class, who were hanging around as well in the courtyard.

"Witch lover…"

"How is she still at this school, she should transfer already…"

'Hmmm… they are not the only ones complaining, Shadion gets its fair share of mixed reactions…' Professor Palladium refocused on Blade, "Blade, it was a joke…" He like the other Professors already were aware of the small talk in other classes and this was a controversial topic, as Cloud Tower always had been. 'She needs to be more careful. Being a dark Fairy is one thing, but if she comes across as someone favouring the Witc-Sorc… Cloud Tower students more than her own. That might complicate things.'

Blade looked her Professor in the eyes, "Was it?"

Griselda sighed, "Not everything is an attack, don't get too hypersensitive while fighting for justice, Blade. We worked longer with Witches than you ever lived. Witches easily get offended or pretend to be. They always go on the offensive, but that also divides. They are losing lots of chances due to this. There will always be people who will stand against you no matter how good or just your cause is. Don't let them get under your skin or get too aggressive, you might lose those who might be willing to stand up for you if you go to an extreme. My apologies though if you felt insulted. That was not my intention." She meant it and spoke this out loud enough for all to hear. 'I know Faragonda told her basically not to worry and be herself… but… by the Great Dragon…'

"Thank you. But it's Sorceresses," Blade answered.

"Is it though? You said that your friends want to become Sorceresses. Griffin teaches them to become Witches. So, both exist. No matter the group or ideology people are stand-alone persons. They all have the right to choose and live their variant of it." She looked around at all the students. "You should consider in your fight what the rest wants as well. Everyone counts, not just the loudest shout. Or do you and your few friends speak for all Witches? Currently, I would say you are the minority with the Sorceress title."

"But Witch is an insult," Blade stood her ground. "They too fighting for balance. They are people just like us. They are not the enemy."

Griselda smiled as she adjusted her glasses, "Do you think I speak that word as an insult or as a title they chose for themselves, well most of them?"

Blade pondered, "What? I mean…No… not always …"

"Yes, I have to work on that a bit more. Just like everyone, I am a person with flaws too," Griselda could admit to it with confidence, she didn't see Blade's point of view as an attack at all, "I'll call those Sorceresses who chose that title on their own. I will not press it on anyone. And if at some point the general masses of Witches chose to call themselves Sorceresses, I'll adapt that too. But there still will be some who will pick Witch and I'll respect that as well."

Blade tilted her head, 'So, that's the reason why she always says, Witch? Yet Faragonda says Sorceresses, she really wants to push this because of the image change the Sorceresses need, it's a tool to her. But the two never do fight over it or seem displeased with each other… hmmm…'

'Hm, she really is invested in this, good for her,' Griselda thought to herself. The students seemed to be settled again. The Professors tried to make clear that working with Witches was encouraged, but also to uphold their standards as an elite Fairy school. Griselda's face darkened all of a sudden, "Now, enough ideology. It's about time, go get your stuff we'll meet at the Sandbox for your detention from your Fairy mission you screwed up in about twenty minutes. Be punctual, you, too, Aurum," Griselda warned both sternly and turned towards the gates and already made her way to prepare.

"Brace yourself," Professor Palladium smirked. "And I still want from all of you the script translations in Fairy runes. Blade already gave you a major hint. I expect to see something if you want a good grade, but no Dark magic on school grounds please."

"AHHHHH," All second years complained shortly and ran to Blade who suddenly was overrun with Fairies wanting to know how Witch rune script worked to get a proper grade.

Blade stood next to Aurum on the sand. They didn't like each other and never had since the police debacle and that was even before the Shadion reveal. And so, as always there was a frosty vibe between those two. They didn't get along whatsoever. Yet with Griselda there, they behaved even if they side-glanced at each other dismissively when she wasn't looking.

"Well, you two. Welcome to your first training session together," Griselda towered before them. "You both suck at defence and are somewhat failing my class for different reasons. So today we'll change that." A smirk rushed over her lips. "You're not leaving today till I say so."

"What? But I had…You said till dinner…" Aurum already complained. "And why have I to train with her? She's nothing but a commoner with no manners." She crossed her arms, 'and a dark magic user…Witch lover.'

Blade rolled her eyes, "Feeling is mutual…"

"I don't CARE. You two got some problems and if those are not solved you will be a liability for your teams. So, you can quit early if you like. But then, you will stay at school when the others go on missions, you stay here and train with me until I'm satisfied," She first looked to Blade, "And there will be no shopping sprees or spar trips or parties of any kind till you reach the needed level I deem fit," her glare wandered to Aurum.

Both girls grimaced. Blade nodded, "Let's get started then." Blade stretched her arms once more.

"Alright," Griselda activated the two belts at the panel which controlled the Sandbox features and also activated the big shield around the whole Sandbox so they gained one big enclosed field. "Here, put these on." She gave each one of the belts.

"But that clashes with my outfit… that looks so…techno…" Aurum eyed the thing suspiciously.

"Who cares?" Blade clicked it around her hip, "What does it do? Woah," as soon as she had locked the belt around her waist she felt that some kind of forcefield like a bodysuit covered her whole.

"That's so you don't die or get your precious hair burned," Griselda waited for Aurum, who quickly put on the belt after that warning. "Well then, let's battle." The Professor walked to her side of the Sandbox and left the two students on the other side.

'He, and I thought this is supposed to be detention. Now we even get to battle, ha,' Blade was all fired up.

"And you sure this will hold? No matter what? Even dark magic?" Aurum wasn't keen at all to train combat of all things and certainly not with Blade of all people.

"Watch out!" Blade warned Aurum yet to no avail Blade herself jumped to the side and ducked away as she got barraged by Griselda.

"Oh shush, YOUU-EHHHH!" Aurum stumbled and nearly fell to the ground as she got hit by a fireball that clashed with the forcefield protecting her.

"Yes, I'm sure. Tsurubebi!" Griselda was already surrounded by several blueish fire spheres yet again and aimed her next one.

"AHH!" Aurum transformed, "Fairy of GOLD!"

"Hey, watch-" Blade nearly clashed with Aurum, who recklessly pushed her in the way of a fireball meant for her and squeaked surprised as the onslaught continued.

Griselda watched as both girls crashed to the ground and hit, "Pathetic." She had guided Blade towards Aurum with an endless barrage, she didn't give her a chance to even close the gap between them. Aurum on the other hand was standing still in the air all the time and therefore a sure hit.

Blade swung herself onto her feet, "Fairy edge!" She conjured her sword and rushed forward, 'No way will I be stuck at school if there are missions.'

"Fire cage!" Griselda cast and promptly Blade was stuck behind bars, "Got to do better than that."

"Ehhh," Aurum ducked behind Blade in the cage. 'She is sooo weak, she's even weaker than this afternoon. No wonder when she taints her Winx with dark magic…Commoners…'

'Useless…', Blade couldn't believe it, "Oh, come on…don't just hide behind me" she growled and smashed her sword against the fire bars. 'Some nobles… truly… fed with a silver spoon.' She actually was able to brake some, but her sword cracked under the heat and vanished to sparkles.

Griselda smirked, "Seems my fire is hotter than your sword is sharp." The Professor yawned as she sent her last blueish fireballs after Aurum, who felt way too safe behind her trapped peer.

"AHHH, do something!" Aurum got hit several times as she somewhat tried to evade but failed horribly.

Blade reached out with her hand between the bars using some magic to protect herself from the heat and shot, "Magic darts!"

Griselda simply reached out with her one hand that wasn't occupied with guiding the fire orbs, "Enversio Inobmab!" The three darts impacted and vanished without leaving even a scratch on the shield. "Burning Shackles!" Within seconds Blade was restrained to the fire cage bars hanging in the air by additional chains and Aurum lost her balance mid-flight as suddenly she was pulled back in her attempt to simply run away and crash landed, chained by one foot to the ground as well.

"Tch. Just you wait-" Blade already was ready to amass magic to break free as with the snap of her Professor's fingers everything vanished again.

"And you're both dead. What was that fifteen seconds?" Griselda stemmed her hand into her hip, "You two know teamwork is a thing, right?" But the girls simply glared annoyed at each other. 'Wonderful… well, can't fix that today…' She shook her head. "Truly, you two still have the same problems you had since you started in Alfea. You, Princess Aurum need to finally start acting the part and do something besides hiding. You have lots of spells yet you only use them out of combat. A shield spell only works if applied in time. I don't care how much damage it could take."

"I do more… besides I have soldiers, and I'll marry a great man. I'm not some commoner… So, what's the point, my mum never had to-" Aurum started to defend herself.

"And what if you get attacked by bad guys or your people, maybe your soldiers? What if the man of dreams needs your help because he is overwhelmed? Will you let him burn to a crisp like Blade would have been?" Griselda admonished her. "You're supposed to become a GUARDIAN Fairy for your kingdom…."

Blade snorted amused, 'Was about time someone told Goldy off…'

Griselda raised an eyebrow, "And why are you laughing?" She looked at Blade sternly. "I used one trap spell on you and you were grounded. There were a hundred ways to cook you alive in that cage."

"I could have countered with body enhancement magic, though."

"Right, because that solves everything. Ifrit's cyclone!" A massive fire tornado arose behind Griselda it was higher than the school walls. "What now? Still think you can bust out alive in time?"

Blade gulped, 'That's huge! Is Griselda really that powerful? She only uses defence spells in our classes… I had no idea….' She was a bit speechless.

"Well, of course, she can't, she barely has magic, to begin with…" Aurum amused grinned back at Blade. 'Commoners…'

"ENOUGH!" Griselda had it with their bickering. "Since you two like to compete so much with each other, here's today's deal. Aurum you have a lot of magic and good spells, yet you are too slow and standing still all the time… or hiding. We both will train evasion, so you can actually use some of your spells in a fight and not just panic. If I hit you Blade gets added more training weights."

"Say what?" Blade was totally confused, "Weights for what? And why do I get punished for her failings?"

Griselda grinned menacingly, "Well, you Blade will sit down outside the Sandbox and create a simple cube and you will let it float in front of you. The weights go on top of your cube of course."

Blade spied the little flat metal plates at the controls of the sandbox. "A cube should be easy but what do you mean with float, Professor Griselda?"

"Come now, when you shoot your darts or throw your spear you are not touching them they float for a second or two before you send them off," Griselda clarified.

"So, if I fail she gets more weights?" Aurum asked super nicely, yet also sneakily.

Griselda turned to her, "Tsurubebi," one fire orb floated next to her. "Yes, and for every time her cube falls, I'll attack you with one more sphere at once." She smiled oh so politely at the princess.

"What?!" Aurum stared at Blade. 'That commoner will be the death of me!'

'That princess will be the death of me!', Blade stared at Griselda wide-eyed.

They had been at it for over two hours. Both girls were giving it their best because they knew if they screwed up it only would get harder for them. The start had been less than stellar, Aurum had been hit nearly every time and Blade hadn't figured out the prolonged floating. But the more desperate both became not to make life worse for themselves the better their concentration had gotten.

"RIGHT! Up! Turn, drop! What are you doing!?" Blade called out as she shook her head. 'She has the battlefield awareness of a mole…' She still had to concentrate on her cube, but not as much anymore as in the beginning.

"I know what I am doing! Stop ordering me around!" Aurum dashed up instead of down and promptly got hit by a fire orb from behind. The forcefield belt blocked the damage but she got swirled uncontrollably around through the air and so the rest of the in total fifteen spheres hit her as well and she got pummelled into the ground.

Griselda grinned shortly satisfied, "Ms Ashfallow, that's fifteen more weights I believe." She waved her hands and the weights stacked up on the others. 'Too bad, they did so well the last hour. Their concentration is fading. If Aurum had listened though…' She refocused on Aurum, "Tsurubebi."

"I told y-" Blade ground her teeth the sudden increase in weight really took its toll on her. Blade's hands cramped up. Desperately she tried to hold the cube in the air. She increased her magic output but the cube sank closer and closer to the ground.

"Don't you dare drop that thing!" Aurum screamed at Blade who was exhausted.

Blade had to truly flare up magic and infuse quite a lot but just before her cube touched the tips of grass she managed to stabilise it. She glared up at Aurum, 'Oh that…' She went pale, "DUCK!"

Too late, Aurum had ignored Griselda thinking she would wait, but she hadn't. "EHHHH!" The blue fire orbs hit her one by one in a straightforward volley. She got knocked off the sky. "Hey, I wasn't ready!" She bitched around.

"Tsurubebi…" Griselda ignored it while she used her magic to lift another fifteen weights over to Blade's cube. She simultaneously fired again at Aurum taking her time to get up.

"Piercing Spear!" Blade cast quickly and her spear rushed down in front of Aurum who was still on the ground while Blade's hands started to shake and tremble with the next added weights.

Aurum watched as several orbs clashed with the spear evaporating. And quickly jumped to her feet and dashed away, "Gold SHELL!" Those seconds had given her the time she needed to raise her shield bubble. "I don't need your damn help!"

Blade ground her teeth this was heavy, "Sure… stupid brat…" She felt her strength fading, that spear had diminished her magic greatly. 'How can she be so slow?! Her spells too… it takes her ages to manifest anything that's not just a simple sphere or ray…' She started to pant.

"Golden Sphere!" She shot one of the fire orbs down, "Gold Shimmer!" She used her ray to destroy some more. 'She'll drop that shitty cube even more now, great… her magic is just so weak…not to mention her pool!'

"Tailing Tsurubebi!" Griselda conjured a few orbs that followed Aurum even without her manual guidance. She looked over to Blade. 'She's close to her limit. That camp with the Council has improved her magic control, she's even more precise than before. She isn't wasting much at all, next to nothing. But if there is nothing left to use that doesn't make a difference.'

Blade squinted her eyes hard, this was simply too much weight to carry. She groaned quietly, 'I can't lose to that stupid, Princess… I'm not giving up before her! I'll never hear… the end…. of…. it…...' She knew she was at her limit yet she kept going.

"Golden shield!" Aurum blocked a few more orbs, but wasn't fast enough in recasting those orbs were faster and so she got hit from all sides and got flung into the Sandbox's outer forcefield and slit down. "Ouch… that's so unfair they are too fast!" But Griselda already had left the Sandbox perimeter and walked over to Blade who was lying in the grass. The cube just disintegrated and the weights clanged to the ground. "HA, I held out longest! Knew it… commoners, just weak... that happens when your pool is so small. Well, not all can be graced with awesomeness like me."

"Aurum…", Griselda kneeled down to check if Blade was alright. She was breathing heavily but was still awake. She simply had not enough magic to move or sit upright. "She's down because she saved your hide, before…there is no reason to celebrate here for you. And if you say Commoner like a curse word again, you will be grounded all month," Griselda admonished Aurum to get her off her high horse. "Are you alright?"

Blade nodded, "Just… give me… I can convert some Drion. Don't need so much… if I just sit around…' She was pissed, 'Stupid, shit, can that obnoxious blondie just shut up…' She wanted to sit up.

"You stay down there for two minutes and meditate afterwards," Griselda ordered sternly and put the weights back on the panel. "Well then let us continue." She refocused on her other problem student.

"She gets a break? And I have to work even more?!" Aurum pouted.

"You just said you had plenty of magic left, of course, we continue. This isn't class this is detention. I'll work you both to the bones. We barely have late afternoon. There are still several hours to fill, my esteemed Princess," Griselda walked over to the spear stuck in the sand and took it. 'Neat another weapon I can throw at her.' She twirled the spear. "Tailing Tsurubebi. Ifrit's Twisters!" She called upon her spirit fire magic. Now the field was covered in flaming small twisters that spun in place. "Let's make this interesting shall we." She walked to the panel and added a ceiling shield. "Now, let's continue." She grinned. Aurum was boxed in and the twisters were occupying around a quarter of the battlegrounds.

"You're jesting, right?!" Aurum went pale as she stared at the fire death trap she was in.

"See it positive I only add one more fire orb," Griselda smirked and raised her hand. "Now, I suggest you use some spells or well run." Her face darkened and she raised her hand to attack anew.

Blade had finished her meditation and was fully charged again, now it was Aurum who looked like a scarecrow and simply was lying in the grass after the inferno trip Griselda had given her. Blade stretched as she waited for Griselda to adjust the settings of the sandbox and put Aurum's belt in the charging station.

"Well then, let's see… Create one sword for me," Griselda ordered. "Oh, and do so with your elemental hilt.

Blade frowned and took out the hilt from her belt pocket, "Fairy edge!" Blade turned the sword and offered Griselda the hilt.

"Good," Griselda turned the rune circle to fire and infused her fire magic into the sword. Around the sword, sparks appeared until it was set ablaze with blue fire. "Well then, you attack me with hmm… let's say ten darts. Try to get a hit in."

"That makes no sense, you'll just block them like in class with your shield," Blade was worried, 'And now she has my strongest weapon too. I'm so fucked.'

"Oh, I won't use bubble shields, well unless you break my defence," Griselda chuckled and took her spot. "Pendēto!" She threw the sword into the air and enchanted it.

"What the…" Blade looked baffled as the sword hovered next to her.

"Come on, what are you waiting for?" Griselda taunted her. "Scared?"

"No…" Blade breathed out. 'What is she going to do? Will she attack?' Blade amassed magic as she pressed her hands together, she would make a perfect dart not the simply hasty ones. She swiped outward with her hand the moment it was ready and sent it off.

"Oh, sooooo boring, didn't I say you may use ten?" Griselda simply moved the sword into the dart's projection. Thus, the dart clattered against the fire sword got half-charred and cracked. It fell to the ground.

"Tch, Fairy of blades!" Blade prepared four more darts and rose into the air, quickly she dashed around and used angles yet even then Griselda simply swiped them all out of the air without a problem, the sword was dancing around her, she barely turned at all. 'Grrrr, how is she so good with a sword?! Since when?'

Griselda walked to another spot, "Come on, even the fight with Aurum was more exciting than this sad display." She yawned again.

Blade collected her other five and created all left darts, "You'll regret saying this…"

Griselda simply blocked everything. Her field awareness was nothing to joke about, plus she was much more experienced and didn't fall for Blade's faints. And she always was ready to defend her blind spots. After a bit, Griselda even went so far as to use the panel to create an armchair out of the sand to sit in.

Blade balled her fists, 'I'm not fast enough. She sees everything coming… she already broke some darts and I have to rebuild them. If this goes on I'll be out of magic before Aurum finishes meditation.' Blade stared at the darts on the ground she had been at it for a few minutes and was running out of attack patterns. She was about to pick up her last dart again. Yet halted. 'Floating… if I could draw one from out the sand… or call them back…. No, that never worked so far. But I was able to hold the cube…' She left the dart where it was. 'It's right behind the chair…' Blade flew upwards again. "I'll get you this time." She proclaimed slightly unsure.

"Sure…" Griselda stretched her neck and waved her hand around to block yet again the darts Blade was shooting at her. 'She left one behind. Maybe finally she understood the exercise…'

Blade shot one dart directly at Griselda as she reached out with her other hand trying to reconnect with her magic dart behind the chair. 'It's not enough, shit! This somehow has to work. Or is this just to show me how to use a flying sword to block?! No, no, I can block spells with a sword at hand without wasting magic if I hold the weapon. Aargh!'

"Ahahaha, what are you doing? Have you even hit her once, ha!" Aurum opened her eyes. "Pfffff, this is pathetic even for you." She had smirked her ass off while meditating.

"Oh you," Blade snapped a bit as she flared up more magic and swiped her arm to the side and turned to face Aurum, "As if you were any bet-"

"EHHHH," Aurum jumped to her feet as she flinched. The perimeter shield blocked the dart though. "Are you nuts?!"

'Oooh, so she has the capacity after all,' Griselda raised an eyebrow. "Blade, attacking other students is strictly forbidden. She's not part of this exercise!" She admonished her in an angry tone.

"It worked…" Blade stared at the dart in the sand and looked at her hand. She reached out again using more magic. This time it was a bit easier. 'Is it the range?' She aimed for Griselda this time around.

"So, we're getting somewhere…" Griselda blocked the dart, "Bit slow don't you think?"

"Slow? That's an understatement. I walk faster," Aurum laughed her ass off. "And your calling yourself a battle fairy? Oh wait, that's what your harem says if I heard correctly. Maybe they pity you and simply try to cheer you up. All that extra training with the Professors and nothing to show for it. How are you even still at this school?" Aurum had never seen Blade truly fight. After all, they were in separate classes and last year she had not paid any attention to the commoner in school. There simply had been no reason to and like many others she had expected her to fail and be gone. "No wonder so many died…and we lost Jewels for her?" She complained half-loud to herself.

Blade lost it, she had heard her of course, "YOU, PAMPEREED…!" Enraged she turned to face that crown brat again. She raised her hand, as she started to amass light magic for her new darts. Yet in her rage she flared up dark magic as well which did not mix well with her Winx form or her light magic whatsoever. With loud crackling, the spell exploded directly above her and hammered her into the sand. A dust cloud arose.

"BLADE!" Griselda jumped from her chair, furious yet fretful for her well-being.

"Wonderful, at least blasting yourself works using dark magic of all things, so typical, you're a disgrace for all Fairies... Ha, are you going to Cloud Tower to finally swap to your born calling? I'm right, ain't I?" Aurum commented high and mighty. "IF you had any skill, Queen Jewels would be still alive…"

"AURUM that's ENOUGH!" Griselda outraged over the comment shouted. "You'll-"

"DON'T YOU EVER TAKE HER NAME INTO YOUR MOUTH; YOU BITCH!" Blade dashed forward ready to go for her throat in seconds she was out of bounce of the Sandbox leaving the perimeter shield behind, which was there to block astray spells, but not people. The belt would hold her inside but through the heavy explosion, it was depleted.

Wide-eyed Aurum shrieked, it echoed throughout the air. She was scared shitless as the light form vanished and a ghostly black and sickly greenish Blade stormed at her. 'WHAT IS SHE- NUTS?!'

'Shit!' Griselda quickly intervened, "Burning shackles! Rojibin!" She bound Blade to hold her back and enveloped Aurum in a flaming fire shield. She would not survive Blade if the dark Fairy would go all out. She was nowhere near her fighting abilities.

"You're… you're… A WITCH! MONSTER! BLACK MAGIC FANATIC!" Aurum pointed at the abomination of a fairy, wrathfully trying to get to her. Aurum screamed high-pitched yet again as Blade pulled forward yet was held back by the shackles. Aurum was shaking and terrified. "Golden Sphere, Golden Sphere, Golden SPHERE, GOLDEN SPHERE!" She hectically cast.

Blade was still bound to the ground as a barrage of spells raced towards her. Blade ignited in her dark magic trying to destroy the shackles in time.

"Enversio Inobmab!" Griselda hurriedly conjured another shield spell as a white-bluish sickle slashed into the ground and a makeshift ice wall rose from the ground up so the orbs didn't even hit her shield surrounding Blade.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Aurum didn't understand anything anymore. Just now Griselda and Avalon, her Professors, protected that insane commoner. "KILL that - THAT THING!"

'That thing? Great… so much for the Council sorted it out, had to be the Princess of Dublare of course… they give Solarian nobles a run for their money with their big mouths…,' Professor Avalon sighed as he hovered mid-air. He had heard the screams and had rushed to help. Yet this was not what he had expected to find, "Calm down!" Avalon addressed the both of them but none of the two girls had any intention to do so.

Blade finally tore loose and darted towards the Princess, 'I'll trash that hussy!' She was more than ready to pound some sense into her, "Kill?! You never have seen death. You have no idea you s-" Yet Professor Avalon dashed down and grappled her by the waist and pulled away.

"Calm down, Blade," He repeated firmly. Yet the young Fairy struggled against his hold like a maniac. 'For crying out loud, what has her all up in arms like this?' He took hold of one of her wrists trying to bring her under control.

"Let go! I'll…" Blade glared at Aurum all while she flickered in her dark magic fuelled by her rage.

The princess was perplexed to say the least, the Professor was protecting Blade after she tried to attack her, the Princess of Dublare. 'Blade's nothing more than a vengeful hag!' Aurum burst the bubble shield from Griselda, "You killed her to gain that power! LAIR, WITCH ACCOMPLIS! GOLD SHIMMER! I'll never stand for this!" Aurum raised her hand to fire.

"Hey, that's ENOUGH OUT OF BOTH OF YOU! Jinn's eye!" Griselda stepped in between and created a wide enough fire pillar where she enclosed herself and Aurum inside her student's spell didn't get through the flaming firewall. 'Great. Those too are truly trying to claw each other's eyes out. This already is detention…ahhh.' She raised her finger to warn Aurum as she herself flared up her magic. "STOP!"

'It's obvious, something so vile could only come from an atrocity! I thought that Witch had simply cursed her, but she truly has a…a dark, no Black Fairy form.' Aurum bellowed loudly, "NEVER that HARLOT, KILLED Jewels, for POWER no less! You'll rot in OMEGA; I SWEAR!"

Whatever restrain Blade had was out of the window now. "KILL? YOU STUPID JACKA-" She lost her breath as suddenly she was high up in the air the wind was so sharp it stung in her eyes. Everything was a blur.

Professor Avalon dived down again after his accelerated ascend. He had to get Blade away before she would say or do anything more that could be used against her and away from the irritated students who heard the fuss and were bound to rush towards the sandbox to sneak a peek.

Blade lost her orientation for a second, they were so fast. Her magic kept building up nonetheless she couldn't control it nor her anger. Her skin basically burned from her output. Without a warning, she suddenly was beneath the water. Her magic build-up unleashed and a massive amount of bubbles rose all around her as her magic lashed out. Blade wasn't sure what was up or down for a second before she reoriented herself and swam back up to the surface with a big breath she reached it grinding her teeth she looked around but she was far away from the princess and then to top it off her bracelet rang and activated.

"Blade, you alright?" Saladin's voice echoed worried. "Your magic spiked as well as your vitals. Is Alfea under attack? Wait, how did you get into the lake, you just were…"

"I got it under control," Professor Avalon descended slowly as he came in range of the video feed arms crossed he hovered above Blade displeased. 'Shit, the water didn't snap her out of it.'

Blade coughed and spit out some water, as she brushed away her dreadlocks from her face that had gotten lose She rose from the waters turning towards Alfea as she rapidly fluttered her wings to get them dry while dark magic continued to pour out of her, "I'll rip her heart out and feed it to -"

"Blade, get a GRIP!" Avalon warned her one last time as he locked her down reaching under her arms and interlocking his hands behind her neck. She wouldn't settle down at all. Her aura was red and the pattern was still one giant swirl.

Blade furiously tried to get out of his hold and still aimed for Alfea, "Let me go! SHE ASKED FOR IT! I DIDN'T KILL JEWELS! I'LL TARE HER TO PIECES!" she was trapped in a cycle of self-feeding dark magic which was common for young Witches at the start. Since dark magic was enhanced through 'negative' feelings. She felt so powerful because the rage strengthened her regeneration. And the regeneration only drowned her deeper in her rage as it was too much for her body to hold.

Avalon sighed those dark magic flames stung, "Sumnio Falax!" He used his mind spell to force her to calm down.

"Avalon, her vitals, you're using light magic on her dark…" Saladin reminded him gently at the same moment. 'Her kill Jewels? What nonsense… what happened?!'

"Blade…Blade!" Avalon repeated again, "Breathe…come on, in and out. Slowly. You need to calm down." Avalon was still on alert, this wasn't over yet. 'Wonderful, Aurum hit her emotional sore spot, great.' Her aura was still an aggressive red and deep blue was mixing in. She wasn't following instructions at all. The red simply intensified again as well as her squirming around. 'So besides berserk, she as a beginner to dark magic is prone to rage-circles? …those two, truly…' It was common for beginner Witches then they drowned in their rage, they lost their ability to judge what was too much or not and became irrational. That was why aiming and controlling emotions was such an important thing for all dark magic users in fact.

"Let go…" Blade growled at him and scowled at him over her shoulder. She was still all tense because Avalon couldn't use his spell's full strength. There was no way he could use convergence in her rampage. And Light and Dark magic would conflict in her body too much right now. She saw him as an obstacle to be overcome not an ally after all.

"Call Griffin…" Professor Avalon wasn't keen on using his other methods on Blade's Shadion as they were a bit too forceful and injuries would be a possible outcome, plus fitting help was so close by. He dashed towards Cloud Tower as Blade struggled to get free in her rampage.

"Already did with the first abnormal dark magic spike…" Saladin commented dryly.

Just two minutes later. Blade still brimming with her dark magic tried to get lose yet again more aggressively. "I said, let me-"

A hawk with enlarged dark magic wings passed by them out of nowhere and made a sharp turn. Professor Zarathustra morphed back. "Can't you sparkles do anything alone?" She shook her head, this was a familiar sight to her. "Acquiēsce!" She quickly touched Blade's forehead as Avalon held her still. "You could have done that yourself…" She moaned. The dark magic oozing out stopped slowly.

"Wow, hey, that's way too much dark magic, you're to calm her down not knock her unconscious," He wasn't happy at all. Yet the vital display stopped blinking and everything was as if she was sleeping. "Seriously, You do know dark magic only has fewer repercussions…not none, why do you always have to overdo everything?" Professor Avalon held against the grumpy complaint. Blade sagged in his hold as her aura stabilised quickly.

"So? Do I look like a White Jade Order Paladin who slowly gasps the situation and applies just about enough magic to do the job`? I don't care, it's her fault for losing it, what works, works. I always use that amount with every student. It works. ALWAYS. You are pampering her way too much. No wonder she loses control." Zarathustra hissed at Avalon. Intensely she stared at the girl, "What got her riled up so much? She's a Fairy they don't do rage. And we finally beat that Berserk out of her. Now you start with this shit. Incompetent much," Zarathustra crossed her arms.

Professor Avalon rolled his eyes, "That's no reason to overpower her. All or nothing, you Sorce-Witches always go overboard." He shook his head and refocused this would get them nowhere, "Someone hit her sore spot…"

"Duh, which one?" The Witch raised her eyebrows. "Get to the point, Paladin. I have stuff to do and I need to assess the punishment."

"Yes, what sparked this? Did Shadion do something?" Saladin was still on call. He wasn't ready just yet to leave those two be.

"Punishment? … This is an Alfea matter. And no, it wasn't Shadion, the Princess of Dublare accused her of killing Jewels to gain Shadion powers…" Avalon sighed deeply.

"HA! AHAHAHA, nobles, that one comes as dumb as they can get," Zarathustra laughed her ass off. She still kept an eye on Blade who was coming to again but they were nearly there as the two were flying with haste towards the Tower.

"Don't speak like that about my students," the Paladin admonished the Witch Professor.

Zarathustra smirked devilishly, "Or what? You'll spank me? Oh, maybe some Alfean detention, cause that worked out so well. Tch. You can't do shit with your dead weight in your hands."

"Professor…that's enough," Saladin reprimanded her.

"Oh, why don't you leave a complaint with Griffin, Headmaster, make a record and file it, please do. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to read it and act accordingly," She commented salty though that comment had nothing to do with this situation. "And of course, she gets punished by us. Not for wanting to mop the floor with a crowny-face though, that would have been applauded if successful. Out-of-control rage circles are noob mistakes and dangerous unlike with Berserk you can lose sight of who friend and foe is, just like with a normal fit of rage, you just lash out. We are an elite school, we don't train wussies who can't control their emotions. It's the base for everything in dark magic, one has to get on top of this quickly or else…well…self-explanatory," She looked at Blade, 'Question is… will that work with something so deeply rooted…we normally have trifles with a scarcely few first years if at all, since Witches keep their weak spots a secret, hers are all out in the open for everyone to poke around in. Great…'

Not three minutes later the two Professors landed on the platform Blade had half woken up but everything still felt a bit unreal and surely, she wouldn't have been able to keep up with their flight speed. So, Avalon only set her down now at their destination. The tower morphed into a bit of slush as the Paladin dropped her to the ground gently.

"What is it doing?" Professor Avalon was a bit baffled. The Tower created something like veins or roots that slightly crept up on Blade who kneeled on the floor. She still felt a bit drowsy from Zarathustra's spell.

Zarathustra stepped towards her to inspect Blade and out of nowhere gave her a slap in the face, "Time to snap out of it."

"Hhhmmm…" Blade moaned a bit. This had drawn her attention but it was hard to focus. "What?" She shook her head irritated. Her cheek tingled.

"What do you think you are doing?" Professor Avalon stopped the Witch's hand before she would go for another, "Just give her a bit of time."

"I have a school full of juvenile Witches. I don't have time," Zarathustra pulled her hand back. Yet besides the complaints from the Paladin she also earned a hiss from Cloud Tower. "Yeah, yeah, your pet is alright. Chill. I took care of it… ahh, it's like you are her girlfriend or something…" She addressed the Tower. Even if Witches were disconnected from nature through the ritual that made them Witches. They still could talk to nature, receiving an answer like with voice of nature was a different story though. Yet Cloud Tower had always been smart enough to communicate with Witches nonetheless. There also was the possibility to use a stand-in like a Fairy, Wizard or Pixi to commune both ways as well.

"Girlfriend?" Professor Avalon was even more confused now.

"Yeah… wait, what? Cloud Tower?!" Blade was super confused to wake up here. "Where is that, brat?!" She jumped to her feet.

"Stay!" Zarathustra was in no mood to play and locked her down in a rune trap.

Professor Avalon crossed his arms, "Blade, not in that tone. Settle down." Yet he could feel that she still had way more magic than she should have after using so much of it. "How can she have so much back already? Is that how an out-of-control rage circle works?" It even rose from her in vapour-like streams again. He was rather intrigued by it, that was a rare sight for any Light magic user after all. And while his order had an elven Witch. She had never fallen into a rage circle in his presence and as a master of the dark arts wouldn't. Witches in the start always trained secluded under their own kind. So, chances for Light-users to run into a rage cycle were slim. So, by the time Witches were out in the open, they were supposed to be masters in controlling their emotions and trained continuously. Blade just had started that training though and so far, had not shown any indication when she got riled up a bit while using dark magic to even have the capacity for a rage cycle.

"Yes, yes, body reacts to emotions and more Drion is produced shortly or well generated. It's a bit like black magic corruption, but fundamentally different, since it comes from your own body," Zarathustra indulged Avalon slightly.

"Rage-cycle?!" Blade looked shocked and stared at her hands releasing the magic vapour. "Don't tell me…" She already had been warned by the Sorceress Professors about it, because they hadn't been sure if it was possible or not, now that she was able to control her dark magic at least decently enough. Then she noticed the Tower roots that were growing along her legs as she was stuck in the rune trap. "Ah…it's leaching again…" She stared at the vines enwrapping her.

"Oh, today it will get its fair share, missy," Zarathustra grinned amusedly. "Go ahead, take her, you know the drill." She turned to leave after giving the order to Cloud Tower.

"What, no, wait!" But she already could feel the grip of the tower tightening she couldn't even get out of the trap rune, "No, no, no, please!" Blade pleaded but Cloud Tower wouldn't let that chance escape to have its precious Fairy all to itself and swallowed her whole.

The more Professor Avalon watched the more peculiar and fascinating this became. Yet as his student vanished into the ground without proper warning he got a bit tense, "What are you talking about? Is she alright? Where is she?" The Tower obscured her magic presence. He couldn't detect her any longer.

"Ah, well her Drion regeneration is too high for her to control, hence the vapour, she's a fairy she has a set pool unlike us. Besides the Tower gobbles all students up that lose control and drains them off mostly all their magic for some time depending on how bad the loss of control was. Normally we kick those students out afterwards, they are not ready…lucky her…" She sighed.

"Some time is how long exactly?" He crossed his arms tapping his finger. 'She doesn't have that much magic, to begin with… hmm… maybe around three to four hours…if it does so slowly not to hurt her.'

Zarathustra already made her way down the landing platform to the ramp, "Well, you said trigger was Jewels so she properly blew up in your faces big time, I imagen. So, it'll be some days." She shrugged disinterestedly.

"DAYS?!" Professor Avalon couldn't believe this. "You can't drain her for days! The chance that she'll rebel and it ends in black magic… that's way too risky!" He walked after her. "If the Tower takes magic against her will, that will turn into a black magic ritual! It will harm them both." He as a member of the White Jade couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was a hard and tricky thing to drain black magic or more specifically to nullify it against the user's will. But cleansing actually helped the person and restored nature's order, all living beings besides the Phoenix and its minions in their core no matter how much corrupted would want to be freed in the deepest layer of their subconscious. So, there was no way to create more black magic through cleansing.

Professor Zarathustra sighed deeply, "Paladin, we are doing this for years. The Tower does it every few years. It's the best method. The body learns that using the rage cycle is bad because we give it a negative outcome in the end. The faster the consequence the better. So, the next one will be at least less severe not to mention that no student wants to be stuck for days in a wall because they had a fit over a spilt coffee or whatever. They get motivated to fucking stay as calm as necessary and keep their shit together."

"But she had barely any training like this, aiming her emotions is new to her. You know that!" Avalon protested vehemently. "That hurt is too deep-rooted and fresh. This will never work. She'll just fester anger against Princess Aurum."

"So, what? A focus point is always good for studies," Zarathustra laughed, "It works. Mister LIGHT magic. It always does. She'll have plenty of time to ponder and get her head straight. Now leave, I have a class to teach," She walked onwards. "We'll call."

"What? No," He rushed after her. He wasn't finished or satisfied at all with this mess of a solution.