Brandon stared out at the gray sky outside of the Owl, the weather certainly was keeping in the spirits of things, he thought miserably as a lightning flash lit up the window. It was fitting, really that the sun wouldn't be shining while they said goodbye to the Fairy of the Shining Sun, to his first and only love, his sweet, sweet girlfriend, his Stella.

Thunder shook the Owl roughly, as another flash of lightning crashed down on top of them. Smoke quickly filled the cabin pulling Brandon out of his thoughts as he hacked and coughed, "What just happened?" he asked.

"We just got hit by lightning," Timmy announced, "We're going to have to make an emergency landing."

"Great, just great," Sky muttered, "We're already running late for the girls' memorial as it is thanks to that troll attack."

"I doubt that anyone would care that we're late, considering…" Helia offered softly.

"No, but the press will have a field day," Riven announced, "I can see the headlines now, 'Boyfriends of the Late Winx Club Refused to Attend Memorial, or worse, interrupted it…"

"We know Riven," Sky snapped, "They're dead, that's the long and short of it, and we're going to miss their memorial service because of this storm," he sighed loudly turning to Timmy, "Can you get us airborne again?"

Timmy shook his head, "Not in this storm, we'll just end up crashing again."

"Great," Riven snapped, "We get to spend the night in the Owl instead of in a comfortable bed."

"Maybe we don't have to," Helia announced, "I think there's some sort of building over there," he insisted, pointing out of the windshield, "Through those trees over there, there's a path, and I swear that looks like a house at the end of it."

"That's impossible," Timmy insisted, squinting in the direction Helia had pointed, it did look as if there was something beyond those trees, "Nobody lives in this area of the woods."

"Well, maybe you're wrong," Riven snapped, "Just like we were wrong about the Winx being invincible. If there's a possibility to sleep warm, dry, and comfortable, I want to investigate it."

…

The house sagged sadly to one side, all that was really left was a part of a wall and some roof. Riven looked at it in disgust, "Seriously, we got soaked for a ruin?" he demanded, "Now we'll have to trek all the way back to the Owl and spend the night wet, cold, and uncomfortable."

"It looks odd," Helia announced.

"That's because half of it is missing!"

"No, Riven, Helia is right," Sky insisted, "Look at it, the half of the roof we saw from the road is perfect, and the rest of it is completely gone…"

"There are no plants growing around the rubble either," Helia added, "There should be trees and all kinds of stuff growing among the remains if it was real."

"So you're saying what exactly?" Riven asked.

"It's an Illusion," Brandon announced.

Riven snorted, "Why would someone want us to think that there's a falling-down house in the middle of the woods?"

"Because the Winx don't want people to know where their secret hideout is," Timmy announced, where he stood next to the wrought Iron fence, "Look at the archway above the gate, through the rust and the vines," he turned his flashlight on it, "Can't you see, I think it says Winx."

"This must be what Bloom meant when she said that it was nice to just disappear sometimes," Sky gasped, "Who knows what kind of things they left here, it probably would give us an inside look at their day-to-day life. We always felt that their apartment in Alfea was lacking for being their home for the larger part of the year."

"You know what this reminds me of?" Brandon asked, "That one horror movie that Bloom made us watch, where they all went into the haunted house and never came out."

"Oh," Timmy exclaimed, "Isn't that the one that got Riven so scared that he slept with the lights on for a month afterward?"

"Shut up," Riven growled, "Are we going in, or staying out here getting soaked more by the hour?"

…

Beyond the gate, the whole place looked different, in front of them was a large three-story house with a large front porch that was complete with a rocking chair. A large tree to the side had a swing attached to it, the yard was well maintained, and the hedges lining the porch were trimmed.

"This looks like someone's been taking care of the yard," Helia announced.

"Probably just a maintenance spell," Riven grunted, "They're common enough and last a year if done properly, and the girls would have done it properly."

Helia sighed, "You're probably right, I mean, if they were alive, they would have contacted us, or their families right? Flora wouldn't let us think she was dead."

"Neither would Bloom," Sky agreed, "Come on, that roof looks pretty solid and I am near frozen here."

…

The house was surprisingly warm inside, no doubt another spell that kept the house comfortable for the Winx whenever they arrived home. A green light appeared, sweeping over them from head to toe before there was a sudden burst of wind and increased heat before it disappeared, leaving them with dry clothes.

Timmy held up his flashlight, straight ahead was some sort of sitting area, and to their right was a set of stairs heading to a second level, "The bedrooms are probably up there," he announced, pointing with his flashlight.

"If it's all the same for you, I think we should stay together," Helia insisted, "Just in case something happens."

"Are you afraid that the ghosts of our girlfriends are haunting their secret hideout?" Riven asked with a chuckle, "Come on Helia, don't be ridiculous."

"I'm with Helia, it's obvious that even though the…" Sky trailed off, swallowing hard, "Girls aren't here," he continued, "It's obvious that their spells are still active, and I don't want to accidentally activate a defensive spell meant for any press member who found this place."

"I suggest we head that way," Brandon announced, pointing down the hall, "Knowing Stella, the most dangerous place for us to be is their rooms, but the living room should be safe."

…

The living room was shrouded in shadows, the specialists could barely make out the outline of a large sectional sofa and a coffee table, which gave off an odd glow. Brandon approached the coffee table slowly peering down in confusion at what he was seeing.

On the table was a small rectangle with a music video playing across the screen, he frowned, "This is Musa's music player," he announced, Why in the world was it playing a video, and why couldn't they hear it, he thought to himself as he tapped the moving picture.

"I was listening to that," a sharp voice called out from the darkness.

A shrill scream sounded in the hallway, followed quickly by another voice, "Whoa… What the…Riven?"

Another high-pitched scream sounded, followed by a loud crashing sound, and yet another voice, "What is all this noise, can't a girl get a cup of tea in the middle of the night in peace around here?" it cried out as there was a flash of light, a flash of light that grew stronger until the whole room was illuminated.

The sight before Sky was confusing. Riven was huddling behind a tipped-over coat rack in the hallway, which probably had been what the crashing noise was, and behind him was Layla, her brown hair tussled with sleep, dressed in a light green tank top and dark green pajama pants. Musa was sitting in the corner of the couch, dressed, like Layla, for bed, with headphones over her ears. Stella was standing behind Musa in what was obviously a dining room area, a cup of tea in her hand and a large wet spot down the front of her silky nightgown and a scowl could be seen beneath her green face mask.

Footsteps could be heard thundering down the stairs, as Riven carefully stood up, standing the coatrack up again and placing the purses that had apparently been hanging on it back on it. Six purses, one for each of the Winx Club Members.

"What's going on!" yet another voice shouted, "I heard screaming." Bloom skidded to a stop next to Layla, taking in the living room, "Who screamed?" she demanded, "Come to think about it, it wasn't one of the other girls."

"Riven here freaked out when Musa spoke up after her music got turned off," Layla announced, "Jumped right into my arms while I was trying to figure out who was down here."

"And to think I thought he was brave," Musa quipped, moving off the couch and taking her headphones off in a single fluid movement.

"Are we just going to stand here staring at each other or is someone going to explain why the boys decided to drop in on us in the middle of the night," Stella asked, "Who told them about this place anyways, even the Pixies don't know where it is."

"We were forced to land due to the weather," Timmy explained, "We saw what appeared to be a building nearby and went to investigate."

"We have an illusion set up on this place," Layla insisted, "All you should have seen was an old ruin, why did you enter the gate?"

"The Winx symbol was over the gate, and only half the house was in ruin," Helia announced, "And there were no plants growing around the house either. We figured it must have been an illusion."

"Well, we better get that fixed," Bloom announced, "There's no point in having a secret hideout if everyone can find it."

"So you what, stumbled across our hideout and decided to let yourself in?"

"The door was unlocked Stella," Brandon insisted, "Besides, we thought it was empty, everyone thinks you're dead, you know, including your parents."

"Brandon brings up a good point," Sky announced, "We thought you were dead, everyone thinks you are dead. No one has heard from you since your last big fight against the Trix, and that was months ago."

"Pardon a girl for enjoying some peace and quiet," Stella exclaimed, "I mean I love being in the spotlight, but I couldn't even breathe without making the front page, and some of those pictures," she shook her head disappointedly, "Even I got tired of being famous."

"So you faked your own deaths?" Riven demanded.

"Not intentionally," Musa insisted, pulling back her long black hair from the side of her head and revealing angry-looking scars on her neck and shoulders, "We were hurt pretty badly in our last battle, we're still healing."

"What exactly happened?" Sky asked, "Nobody really knows much more than the fact that the Trix attacked Alfea with some sort of magical power source, you led them out to the woods, there was an explosion and you never came back."

Bloom sighed, moving into the living room, sitting down next to Musa, and placed a bandaged hand on her shoulder, "The Trix weren't interested in conquering Alfea, they wanted us, we knew that so… we led them away, the students can't handle a fight like we can. The only problem was, whatever artifact they were using… they couldn't control the power from it… We formed a forcefield around them just in time. It absorbed most of the blast. I don't think we'd be here if it hadn't."

"Bloom was amazing," Layla announced, limping into the room, to take a seat, "Her healing powers aren't that reliable, but they kicked in and got us stabilized enough to teleport back here."

"By the time Flora and Techna were out of danger everyone thought we were dead," Stella announced, plopping down next to Brandon, "And even I didn't want to have to deal with the press stuffing mikes in my face," she sighed, "So we just decided to stay here and not tell anyone," she shrugged, "It's not like you need us or anything, the Trix are gone."

"But what about your parents," Sky asked, before turning to Bloom, "Or Daphne?" he added, "Bloom, you worked so hard to reunite your family, and now you're denying them you."

Bloom glanced down, "We needed time to heal," she insisted, "And we really do like not having mikes shoved in our faces, but you have a point. Maybe I should call my parents, just to let them know that I'm okay."