Labyrinth of lies


Professor Avalon, Wizgiz and Palladium had finally caught all urchins, not that the students had been any great help. They were all too busy to listen to Memphis nonsense stories. Yet since Memphis had instantly picked up the role of group speaker and they weren't none the wiser, besides Julius's prior slip up, telling them they knew of the dark magic Fairy form.

"So, let me get this straight, Memphis" Professor Wizgiz summarised the most hightailing story he had heard in this century and Memphis had concocted quite a few ones already, "Blade and Nebula got washed ashore on Phere-Moan. Played hide and seek with unkillable zombies until they found the key to unlock the outgoing portal direction since Phere-Moan was cut off from all other planets. And that key somehow altered her Winx form. She spun her own cocoon, while Nebula somehow managed to keep the zombies at bay and that transformation took them around four weeks…. And the scratch on her hip was from a zombie bear, that actually had gotten past Nebula's defences?"

"Yes, huge zombie bear," Memphis nodded eagerly. "Like yay, high." He held his hand above his head.

"And that's supposed to be the truth this time?" Professor Wizgiz stared at him in utter astonishment. He had told them so many stories to explain how they knew of Blade's dark magic form and none made any sense whatsoever. The other students had simply shut up once Memphis started talking and the longer he talked while killing urchins the more ridiculous his stories had become.

Palladium was already losing it internally. His forehead was so red from facepalming about the utter bullshit Memphis was spinning this time around. He already had contradicted himself in the same sentence several times. 'Puppets and mummies, zombies, ghosts…he's working through a monster list…'

"You already covered zombies the first time …" Avalon rubbed his nose bridge. He couldn't believe that guy, 'At least he got the concept of zombies right this time. And chose a planet that actually has them.' Professor Avalon was keeping an eye on the whole bunch trying to get a read of their auras but besides, amusement and anxiousness they were showing him nothing of any value to interpret. Or was that because he was getting rather tired. It was hard for him to concentrate so intensely on such a large group of people to pick up on the slightest changes while fighting monsters. They really were stonewalling them. It all was becoming one big mush for Avalon by now.

"Well, alright, that was a lie," Memphis admitted freely without the Professor having to pick apart all the plot holes in his story, "Truth is, Nebula and Blade actually met the spirit of a dead dragon warrior, who actually was a farmer in his former life…"

"That's an elven bedtime story," Professor Palladium glared at him as he strangled the last urchin with vines to death. He really was trying to keep his composure, but Memphis really was pushing his luck here. He mostly was so riled up because of the witches and not these fifteen minutes of nonsense he mostly just ignored.

"Oh, you're right, sorry, did you know many stories are based on true events that over time…" Memphis continued.

"You don't say," Palladium just really wanted to strangle someone with vines. 'The audacity to kidnap our students… Griffin, you went too far…' Palladium's attention was swapping between listening and preparing plans to rescue the girls. He felt that he had been drinking this evening, which made it all the harder to get some solid plan together in his head. "Memphis."

"Yes?"

'Don't make me hurt you,' Professor Palladium turned to face the young lad. "Shut up."

Memphis nodded. 'Maybe I went a bit too far…. I swear Blade… if you don't help out with stable duties, I'll kill you myself.'

"After these wonderful fictions, to lighten the mood, the truth please," Professor Avalon gazed through his own students. 'Why are they so persistent not to tell us. Their friends got taken by the witches, who killed Jewels. They are way too calm about this. Then again,' He looked back, 'That wind was magical and I sensed Fairy magic.'

Snow cleared her throat, "Professor, what Memphis was trying to say is, we don't know. I'm not even sure Blade knows what exactly happened. She of course noticed the change and showed us today. She really didn't want you to freak out."

Professor Avalon finally got a decent read through her aura. She was definitely lying with the first sentence, but the rest was her honest opinion. She also was rather scared for some reason and not just the normal scared. She gave off the vibe as her life depended on it or something similar. 'Hmmm, something's up. But to consider a Fairy would attack so many students just to get those two… Maybe that is the reason for them not to be scared of the witches. Then again, why not tell us. We could help them much better than the Witches who are being scrutinized right now.' It wasn't like the students to refuse to tell stuff this important when he made his serious face. "I don't think this is the right place or time for this discussion. We better make our way out of the witch territory, before they decide to come back." With that sentence, he made it clear to the other professors to drop the topic for now. Even if they would get the truth now there was no way to use it out in the forest, "After all, they are stuck with Headmistress Griffin. If anyone knows anything about dark magic it's her. She wasn't using black magic or was controlled by anyone as far as I could tell. It simply might be their nice way of asking, where were you? Social interaction is not a witch's strong suit," He tried to reinsure Palladium, whose aura was showing surprise and a fit of underlining anger.

"Watch it," Mercury pointed through the treelines. "What's that?"

Professor Palladium stepped in front of his students. Closing his eyes for a second to connect with nature. "Horror slime, digesting some big kill. My, so starved…that's rare." He couldn't care less about it and broke off the connection to nature as soon as he knew what it was.

"We're in witch territory. Maybe one got it trapped in a hex circle somewhere and it just broke free," Professor Wizgiz lead the students in a big circle around the Horror Mud.

"Possibly, in any case, let's not become the next one," Professor Avalon took the lead and hurried to get his students out of the forest.

It took them a good hour to get to Alfea by foot. The rest of the Chaos squad had been called by Memphis to pick them up and fly the specialists back to Red Fountain. The fairies were awaited by an angry Griselda, who sent them straight to their dorms.

"What are those kids thinking?! Covering up a dark magic incident," Griselda was furious and tense. "Do they believe that sorts itself out? That's not just the flue."

"You two need to relax," Faragonda floated out of nowhere from the sky gazing at Palladium and Griselda. "What's the sit-rep?" She looked at Avalon.

"Students knew about the dark magic transformation, since at least today. Someone shot them down. I don't think it was the witches, but they took Blade. And Nebula jumped after them before we could stop her. My apologies, Headmistress, Nebula has become so quick with her clones…"

"Indeed. But how can you be so sure it wasn't the witches that set free those urchins, it could have been a distraction to single them out," Palladium asked his buddy rather surprised.

"Those things nearly killed them, besides the air was full of light magic. And I am pretty sure it was Fairy magic. It vanished once we arrived. The assailant must have fled. I would have traced her, but the safety of our students comes first. You must have picked up on that as well," Avalon transformed back and looked at his two colleges.

"Hmm, you're right there was a strong Fairy presence. But why would a Fairy attack a Fairy?" Professor Wizgiz hadn't given it much thought so far. He was still internally chuckling about Memphis tales.

Faragonda sighed heavily, "This is even worse than I thought…"

Griselda stared at her, "Worse than what? Where were you anyway? It took forever to reach you."

"I was gathering some more intel with one of my sources…" Faragonda explained vaguely.

"Oh, don't tell me you talked to that Organa again…she's a witch, a really sneaky one at that. You can't possibly believe anything she is saying," Griselda had no idea that Faragonda and Organa were the same person.

Faragonda smiled slightly. She had led Griselda on for years now. Just because once a young Griselda had tailed her because she was too eager to know where she was vanishing to and with a few dark magic spells it had become the most ridiculous night out ever. She had a bet running with Wizgiz, who had recognised the description of Organa to be very similar to what Faragonda had looked like as a younger witch. "Yes, I met Organa. We all should be prepared for great revelations at the next council meeting."

"What did she say?" Wizgiz asked as he smirked. This was way better than poker night.

"Basically, the witches are innocent and the fact that a Fairy attacked our students, is all the proof I need to believe Organa," Faragonda was really weighing how much she should tell the professors there was no need to. On the other hand, keeping them in the dark would also possibly lead to other problems.

"How can you be so calm, even if they are innocent? They captured two of our students. They are stuck at Cloud Tower. Don't you want to get them back?" Palladium was so confused. It was one thing to stay calm, but their headmistress was calm.

"Officially? Yes. Unofficially, no, if someone is trying to kill those two, it will be much harder to infiltrate Cloud Tower with all the witches occupying it at the moment." Faragonda liked these odds much more. "They gotta have to stay there till the next Council meeting."

"But it's Cloud Tower, are you sure they will be fine there for a week? In a dark magic environment, no less, that can be rather daunting on young fairies," Avalon wasn't sure if this was the best way to go about it. "We don't even know what that new Fairy from does. It could make things worse if she stays."

"You have no time anyways, we need to know what those red crystals are. If they can bring those to Magix without us even noticing, that is a real problem. So, for now, that takes priority. I am sure Griffin can handle dark magic better than any of us. And I'll make it clear to her that if she doesn't bring them both back unharmed, she'll regret it. Who knows, maybe the girls will talk to the witches since they certainly do not trust us with the truth at the moment." Faragonda walked past them.

"Where are you going?" Griselda was shaking her head, 'Now, who is hiding stuff? Great.'

"Making a call to Cloud Tower to return my students, this instant of course," she moved on.

Blade and Nebula were sitting in the dungeon. They had slept eventually and the new day was already there. It was utterly boring in the dungeon after playing for half an hour I can sense something you can't sense, they had had a small mudball fight, but even that felt like a waste of time eventually. Their biggest problem was, that they could not talk about the important stuff. They were sure these walls had eyes and ears. It was a Sorceress tower after all. Whatever creatures were to their left and right, they were nocturnal and hated anything bright, which explained why it was so dark down there. They barely could see anything, it reminded them greatly of Phere-Moan.

'I'm not sure what is worse, that I am not bothered by the dark lighting or that it reminds me of our homey temple on Phere-Moan. I wonder what they are doing all day stuck on that planet…' Blade moaned, "Urgh, we could play hide and seek…or climb the bars as competition." She suggested to Nebula.

"Sure, you need to turn around and guess though. We have like three square meters and I can't use my magic," Nebula chuckled. Phere-Moan had been a pain in the ass, but it never had been boring.

"You think we still get more detention once we are back? Oh, no… the others…" Blade sat up, she had mud all over her.

"Griselda…" A shiver went down Nebula's spine. "I know, I complained for like the last three hours… but, I'll take it back boring dungeon is way better than anything they are getting into." She chuckled.

Blade checked her bracelet for time. Nebula had given it back, since there was no point in keeping it, since the cat was out of the back, "You alright by the way? It is a rather gloomy atmosphere down here." Blade asked a bit concerned.

"Oh please, I am not made out of sugar. Beside this is…," She stopped. 'Nothing against Phere-Moan. I never noticed how draining that planet was… or rather hard to breathe. It's like a room no one has ventilated. I would say Cloud tower is just an empty room. But Phere-Moan was like a room filled with garbage bags. Not that I noticed really… Maybe that's what the Professors talked about with regions and alignment along the magical spectrum.'

Blade knew what she was going to say and smiled, "Right, once your nose gives up, it's not half bad here. Ah, … I still can't boost the signal to Alfea or Red Fountain." She clicked around on her interface. She had no problem at all with the local environment to her surprise. It felt as right as Alfea, weirdly enough even a tiny bit better. "Hey, Nebula since we have so much time, how about I teach you some hand-to-hand? You said you wanted to learn how to use a dagger, right?"

"Yeah, have you seen Memphis fight? They aren't so heavy. So, easy for me to take with and if I am in a pinch it would be much more effective," Nebula stared to the ground. The fight with Neferu came to mind. She had pulled so hard on his arm then and yet without Ife they both would have died. It was bugging her that without magic a Fairy, she, would be so defenceless. "But here? We don't even have a dagger."

"Ha, even if we had, I would start you off with hand to hand. A dagger is more or less an extension of your arm, a deadly one granted. But if your footwork is shit, it won't get you anywhere against trained opponents." Blade stood up. Lumps of mud fell from her back. "It's a bit dim though…oh well let's just do some basics first."

Griffin glanced at the crystal ball, watching those two starting to train. "My…look at that. They aren't even sulking. No, squabble, nothing… and I even let the tower do what it does." She sat down just for a second. Her next class would start any minute now. She focused on the tower to get a better read on those two. "Hmm, interesting. Blade's partial alignment with dark magic is basically nullifying the Tower effects, unless I let it pounce like yesterday, quite similar to my witches." She leaned on her elbow, "What is even more surprising is Nebula, though. She's still aligned with light magic, yet, she seems to have nerves of steel. Could it be the stress from the palace fight, she has already learned how to…no, that's not it…it's not even triggering her. What happened in those six weeks," she tapped with her fingers on her desk. "Hm… to ever think of two fairies using our dungeon as a gym. Preposterous!"

Ediltrude walked passed the open door and halted, "Headmistress, something wrong?" She knew that face. "Problem with the fairies are they fainting in the absence of light?" She laughed amused and stepped in.

Griffin rose from her chair, "Not exactly. They are fighting."

"Ha, I told you, the Tower is too strong for…" She looked inside the crystal ball. "They are training!? Do we look like Red Fountain? I'll… what is wrong with those two?" She couldn't quite believe it. "Did you tell the Tower to back off? I thought we wanted to stress them out a little so we get our information."

"No, they are simply not so much bothered by Cloud Tower. They have their emotions better under check and are quite resilient to the Dark Magic. I would say Blade isn't bothered at all and on Nebula it has next to no effect, so far," Griffin dispersed the image.

"Then we should…" Ediltrude was already considering several steps they could take to get them talking without using bewitchment.

"No," Griffin shook her head, "This is the first day. If we ramp up too quickly, who knows what happens. We need to be smart about this, we want to improve our chances in the Council meeting, not diminish them."

"Hmm, you're right, Griffin. My temper got the better of me," together with her she walked to her classes.

After two hours of training Nebula and Blade were too thirsty to continue. They sat down next to the back wall. "Ha, that is much easier than I thought," Nebula rejoiced. "Did we have some of that stuff in battle class? It sounded familiar."

"Yes and no, we had some basics about how to evade or get out of a grapple. Palladium has noted it to you guys several times. But we did not really train it properly." Blade swiped some sweat off her forehead. It was damp in the dungeons. So, they were sweating quicker. Her stomach grumbled. "Right…we had no breakfast or dinner…"

"You don't think they gonna starve us until we tell them?" Nebula got a bit twitchy about the topic. Phere-Moan had been a pain in the ass food-wise. She wasn't keen on repeating that.

"That's a good idea," a familiar voice resounded from further off.

"Ha, if we'd do that, we never would hear the end of their complaining," Alyssa and Steela came into sight as they stopped before the bars.

"You!" Nebula jumped to her feet gazing at the black and neon-haired girls, who had created so much trouble for them on Desertia.

Alyssa grimaced she really wasn't in the mood to hear complaining moths, "Buzz off, no one cares."

"You're that W-Sorceress that got Blade into so much trouble. How about a thank you, that's the least you can do," Nebula stopped in front of bars inside the cells.

"Nebula…I told you, it was a deal. A fair on-" Blade tried to calm her down.

"Fair? She pulled out Birdy from a trunk. You had to fight crown guards and stage a prison break, how is that a fair trade?!" She growled.

Steela was even more perplexed as Alyssa, "Sorceress… did you just… never mind. Here, your food and drink. Some yummy frog spawn bars with a pinch of crushed moths and wheat. Plus, whatever was left in yesterday's cafeteria soda dispensers. Sorry, we couldn't bother to use separate bottles, so we mixed it." She levitated the bottles and food bars towards them.

Blade gazed at the blackish bubbly water in the bottles, "Huh, never thought you would give us cocktails on the house," She opened one and took a sip and smiled, "Ahhh, that hit the spot." She took a few sips more. 'Yuck, is that coffee and orange juice and… urgh…at least we can train longer now.'

Alyssa watched her a bit grossed out, "Right… so where have you two been hiding? I was getting worried you truly died. Not that would have surprised me, you are Fairies, after all, glass canons of the universe." She joked around. She had her purple hoodie up and inspected her fingernails as she awaited an answer.

"Wouldn't your headmistress like to know," Nebula grinned. "What do ya get if you snitch on us? Better grade or your soul back?"

"Hey," Alyssa hissed but stopped. "Why the heck would I tell her?"

"Cause, she's your boss and it's always great to own favours," Blade bit into one of those bars. "Here, good proteins." She pressed one into Nebula's hand.

"So, you were somewhere else," Steela smirked satisfied.

Nebula took a bite as well, 'Man, since when do I eat stuff without thinking… it's all your fault Phere-Moan…hmm, not half bad.' She shook her head, "That is no news. Your Griffin already suspects…believes that. Not that I could care less…" She leaned against the prison bars and took one of the bottles herself. "Uhh, that's something else."

"Right, so many flavours, I am not sure which one is the best," Blade simply drank the bottle to stop her thirst.

"Try hards," Alyssa commented. "You really could make this easier on yourselves you know." She paused shortly, "There is no point in torturing yourself any further. I mean Jewels is already dead, we," She barely said the word before she corrected herself, "…you lost. What's the point of trying now?"

Nebula and Blade gazed at each other and then to the ground. Jewels still was a sour spot and probably would be for the rest of their lives, no amount of Shanna's therapy would change that.

"I didn't…" Alyssa saw their faces they spoke volumes of pain. "Come on, we can help you."

"Yeah, for what price, Sorceress?" Nebula looked up again. "You come here and think we just give up? Your egos might be scratched, who fucking cares. You don't even care. Parading around everywhere as if everything was normal. Have you even read the news? We lost a friend and not just one." Nebula and Blade had planned on updating them after making a waterproof contract with them, but that chance was out of the window.

"Hey, Sorceresses died on Desertia, too. Not to mention all those families! So, who fucking cares what's written in some stupid newspaper. Who the heck do YOU think, you are? Just because you see us as lesser beings, or whatever, doesn't give you the right to trample all over us. If you hadn't cast us out, we, Sorceresses, could have stopped that disaster!" Steela kicked against the bars, she was furious not just at them, but at how it all had gone down in the end.

"Yeah? Well, guess what," Blade started bickering herself, "If your profession's reputation wouldn't be one giant shitstorm, Jewels could have stopped the ban. How dare you pin this on us!" She balled her fists.

"You didn't even try!" Alyssa shouted.

"We did!" Blade held against it stepping right up to the bars.

"No, you didn't, we know what was discussed in those meetings. No one gave a crap! Stop hiding behind lies," Steela grabbed through the bars and pulled Blade in.

"There are more meetings than the official once, we tried to persuade the court. Jewels tried her best and was shut down," Blade took hold of Steela's dress.

"That's because the King and Queen were weak. They should just have said no. What cowards," Steela glared at Blade.

"You take that back," Nebula's face darkened. She was all riled up now. "They did everything for a more just and stronger Desertia. Your people were undermining everything! Stealing water, breaking the law, attacking guards. What did you think would happen?!"

"And what about those royals hoarding water and guards that just used the law as an excuse to let out their pent-up frustrations. Yes, we broke the law, but we at least did it to help people instead of being greedy noble assholes!" Alyssa flared up some magic.

"Tch," Nebula tightened her grip around the bottle. "Try it, I dare you." She was ready for anything.

Blade stood there trembling in anger, "There were many noble souls of noble bloodlines, who lost their lives defending civilians. So, you take that back!" She took hold of Steela's hand. In one swift move, she had Steela in a grapple as she had noticed her preparing a spell as well. Now they were eye to eye.

"Let her go!" Alyssa was shocked that Steela's head smashed against the bars and fired an energy sphere, which in return clashed with a flying bottle.

The bottle exploded the liquid splashing everywhere. Purple crackling energy ripped open a void and out stepped Headmistress Griffin, who with a swipe of her hands knocked both parties to the opposite sides. Alyssa and Steela hit the prison bars behind them and Blade and Nebula got flung into the back wall of their cell. "THAT'S ENOUGH!" It had not gone as she had hoped. She had thought the two young girls could have made a connection, but instead, it had widened the chasm. "Get a grip, we are all on the same side. We all want those traitors to pay." She said a bit more forthcoming to patch up the damage this encounter had caused.

Blade stood up, "Well, then let us out." She stopped, 'Wait what traitors… they know?!' She looked to Nebula who was equally surprised.

"So, you know and are doing nothing?" Nebula was perplexed. "Who's the coward now?!"

"AH," Griffin shut her students up. "We are preparing a trap. That needs time and information. Information you two have."

Blade straightened out her T-shirt, "If you know of the Coup de 'tat. Why keep us here? What's more to say?" She gazed at the Sorceresses. Griffin still was as cold and unreadable as before.

"If we get this wrong there will be hell to pay. We need all the information," Griffin crossed her arms everyone had cooled down.

"So, come on, spit it out already so we can get this over with," Alyssa was pulling out the juice of her hoody with magic. Everything was sticky, "Yuck."

Nebula bit her lip, "If you know all that. There is nothing more to say." She took another bottle into her hands just in case. 'How can Blade relax among them so quickly again?'

"You just said it yourself, there are many meetings in between doors. All of which can have vital information. You had the most contact with any of the court people in combination with your rank and status, well, at least one of you. It's not good enough knowing. It's the proofing part that makes this one a headache to sort out," Griffin breathed out. 'This is really taking forever…'

Blade glanced to Nebula who shook her head, "You may bring us any information you have gathered and we can tell you if we know about it or not. If it helps enforce justice we'll testify, if you let us out."

"Ha," Griffin chuckled, "You will do that, no matter if I'll let you out before the meeting or not. Nice try, poor execution." She had picked up on their non-verbal communications no problem, 'What is it they are hiding? Damn those anti-bewitching rules…'

Alyssa and Steela got ready to leave.

Blade closed her eyes. 'This sucked... if we just could team up…' Their conversation had gone way out of hand. Neither of them were the victors, so why were they still fighting each other. The two of them couldn't possibly tell Griffin for the same reason they couldn't tell Faragonda. They would have to report, that the princesses were still alive, to the Magic Council. And they didn't know if a traitor was amongst them or how quickly this news would reach one. Not to mention that their parents had decided it best to first search for traitors in their own ranks and that needed time. On the other hand, Sorceresses would be perfect to find traitors because of their own sneaky methods. "Steela…Alyssa…" Blade finally spoke up as she saw the two moving out.

"What?" Alyssa hissed.

"Sorry, for your losses. I hope no one close perished in those fights. Are Ali and the town, okay?"

Nebula's eyes widened she had completely forgotten that Steela was from Desertia, "Shit…" She mumbled to herself.

Steela gazed at the two, "They are fine. Town is one ugly mess…" She paused, wavering, "Sorry, for your friends…"

"Yeah…maybe, next time, we can work together from the get-go…" Blade picked up another power bar and flung another over to Nebula and set down to eat.

"Ha, that be the day," Alyssa chuckled, yet it wasn't the worst idea considering what had happened. 'Without them, Steela might have been executed by now.'

Headmistress Griffin stood there still for a moment longer, 'These two are eating that crap without complaint…Where is the Fairy tantrum? What happened…where did that Fairy form come from…?' She stared intensely at them as suddenly a frog spawn bar flew her way.

"If you're hungry too, I am sure we have enough of those," Nebula grinned at her. She tried to joke around because she found her standing there in silence utterly creepy.

With a raised eyebrow she watched the bar fall to her feet, "Yeah, no, thanks. Not even Faragonda would make me eat that crap." She paused, "Blade, do you know what condition triggered your new Fairy from?"

Blade coughed up as she nearly swallowed a huge junk at once, "Wha…what?" She looked at the Headmistress confused. 'Where did that come from? Does she know, oh, if she does then we're so screwed!' Slightly panicked she looked at Nebula.

"So, there is one and you do know," Griffin smiled intrigued. "Not just a joke of nature then. At least halves the books in question, thanks." She turned around satisfied. 'I should catch them more off guard.'

"Blade," Nebula got a grip of herself and gave her friend a slap on the knee.

"Hey, ouch…" Blade complained, "You just looked as startled as me!"