Witchcraft 101


It was the third day. In the morning Blade and Nebula had mulled over the poem so often. Yet it was so vague. Not much made sense at all besides the burnout part. So, they swapped to studying and doing homework on her bracelet instead. Once they were fed up with that as well and the tasteless frog bars, they still were chewing like gum, were mostly diminished, both of them decided to do more sparring. "Keep your hands up. Don't drop your defence." Blade took a swing at Nebula, they fought with open palms so they wouldn't hurt each other so fast.

Nebula used one of the frog bars as a stand-in for a knife and was trying her best to get her, "Ha ha!" She stepped forward to slash her with it.

Blade smirked and simply sidestepped," You are way too obvious. Stop focusing on a specific point you want to slash and look at the whole body. Shoulders and feet give away your opponent's moves first." Blade made a feint to grab her hand and then went in for a stab.

"Ah, come on…" Nebula made some hectically slashes trying to get a hit in.

Blade kept her distance. It was the safer choice. 'There!' She stepped in and pushed Nebula's hand to the outside and gave her a small headbutt.

"Oh, crap!" Nebula got startled and actually tripped over Blade's foot, but caught on to her arm and pulled her with her.

Blade nailed her knife hand to the ground and used her body to pin Nebula to the ground. She ripped her arm free and poked the frog bar directly into Nebula's mouth. "Your dead, again." Blade laughed.

Nebula bit down on the bar and commented with a muffled voice, "And you have lost your knife. Beware my bite power!" Junks of frog bar were flying around.

"Ahahaha, if that were a real knife you just broke all of your teeth," Blade couldn't help but chuckle as well as she pulled her dear friend up. "Head still on your shoulders?"

"Yeah, all fine. If I could use my clones though, you'd be dead," Nebula replied, she was really confused about how to measure the distances correctly.

"Well, with cereal bars you two won't even get out of this cell," there it was a familiar voice. Organa stepped out of the shadows and stopped in front of the prison cell. "You seem in good spirits. You do know this is not a vacation?" She crossed her arms.

Nebula and Blade stared at her. "It is what we make of it. We'll not waste time, just because you take longer to get back to your senses," Nebula answered rather snippy.

"What do you want?" Blade asked straight out.

Nebula rolled her eyes, "Wrong, what does it cost? Come to think of it, my family has money. We could pay you to let us escape." She grinned, she liked that idea.

"Hm, I doubt you have enough worth this trouble," Organa smirked back. 'My word, is Cloud Tower getting to her?' She gazed at Blade, "Griffin wants to see you."

"Oh, so you're just a lacky? Not good enough to run this school, huh. She's going nowhere without me," Nebula walked forward to stand in front of Blade.

Blade nodded, "Yeah. You either take the both of us or you can tell Griffin if she wants something she can come herself." Her head was already racing to try to come up with an escape plan.

Organa neither looked surprised nor impressed, "Sure, but I would strongly advise against fleeing. You won't get far and you don't want to be hung upside down the spire, do you?" She asked challenging.

"Spire? I thought she wanted to hang us up her office ceiling," Blade pondered a bit. "Spire is outside, I gladly take that."

Organa shook her head and opened the prison cell. 'Lacky… that be the day.' She knew they would do something stupid.

The girls barely had stepped outside and transformed instantaneously dashing along the corridor to escape. "Quick, to the right, take the right!" Blade shouted as they sped through.

"Is that what the tower is telling you?" Nebula turned right. She already noticed that using her spells was out of the question, but at least her Winx form held up.

"No, but we can't split and it's fifty-fifty. Ha, she's so slow. I thought she would cast something…" Blade laughed relieved. They saw a hole opening up at the end of the corridor.

"There, nice!" Nebula took Blade by the hand and dashed through the toothy and slimy opening. It was black as night as they dashed upwards for a short while.

"Ha, this is eve-" Blade tried to slow down as they left the tunnel. Griffin was tapping her foot eager to get started. She was standing in front of the podium. The classroom was a half circle. And just like in Red Fountain it had spectator ranks and a free area below. "SHIT!"

"What? I thought this tower likes you!? Why is it guiding us straight to that hag," Nebula came to a halt, 'We're doomed…'

"Hag, huh, hags are known to eat fairies that misbehave," Griffin grinned devilish flaring up some magic. "Sit down and shut up or I make you."

Blade wasn't keen on getting battered again and landed. Nebula followed suit. Blade whispered into her ear, "The tower likes her more…"

"I told you, you should contest the bond she has with it," Nebula sat down and crossed her arms. "So? You summoned us. Speak."

Griffin glared at her, "You should change your attitude if you don't want to become a toad." She wasn't joking. Griffin noted as she saw Organa, who had just come through the same corridor as the fairies. It closed up right behind her. "Well then. You tell her…" She gave Organa the stage as the girls sat down and transformed back.

Organa cleared her throat, "Let's get started then. We checked that poem you two dug up in the night. And I am sure this goes without saying but, this is your last warning. If you go into that crypt again, there will be consequences and no Faragonda will be able to help you then. The books there can cost you your life. Things are sealed away for a reason." She was properly angry with them and paused. "Anyway, I checked the poem, there is a similar poem passed down generations of fairies. Here," Organa snapped with her fingers and a paper appeared in front of Blade. It had both versions on the paper and some notes scribbled here and there. "You can keep that. You can see the differences. And quite frankly you are in hot acid. There is more death and sacrifice mentioned than in any other text about fairies. You might not even get back your Winx at all or they might be lost at some point forever. Not to mention that you probably need to die to gain that third transformation."

"No way, you did that in these few hours?" Nebula stared at the research and reference notes to other texts. "Blade, but if you die. You're dead. How can you get a transformation, if you die?"

'Maybe calling it Zombix wasn't so stupid… Zombie mode, resuscitation, resurrection?' Blade looked at the notes. "Dakar… oh boy, this is even more complicated than I imagined…" She sighed.

"Well enough talking. I'm not here to grow roots," Griffin cut the lecture short. "Since you dying would complicate matters for me. Don't die while you are here." She first commented grimly. "No matter what I would say, you will use that form sooner or later. And why not dark magic is better than light magic." She stated proudly. "And since you are utterly useless since you can't go into your Winx. And yes, I know. Faragonda gave me an ear full about how dangerous it might be for you to stay here, because of that fact… what a worry ward." She shook her head. "I decided, I will explain the basics to you, so you are not a disgrace to all dark magic users. Who knows maybe as a minimum you can guess what you are doing and not blindly throw around your magic like you do now."

"You're helping me for free?" Blade found that utterly suspicious.

"No, I need you alive and the Council off my back. So, the least you can do is not die and actually learn something. Or do you want to get killed next time another assassin comes around, simply because you are wasting your stamina? Your weapons are unstable and you rely on going berserk to get shit done. Should I continue?" She asked challenging.

Blade looked to Nebula, "Fine… I get it I suck. At least I can transform in and out by now."

"By now?" Griffin raised an eyebrow. 'Don't tell me she got stuck using dark magic till she fainted before coming back to Alfea like an utter fool.' She couldn't help but chuckled and shook her head again, "First off, stop using going berserk or burnout for that matter. That goes for you too." She glared at Nebula. "It's the last resort technique for life and death situations. Not something you should do on a whim. You are already making a bad habit out of using it so casually."

"Casually? It's the best strength booster I have, any of us have. How else should we beat strong opponents or keep on fighting? I don't have much magic, to begin with," Blade asked annoyed.

"Simple. You retreat, let other people take over, who actually know what they are doing and be done with it. Live to fight another day and become competent," Organa threw in. She was a bit agitated.

Nebula crossed her arms, "That's a luxury we don't always have."

"That's why I said last resort," Griffin rolled her eyes once more. "Jumping after a friend through a portal knowing you end up unconscious on the other side is utter stupidity. If I was a black magic user you would have given me two hostages at best and at worst, I would have no use for you and straight out killed you. Did you ever think of that? No, you didn't. You saw your friend vanish and panicked." Griffin put her foot down. "Going all out has to be to your advantage or it's bullshit," She glanced to Blade, who was biting her lip, "And you, there is no point in going berserk if you face multiple opponents stronger than you. If you do not use it to escape. And giving up flight is the worst idea in that situation. You cannot escape by foot. You can be glad that you got your wings back by the way. You didn't know that fact beforehand, did you?"

"Ah…" Blade blinked and looked over her shoulders. Indeed, her wings were back. She had not considered the possibility of being flightless forever. "Wait, I thought one needs Fairy dust to..."

"No. It's dark magic, not light magic." Griffin sighed. "Dark magic uses the body to draw power. Your arm went limp because you drew all the energy out of it. Once it's healed, it's back to normal. The same goes for your wings. You shattered them to gain more dark magic, but you lost your flight ability. Once your body was rested, you were able to transform and get your wings back again. It's a risky trade, but by far not as foolish as the light magic wings, where you lose most of your magic power if not all until someone else heals you," Griffin stared into confused faces.

"What?" Blade didn't understand at all. Griffin was going way too fast for her. "Body? But we use magic. So, do you."

"To simplify, you have a body circulation which contains energy and a Mana circulation that contains energy as well. Each magic type uses different ratios of both types. And each circulation can be trained and nurtured through different methods. Body circulation basically relies on the condition of your body. How strong is it? How big are you, have you eaten or rested? How much is it conditioned to withstand strain? That's the reason why commoners are better at dark magic. They don't use their magic to float around their grocery bags or use magic to fly or any other thing to make life easy with magic. They do stuff by hand and by themselves. Nobles are historically the defenders of the common folk. So, they trained in the use of magic and through bloodlines, their children got a stronger Mana circulation through time," Organa gave a lengthy explanation.

"So…Specialists or Paladins should excel in dark magic. But most of them use light magic…" Blade stated the obvious.

Griffin took over to explain with haste she made her points, "It's not just that. It's also the frame of mind you have to cultivate for each magic type and public opinion that influence the choice of alignment. There indeed are Dark Magic Paladins, who don't give a shit what people think. Witch Magic uses the negative emotion spectrum, because the body releases different chemicals, like adrenaline, quicker which helps to extend your body's energy. But let's not get too deep into that," Griffin was getting a bit impatient. "You need to make it work, you don't need to understand it in its littlest aspects."

Organa gave Griffin a look and continued to explain in more detail, "The wings of a Fairy have a reason for existing. They are like magic batteries. Besides sparkling like someone sneezed into a star powder pouch, they are the reason spells are easier to access and use less magic to conjure. Once you drop out of the form the rest of your magic flows back into you. That's also the reason why you lose your magic with the destruction of your light magic wings. They so to speak are the same wings in each transformation. While as far as we can tell the dark magic wings are different pairs each time even if they look the same," Organa elaborated some more. 'Why is Griffin always so shortcut? Blade needs to understand the dangers of this new form.'

"How do you know so much about fairies?" Nebula found it a bit suspicious. They had heard parts of it in school.

"If you know your opponent the quicker you can deal with them. Easy," Organa grinned devilish and sent a shiver down her students' spine. 'Still got it, ha.'

"So, what you are telling me is… I get all pale and lose stamina faster because I use body energy to power this dark form. And since I am better in the physical department it feels stronger," Blade gazed at the two Sorceresses.

"The pale part is because you draw so much energy. No Witch can do it that strongly or would. There is nothing to gain, we don't use wings to fly," Griffin commented a bit snarky. "You losing stamina though is because your ratio is wrong. You use dark magic as if it were Fairy magic. You go mostly all body energy with next to no Mana. So you filled up the gab with more dark magic and that drains your stamina. It's also the reason why your weapons are so unstable. You need a certain amount of Mana to give it its intended form. You don't throw an open water bottle and expect it to be still full afterwards."

"Hmm…" Blade tilted her head. 'That's all fine but what is the ratio?' She looked to Nebula to gaze at her reaction to all this information.

"Don't look at me. I have no clue about dark magic," Nebula wasn't sure why these two were so helpful. 'Is it truly because the Sorceress are in so much trouble otherwise…'

"So, how do I get the ratio right?" Blade finally asked.

"You train hard and figure it out," Griffin raised her eyebrow. "What are you learning in that school of yours?"

Organa gave Griffin a look again, "We don't have time for half-assed answer."

"The real answer is not much better though. Fine," reluctantly Griffin stepped forward as she picked up a crystal from the podium, "You use it like this!" She full force hurled it at Blade, who quickly ducked away. The crystal shattered on impact with the seating.

"Hey, what's your problem!" Blade had covered her face with her arms and elbows to protect it from the shards.

Nebula was growling at the headmistress, yet held back, "You…"

"Exactly. You don't think, you just do. And you stay in that negative emotional state of mind. Yet you do not go overboard and rampage. The rest is rinse and repeat," Griffin smirked she truly had freaked the two girls out with her sudden aggression and it made her so happy.

Blade settled down again, "But the dark magic is constantly overruling my light magic. How am I…"

"State of mind, are you even listening?" Griffin got pissed again. "Negative emotions, dark magic. All that fuzzy and warm shit, light magic. Am I speaking Abyssal or something?"

Organa sighed Griffin wasn't the most patient teacher and stepped in, "Blade, you're are brimming with an underlining fear and anxiety all the time. Not to mention your anger towards those who betrayed your friend and caused her death. All you have been doing is fighting. Even now you fight us or your Professors at Alfea. You might be mostly fine mentally, because of your PSI friend Shanna. Nonetheless, you have not relaxed one bit."

"Wait, she just needs to feel safe and think positively and she can get into her Winx again?" Nebula was fascinated by that fact. 'Well even on Phere-Moan we constantly were on edge or grieving… and now hiding all this stuff from the professors…' She stopped, "So how am I able to still use my Winx? I was with her all the time."

Blade picked her nails, "Because you have no alternative. Light magic is your only option. Have you not noticed any drawbacks?" She asked her friend concerned.

"Well, sure… I just thought it was because of all our constant fighting," Nebula scratched her head. "This makes so much more sense."

Griffin simply shook her head, "Well then, I leave you three up to some training. I have better things to do. If you try some bullshit you are going straight back into your cell." She warned the girls and was about to leave as Blade stopped her.

"Wait, I kind of get all that. But…" She paused, was this wise? But no one would better know than Griffin. "…You said to control emotions, use both mana and body energy…what about Drion? What does that do?" She simply had to risk it. 'Mister G had said all fairies back in his days had used that for their magic. Maybe it is something specifically for dark fairies. If I want to get the hang of this, I better do it right.'

Griffin stopped dead in her tracks. 'Drion? Where has she heard that term?' Slowly she turned around squinting her eyes. "Where have you heard that term?"

Nebula was on edge now, but truly she could not use any magic spells inside the tower, "Just tell us."

"Only if you tell me where you heard that term," Griffin stayed ice cold. 'That term is ancient.'

Blade thought for a second, "…the tower told me in your office." She tried to be as convincing as possible.

"Did it now," Griffin did not believe her one bit. Yet she knew Blade and Nebula were determent not to spill the beans on where they were so this would become a senseless back and forth. "Mana is the archaic terminology for light magic. Drion is the archaic version of body energy. But that word lost meaning over time."

Nebula was even more confused now. She had picked up on the fact that Sorceress Organa had never heard of Drion before. But even more astonishing was that she was more surprised that Drion was the counterpart to Mana. She had used the term Mana herself after all. 'Is it some secret only the headmistress or super powerful Sorceresses knew?' So far, they had seemed equally knowledgeable, but that wasn't the case. "Wait, but why is Mana still in use then?"

"Do I look like a Fairy to you? I don't fucking care about light magic. Do some work, read a book. Do you always need so much hand-holding?" The headmistress snapped. "If all you want is talk, I can send you back to your cell, right now," She growled.

"No, no, we are good," Blade laid a hand on Nebula's shoulder and shook her head to signal her to drop the topic. It was an awkward silence that followed. Griffin had left the room without giving a reason and Organa sighed loudly.

Blade stared at the poem notes again, "But this said that I might not even get back my Winx…" She mulled it over.

"Can't help you with that either. Now come. Stand up and reach out with your hands, summon some dark magic," Organa ordered firmly.

"What am I supposed to do?" Nebula asked. She of course would not get in the way of Blade's much-needed lesson and pull a stunt. Yet there was not much she could do.

"Look pretty," Organa smirked, "What are you waiting for? Will you hurry it up?" She hastened Blade.

Blade jumped to the front and transformed into her Zombix again, "Alright, alright." She focused on some dark magic. It was flickering wildly.

"More Mana," Organa stated within the second. 'Oh my, this is going to take a while…'

Blade concentrated she wanted to invoke some light magic to mix it. Yet the whole thing exploded in her face, "Ouch…"

"Blade, you okay?" Nebula was worried.

"Shut up, I said look pretty. And you, Blade, are not supposed to converge light and dark magic. You simply need to get the ratio right. Calm down and focus your negative thoughts," Organa shooed Nebula away. She would not be any help.

"Fine," Blade controlled her breathing and relaxed. She focused on some dark magic again. Now it was way too small like a dying candle flame.

"I said focus negative emotions. Not visit your happy place in your head," Organa rolled her eyes and flicked her forehead. 'I really wish I could give her more help, but she needs to stay agitated. Our calm ways will not help her with this…'

"Oh, come on!" Blade was startled by the flick. "How is that supposed to help?" She turned to face her stand-in teacher.

"There, exactly that. Took you long enough," Organa pointed to her hand.

Blade stared at it. Indeed, the flared-up magic now looked similar enough to what she had seen Griffin use. "How? What? Ahhhh…" And the moment her state of mind changed it died down again.

"Concentrate, glow-worm," Organa scolded her.

Nebula gazed at the two bickering like an old couple. 'Look pretty, huh. If I could only use my magic in here. I could at least train myself.' She looked around. The room seemed like a normal room. The decoration still was tasteless, like someone with an obsession with graveyards and dark caves would come up with. She moved along the stance. Here and there people had carved in or scribbled around some insults. 'And this is supposed to be a living being… I would not let myself get tattooed by no names…' She tried to invoke a daylight spell. But after a slight spark she could feel how the tower gobbled her spell up. "Oh, you're so stingy," she mumbled to herself. She stopped in front of the back wall. "What did we ever do to you?" She whined to the Tower. "EHH!" She jumped and transformed, the floor had sunken in beneath her feet as if it was a swamp.

"Hey, stop messing with Cloud Tower. You'll lose. I will not get you out of the wall if it swallows you," Organa warned her. "I said, focus on someone you don't like. Not someone you want to kill." She refocused her attention on Blade.

"Grrr," Nebula hovered above the ground. She glanced over her shoulders, and Organa ignored her again. "At least tell me, why. Blade's a Fairy too." She stared at the wall.

"…"

Nebula sighed, "There is no reason to stonewall me… hmm," she reached out with her hand. "Voice of nature…" She whispered as she touched the wall. It bit her. "Ouch… damn you." She licked off the blood.

"…"

"Oh, you will give me an explanation at least," She glared at the wall.

"How often do I need to repeat myself? You need to focus your negative emotions, give them a goal, a focus," Organa sighed in the background.

Nebula grinned, 'Negative, eh. You like that…' she recalled her memories of Desertia all the anger she still had for those traitors. "Voice of nature. Talk to me you blockhead." This time around Nebula's hand got stuck inside the wall the moment she touched it. And the spell didn't work at all either. 'Crap!' She pulled at it. 'I'm stuck… oh no…'

"What are you doing up there?" Organa glared at her.

"Nothing, all good." Nebula turned around to face her and hit her stuck hand behind her back. "I am just…" But Organa was already back to focusing on Blade. Nebula turned to face the wall again, she could feel the tower taking it real slow as it ate up her released light magic. "Hungry are, ya? Got more where that came from." She released more magic. It got gobbled up before Nebula could use it for something sophisticated. She could feel something like a tongue licked along her stuck hand. "Eeehh," she tried her best to contain her surprise. "Let me go, I swear, I lick you too!" She whispered angrily.

"…"

She growled once more, "Fine you asked for it." She stepped up to the wall and licked right over it. 'Uuhh, yuck, yuck,' She started to cough. It tasted all mouldy.

"…"

Nebula could swear she felt the tower chuckle. 'Eeeewwww….'

"You alright, Nebula?" Blade asked concerned.

"Sure!" Nebula noticed that her tongue was all fuzzy. She smiled.

"CONCENTRATE!" Organa gave Blade a head slap.

Nebula now with a fuzzy tongue and a hand stuck in the wall, sighed annoyed, "Fine this round goes to you."

"…"

"Let go," Nebula got frustrated, she wanted her hand back. So, she pressed with both her feet against the wall and tried to forcefully pull her hand out. She even used her wings to gain more pull. Yet it was like her hand was cemented. Out of the blue the wall let her go. She tumbled through the air before she smashed into some chains hanging from the ceiling. Organa ignored her and Blade was too focused. She darted down to the wall again. "Voice of nature," She pressed her hand against the wall again. "You think you're funny, don't ya?"

"…"

"Well, you won't get rid of me that easily. So, come on, let me use my magic here. You do know that people tried to kill Blade and me for that matter," Nebula started to bargain.

"…"

"What if they come here? Let me protect her. You don't want harm to come to her. I can help," Nebula made her case.

"…"

Nebula let her head sink as she pleaded on, "Hey, it's not like Griffin sleeps in the same cell. And what you can do to protect her is limited. I on the other hand am right by her side all the time."

"…"

"Are you even listening?" Nebula felt so stupid. She was literally talking to a wall.

"…"

She tilted her head, "Is that a yes or a no?" She felt some movement beneath the palm of her hand. "Okay, how about that then. I give you all the magic of my Charmix right now and in exchange I get to use my magic."

"…"

Nebula got nothing, "Hey, I want to help Blade train. She has to be able to use dark magic no matter what. I would be great sparring partner. And you could see her in action trying to pummel me. Two fairies fighting each other. You must love that."

"…"

It was a strange feeling as Cloud Tower sipped some of the offered magic but stopped. "Don't tell me you want more…"

"…"

"If I give you everything I can't help Blade," Nebula complained. "How about half of everything?"

"…"

She got some movement from the wall, but she got the sense that the tower still wanted more. "Fine, then at least let us split it into smaller payments. I give you everything I have at the end of the day as long as I stay here."

"…"

Nebula got a tiny stone flung at her. "Hey, no reason to spit at me!" She got pissed shortly, that tower was so stingy. "Alright, alright, I get it. You get a lot of Drion but not a lot of Mana… I get it. How about you can take as much Mana from me while I sleep without killing me though? Blade said the Sorceresses here have some sort of contract with you. She felt their magic presences. I can meditate in the morning and will be filled up afterwards. You just need to make sure Blade is save for those two hours then."

"…"

Nothing happened for a few seconds. Nebula got worried, she really wanted her magic spells back, "It's the best deal I can give you really. It's the same as with the Sorceresses. It's a good bargain. So, let's shake on it right now." Nebula smiled brightly as if she wanted to sell toothpaste to strangers at the door.

"…"

Without a warning, she got pulled by her hand which connected her to Cloudtower. And the wall opened up and swallowed her, "OH SHHHH-!"

Organa looked up, but it was already too late. 'Oh, for crying out loud. What did she do now to piss the Tower off? I can't use my light magic to pull her out. My cover will blow… great, Griffin will have a field day with me.'

Blade opened her eyes Nebula was gone, "What happened?! What did you do?"

Nebula struggled, "Fuck." The small bubble chamber filled with some wet slime quickly. 'Oh no, no, no, no…is this some sort of Sorceress ritual? Did I understand the Tower wrong?!' The Tower started to squeeze and shake her. As she lost orientation she suddenly got flushed out of the wall again.

Blade had darted up to the wall where she had last seen Nebula and was ready to ram her palm against the wall "Voice of nat- Nebula!" She flew upwards as a wave of slime and goo washed over the stairs as Nebula got spit out. Nebula sat there like a wet cat for a second. "Girl, what did you do, you look like a slime."

Nebula flicked her arm to get rid of all that stuff, "Yeah, I'm good."

"I told you not to mess with the Tower!" Organa yelled at her. 'Wait is that…'

Nebula felt it too, "Ha, ahahaha, Yes! Daylight!" She jumped to her feet slime splattering everywhere. She raised her hand high. And a brightly glowing orb of light magic appeared and wasn't gobbled up.

Organa was horrified, "What did you do?!" Gladly she could not feel anything wrong with her Fairy form or magic. 'You cannot leave these two alone for a second….'

"How? I thought you can't use light magic here," Blade was perplexed and amazed at the same time. Even if Blade used the voice of nature spell she used dark magic, and because of that it cost her more magic each time.

"I stroke a bargain and we shook on it!" Nebula grinned happily.

"So, that's why you are covered in goo," Blade laughed so hard. "Wet handshake, mh, yum."

Organa stared at them grim and cold. Yet she was so relieved to see these two chipper for once, "Well then, we adjust your training. You attack her," She ordered Nebula, "Blade you evade and try to focus on creating stable dark magic weapons."

"What, no fair, why am I not allowed to fight back?" Blade complained.

"You can try, but only with stable spells," Organa crossed her arms. "It is one thing to wing something under pressure. Now you need to do it right or not at all. Basics are everything."

Blade breathed in she was facing off against Nebula, who was readying herself. 'Focus Blade. She's quick, you can do this.'

"Ha, you are going down, Blade," Nebula grinned as she hovered above the floor.

Blade flared up her magic to create her first dart, "You wish!" She was about to throw it when she noticed the crackling. "Oh no." She stopped right away.

"Fog illusion, Mirror Space!" Nebula created her first clone.

Blade quickly retried and threw the stable dart at Nebula who she knew just had used her swapping spell. Yet to her surprise it still was the clone and once the attacks clashed they got dispersed into smoke and vanished. "Oh, you wanna play that way?" Blade smirked. 'Cheeky,' she focused again. But she was in the entirely wrong mindset and nothing happened this time around as she tried to create a stable dart.

"Plasma sphere!" Nebula shouted as she laughed her ass off. "Oh, come on. Do I need to take another handy cap?" She hurled her sphere at her. "I already am waiting for you to do something."

Blade soared upwards out of the way. "You'll regret saying that!" She focused as she clapped her hands together creating another dart while she moved them apart. She reached out and shot.

"Veil! Solid fog!" Nebula stood still, that dart had been way too small and indeed her shield held. "Ahahaha, cute. I know you are bad at ranged attacks, but your light magic darts at least had an impact. Don't tell me you are not taking me seriously just because I am not actually trying to kill you!"

Blade balled her fists, 'Damn it.' She wanted to create another. Yet it gave off some crackles so she had to drop the spell.

"Charmix! Let's get real, Darling. White fog! Semblance phantasms!" Nebula filled the room with an explosion of a fog cloud and went silent.

'Shit,' Blade couldn't see anything. She breathed out, 'Is that the new spell? Come on, remember focus on the form.' She created another dart. She noticed that it was still crackling she closed her hand around it and focused on fixing up the form. Quickly she stuffed it into her pouch as she moved through the fog trying to get a lock on the real Nebula all while she tried to create more darts. 'This fog is so annoying. I really need to think of a way to counter a smokescreen. She walked backwards trying to find a wall or something to take cover behind. Nebula had learned how to gain the best angles on Phere-Moan after all. Plus, it was her fog she probably had a good line of fire by now.

Nebula moved around her clones, 'Let's see how long it takes you to find me.' She let one of her clones go for a dive to ram Blade to the ground.

Blade noticed a shadow racing towards her from her right flank and soared up high to escape. Just to be tackled by another. 'Shit!' She ripped the hands of the clone from her throat and went in for a headbutt and pushed upwards to crash it into the ceiling. Finally, the clone let go of its grapple completely and she flung it over her shoulders. And kicked it, as she infused magic into her leg to give it a proper send-off. She heard a muffled thud as it smashed into the ground beneath, "You got to do better than that, Nebula." She tried her best to create more darts and stored them all in her belt pocket. She could only keep around every fourth. 'Come on, I am way too slow…She can create even more clones at once with that new spell. If I want to win this, I need enough darts to nail her to a wall…'

'What is she waiting for? … Is the creation not working… no, I can feel she is using dark magic. I might know where she is, but I still can't sense what she is doing. That sneaky, little… she is planning something, I am sure of it.' Nebula ground her teeth, "Plasma Sphere!"

Blade looked up as several clones did the same and yellowish-green lights glowed up, "Oh, fuck," Blade took a dive roll as she got bombarded with plasma spheres. "Stop trying to kill me!" She complained there was no way she could create a stable dart while running she was way too distracted.

"Ahahaha, are you nothing without the help of a wizard to back you up?" Nebula laughed amused. "Oh, fuck…" She dashed to the side as a dart passed straight past her. 'How did she find me?!'

'Ha, keep talking. Oh, how I wish I could do some bat ears like Wizgiz. This would be easy then… Would I even be able to transform midbattle?' Blade just in time evaded a plasma sphere from right above, "WOAH!" She wanted to fire another fresh dart but it crackled loudly. "SHIT!"

Nebula could hear a loud explosion through the fog, "What are you doing? You alright!?" She could sense Blade in her fog, she was free falling. "BLADE!" She lifted the fog and soared towards her friend. 'What happened?!' She gazed at Organa who was simply standing there doing nothing, 'What a bitch!' She reached out to take a hold of Blade's hand.

Blade could feel her friend closing in, "HA!" She grabbed Nebula and pulled her in as she drew out one of her darts from the belt pocket.

"You witch!" Nebula squeaked as she tried her new learned close combat block. 'Shit, I came too close, I am so stupid!' Quickly she cast, "Mirro-" She coughed.

Blade wouldn't let her swap out so easily. She had hit Nebula's Adam's apple with her elbow and Nebula botched her spell in return, "You should know better than to fall for that old trick!" Blade grinned satisfied.

Nebula beat hard with her wings, "You- kn- bette-r, yo-self!" She still coughed. Her massive wings accelerated them both charging toward the ground.

Blade infused magic into her wings, "Oh no, you don't!" She tried to contest her friend's power. Slowly they slowed down. Her wings were just about to touch the floor as they came to a stand-off. "Ha!"

Nebula grinned, "Gotcha!" Her clones crashed into them. And with her two clones, she nailed Blade to the ground.

Blade stemmed her feed against the bundle of Nebula's all while trying to scratch Nebula with her dart. The two girls stared into each other's eyes. As they fought over the dart. Blade infused magic into her arms closing in on Nebula's chest.

Organa got off the edge of the podium, 'These two are taking this way too seriously. This isn't combat training. I got to sto-'

"Mirror space! Haze mirage!"

Organa watched as Nebula used her one second to swap with her other clone, who was far off in the corner of the room. And Blade pierced through the clone on top of her and the next, then her dart broke. Quickly she drew another of the prepared ones and threw it at the last clone in front of her.

"Haha, bull's eye!" Blade rejoiced and drew two more.

"Oh, come on, how many did you create!?" Nebula shot another plasma sphere.

"Says the right one, four clones at once, damn girl," Blade couldn't be prouder of her.

"Charmix are not to joke about," Nebula grinned. 'Doesn't matter if she sucks at those darts, her combat skills are a pain in the ass…' She soared around in loops as Blade tried to get a hit in with her darts.

'Last one,' Blade threw it at her but she hit the after image, "Shit…" She hovered in the air and created a new dart, but it crackled wildly, "Oh no!" She dropped it and dashed away. The dart exploded into a small cloud that dispersed. "Oh, come on…"

"You are not using enough Mana," Organa commented as she shook her head. 'They should stop fighting as if this was a real battle and do something to help the exercise…' Organa sighed, 'It's a bit scary how cutthroat these moves are. Even her spheres… that's what the life or death battles do to you. Once they are back in Alfea, Palladium and Avalon really need to account for that in battle class. They are not so scared of taking a dangerous hit or risk.'

Blade dashed forward, "Ah, this takes too long! I'm not going to lose." She abandoned her futile attempts to build another dart.

"Fog illusion! Plasma Sphere!" Nebula created the clone right in front of her and shot past it.

"Missed me!" Blade flew a spiral around the sphere ready to ram her friend against the wall to pin her. She infused her fist with dark magic and punched right through the clone.

"Solid fog!" Nebula waited just for the moment Blade's arm was in the dispersing clone and solidified it.

Blade snatched her at her top, "You're going nowhere." She used her free hand to create another dart. First, nothing happened. The second time around it finally worked.

"Plasma sphere!" Nebula quickly readied another sphere and hammered it against Blade who reached over the solid fog to stab her.

The sphere clashed with the dart and the sphere burst and broke the dart apart. Both girls got flung to opposite sides of the room and slammed against the walls like flies on a windshield.

"Ouch," they both commented before they started to giggle.

"Who uses a sphere for a shield block!?" Blade couldn't believe it.

Nebula laughed so hard, "You go charging in like a bull when it's about magic control?!"

Organa breathed out relieved, "Hey, don't destroy the classroom!" She scolded them harshly. 'Ahhh, how can they be so reckless…' She stepped forward and crossed her arms as she gave her best-unimpressed expression. "That were around twenty-five percent of stable spells. Not good enough." She thought for a second, "Blade come here." She had noticed that Blade had relaxed and was in good spirits right now. "Drop your dark Fairy form."

Nebula and Blade made their way to the front and Blade dropped her form, "Alright, what now?"

"Concentrate on that lovey-dovy feeling. And that happiness that makes me wanna puke," Organa commanded.

"Why?" Blade closed her eyes, "That's not-"

"Silence." Organa demanded, "Focus, on all the good times, all the night outs with your friend. The fun you had…. Now repeat after me. Fairy of…"

Blade did as she was told, "Fairy of…"

"Blades," Organa finished the transformation spell.

"Blades!" Blade repeated and there it was that old warm feeling. Blade opened her eyes. She noticed her blue Fairy outfit and gloves and protectors in an instant.

Nebula was speechless at first. She simply went in for a hug. "Ooh, you did IT!" She screamed in a high pitch. "Look at you!"

"No way…" Blade was so perplexed. Suddenly the tower did feel different like it was further away, distant. She ignored it for now. "Fairy edge!" she cast quickly. A light magic sword appeared. Yet a few dark magic lightning was zapping around in the sword edge. "He? That's new…"

'Thank the Great Dragon, she hasn't lost her Winx. Not yet at least, still that line could mean something completely different… that damn poem…' Organa stared at the sword, "You were worried it wouldn't work. Worry can be a negative emotion. Now, stop jumping around like headless chickens." She rolled her eyes. The two girls were spiralling around each other. "Land, drop the transformation."

"But- fine," Blade landed and dropped the transformation again. "What now?"

"Focus on all the traitors, the justice you want to rain down on them at the hearing. Activate the dark Fairy form," Organa intensely focused on Blade.

Blade breathed in for a few seconds. She didn't really want to focus on that right now. But just thinking of the smallest things made her furious. She let the magic flow through her body and then there it was the dark magic Fairy form. She stared at the pale skin. It was burning beneath her skin, "This is weird…"

"What's wrong?" Nebula had focused on her friend as well, but she couldn't tell anything was different.

"You still have light magic in your system. Give it a second," Organa cautioned her. And indeed, the Sorceress was right, the burning subsided.

"So, I actually can use both?" Blade was puzzled. 'This could be incredibly helpful. Depending on my opponent or if I am low on Mana or Drion…' She also felt the tower intensely again. 'Is it relieved I am back in the Zombix form?' She looked at Nebula a bit confused.

"Try swapping directly," Nebula suggested fascinated.

"No, don-" Organa's warning came too late. She reached out to catch Blade instead.

"Fairy of Blad-" A pain shot through her body and she fell over. Blade moaned in pain, it gave her a massive headache like someone had hit her with a war hammer.

"Oh, shit, what happened!?" Nebula freaked, "I'm so sorry. I…"

Organa pressed her hand on Blades forehead and absorbed the light magic, "You cannot simply mix these two magic forms! You should have already known that! They are opposites on the magic spectrum." She scolded them both. 'So impatient.'

Blade felt the headache subside, "Right… convergence… or something … so glad Faragonda isn't here… I would get like twenty pages of extra homework."

"We both, I totally forgot…" Nebula scratched her head and pulled her up. "Well, better to know it now than in the middle of a battle."

Organa raised an eyebrow, 'Extra homework is so you two don't flunk my class… That's the reason why students don't fail my class if they do it.' She rose again herself. "Well then, I think that's enough for you now and I really need to go, have been here long enough."

"Oh?" Nebula stared at the old Sorceress.

'Griselda will have my head if I am late for my lecture. Hmm… could always say I had another call from the Council…' She was walking towards the door.

"Uhm…" Blade looked to her friend. They both shut up quickly. That Organa really just left them alone.

"Bail?" Nebula asked after a few seconds when Organa didn't come back.

"Yeah-," Blade agreed shortly, just to remedy her decision, "No… of course not…" Blade watched as Ediltrude de-camouflaged behind Nebula.

"Wise choice," Ediltrude commented. "Sit your asses down. The first year's witchcraft 101 lesson starts in five minutes. I will not allow for distractions."

"What?!" Nebula turned around, "Since when? What, how…since when?!" She had not picked up on that Professor's presence at all.

"A while. If I have to repeat myself…." She growled all while the doors opened up and a horde of fresh young Sorceresses entered. They were a bit perplexed to see the fairies in their classroom.

"What are you doing outside your shithole?" One asked pissed.

"SIT DOWN! The next of you who asks a stupid question, I'll personally turn into a donkey," Ediltrude shouted and everyone scrambled to find a seat in an instant.