Truth or Dare – Dare!


Blade made it around fifty meters. The second she was out of sight of the little girl, she collapsed to the ground exhausted. "Just…give me a sec…" Blade felt her arms gave way, there was no way she would be able to reach the hearing in that state. She fell sideways and glanced at the forest ground. Her eyes half opened.

'I'll carry her,' Thallan patted her on the back and took her piggyback. 'What a show off...so theatrical.' The guards had split into two groups, four had stayed behind and eight were with Blade.

'It wasn't for her own sake, she did that for the girl,' Iolas commented worried. 'That's why I told you not to intervene any further, Virion…'

Virion snorted, 'I told you we shouldn't have let her stand up, not to mention walk! Tch.' He placed a hand on Blade's back and infused some more magic. 'She's fine. I got it all, every single scratch. This is exhaustion, magical and physical. I could heal her all day but her body needs a break, and more importantly her mind. Some things just can't be fixed with magic. If it were just the body…Was it really smart to split up?'

Haldir laughed, 'Don't worry Zhoron is fast. He'll get more backup once he is in range,' Their college already had gone up ahead to get back into range with Alfea.

The group had hurried out of the forest. The guards were flying with their winged boots once they were in the Alfean part of the forest. It took them less than ten minutes to reach Alfea's gates from there on.

Blade opened her eyes, the clean air, the smell, and the feeling of her secondary home had woken her from her nap. "When did we…?"

Thallan stopped mid-air, "Ms Ashfallow good to see you awake again. Are you feeling better now?"

Iolas halted the group, "Ms we need you to get inside and change, right now. Your peers and Professors have asked where you have been. We haven't told them much besides you wanted to go for a walk and insisted. The Council isn't so happy either, and I quote, a material witness cannot simply go on a stroll for hours, just because viewing evidence is boring."

"They just wish, they could leave themselves… fine, set me down, please." Blade requested kindly. She still was tired but there was no time for that. They all stood next to the Alfean school walls, while Blade summoned some official message paper and wrote on it with some magic. It poofed away and she got looped in by Shanna into the psi-link again. "Give me a second." She addressed the guards first and then whoever was in the link at the moment, 'I'm back. I'm fine by the way.'

'How can you not be fine? You ditched me! Do you know how boring it is to watch papers fly past!? What kind of toilet session was that? You owe me!' Nebula complained.

'You will see shortly. I think, I more than made up for my absence,' Blade snickered tired. 'Shanna, can you link me up with Griffin?'

'Griffin? Why Griffin?' Nebula was so confused. 'You…' her voice broke off.'

'Yes?' The familiar and charming voice of doom from Griffin resounded in Blade's head.

'Trade offer. I need a favour from Madu, big one… probably, and no intervention from you on that favour… and I'll in return make that - had the Sorceresses a reason to be on Desertia - discussion look like a trifle the minute I'll walk through the door,' Blade asked confidently, she tried hard to concentrate.

'You can do that?' Griffin asked cautiously.

'Yes,' Blade replied as she leaned against the school wall. Virion eyed her closely.

'Madu, ey, hmm…' There was a long pause, and then there was his voice echoing in her head as well.

'And what favour could I possible bestow on a Fairy?' The man asked intrigued.

'I have someone in need of your protection for the hearing and after…well, probably. I just need it sorted now. Besides, don't sell yourself short. You will be more powerful and influential after the hearing has concluded since you obviously have a trade going on with the Sorceresses,' Blade made her case.

'And who exactly needs protection?' Madu asked further.

'Listen. I will not lose to those … not to them, not ever. The person is innocent I am sure of it. You have my word in fact. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. So, I dare you to trust me,' Blade tried her hardest to convince the man. She really wanted to hold open a door for Esra, in case she would choose their side and Blade needed to secure that chance before she walked through those doors.

'Fine…' The man sighed, 'One person only. You better hurry though. They are announcing the results of the librarians right now. And once we move to the second stage we most likely won't need you anymore.' The link cut off.

Blade stared down her clothes, she was a mess, "Shit…scratch the dress change, I've got to go in there right now." Blade tried to go into her Winx, but they only flickered shortly, she had not regenerated enough magic. And it drained her of stamina instead. Virion growled displeased. Some other elven guards came checking from the rooftops what the magic was coming from. "Urgh…whatever…" Blade charged through the school gates. Of course, all the Sorceresses in the courtyard were laughing their ass off or were intrigued by what had happened. The Nobles though were shocked. Blade made her way steadfast over the grass and took the shortcut.

'Ms Ashfallow wait!' Esra's voice resounded in her head.

'What the?' Blade was startled. She hadn't expected to hear her in her mind.

Shanna explained, 'One of your guards insisted to loop her in.'

'You, meant what you said, you'll try to help me right?' Esra sounded a bit freaked. 'I'll tell the truth, just like you. Please, don't forsake me! I don't want …'

'I won't forsake you. I have to go in now, though,' Blade breathed in deeply. Her head was spinning already again. The guards pressed the gates to the hall open. 'Adrenaline has to do the trick…' Blade thought to herself.

Councillor Sybilla, Fairy of Justice, was currently in the middle of reciting the conclusion of the librarian findings, "… That makes eighty-four per cent of all job offers to the Witches valid. And thirty-seven per cent of all accounts of excessive use of force are irrefutably true. Another forty per cent are in favour of the Witches, yet need further investigation. Therefore, the Council hereby recognises that the Witches had a right to enter Desertia in masses officially and the Witches in question are to be compensated for the mistreatment they have suffered…" She trailed off. Not that there was any more to say. But Blade really looked like a half-plucked chicken and she was staring right at her.

"Blade!" Nebula was rushing towards her. 'You alright? You look…'

Councillor Aithlin glared at his guards, which made them flinch a bit. The nobles gasped in theatrical shock or disbelief that anyone would choose to walk in like that.

"Request for recess!" Lady Philopa as well as others, like Madu and Faragonda, and of course, her parents requested immediately. Even Griffin looked baffled.

"Denied," Blade hissed loudly even if she hadn't the authority for it and ignored Nebula, for now, she simply had to focus on her one task. "We are doing this right here and now." Blade stepped forward barefooted, her heart was pumping heavily. The dress or what was left of it was annoying especially because it was so long and the ground was even now. On top of it, all that puffed-up procedure made her so angry. She ripped away the leftover shreds of what once was a dress and handed them to Nebula. "Hold that for a second." Now she was only in her training pants and the top she had worn underneath.

"You don't have the-" Lady Philopa could sense Blade's fierceness and that didn't bode well.

"Denied," Councillor Eaden announced besides the fact the Council was currently decided internally for one. "We'll hear her now." He had of course heard Blade's psychic chatter with everyone. Every Council member stared at him confused.

"Speak child," Councillor Shiri grinned. She could smell a juicy story a mile away. This one was obvious and she was bored out of her mind.

"Thank you, Councillor Shiri," Blade heard the doors open a second time behind her. She glanced over her shoulders it was Esra who ran towards her after she got set down by a guard. "I have several questions for you and your fellow Desertain noble leaders, Lady Philopa. Was it just Lady Eshe's plan to assassinate Lady Nebula and me on our way back from Red Fountain or are you all involved? Do you advocate the use of black magic and the corruption of living beings? Did you plan to make a child pay for her mother's crimes and absolve you of the consequence? Your power games disgust me, truly!" Blade was shaking she was so angry or was it her system shutting down again? It didn't matter.

"That's nonsense! You must be exhausted," Lady Philopa was as stunned as the rest of the audience and pale as snow. 'What is Esra doing with her?!'

Lady Esra finally caught up with Blade. She ripped off her brooch and smashed it to the ground. The delicate piece shattered. She knew that look of Philopa's. 'No way…' Philopa had visited her family many times in the last months and that look was fear. "You knew, you knew it all along, didn't you? It's all true… I…I renounce my claims and title to anything my family holds! How could you!? How! Traitors! If Desertia needs a new future, it's certainly not you!" Esra hissed and turned to Blade and grabbed her leg and couldn't stop crying.

Blade bowed down to hold her tight and stared at Lady Philopa, wife of former General Neferu. Then she addressed Iolas, "She asked for the proof. Show them." Blade picked up the girl and carried her over to Madu and the farmers.

Iolas stepped forward and took the finger with the ring out of his belt pocket. "Only us guards and the corrupted Horror Mud in the forest near the crash site touched it. Ever since we found it." He bowed deeply in front of Aithlin to apologise for the mess.

Madu gazed at the ring shortly it meant nothing to him. But the other nobles recognised it of course. Their faces told him volumes. He shifted his focus to Blade, who was approaching with the crying Lady, or rather Ex-Lady. "Let me guess…" He whispered.

Blade glared at him, "You promised."

Madu looked around his friends all nodded vehemently, "The farmers petition to exclude Lady… Ex-Lady Esra from punishment. On the grounds of deniability of prior knowledge and age."

All Councillors raised their hands in an instant and Councillor Aithlin announced, "The petition has been accepted."

So many things were happening all at once. Lady Philopa didn't even know where to start the damage control. She stared at the ring and her throat went dry.

Councillor Eaden smashed his hand on the table, "You can chatter about this on your own time. Keep the psychic gossip down! And the next one trying to open a link to the girl will be mind-blasted by me personally." He warned the hall angrily. "How often do I have to repeat myself…." He growled.

Blade watched for a few seconds how kindly all of the farmer's especially the old Ladies took Esra under their wings. Amongst them, she spotted Rabia. Esra was at her nerve's end. She simply cowered beneath the jackets and blankets that were offered and shut off from the world around her for now. Blade breathed out. Oh, how much she wished to just be able to curl up under a blanket and forget all the pressure and what was on the line here. She turned to leave. She smiled at Nebula, who was so proud of her. Her adrenaline and tension subsided slowly.

'Damn girl, and all that in a toilet break…' Nebula grinned herself.

Blade chuckled once and targeted the exit. 'Next time….. you go…'

"And where are you going, Ms Ashfallow?" Councillor Neptune addressed Blade. "The request for recess was denied. We are doing this right here and now." He quoted her.

Blade ground her teeth in exhaustion. "Of course…" Blade aimed for her seat in the front row.

"You just made an accusation. Your place is at the podiums. Your statement is to be cross-examined," Councillor Neptune corrected her cold.

'What are you doing? Councillor Neptune, she is on the verge of collapse,' Councillor Cahagan watched in disbelief as Blade moved on to a podium.

'I will not let her walk all over us. I don't care if she's a kid. We would never let this pass with an adult. She has to learn some manners. If we lose the reins now, it will be chaos further on. Just look at those Witches laughing at us nobles. Besides…' Councillor Neptune watched Blade reach the podium and swapped to talking. "Ms Ashfallow, what proof do you have that Lady Eshe was the assassin? She could have been there at the wrong time just as easily."

Blade dead pan stared at him, "The attacker used wind magic and…" She had a hard time concentrating and leaned on the podium slightly. Her body really wasn't up for walking or standing around just yet.

Lady Philopa saw her opening, "And there of course are no other light magic users that use wind magic." She managed to temper her initial panic, yet she was still scared of what that girl had unearthed in such a short time. But now she at least had an angle of attack, 'She rushed things. Big mistake.'

"I didn't say that," Blade tried to come up with a good counter. Since Philopa's starting argument was weak. Yet her mind couldn't quite focus on the task, she was so exhausted, she had to use proper form, she had to make this count so she could protect her friends on Phere-Moan, the people on the ranks were staring at her with mixed reactions and whispering to each other, the farmers looked worried at her. She had not at all planned for cross-examination and with Madu's ultimatum simply had stormed the castle.

"That's the problem." Lord Shadaka joined in. "Lady Eshe, very well, simply could have been there for a walk or actually tried to help you. Isn't it a bit presumptuous to say she was the attacker? No one saw her."

"That's the point of an assassin, to stay unseen," Blade got pissed. She noticed that Lady Philopa wasn't happy either, in fact, she balled her fist shortly and tensed up. 'Those, I'll…' Blade clawed into the podium.

'Fool, she has nothing besides that ring. Now that she took the girl out of harm's way,' Lady Philopa breathed out and tried to shake off the tension, "So, all we actually have here is the proof of Lady Eshe's death by a corrupted monster left behind by an unknown attacker." She corrected Lord Shadaka's blunder.

"Lady Eshe is a Fairy. She uses wind magic, and has a ring to enhance such magic. We were attacked by corrupted WIND urchins, blown off the sky by a storm. Our Professors clearly stated in their reports that there was Fairy magic in the air. This is not just a fictional story I came up with, because it suits me," Blade defended herself feeling harassed. 'Urgh, can we please just scratch her eyes out already…'

'Blade, stay calm, focus. You need to stay calm, and watch your tone. You sound like a child to the audience in comparison to Philopa. Ignore the dude,' Nebula warned her friend. 'I can't go to the podium you presented the accusation I wasn't with you and La- Esra.' Nebula desperately looked to Griffin, who didn't make a move. The girls had no physical proof of the Coup de 'tat besides their word and the option to bring back the girls. Even then it was word against word.

"Ms Ashfallow?" Lady Philopa addressed Blade again.

"What?" Blade hissed. She couldn't concentrate on two discussions at the same time right now. "I mean, yes?" She corrected instantly. 'Shit I didn't watch my tongue.'

Lady Philopa smiled kindly, "I do understand that you and Lady Eshe disagreed on the Witches' ban the evening before it was announced. You are biased to some extent. Didn't it ever occur to you, that Lady Eshe might just simply have tried to save you from the assassin? The report said you were split from the group. But there were also less corrupted monsters on your path. It easily can be read both ways."

"We got shot down, by wind magic. There were no two winds fighting each other," Blade couldn't believe this. How could that Lady dare to fight her on this? The truth was clear as day to her.

"Your peers' reports state, that first, the monsters came and then the wind blew. You all fought against being blown away. Lady Eshe is a noble soul," Lady Philopa paused and corrected sadden, "Always was. It is much more likely that she wanted to see you all safe when she saw you getting attacked."

Blade noticed that many in the light faction seating calmed down again. She was losing this argument somehow. 'Shit. I could…' Blade looked at a mountain of blankets, 'Esra is done, she's just a kid… damn it, I won't drag her into this again… Shit, if people try to link up with Esra if she would say the wrong thing it still could be over for her.' Her heart was pounding in her head. She was breathing heavily even if she tried to suppress it.

Councillor Eaden's face turned from emotionless to a grimace of killing intent. "I SAID ENOUGH!" He leapt up from his seat and a shockwave or rather a wave of an eerie sensation shot through the room.

Blade felt slight dizziness. It made her gag shortly. Then she could clearly hear people tumbling over behind her. And indeed, some people in the audience were knocked out cold.

Councillor Eaden had a strong dark-brimming aura around him, "The next one trying to connect to the girl I'll personally gift the mind of a two-year-old." He was furious. The room was as quiet as you could have heard a pin drop.

Blade tried to refocus, 'Shit where were we? What did she say…I…she, urggh…' She saw that Philopa was about to take the word again. 'Quickly, damn…' Blade simply spouted out, "It easily fits my version, too." She snatched the word away from the Lady. Blade was really struggling to formulate her defence. "…Besides, do you have proof that someone else was there? No. We know for certain that Lady Eshe was on Magix in that forest. And no one has any records of her coming to Magix. We checked. If she wanted to talk or had official business or even was just here to visit. She would be officially registered." Blade ground her teeth and put on her brave face, she was feeling so sick.

Lady Philopa nodded, "That is true unless she went undercover. She most certainly hadn't told me, but it seems like she did have a good reason for it since she was killed by a corrupted monster. And she was one of the lead investigators of the Witch attack. And wasn't it Headmistress Griffin, who showed up out of nowhere and snatched you away from underneath your Professors' eyes, by force no less. Lady Eshe might just have fallen to another scheme of the Witches and paid with her life. I know you believe that the Witches are innocent. Although you, both, have yet to explain why. Maybe because you have some friends amongst them?" She looked so pretty damn sure of herself. She was calm and had a comeback for everything. "Unless you like to add to your other ridiculous accusations. What was it? Use of black magic, corruption of living beings? And using a child as a scapegoat? For all of which you have no proof to show this court otherwise you would have started with that. Dear, Ms Ashfallow, just because you wish someone to be innocent doesn't make it so. And just because you dislike someone doesn't make them the bad guy. You need to proof it." She sounded a bit scolding or rather was it a tone of a teacher. "That is the truth of things."

Blade was stressed out now, her mind was racing all while Lady Philopa obliterated her whole statement in seconds. She had jumped the gun for Esra's sake. There was no way Blade could proof the Coup de 'tat without bringing the girls back and she didn't know how far the Sorceress were in proofing it either. It felt like people were closing in from all sides to drown her in her own words. 'Have I made it all worse!? Jewels… why… why can't I reach justice for you? …Why is this so hard? All this bullshit, for what? We know the truth!' She balled her fists she was trembling. 'What do I say!? I … I…' She had a hard time breathing. 'Why Jewels? How can I lose this? Why do we always lose!? I tried so hard, it's all for nothing. I can't get anything done alone! Why? Why? WHY?! If I can't get justice …' The world around her was spinning and blurred in and out.

"Recess, please!" Faragonda rose from her seat.

'Blade, breathe!' Nebula voice echoed through Blade's ever-racing mind. 'Look at me! We can do this, together! We'll get them! Just say you stick to your version and leave the podium...Blade!' Nebula was confused her friend wasn't responding at all.

'Blade, don't renounce the accusation. Just breathe! It will do just fine. Blade?' Faragonda's calming voice resounded.

Avalon and Shanna shouted in the psi-link at the same time, 'Faragonda!'

"…I'll kill you myself if I have to!" Blade heard herself scream viciously. Although she had been stuck in a never-ending swirl of her thoughts before. Shocked she opened up her eyes. She was in that black empty space again. There was chaos all around. Fire raging, falling debris, tornadoes carving deep groves. The sky looked like shattered glass and was just barely holding itself together. All this chaos and still it had the feeling of her own headspace, which she knew from her psychic sessions with Shanna. Disoriented she looked around as pain hit her chest like needles. She noticed that her hands turned to claws. There was no sign of the white glow from Shanna, but she spotted Councillor Eaden enveloped in a dark shimmer. "You're all in on it, aren't you!? Leave me ALONE!" Blade heard her thought echo into the nothingness. From above piercing spears manifested and came crashing down on the Councillor. At the same time, the earth broke apart and ridges rose all while her body turned completely into a giant black mountain bear, besides itself the monstrosity charged at the Councillor.

The Councillor didn't move. The spears turned to dust before they could even touch him. It was as if an invisible dome protected him from everything. He watched Blade in bear form rush at him. 'Spears? But you just don't learn that at therapy, even if it's therapy with Shanna. Has she such strong willpower that she can actively defend herself against a mind intrusion? No, this is more than that, she can actively act in her subconscious. She has fought here before. You don't do this on your first try,' impressed he reconsidered and floated into the air and a magic circle appeared behind him.

The bear took a massive swipe at him. Yet the claws simply slid off the Councillor's protective bubble.

"Burn away fire of hate, be chained!" Councillor Eaden started his incantation.

The bear roared angrily bursting into flames and crunched down with its massive jaws on the protection bubble. The fire that had risen from its body turned into a chain and rammed into the ground and yanked the bear away. The raging fires subsided everywhere around in the emptiness in an instant.

"Burn away fire of fear, be chained!" The Councillor watched as the tornadoes dissolved. And another chain pinned the bear to the ground.

The monstrosity roared at him wildly and tried to swipe him from the sky but was out of range as it was chained to the ground unable to reach.

"Burn away fire of despair, be chained!" Eaden aimed with his arm at the bear and a ball of magic slowly grew in his palm.

A new chain rapped around the bear's chest and tightened. In return, the fall of the debris ebbed down until they were completely gone.

"Begone, terror of the mind!" He shot his sphere at the bear.

The bear roared aggressively once more before it turned back into a heavily breathing Blade. Still chained to the ground. She was utterly confused.

Councillor Eaden looked to the sky, gazed at the vanishing cracks and landed next to the girl, "You're so green, falling into a panic attack in the middle of a cross-examination. I told you they'll rip you apart if you don't watch that temper of yours."

Blade blinked at him, "Wha- Oh no, what did I do!?" She had no idea what had happened it was more of a blank to her than anything else and she panicked a bit again. She wiggled beneath the chains because her instinct told her to get up quickly. But she couldn't.

Councillor Eaden, quickly shot another magic sphere right at her face as he noticed the sky cracking up again, "Shut up and calm down. This is your headspace. Your state of mind influences everything," he commanded fiercely. "Nothing happened, Faragonda asked for recess a second ago, the mind is faster than reality. Now you better think of your last statement you can make before everyone is screaming recess to save your sorry ass. So, make your seconds count." He ground his teeth as he inspected the sky more closely. 'What the hell was that… killing them if she has to?... What the heck happened on Desertia…' Eaden thought to himself. He was very much tempted to simply dig into her mind and get the answers now, but that was against the rules. "Times up," The Councillor vanished.

"You need to proof it. That is the truth of things." Philopa was pleased with herself. 'You insignificant fly won't bring me down. Know your place.' She stared at Blade victoriously.

"Recess, please!" Faragonda rose from her seat and made her way straight down the stairs and Blade's parents were making their way down as well.

Blade opened her eyes, she was back at the podiums. She could hear Faragonda finish her plea for a break. She breathed in as she felt her legs threaten to give out and spoke up loud enough for all the Council and people at the podium to hear. Yet her gaze wandered along the light faction seating searching for Faragonda, "Only a person, who fears the truth - SHANNA!" Blade screamed out as she watched the elven Lady fall over. Out of the blue an ear-splitting screeching sound hammered in her head like from a bomb explosion. Blade began to tumble and just got a glimpse of Faragonda falling down the stairs. Nebula was already down on the ground before everything turned black again for Blade.

Blade was suddenly back in the black emptiness of her headspace. "What?! Edean? Shanna?" Blade with haste looked around. "What? Who are you?" She glared at a man in some random kingdom's robes.

The man didn't say a word. He simply adjusted his glasses with one finger and reached out with the other hand to the side. And a rapier appeared floating in the air and he snatched it. He made a backhanded swing and an energy wave grew in size and rushed towards Blade.

"Oh fuck!" Blade roll dived to the side. The ground was split apart by the wave. Blade glared at the man, "What's your problem?! Fine, you want to fight, you'll get one!" She ground her teeth as she evaded another horizontal shockwave. 'If this is my headspace, then it's probably just like my dreams in Cloud Tower. Oh, this better work…' She concentrated, "Fairy of Blades!" Just like in Cloud Tower she transformed, just this time into her Winx.

The man like a robot sent one slash after another, while Blade tried to get closer.

Blade made a back loop and dashed upwards. "Shit. Hey, what do you want!?" The man simply answered with more attacks. "Not one for talking are you?… Wait… is that…" Blade now could clearly see the eyes of that man were crystal red. "Corruption?! It's not too strong, I might be able to break it." She dashed towards him. But got hit by a shockwave sickle and crashed to the ground. "Ouch… damn it, I need a weapo-" She scrambled to her feet. "Hey, get a grip, will you?! You got to fight it!" She jumped to the side. The closer she got the shorter the gaps were in between the energy sickles attacks. "Come on, come on, Piercing Spear!" She reached over her head and a spear manifested and she hurled it at the person.

The man loaded his rapier with some sort of energy and another bigger wave clashed with Blade's spear.

"No, it's not strong enough," Blade bit her lip as she watched the spear clash with the energy wave and stop in a stand-off. "If it were bigger…" Her spear suddenly had grown a bit before it was crushed and shattered. Blade retreated backwards a bit to gain more distance. "Wait, that's the same reaction as to what Shanna does in sessions, right? … What does she always say…. In your mind anything is possible. You just need to concentrate and focus…" Blade breathed out and spiralled upwards, "Well then… here goes nothing… Eat this!" She concentrated on what she wanted to create and reached out with her hand, "PIERCING BARRAGE!" All over the sky hundreds of her piercing spears appeared and then pulverized everything beneath. Even the shockwave sickles were no match for such an onslaught. Blade dived down and tackled the man at full speed and knocked him to the ground. "Get the fuck out of my head!" She pulled him up and full force rammed her head against the man's and knocked him out cold. "Ha! Now we're talking! Oh… what?!" Everything turned dark again.

Blade's sight came back, she was falling to the ground. The podium was still in front of her. She quickly went into a roll to feather the fall and scrambled up again. Yet she had barely the strength to stand. Unexpectedly a wide swing came at her. Blade raised her arms to block the punch, but the hit never landed. One of her guards had clutched the arm of the attacker and pressed him to the ground.

"Stay down, behind you!" Iolas shouted to warn Blade as he held what looked like a puppet down and he couldn't let go. "Wall formation! Don't let them through!" He tried to help sort out the security forces at the podiums, who got rushed by these strange attackers.

Blade turned to face her next opponent however got thrown off her feet by a kick to the head and slid across the floor. She came to a hold. Her guard barely held her newest attacker back by his robes all while he pinned the first masked guy to the ground with his foot. The masks those people wore, were crimson red. A bullseye was drawn on the forehead area. The right eye had no hole and had written 'DEATH' on it. While the left eye was bursting into magic flames. They were clothed in a ripped rope in dark red and black with a long hoody. 'What in Magix?!' Blade looked around more and more people on the stance turned into those things as black magical marionette strings attached to the people's limbs and then they turned into those mindless puppet soldiers. Blade's head was buzzing from the black magic filling the air. Some people screamed and shouted and tried to flee the seating area. Others especially those of magic professions were unmoving as if they stopped in time and even more of the younger generations, like her classmates were falling unconscious one after another. Without warning two puppets jumped over the blockade in front of the podiums.

"RUN! Those are Reaper's Children, you're a target!" Iolas shouted to Blade, but he had his hands full. All guards were thrown off to some extent actually. None of them were using attack magic. They knew, that those people who turned into puppets simply had been overtaken by Psi-control and were innocent. Plus, some of them were high-ranking nobles, they couldn't just pummel them. Yet the podiums were stormed by more puppets than there was security and a wave had broken through.

Blade watched many of those Reaper's Children pass her by going for Lady Philopa and other Desertian nobles or Madu and his friends. Blade tried to get to her feet, "Target? But they are ignor- Shit…woah!" She rolled away as one of the attackers tried to crush her head with their foot. The other one took hold of her leg and pulled her towards himself and jumped on her. Blade caught his hands as he tried to close them around her neck. She stared at the guy who made crackling throat noises straight out of a horror movie. 'Shit, shit, shit!' She tried so hard, but her hands gave way under the pressure. She simply had no strength left to contest the guy. He grabbed her throat and Blade felt the grip tightening as she clawed into the arms and infused a spark of magic. Yet the puppeteered man didn't even flinch. 'Get off, get off! GET OFF!' She watched as her second attacker reared back with his foot to smash her head in as more stormed to attack the Council. She felt so helpless, but she wasn't going to just accept her fate, not ever. "GET OFF!" Blade activated burnout, she needed more magic. A bright white glow lit up from her and she transformed into her Winx and forced herself off the ground, just in time to evade the kick and charged upwards with that guy on top of her and made a mid-air roll and hurled him to the ground against the first one. Her muscles were twitching and she trembled. Blade hovered to one of the support beams and flat laid down on it. She was panting heavily and was desperate for a break. While she rested up there she gazed around with her bird's eye view for a second, so much was going on all around. 'Mum, dad?!' She tried to find them.

The Sorceresses had raised shields around their seating area. None of those puppets were attacking them though or tried to breach the shield to their confusion. Blade's guard team had major trouble keeping Nebula safe since she was so close to the light faction seating from which all these things came rushing down.

Lady Philopa had raised a psychic shield around herself as a horde of attackers tried to get through to her, "How dare you attack me!?" She was furious and overwhelmed with each hit against her shield her stance got wobblier.

Blade looked to Councillor Eaden. He was standing, his hands reached out, dark magic flaring up. Sweat was dripping down his face. His eyes brimmed with fire, yet he was unmoving. Councillor Nerrocean was throwing back the attackers meant for him.

"Votzaak!" Cahagan called out to his counterpart as he raised his staff. He straight went into a convergence spell with Councillor Argan the Lumen prince and the Pixi Queen, "By the light of a thousand suns, shield the righteous from evil!" He hammered his staff to the ground. And a wave of glittering petals and stardust washed over the room and enveloped those unconscious or frozen in place in a protective shield to minimise casualties. Amongst them she finally spotted her parents, they were safe for now.

"Will you chill," Votzaak bitched around as he conjured a perma-shield around himself first of all.

Further off to the right Councillor Shiri transformed into a white nine-tailed fox with a dark green pattern all over her back and jumped out of the way of a spell, which originally was meant for her and hissed, "Chhh!" The attack nearly shot Argan out of the sky. Just in time, Gadiel had used his gadget glove to blast it away with an enhanced psi-shockwave. Apparently, some of those puppets were able to use their host's magic.

"Shiri, what are you doing? You should have blocked it!" Neptune admonished her harshly as he activated some runes on the walls to charge the up.

The fox created a water sphere on each of her nine tail tips and fired the water spheres to imprison some mind-controlled nobles, who had broken through the guard line, "Don't tell me how to fight, you fish."

"Hmm, the output is fine. The range still is lacking," Gadiel took out a magic-crystal screwdriver and fiddled around at his glove as he placed his feet on the council desk and leaned his head to the side as a beam shot passed it. "If I… and then…yes, that should do the trick…"

All while Councillor Shelliefi rushed behind Iawenna, the Pixi Queen, "We're all going to die…save me!"

"Shelly, I am concentrating!" The Pixi Queen stabilised her magic output again. "You'll be just fine."

"But I can't use my magic here, there is no wat-" Shelliefi gazed at the massive water vortex, which erupted and protected Lady Philopa from her attackers as it surrounded her. Just as she fell to the ground and her own shield broke. "Neptune, don't kill them!" Shelliefi raised her tiny staff and slowed the vortex down and formed it into a protective dome.

"If you're so weak you get mind-controlled…you better be ready to take a hit!" He aimed at another.

Sybilla gently moved his spear upwards and the spell misfired, "They are under mind control and innocent. Temper your rage, besides this, is much more black magic than Psi control…strange." She miniaturised and flew past the guards and touched them to give them a boost or heal them.

Blade was baffled, they all were such strong magic users, but their teamwork was a bit awkward. Blade without warning felt so sick, that she started to cough. She stared at her hand it had blood on it. 'I shouldn't ha-fuck!' A barrage of elemental spheres was straight flying towards her. She had been so focused on getting an overview, and staying up high, that she had forgotten that they could possibly reach her with ranged attacks. Blade raised her hand to create a spear. She amassed magic, but she was out of time.

Suddenly Councillor Aithlin was in front of Blade. He had soared up to her with his winged boots and had pulled her behind himself to simply block the magic spheres with his sword. "Hey, no dreaming! Go for cover at the Council stance, you can't stay out here." He scolded her as he blocked another wave of spells with a wind slash of his own.

"Right…" Blade turned to dash downwards. Abruptly she felt a pain in her chest. Her muscles cramped up, her body convulsing. She coughed up more blood into her hands. Entranced she stared at them. "This never happened before…" She glanced up to Councillor Aithlin who rushed towards her as he reached out with his hand.

"Reinforce the left flank!" He ordered his men from above all while Councillor Aithlin took care of cover for Blade as he heard the coughing. He turned around to see the bloodied hands and the young Fairy's form vanishing. 'Fuck!' he caught her. "Hey, stay awake!" He felt that Blade's Drion was dangerously low, 'That fool, she's in no condition to fight. Idiot…' He spotted the dark faction Councillors. Votzaak was doing his thing behind the Council stances. Eaden was still a statue fending off Psi attackers meant to bring down the security guards and Nerrocean was playing bodyguard for Eaden. "Nerrocean catch!" Aithlin hurled Blade towards him.

The merman just had blocked a spell meant for Eaden with his scythe and grabbed Blade out of the air and basically just tossed her against the wall behind him as another spell shot towards Eaden. "Votzaak, patient." He laughed darkly. 'More like a corpse, ain't she?'

Votzaak sauntered over and set down next to her. His protective shield wobbled like a soap bubble as Blade got engulfed by it as well. "My, how reckless…You do know you need a certain amount of Drion to make use of magic, right? Magic needs both," He only had to gaze at her to know what was wrong. 'Great, she's so low I can't just charge her up fully in one go. Spoon feeding it is as if I don't have better things to do, right now.'

Blade squinted her eyes. She couldn't get a word out or even think. It felt like her body was being ripped apart from the inside out.

Councillor Votzaak patted her shoulder, "Ahhh, sitting down is a great idea." He slumped down next to her. 'Now, how to keep her awake. If she falls asleep she might go into a coma…can't have that…hmmm.'

Blade felt as Drion flooded her system just for a second, yet it wasn't nearly enough for her to move. Her body simply didn't react. She gazed up but only could see the edge of the councillors' stance. She still could hear the fighting.

"Ahh, not to worry. I've still got time to spare for you," Councillor Votzaak stretched and a few coloured flames appeared in his hand. He fiddled around with them letting them dance along his fingers. "So, Ashfallow, you were in that palace. Just blink once for yes and twice for no. I'll give you some Drion in return."

"Votzaak!?" Cahagan shouted from the other side and continued to command the forces. "Shield the targets! Focus on the controlled Psychics, we can't let them create more Repear's Children!"

Blade stared at the Councillor in disbelief. Irritated she blinked once.

"Wonderful," Votzaak infused more dark magic into Blade. 'There is hope for her yet, yay. Tough little nut. I saw grown man wimpier than her.' All while he kept playing around with those coloured flames. He sounded rather teasing, "You know, I always wanted to ask you. Shanna's report on your interviews was … hmm, short. Short in the weird parts and REALLY long in the boring parts. And often she wrote that for mental stability she wouldn't ask further, you know that medical yada yada..."

Nerrocean kept blocking more spells aimed at Eaden. "Pah! What is taking your guys so long, Aithlin?!" The merman roared as the dark red markings on his scales glowed up in a crimson red. And his muscles and size grew exponentially until it was doubled. He gazed at Blade behind him, 'Not dead yet? Oh well, better give Votzaak more time to focus on her.'

Neptune rose his trident high, "Silence!" The runes he had prior activated, were charged-up now. And as he cast they gave off golden shockwaves. And the mind-controlled people lost their ability to cast magic. While from the security guards' armour a green counter-shockwave rose and they stayed unaffected. "Take them down now!"

Blade was utterly confused that Votzaak had no intention of helping at all. Instead, he was basically tickling her with Drion just to stop again. Her mind cleared up and she finally was able to hold a thought again, 'This isn't the time for stupid questions…' She watched as Eaden's arms sank for just a second.

Around Votzaak a rune circle appeared that connected with Eaden and not a millisecond later Eaden's arms were raised again and even more strongly brimming with dark magic, "Good eye, butterfly." He said approvingly. 'Hey, did anyone find that original puppet yet?' He asked in the psi-link. He looked back at Blade, 'Ah, crap she's fainting again.' He touched her softly and infused another shot of Drion, carefully not to overload her damaged system. "Do you know the Reaper's Children?" he asked to engage her in conversation again.

Blade blinked twice, 'What the heck is he playing around for…I can't just sit here…' She tried to move but her body was still not her own.

"Ah, let me explain. They are a black magic cult or rather mercenaries. They use their black magic and PSI abilities to turn a stranger into a puppet that goes and assassinates their target for them. They don't need to be there, once the seed is planted. And you are one of their targets. Someone hired them and wants you dead. So better don't close your eyes, or you might never wake up again. Do you understand that?"

Blade's eyes widened, 'Wait that means they could go for anyone at any time! My parents, the others!' Blade managed to ground her teeth. She really wanted to get back onto her feet fast. But her efforts to get up made her tired instead.

The lack of an answer in the psi-link didn't bode well. Councillor Votzaak fidgeted faster around with the little coloured flames in his other hand. 'Ah, crap. So Eaden is still fighting of the Psi-attacks on our security. And the rest is none the wiser.' He closed his eyes and sensed into the room. "How did they even get one puppet in here? We have runes against that in place…" He looked to the young Fairy next to him, who was fiercely fighting to stay awake. 'Somethings off…' he tried to analyse the input he had gathered. Just to notice that Blade was breathing heavier again. "Hey, don't fall asleep on me. Not now, after you freed yourself of your mind intrusion in record time, butterfly. Come to think of it, did you ever have training for that? I don't mean Shanna's therapy." He engaged her in even more conversation.

Blade blinked twice, "…C..." Blade tried to speak up.

"Ah, ah, ah, we said blinking, no talking," The Councillor scolded her. 'She's as stubborn as Nerrocean. By the Great Dragon…'

'The guy in my mind definitely was corrupted by red crystals. Have they not sensed that yet?!' Blade wouldn't let this go. Her throat was so dry, "Re..d…Cryst…" She couldn't finish the word before she had to cough harshly again. Blood splattered across the floor in front of her and she fell unconscious out of the blue.

"Fucking shit," Votzaak jumped off the ground. "AITHLIN, YOU BASTARD! Don't just drop a half-dead Fairy on me, without a word!" He was mad, had he known that Blade didn't just have bleeding from a normal injury but one burnout too many, he would never have infused even half of the Drion so far. 'What the hell did Shanna leave out in those interview reports!?' In utter disbelief, he stared at the Fairy. "How often have you used burnout?! Hey, wake up!" He looked straight at Nerrocean, who was confused by his friend's outburst of anger. Votzaak rarely was riled up at all. Votzaak remembered the girl's words. "Find me one of those crystals now!" He enlarged his shield bubble even if it cost him a great deal of magic to sustain such a huge perma-shield over time to cover Eaden as well.

Councillor Aithlin was in the front lines. They had trouble capturing all those mind-controlled nobles without injuring them too much. And being out-manned didn't help, "Kinda busy here! Since when are you bothered by a broken rib or whatever flesh wound it is?"

"Flesh wound, my ass. ARE YOU FUCKING RETARDED?!" Votzaak screamed frustrated.

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Aithlin shouted back annoyed. He had better things to do than to make sense of what the stupid Leprechaun was bitching about. They were all waiting on Votzaak's cleansing spell and basically just lined up the puppets.

'People, calm down. What's wrong?' Cahagan asked in the psi-link. He still was sustaining the magic shields for all the other helpless people.

'The fucking OVER-USED BURNOUT she activated!' Votzaak used both hands to let the coloured flames draw his runes faster. He could only watch Blade and hope that her system would stabilise enough on its own first.

'Overused Burnout?! She didn't use burnout in the forest. Iolas would have said so!' Aithlin couldn't believe what he heard. There was no way one burnout could cause that much trouble for Votzaak.

Votzaak had inspected Blade's magic flow as he prepared the cleansing spell and sustained Eaden at the same time as shielding them all together. 'Fucking, how stupid -URGH. What the heck happened on Desertia or where ever the fuck she was?!' He could see it clearly now that he had used his skills to make a deep scan of Blade's body.

'I'll come over with my dust,' Sybilla added.

'NOO! What don't you understand?! It's long-term damage. She must have used burnout several times in the past two months if it's that shit. Neither of us can heal her, I shouldn't even have used what I ALREADY DID! Her system can't hold the magic. Neither the Drion nor the Mana! She's leaking like broken pipes and the magic is running rampage in her body.' He saw as the Drion, like smoke, rose from her. Blade started to shiver. "Shit…" he cursed.

'Mana and Drion!? How is that possible? That means she can go berserk, too. No Fairy goes berserk…' Cahagan didn't like what he heard. But he couldn't leave his post either.

Councillor Nerrocean had finished frisking one of the puppets, he had smashed to the ground. Indeed, there was a red crystal attached to the inside of the robe. He ripped it out of the clothing. The moment he did, the puppet turned back into a Diplomat from Eraklyon. Yet the man was unconscious. But the black magic presence was gone. 'No way… Reaper's Children never used that stuff before…that makes things way easier, since we don't have to break the PSI connection.' He dashed through the hall back to the Councillor's stance as he felt his hand start to burn where he held the crystal. "Hey, Votzaak, got a present for ya." He threw the crystal towards him and let some magic flow through his body and healed his hand. "Nasty stuff, truly…"

"Watch her!" Votzaak ground his teeth. And stepped out of the bubble. The Councillor jumped on top of the stance. "PISS OFF!" He had finished his runes with the coloured flames and closed his hands and reopened them. Tiny magic circles went up into the air. They enlarged and lined up, "Zero gravity!" He snapped his fingers and everyone besides the actively fighting guards were floating in the air. "Hawks' eye!" He snapped again. Black and neon green flames appeared on all the mind-controlled people's clothing somewhere. "Magic missiles!" Votzaak snapped once more. Hundreds of little darts appeared on the ceiling. "Extinguish evil!" He snapped again. They were set ablaze, "ERADICATE!" He snapped with both his hands. The darts soared through the air in all directions and hit the prior targeted objectives. It was a weird scene. People everywhere got hit and turned back to normal. All while red crystals dropped to the ground like rain and got burned to ash by the dark magic that had engulfed them.

Eaden opened his eyes, "What happened!?" He saw that everyone was back to normal even the good forty-three PSI users he had held off on his own. He felt a weird magic source from behind him. He turned and stared at Blade who was leaking Drion. 'How?!'

Votzaak cancelled his protective bubble immediately, 'Too many people are keeping stuff from us. THAT'S HOW!'