The trip back from Zenith was exhausting. Blade yawned absently, as she entered back into the realm of Magix city, stretching her arms out. She didn't think the discussion with her uncle Basil would take so long. She only wanted to stay one, maybe two hours, but the talk about all those weapons, specially designed for the Specialists were just too interesting to cut short on it. Blade knew she was running late, as soon as she took a look at the time and hurriedly said Basil goodbye, before travelling back to Magix. And now it would take her a solid hour more, to get back to Alfea if she wanted to save magic for her training session and not fly. She would cut it close, but that was better than wasting a lot of magic now before her training.

"Geesh, I am always in a rush these days," she sighed and checked when the next bus would come. As she realized, that it would arrive at the bus station in question in about ten minutes, she immediately started to up her pace. 'This evening we have another three Officers to cover…ahhh.'

„Liar! I know you did it, so just admit it already!"

Blade almost passed the small alley, she was walking next to when she heard the desperate shouts of a woman. Blade stopped dead in her tracks, she spun around, carefully approaching the entrance of the ally. It was so weird to be without a team for once 'What's going on?'

"I didn't do it, I swear!"

There was another voice, male this time and he sounded frightened, terrified even. Immediately, Blade could feel her heart racing and her hand trembling as adrenaline rushed through her veins, but with her breathing techniques, she calmed herself. She was a bit reluctant to dash to help someone alone, but she also couldn't ignore it. '…You can do this Blade... Can't ignore it just because you are a bit jumpy, not everyone is corrupt or evil…' There was someone in trouble and there was no way she would ignore it even if she was scared, however, she didn't know if it was the man or the woman who needed her help. She thought for a second if she should call backup but there was no real threat yet. So, she stepped into the shadows of the alley carefully to see what was going on first. There was a woman, in her thirties maybe, pointing a gun at a guy, who was backed up into a corner, trembling in fear.

The guy raised his hands in surrender, sweat ran down his forehead, "P-Please, Carla", he begged, but only got a hateful huff out of her.

"Don't beg for mercy now!" The woman nothing but screamed into his face and raised the gun a bit higher, "You were the last one who saw her alive and I just know you did it! Was she begging for her life, too? Was she crying and screaming when you little piece of shit choked her to death?!" The woman seemed to get more agitated. She gestured wildly with her free hand, while her index finger of the other was hovering above the trigger and Blade could tell she was itching to press it down.

'She'll execute him!' Blade felt horribly reminded of that fateful night, and pressed the alert button on the bracelet three times for backup in silent mode. She had practised to stay calm and so she stepped up she couldn't just wait since there was no telling when the woman would pull the trigger. 'This time will be different,' She thought to herself, these were just civilians. Not gangsters no police. She easily could take either out or them both. The blonde Fairy stepped closer, enough for Carla to see her from the corner of her eyes.

Immediately, the woman jumped in surprise as she noticed Blade, but luckily calmed down, as she recognized her just being a teenager. "What- Get away, girl, you shouldn't see this!" The woman hissed at her, her voice filled with anger and desperation.

Blade instinctively raised her hands up, trying to show the woman that she meant no harm to her. Still, Blade could feel the nervousness and anxiety rise in her as she looked once again at the gun Carla was holding she breathed in once deeply, "Ma'am", she started, "My name is Blade – thank you for not shooting me. Can you tell me what's going on exactly? I'm a Fairy student from Alfea, I'd like to help." It didn't matter how much Blade simply wanted to grab the gun and knock the woman out, to protect the guy she was threatening. First, that gun had to go down, otherwise, she would cut it too close or more people could get hurt. She had learned that from the Council guards on their stake out.

"Alfea? Go away, noble! You have no idea how I feel, he killed my sister! I don't need you!" Carla looked forth and back between Blade and her husband.

"Carla, I'm no noble, I have a scholarship, I just live a normal life besides going to a fancy school and that high and mighty stuff doesn't make much sense to me at all. So, he killed your sister?"

"NO! That's a lie!" The man protested, "I would never-"

Carla hissed at him, "SHUT UP!" She focused more on her gun.

"Carla, he is not in custody, did he just kill your sister right now? Did you see him do it? I can arrest him then," Blade tried to calm her down again.

"No, no, no, the police let him go! One measly interview and they let him GO! He slept with her, my sister, after fifteen years of our marriage he slept with her!" Carla ground her teeth.

Blade breathed in, "That must have hurt. I get it, I trusted some recently and paid the price. Remember the Desertia accident, I was there, many died, those nobles were greedy and it ended in a disaster, I trusted them they killed my friend." Blade slowly stepped closer. 'Okay, that should count for building a connection, but how do I get the gun out of the equation? I have to protect them both. I shouldn't shoot my darts unless it escalates. But I'm probably not fast enough to just go and grab it…ahhh, if I just had a Council guard here they'd do just one lightning step and would be done. Shit.'

Carla teared up, "Of course he did! HE CHEATED! He was greedy, I wasn't enough, no he had to have more and then you killed her! Did she scream when you strangled her? You saw her last!"

"Be honest," Blade sternly addressed the man. "You are her husband, so please."

The husband sighed as he looked with tear-filled eyes at her. He obviously regretted his actions, "Carla, yes, I was stupid an idiot, I know that," He closed his eyes shortly, "But I didn't kill her, I could never. She's your sister. We dined that evening, but she got a call from the hospital and had to go. That was what she said. The evening ended early. That truly was the last time I saw her. I should have gone with her…"

"You did, don't you dare lie!" Carla didn't want to believe it and her grip tightened around the gun. "NO! You are rotten to the core!"

Blade flinched. Her mind flooded with pictures from the cell as she closed the gap even more, 'Shit, no concentrate, come on. Breathe…say something. Damn it, move.' She could see the guy got nervous all of them were, but she froze.

"I didn't Carla, I'm an idiot, but I didn't kill her, you got to believe me!"

"Shut up! NEVER AGAIN! I won't see you free. YOOOUUUU! -" Carla stepped towards him ready to shoot.

"Carla!" Blade shouted out and the woman's head turned for just a second.

The guy bashed away the barrel without a warning, fear in his eyes, "You're crazy! Give me that thing!"

"Fuck! Stop!" Blade transformed and dashed forward, 'Where the heck is my backup!?' The Gun was in the midst of them Blade couldn't use her magic dart.

Carla nearly had her aim back, "DIE!" But in the last moment, the guy managed somehow to push her arm down and bent it as the trigger got pulled.

The shot echoed through the ally and Carla slumped to the ground. The husband stumbled backwards, "No, no, no, no, Carla…" He stared at her wide-eyed. Wham, his arm that held the gun ripped to the side. He saw a crackling magic dart inside the gun that dispersed already. The gun was useless now. "I didn't - I didn't kill her, I - I, I didn't want this! It was self-defence, you saw it!" He was in shock, "That bitch left me no choice I didn't want to!"

Blade slid on the ground to come to a hold next to Carla and turned her around, "Hey, you got to stay awake, Carla. Carla talk to me!" Blade searched for the gunshot wound and pulled her shirt up. "Come on, help me!"

"She's dead, I'm a monster, I-I killed her… I-" He was out of it. "I don't want to go to prison, I did nothing… I- I'm a monster…I killed someone, my wife." His lips started to quiver.

Blade stared at the burn mark, "Shit," There was no blood, but the scorch mark went deep the skin had been cooked and by the looks of it this went deeper, which was normal at this range. "Probably hit some organs. Help me, I need to give her the potio-" Blade looked to the guy but only saw the barrel racing towards her quickly she infused magic before everything went black.


Blade blinked. Her head hurt. She pressed her palm against her forehead and pulled it back, red, a laceration. "Fuck," The gun was on the ground smeared with her blood as well. She could hear the sirens close by.

"Good, you're awake again," A relieved voice came from her bracelet. A Council guard was hovering over the console of the Red Fountain student who had been on the other side of the line in the video call. "Any healing spells? Treat your headwound first." The guard ordered her.

Blade rummaged through her belt pocket but found the potion first and pulled it out, "In a second, Carla needs…" The blood tripped into her eyes.

"Ambulance will be there any second, don't worry, she'll survive. Stop your bleeding," the guard repeated.

Yet Blade chucked the potion down the woman's throat. 'It was self-defense you saw it… I'm a monster, I killed someone…Urgh, stop, I don't have time for that right now,' The man's words echoed in her mind, 'Where did he go? …' Blade looked to the streets, "Fuck, where is he?" She looked around but he was nowhere to be seen. "Ambulance got the location?"

"Yes. Treat YOUR wound," The guard repeated sternly.

Blade simply ripped something off her T-shirt, she had transformed back as she had gone unconscious and made a quick fix. "Damn it, Winx!" She dashed into the air. The ambulance just came around the corner. She flew to the main street and pointed quickly inside the ally before she dashed up again and picked a direction to search hastily.

"Blade, stay, that needs to be checked. We already have Officers on the lookout as well as some Council guards in the area," The Council guard scolded her, but the young Fairy wouldn't listen.

"I let him escape. I have to find him," Blade scanned the streets from the sky as she raced to catch up to that guy. 'I'm a monster…oh, for fuck sake,' Blade couldn't get it out of her head, that man was so sure of his verdict. 'It had been self-defence, it wasn't planned. … Where did he go?!' Her mind was jumping back on task.

"There you are… you shouldn't fly around with a head wound, that's one o' one," A voice scolded her from behind and a firm grip tightened around her wrist.

"Tolith… no…eh…Sarlen?" Blade had no clue and she was too distracted to ask nature, "I got to find him he…" She pulled but didn't get far.

"Thallan," the elf held tight and pulled her towards a rooftop, "We're treating this now."

"But-" Blade protested. Yet there was no way she would escape his grasp.

"Sit down," Thallan ordered, "We have people on it. I got it covered," he gave the on-call guard and student in Red Fountain a nod and they ended the call. Blade had ignored them completely. He cut through the makeshift bandage with a tiny bit of magic at his fingertip after he sat her down on some ventilation system. The blood was still pouring as she had been really sloppy with her first aid. "Virgo dividet," He pressed his hand against her wound and it closed up directly. He didn't remove his hand straight away, "Good, no concussion, your magic prevented worse."

Blade brushed the hand away, "Great," she was ready to go.

"Sit," he pushed her down again.

"But I-" Blade growled.

Thallan wasn't budging, "You're in shock."

"I'm not!" she glared at him.

"Really? Do you even know how far you flew? He's nowhere near here. He can't run that fast. He has only base magic," Thallan crossed his arms.

Blade looked around the skyline had changed indeed she was in a different district. "But I, I… you are on a mission with a team, aren't you? I'm keeping-"

"Don't worry about that," Thallan used some magic to clean her blood from his hands and was about to do the same for her but her face was still a bit smeared. But she just pushed away his hand annoyed. He sighed, "Up on your feet, we'll fly to Alfea NOW." He pulled her up and jumped into the air with her. 'Professor Avalon already is on the way here we can shorten the trip for him and she has some time to vent and exert herself.'


Professor Avalon could already spot them. They had met around midway, "There they are…" He halted shortly in the air and pointed downwards to signal them. They all dived to land.

"Thanks, for coming so quickly. I treaded her head wound all is fine, despite…" Thallan gave a bow, but the Professor seemed to understand. "I'll leave you to it, then," He waited for the Professor's nod and darted off at an incredible speed.

"You alright?" Avalon inspected her closely, 'Her aura…mmmhh…'

"I'm fine, it was nothing," Blade answered annoyed and gazed towards the city. "Shit, I didn't report to the-"

"They got the video feed, not to worry," Avalon placed a hand on her shoulder, "Blade breathe. You need to calm down."

"I am calm," Blade hissed a bit agitated and grimaced directly afterwards, "My apologies."

"Just breathe, all is handled," the Professor addressed her and raised his hand in front of her face.

Blade stepped backwards, "I don't need a mind spell to calm down. I can do so on my own."

"I know, Blade, you got way better at controlling your negative emotions. It's not a mind spell, your face is still smeared with blood and we don't want to scare the Ladies back at Alfea, now do we?" Avalon explained in a somewhat lighthearted way.

Blade touched her face and swiped off some half-dried blood. She ground her teeth and simply pulled her shirt up

"Blade!" Avalon scolded her yet too late, with a sigh he turned his gaze away a gentleman as ever and rubbed his nose bridge, "Keep doing that, and you'll never be invited to one of your classmates' balls…Didn't Queen Stella just show your Sorceress friends the importance of etiquette…"

Blade snorted, "Who said I want to go on a ball? If I want to have fun with my friends I go watch a movie, not some stuck-up nobles. There, happy." She pulled her shirt down again. She as most of the time had her training clothes beneath so her Professor looking away was nothing more than Court play to her.

Avalon gazed at the nearly cleaned face and a white shirt with blood all over it. He shook his head in utter disbelief. 'This looks worse…what crawled under her skin? Something's bothering her.' He could tell and nodded towards Alfea, "Let's walk." He dispersed his wings. They walked for a bit before he broke the silence Blade was quiet as a lamb yet she had frowned concerned all along the way. "What's up? You've been distracted these past days, a week at least. You're tired all the time and your grades are slipping…"

"Tch," Blade dismissed the notion, "Who cares about that…" She bit her nails afraid to reveal their plans before her mind skipped again, "Monster…" she mumbled to herself.

Professor Avalon raised an eyebrow, "Monster? Did I do something wrong? I know I grade strictly, I never thought them to be unjust. Monster seems a bit harsh, don't you think?" He asked a bit jokingly and to loosen her tongue.

Blade was caught off guard, "What? No, that guy… he…" Blade halted. "…" She wanted to speak up but stopped. "Never mind."

"Hmm? Come now, ask away, I am your philosophy Professor, that question won't just vanish if you don't talk about it," Avalon encouraged her, 'So, that's it…' He had been passed the video feed as he had flown towards Magix City after Red Fountain had called Alfea. Alfea's combative teachers had all also gotten a bracelet just like Aurum's and Blade's class. He didn't wear it all the time but it was summoned forth if someone called.

Blade growled, 'Of course, he knows…urgh,' She looked to the ground, "Was I wrong all this time?"

"Wrong about what exactly?" Avalon smirked slightly, "Your last test answers?" He laughed shortly before he got serious. "A monster? Hm, if you ask me that depends on who the beholder is."

"So, I was wrong?" Blade stopped as the bus she originally wanted to catch passed them by. She didn't want to walk down the big street to Alfea, so she simply took a trail into the forest.

Professor Avalon indulged her and followed, "I didn't say that."

Blade glared at him annoyed, "I didn't ask for riddles." She complained.

"It wasn't one. I assure you. Actions are framed in the beholder's eyes," He explained calmly.

"So, I am a monster in your eyes? Right… I got to be…The guy, the husband, he said - he was so sure, he… I killed four people. And I had no gun held to my head. I would have survived. They had no intention of killing me, none of them. They just wanted…" Blade suppressed a gag. Her hand trembled. It was still hard for her to truly speak about it, she tried to avoid those talks as much as possible simply because she hated those pictures in her mind and fear it triggered. This time around Shanna had dialled her emotion down less, as Blade had gained more and better ways to deal with her emotions and trauma and she rather not suppressed the range of emotions. It's important to feel those things, at least for a time, she always said. So, she was fine-tuning this time around rather than dialling emotions down on a broad spectrum like with the Desertia incident. After all, Shanna knew her a lot better now.

Professor Avalon saddened looked at his student, "You can erase that 'just' straight out of your head." He snipped against her forehead.

"Hey!" Blade growled tiredly, her reaction time was shit with all that lack of sleep.

Avalon halted, 'She's so tired…' But this talk couldn't wait. He knew that so he continued, "It wasn't 'just' anything, Blade. Let me ask you this, what do you think kills a person?"

"What?" Blade was irritated at first, "Weapons, wounds, magic, that's obvious. What a dumb question," She puffed offended.

"Hmm, I recall you stated several times you wanted your life back. To want something back you must have given it away first," He challenged her statement, "So, what do you call it when someone loses their life?"

Blade shook her head, "But I was breathing, I was - I fought, I wasn't dead!" She didn't like that implication, what he was playing at. "I'm a fighter," she hissed, "I didn't lose. Not to those assholes. I won, I came out on top!" She made it promptly clear.

"And yet you felt that you lost something. You wanted your life back. You said it several times. People don't just die by the body, the mind and heart are equally important," Avalon looked around and plugged a plant out from the ground.

"What do you want with that?" Blade inspected the plant; the leaves, a flower bud, stem, and even the roots were still intact.

"Think of this as the entirety of a person," Avalon started. "The leaves and bud is what we see first when we look at a plant. Just like what people do, or their appearance, their body." He clipped the leaves and bud of and let them float next to him with some magic. "Then we have the mind, the connection between body and heart. Taking in all the signals from our soul and surroundings," He clipped the stem of the little plant and let that part float as well. "And lastly there is the heart, what drives us, what holds what is important to us. It nourishes what we think, what we feel, how we see things and at the end of the day how we react and grow as a person." He paused to let Blade catch up in his thought construct.

Blade stared at the now broken-apart plant, "Okay… but what does have to do with me being a monster or not?"

"Don't jump to the end. Baby steps, Blade," He chuckled. "So again, Blade, what does kill a person? What can you clip from this plant without killing it? Can it flourish without its leaves and buds?"

"No, it needs those…" Blade answered, "And without the stem, you just have a jumble of parts and without the heart- I mean the roots…"

The Professor nodded, "Indeed, a person in its entirety needs all, body, mind and soul. Lose one and you'll reach a state of death. With the body, it's obvious, you die. When the mind withers you are left with a husk of the former self. And if the soul is broken, life loses its meaning." He spoke about it with such intensity it was such a contrast to his voice which was caring and gentle. "So, get that JUST out of your head. They didn't JUST want to have some fun with you. You protected yourself from a different kind of death."

Blade avoided his gaze and tensed up as he addressed it so directly. "I…" She bit her tongue. "I know that… but that guy… he too, it was self-defence, how can he possibly see himself as a monster? If he is one I got to be, don't I? At least in…" She squinted her eyes. This was so unsettling for some reason.

"…In someone's eyes. As I said the answer to that lies in the beholder's eyes," Avalon halted in front of her, "Blade. – Blade, look at me." Avalon waited patiently for her to find the courage. "In my eyes, you are not a monster. You are my student, I care for your well-being, so to me, you had all the right to defend yourself. But there is no denying that some might not see it that way. Those gangsters most likely have friends and family somewhere too. In their eyes, you might be a blood-thirsty killer - a monster." He paused and rested a hand on her shoulder. "Again, what is most important is how you see yourself. You might be able to sway a Court, explain it to others, ask for forgiveness from whom you have taken them and maybe they will forgive maybe they won't. You can joke and rampage with friends about it or find like-minded people all over Magix. The question stands, just like with Jewels - can you forgive? Yourself and even them. Or will you drown yourself in guilt, sorrow or revenge?"

"To forgive doesn't mean to forget…" Blade breathed in deeply. That always helped her the most. It meant that she didn't ignore things but accepted them.

Avalon smiled at her caringly, "Indeed, it's the difference between being stuck in the past and moving on."

Blade chuckled, "You sound like Shanna."

"Well, she's smart. I'm smart, why wouldn't we?" Avalon lightened up the mood. "That man, he wasn't there yet, Blade. He couldn't forgive himself, not for sleeping with that sister-in-law, nor shooting his wife, and most likely not even for letting that sister-in-law walk alone to the hospital." He let go of her shoulder, "You already had time to process this. You already had decided how you see yourself. And I don't think that judgement was flawed. You wouldn't have killed the gangsters if they hadn't started it and even back then it wasn't your intention."

Blade balled her fists, "And yet four lives were lost. I killed four people, I didn't mean to…I truly didn't…" She stared at the blood on her shirt and then at her hands just a second later she noticed tears dripping down. "So, why-"

"It's important to feel all those feelings…at least for a time," Avalon held out a handkerchief as he quoted Shanna from their phone calls. Blade had agreed that those two could update each other if they felt it necessary. "This is a good thing this means you're not growing dull to the loss of life. You care. That's a strength never a weakness."

"I know," Blade mumbled as she took the handkerchief but ended up simply balling it in her fist.

Slowly Professor Avalon guided her along the trail again walking steadily behind her reading her aura to be sure not to miss something and let her deal with the sadness that had hit her unexpectantly.


Blade closed her eyes as her tears subsided eventually, "Did you ever… does it feel worse if you...?" Reluctantly she asked. "I mean, kill…" She turned around she was a bit scared to hear the answer.

Professor Avalon blinked, 'Where is that coming from now?' He sighed deeply, "Well, there are fights where death is the last solution. But Blade, there is no reason to worry. You don't plan on killing anyone intentionally, after all," He intensified his aura reading as he uttered those words, after all her class had been distracted and this was the perfect moment to make sure they weren't going to do something stupid, "So, there is no reason to break your head over such things. It's a bridge you aren't crossing at the moment and hopefully won't have to in a long time. Leave such matters, where that scenario is a possibility, up to your elders," He couldn't pick up any intent to kill in her aura which relaxed him deeply not that it showed. "No matter how much you think about it beforehand… killing someone on purpose will feel differently than you expect," Avalon stated clearly. "It doesn't give you long-term satisfaction. It leaves an emptiness. Death of a person rarely solves the problem lying beneath."

Blade understood and yet also didn't understand what he was trying to convey, it was more like an impression his answer gave her. She noticed the school towers between the tree crowns, "Palladium, I mean, Professor Palladium is waiting, we should hurry…" She refocused on what was actually up ahead in the to-do list of the day and hurried along the forest path. She was slower than normal when she went on her parkour, she knew that her running times had been shit all week, 'Those damn nightshifts…we still have half the training left, I have another stake out tonight and I still got to write that report…ahhh…shit.'


Palladium had nervously waited at the sandbox, "There they are…" He walked towards them just to spot the blood on the T-shirt. "Are you still hurt?" Was the first thing that came out of his mouth.

"No…Thallan fixed it. So, what are we training today?" Blade looked to the both of them, she just wanted a break from overthinking everything. She had more stuff to do. She rubbed her eyes shortly and suppressed a yawn. Somehow this short but intense talk had taken so much out of her, she just wanted to get the special training done and there was no way she would skip another. She had lost so many sessions in the past weeks already.

Palladium gazed at Avalon, 'Is this a good idea? Her mind must be…' He noticed Avalon already had a plan in mind.

Avalon sat down, in the sand, "Come, sit down here," he patted to his left. "First we'll do a bit of meditation otherwise you'll just be unfocused and might hurt yourself. Safety first. Palladium why don't you join us."

Professor Palladium agreed with a nod, 'So we ignore the bloody and ripped shirt… wonderful, well just would annoy her if I start that now…' Avalon sat so close to the edge so Palladium simply sat down next to Blade. A few minutes past where he reached out with his voice of nature to connect to nature, this always calmed him down and helped him find his centre as suddenly something slumped down on his arm and leg. Irritated he opened his eyes prematurely from the meditation, "Blade?" He asked concerned yet gently.

'That was faster than I expected,' Avalon glanced over and snorted, "She's out cold. Wonderful."

Palladium wasn't quite sure what to do with just one free hand, "What do you mean out co-" As nature gave him the feedback that she had simply fallen asleep. "She's sleeping!?" He whispered-shouted not to wake her, this was super awkward, "Help me out, here, she can't just sleep on my lap, we got rules, school rules," He tried to get his arm free gently but there was no way. She was indeed a deadweight right now.

"Ahh, well I always get the short stick with her and school rules, seems fair that you lend me a hand for once," Avalon teased him. This was too funny and even better was Pallium's aura right now. A true rarity to behold.

"Avalon, that's not funny!" Palladium hissed quietly again, "What if someone sees?! The students," He had to watch as Avalon simply stood up went to the console erected the big surround shield and tainted it black an option normally used to hide surprises from the students in obstacle parkours in the sandbox.

He entered into the shielded area again, "There, problem solved."

"You can't be serious…" Palladium deadpan stared at him.

Avalon smirked and snorted some more, "Well, everyone complained that she isn't sleeping enough, now she is. Isn't that why you are still whispering? You can wake her any time. You don't need me for that." He took the opposing side from him and settled down again to meditate.

"Avalon… don't you dare trance now!" Palladium whisper-hissed, "Avalon? Avalon…Avalon! Ahhh, are you serious," He reached out with his hand to wake Blade.

"Come now, you can figure this out there are at least thirteen ways for you to get out of this without waking her," Avalon challenged him. 'Ah, too good, Blade always falls to her left side when she's tired. This was too easy to set up. And I thought he would see through this, oh well.' He smirked inwardly a bit more this truly was a prestige moment to analyse his buddy's aura, it was fascinating.

Palladium glared at him, "You and your stupid riddle games… thirteen?" The goading had made him ambitious now.

"At least, question is which one is the best," Avalon grinned. "If she wakes up, this will be even more awkward, you know."

Palladium growled dissatisfied, "We're supposed to train her you know…not me…" he complained but his brain was already running scenarios though.