Darcy

The pavilion, as it turns out, was stable.

I hesitantly placed a foot on the stone, half expecting it to be just like the ink around and below us. A second went by, then another, and then I trusted the stone enough to stop levitating and walk onto it. Everyone else followed after realizing that it was safe, staying transformed in case of danger.

It was when I walked closer to the center of the structure that I really felt that it was… weird. It must be those 'weird vibes' Iorda mentioned earlier, but even as weird as her description was, it fit. The pavilion was under the dim light normal to everything in The Dark World, but it didn't seem purely evil or purely good. It just… was.

"This place is seriously creepy," Musa stated from afar.

"Bloom? Any signals from the Star Case?" Flora glanced over to Bloom.

The fire fairy raised her hands in front of her and the Star Case appeared between them. It looked the same as it was back when all of us were trying to get the Prime Stars. It was… glowing and pulsing, but just barely, and the needle in the center of the compass was directly pointing towards the horizon, where the grayish-yellow sun was setting.

I turned around in circles, looking at the three doorways holding up the ring above. Each of the doorways' centers was a swirly mass of darkness and light, swirling and undulating within each other in harmony. The frame of the doors was the same stone as everything around us, just the same grey colour. I would say I prefer this to the colours of Alfea if not for the weird feeling surrounding this place.

Against my better judgment, I stepped closer to one of the doorways—the border slightly different than the rest, adorned with carvings of the rising sun and budding plants—and peered into the center of it. Nothing except—and then the center started to move and change into… a picture, a vision.

There was… a city? It looked like Magix. Then several figures appeared in the blurred cityscape: me, Icy, Stormy, and… the Winx? We were all in Magix. Then as if in slow-motion, the figures started to move. We were all smiling and laughing in the streets of Magix, talking with one another. Even Aisha in the vision seemed to have abandoned all of her prejudices. No one was glaring at each other and everyone was… at ease being together. Even me…

"Icy, Stormy. Come take a look at this," I call them over. They looked over to where I was and then walked to the door I was standing in front of, looking as confused as I was. "Do you see the same thing I do? All of us in Magix?"

Icy and Stormy looked into the door suspiciously, and I was keeping my gaze on them to see any clues to what they were seeing. Stormy was still, but Icy smiled softly, tears forming in her eyes. She tried to form words, but nothing was coming out until she finally managed to say:

"I—I see Diamond," Icy said in disbelief, wiping away her tears. "It's like when I was a child. And… Sapphire is human again." She laughed—I could practically feel the relief in her voice—before looking even closer. "Everything is normal again. And Sapphire and I are looking at the flowers."

Stormy looked between the two of us as if we were crazy. "How are you two's vision-things so normal? I see all of us—and the Winx, mind you—at a dance at Alfea. As if I'll ever go to one of those things willingly, ugh. Unless it's a million years into the future when I've lost all my dignity."

I paused, an idea of what this was popping into my mind. "Say that again, Stormy."

"What?"

"The last thing you said."

"When I've lost all my dignity?"

I sigh, rolling my eyes. "Before that."

"What? That it'll never happen unless it's a million years into the future—"

"Yes!" I exclaim, looking at Icy. "These things might show the future. Our future."

Icy looked at the door again before staring up at the sky, trying to not let even more tears fall. "I'm actually going to get Sapphire back. Diamond is going to be fine. I'm going to fix my mistake…" She embraced the two of us, and I laughed at the sight of Stormy's expression of confusion and amusement. "Everything's going to be okay."

The embrace soon ended—I realized that all of us were alive in the visions, so… none of us were going to die gaining Inseimix. We'll be okay—and of course, Stormy being Stormy, immediately decided to flaunt our discovery to the Winx who were on the other side of the pavilion.

"Hey, Winx!" Stormy called out teasingly, laughing under her breath. "This thing shows the future! In case you haven't figured it out yet!"

The Winx loomed towards us, and Bloom tilted her head in confusion, tapping the second doorway she, Stella, Aisha, and Tecna were standing in front of. "Really? Then this one must not work… It's only showing us standing in front of it."

"As if it's a mirror," Tecna said, looking just as perplexed as everyone else.

I looked at Icy and Stormy, then over to the third doorway where Musa, Flora, and Iorda were—the latter was seemingly frozen in front of the doorway. "Musa! Flora! Iorda! Is your doorway showing anything!"

Iorda bit her lip—she felt panicked, and her mind was chaotic; as if her thoughts were flying around everywhere, and I didn't even have to read her mind to feel that—before she forced herself to look away from the doorway, breathing in deeply.

"Past," she said. It was barely able to be heard.

"Past!" Musa yelled out, looking uncomfortable at whatever she saw in the door.

Flora was the calmest out of the three, and of course, Iorda was the least at ease. She walked away from the door, shaking her head and tapping her hand with the other as if to distract herself from the thoughts of her past. I didn't even have to think to guess what she saw, and I buried the guilt that arose with the thought. Reassuring myself that it was in the past and that I needed to stop blaming myself for everything.

"These things must show the past, present, and future!" Stella concluded, a smile appearing on her face. "Let's go around all the doors! I definitely wanna see my future!"

Everyone started to go around the different doors, the Winx to the door of the future, and Icy, Stormy, and I to the door of the past—none of us went to the door that showed the present. We all know what the present is: walking around the pavilion. The three of us paused at the door before sharing a glance without looking into the doorway.

"Let's skip that one," Icy said with a grimace, and we all agreed without any hesitation.

With no other doorway to look at, I walked over to the door of the present. Anything that it would show wouldn't be a surprise, so might as well just see what it is all about.

"It's not gonna show anything new," Stormy stated—as if I didn't already know that—but then she and Icy followed.

I stood in front of the doorway, the two of them behind me, seeing the exact thing I expected to see: the three of us in front of the doorway. I peered closer, and I was able to see the Winx behind us looking at the doorway of the future, the rest of the pavilion, a shadow among the ink around the pavilion. It looked… like a person—oh dragon!

"Something's here!" I yelled, bolting around.

The Winx turned with a start, and Icy and Stormy prepared their magic as everyone rushed to the center of the pavilion. I looked towards what the equivalent of where I saw the shadow in the mirror must be and then I saw that the shadow, without a doubt, was a person. We were so focused on the doors that we forgot that everything here was trying to kill us. I glanced to my left—seeking to see what the others' reaction was—and then I saw a second shadow.

"There!" Flora called out, pointing to my right, and I saw that there was a third shadow.

"Those things are turning into… people," Aisha said, eyes wide, and as I looked between the three shadows I realized that they weren't just turning into people. They were people! And even though they were still far from the pavilion, they were getting closer

The first figure was taller than the others, with long brown hair done up partially in a bun. She wore a simple dress beaded with reds as if they were made of fire, and blues as dark as Oscurita itself. She wore a purple potion bottle as a necklace, and her eyes… were dangerous, yet alluring. I banished the thought that it was like looking in a mirror.

The figure at my left had dark hair that shone brightly, silver and gold running through her hair, a bag hanging from her shoulder that I didn't know what I was filled with. She was eerily calm and looked strangely threatening compared to the first figure.

Lastly, the figure at my right wore robes of black, curly blonde hair falling over her shoulders. She had a staff held in her hand—for the other… seemed to be torn off as if from an attack—that was as dark as the ink surrounding the pavilion. But the thing that all three of the figures had in common was that dark wisps were coming off of them, smoking off into the air.

Iorda swore to herself.

"Do you know who they are?" I asked, building up a sphere of darkness between my hands.

"Aria, Sona, and Dagi," Iorda explained, her hands flickering with magic. "If I remember right they are three sorceresses who were banished because they used their powers of music to hurt others, and then they took on shadow magic instead." She began mumbling under her breath. "Dragon, I should have realized sooner. If I wasn't so distracted I would have actually—"

"Uhhhh the creeps are coming closer so someone think of a plan!" Stella yelled, preparing her magic to attack. And she was right, the three sorceresses were now on the pavilion, one floating above each door.

"Just attack these things!" Stormy swung her hand at the figure—the one with brown hair that was lazily sitting on the ring above the door of the past—and a lightning bolt flew out towards her. She disappeared, avoiding the attack, before reappearing.

"Awww, is that the best you can do?" She smirked, lying down across the ring without a care in the world. We all looked at each other, sharing the same confusion and indecision. The figure—I had no idea which one was which—smiled down at us. "Welcome to my playground, magi: the pavilion of doors that show the past, present, and, well, possible future. Not any of this is guaranteed." She chuckled before her gaze darkened, touching the potion vial hanging from her neck. "My name is Aria. As if it would matter to you all."

"What she means is…" The figure above the door of the future—the one with curly blonde hair—stood still, rolling her eyes at Aria. "That we are going to kill you. Every single one of you, and it won't be pleasant by any means."

A shrill laugh came from above the door to the present, and the figure with hair streaks with silver and gold, adjusting her bag. "Don't mind Dagi, but she is right that we are going to kill you! I'm Sona, and, dragon, am I looking forward to watching all of you die! Maybe we'll drown you in the ink, or we'll attack you until you can't even stand, or—"

Aria chuckled darkly. "Please excuse Sona, but you can't blame her for being excited to kill you. Getting rid of all of you at once, painfully, will be the thing that separates us from the rest of the vermin in Oscurita in the eyes of the Shaman Witch. But I myself have special orders from the Shaman to make sure the lucky one of you falls by my hands." Her eyes narrowed, and when she met my gaze, fear jolted into my heart. "That someone is you, Darcy."

I froze, looking between the three sorceresses, before burying the fear. "I'd like to see you try. Everyone! Start attacking these wannabes!"

I levitated up from the ground, my eyes set on Aria. She was so at ease. Why? I threw my attack at her, expecting it to hit, but she just moved to the side before levitating up into the air. Icy fired spears of ice and Stormy tried her lightning attack again, but Aria kept on avoiding it!

"Are you really gonna keep trying?" Aria scoffed before she waved her hand, and a potion vial appeared in thin air and she grabbed it swiftly. "Then I guess I'll play this little game before I get to the reason I'm here." She popped the top off the potion bottle before pouring it down on the ground in front of us, the green liquid soaking into the stone before emitting a neon smoke.

"Stop—" Stormy threw more lightning at Aria, only for her to avoid it again — "disappearing! Oh, my dragon!"

The smoke was wafting over to our feet, and I knelt down to it—Aria wasn't doing anything besides annoying the ome out of us, and the Winx were handling Sona and Dagi just fine, and seemed to be having the same problem we were with fighting the sorceresses—and I immediately smelled something acidic in the gas.

"Guys, I think we're slowly being surrounded by poison!" I yelled out.

"I'll handle this!" Stormy began conjuring wind, and the poison was slowly being dispelled.

"Oh no you don't," Dagi sneered from behind this, and with a wave of her hand, conjured up a ring that bound Stormy's hands together, stopping her from casting the spell.

"Oh come on!" Stormy threw her hands down and began struggling to get rid of the ring around her wrists with no avail.

The poison began floating up, and I coughed on the gas. I covered my mouth in reflex before remembering that I was safe—having Liltih's magic inside me gave that immunity, the only good thing that ever came from her—and looked around at the Winx and my sisters who were struggling with trying not to breathe the poison into their lungs. The three sorceresses were just having a sweet time above the doors, acting as if we were just flies waiting to be squashed. It was cowardly, and they could at least fight us instead of using backhanded tricks!

"Haha! Have fun dying!" Sona laughed from above.

"Flora!" Iorda said—the only one other than me who wasn't coughing and choking on the poison, since we share the same source of our magic, more or less—and looked over to her friend beside her. "Conjure up vines around us!"

"That'll just make the gas worse!" Aisha pointed out. "Why can't we just use an attack to blow it away or smother it?"

"Because then it'll keep coming back, and if something is protecting us from the sorceress from attacking us or blocking our magic then—" Iorda stopped herself before speaking loud enough for us to hear it, but so that the sorceresses can't. "...then I can absorb the poison."

"It's likely going to work," Tecna said, coughing, then she looked at Iorda. "As long as you absorb it fast enough."

Iorda bit her lip and looked off to the side as if she was doubting her ability to do this without failing. Chaos swarmed her mind again before she buried it, then she shook her head again before breathing in deeply.

"I can do it," Iorda said, clearly determined, as she began to focus her magic without letting it go overboard so the sorceresses couldn't see what she was planning.

I thought of helping Iorda to absorb the poison, but that is one ability she has that I don't; to take in dark magic, poison, and the like. I've seen her absorb many spells, and even though her ability takes her away her strength, I didn't doubt her capability to do this. There's nothing I can do now, and when I looked at Icy and Stormy who were trying to cough the poison out of their lungs, I prayed that this plan would work.

"Now, Flora!" Iorda yelled, trying to be heard over the coughing.

Flora held her breath and waved her hands swiftly, and immediately thick green vines shot up through the stone and began forming a roof around us. I heard the voices of the sorceresses through the gas, but the sound disappeared the moment the vines closed the final hole and we were now protected from any interference. Then I realized that the gas was becoming so thick that I couldn't see!

"Hold on!" Iorda said, and I felt the rise in her energy when she started casting a spell, and I was praying that she would absorb the gas in time before we all suffocated.

A second went by, and I could see through my burning and teary eyes that the smoke was becoming thinner. I felt guilty that now I was—I had to—rely on the person I've hurt: the person my sisters' lives depended on. The gas was slowly settling to the ground, now only halfway filling the dome, and I could hear Iorda breathing shakily. Of course, the gas would be strong dark magic to absorb… she just has to hold on for a little longer and then we'll all be okay. Then we might live to get the futures we saw in the door. Then as the smoke was just floating on the ground, it was gone.

I immediately sighed in relief when I saw that my sisters were starting to breathe normally again. I could hear the Winx breathing and cheering from behind us, and I saw that Stormy was just now able to destroy the ring restraining her magic, laughing gladly in response.

I turned around in realization, and I saw that Iorda was breathing heavily, her eyes closed in discomfort. "Are you okay…?" I asked, knowing that she clearly wasn't—considering she looked so worn out.

Iorda turned around and composed herself, brushing away the sweat on her face. "Yeah, I'm fine. The poison in the gas was just strong, but at least now we can worry about the sorceresses."

It didn't take a genius to realize that Iorda was lying, but when spells started being bombarded against the vines from the outside it was clear we had more important things to worry about. Flora's hands were glowing bright green as she added more and more vines to the dome, strengthening it.

"The dome isn't going to hold up for much longer! We need a plan!" Flora said, glancing back to everyone.

"There's three of them and ten of us," Musa began. "We can divide up and then fight them. We'll be the ones with the advantage!"

To my surprise, Icy was the one who responded—positively at that—to the plan. "That'll probably work! Is there any information about the sorceresses any of you know?"

"I'm pretty sure each of them has a different power source, or a way of using their magic," Iorda explained. "Aria uses potions, and Sona uses spores or different powders, at least that's what I remember. Dagi, the one with the staff, uses shadows and controls them. But each of the sorceresses will probably be able to attack offensively and defensively!"

Tecna thought for a moment. "Then when we divide up, if we have two on offence and one on defence shielding the others, we can overwhelm them." She looked around at all of us, deliberating who would be best together in the groups. "Icy, Darcy, Stormy, you three will be good as a group against Aria. Darcy can use her powers on the defensive while you two attack."

The three of us shared a glance and nodded. Most of the time, even in past battles, I would use my magic for defensive purposes—like tricking opponents and confusing them. I would have to use more shields in this case, but if Icy and Stormy attack ruthlessly at Aria while I protect them from her attacks then this will be an easy fight!

"Aisha, Flora, and Stella, you will have the advantage to go against Dagi. Aisha is on the defensive, and Stella, don't stop attacking no matter what!" Tecna ordered.

Stella smiled, her hands already glowing with magic. Aisha began forming her… pink stuff—oh right, morphix—and looked as determined as ever. Flora nodded at Tecna, hurriedly replacing the slowly breaking vines with even stronger ones. The strength of her Inseimix powers clearly shows in comparison to her old powers, not that they were weak by any means.

"Lastly, Bloom, Musa, and I will fight against Sona, with myself on defence." Tecna looked at Iorda. "And if either of the sorceresses uses a poison like before, are you able to absorb it?"

"Yes," Iorda said without hesitation, which was confusing. Considering how beat up she was after absorbing the poison. Something is off...

"Ready?" Bloom exclaimed, wings and hands sparkling. I jumped, startled, and I glanced at everyone else and I realized that they were also fully prepared to attack the sorceresses. I focused on my magic, and my hands were surrounded by a black aura.

"Ready!"

"Definitely!"

"Let's do this!"

Flora pulled down the vines, and then all of us flew up into the air towards our targets. There was more than enough space among the pavilion for us to spread out and attack without us crowding around each other, and I felt the connection to my magic strengthen as I focused on the anger I had for the Shaman Witch and any of her lackeys.

Icy, Stormy, and I flew toward Aria, who was still as calm as she was earlier. She wasn't making a move, and it was the perfect opportunity to gain the upper hand. I shared a glance with Icy and Stormy, and I knew at that moment that we were all ready to get rid of Aria and continue trying to gain Inseimix.

"Shadow Sphere!" I cast a sphere of darkness around us, moving it to follow our cohesive movements to protect us from any spells from the outside while still allowing us to push spells at Aria from the inside.

"Icicle Barrage!"

"Rain of Lightning!"

Icy and Stormy shot out a combined attack, the spell of ice shards and sparks of electricity passing through the barrier and toward Aria. She wasn't reacting. Why wasn't she reacting?

With a swish of her hand the moment when she would get hit, Aria flicked away the spell without any thought, leaving the attack to hit the stone floor. Is she somehow immune to our attacks?

The three of us shared a confused glance, none of us sure of what to do or how to attack Aria in a way that would actually work.

"It was nice playing with you all…" Aria drawled as she stretched her arms calmly. It still bothered me that she was so calm. It was three against one, so she would at least be scared of her defeat. Aria waved her hand, and then a thin potion bottle containing a swirling, black mixture appeared in her hand. She carefully took the stopper off, and I didn't look away from her so I could try to find an opening where we could attack and not miss. "It's time to start what I was sent here for."

Aria poured the mixture into her hand—it looked identical to the ink we had come close to drowning in—and it moved and angulated as if it had a mind of its own. The sorceress smiled cruelly, and Stormy prepared an attack. Then the ink in Aria's hand shot forward directly at us!

"What even is that?" Icy was disgusted at the mass, and her hand was glowing.

"Don't really know," I answered. "But the barrier will stop it from reaching us."

I focused my magic on the barrier, and it stopped the inky mass that stuck onto the outside. I winced as the mass wormed its way through the barrier as if it were acid or a worm, and I regretted putting so much of my energy into the barrier. I started to cast another spell—

"Darcy!"

I whipped my head at Stormy, then the mass shot through the last bit of the barrier. I didn't have to blink before I felt it attach to my face! I couldn't see anything, and I brought my hands up to peel it off. I heard the panicked voices of my sisters while I failed to get the mass off my face. I need to get this thing off! I breathed in, but then I felt a burning coolness as the mass went through my mouth within seconds.

"Ugh—" I brought my hands to my throat in fear, trying to breathe when all that I succeeded in was coughing. "Just—" I hacked, now realizing that the mass was stopping me from breathing.

Just get air in, now! I can't die like this! My vision is getting dark, and I don't know if I'm hearing Icy and Stormy or if I'm just imagining it. The mass or potion thing was staying lodged in my throat. My head was pounding and my lungs were stinging, my heart was slowing down. I hated this feeling. Icy grabbed my wrist and Stormy was… yelling? But then I stopped struggling. I'm too tired to… what was I…?

I closed my eyes, and I fell to the ground.


Iorda

Sona had just launched another attack of poison spores at Bloom, Musa, and Tecna—the sorceress was struggling to defend herself from the three of them at once. They were different from the ones Aria had used from her potion, and they seemed to hone in on the fairies' positions, all of them trying to avoid the spores.

"Just stop with the dust already!" Musa yelled angrily, firing spells at the green spores before even more floated toward her.

I flew towards the group, already wincing internally knowing how much this would hurt. I have to admit that the vision in the door—the one to the future—made me realize how much the change I've been avoiding telling the Winx was getting closer. It's been almost two years now since the flashes started, and if I remember right I just have… four more of them left. Enchantix to Disenchantix, Sirenix to Dark Sirenix, Bloomix to Darkix, then… Inseimix. I need to tell the Winx before the final one happens, and it's not like I can go back after… changing classes. I don't know how they'll take it, or how I will take it when it's done.

"Get out of the spores!" I exclaimed, reaching Bloom and the others, trying to focus on positive feelings. It would hurt miles less to use negative energy at this point, but I can't risk a flash happening here where everyone can see.

"Thanks!" Bloom smiled, worn out from the fighting, as she, Musa, and Tecna flew up out of the cloud of spores.

"Don't mention it," I answered quietly, raising my hands up to absorb the poisonous spores.

My hands glowed a dark purple as I thought of absorbing the poison, cleaning the air. I was using positive emotions only, not wanting to use negative and risk starting a flash between transformations. I could feel my magic getting stronger and stronger, and I clenched my eyes shut when I felt the spores starting to be absorbed into my hands; my magic. Normally it wouldn't sting, and it wouldn't feel like acid inside me, but I have to get through this. I didn't know if the cloud of spores was disappearing; I just closed my eyes and focused on keeping my tears inside. If I didn't have a decent pain tolerance this would be ome, more than it is already. Come on… I've been through worse than this. I buried that thought. The door to the past showed too many memories I wasn't eager to revisit.

"Iorda, it's gone now, you can stop."

I opened my eyes. Bloom, Tecna, and Musa were around me, and when I scanned the area, I saw that the cloud of spores had disappeared—including a clearly fuming Sona. Musa looked at me, and I knew that she was concerned.

I forced a smile. "Just blacked out a bit, sorry."

"DARCY!"

That was Icy yelling!

I turned around and I saw Icy and Stormy flying after Darcy who was falling to the ground unconscious. Even from here, I could feel that something was wrong—the presence of Darcy's mind was just… out of it as if it got turned off. Icy shot a beam at Darcy, and the white-hallowed spell floated her safely to the ground. She was still unconscious.

"Come on, quick!" Bloom said, her eyes wide with shock and concern. She looked back at Musa and Tecna. "Can you two handle Sona?"

"On it," Musa nodded before she and Tecna flew towards Sona, firing beams and spells from their hands within an instant. They were probably good to handle themselves, as long as Sona didn't use any more spores against them.

Bloom glanced at me. "Let's go see what's going on with the Trix."

I nodded, too nervous to say anything.

The two of us flew towards the Trix—Stormy and Icy were kneeling over Darcy, who was not moving from what I could tell from over here—and when we landed on the stone floor in front of them I saw that Aria was no longer above the door. Icy kept her gaze fixed on Darcy, while Stormy looked up at us, looking as nervous as her sister.

"What happened?" I asked, looking between Darcy and the lack of Aria.

Stormy looked between us and her sisters, and as she nervously ran a hand through her hair, I saw that she was shaking. "I—I don't know." She looked back at the door where Aria once was. "That—that sorceress pulled out a potion and then it jumped out towards Darcy and went inside her then she fell and then Aria disappeared!"

"She's still breathing!" Icy exclaimed, trembling as she checked Darcy's pulse. Her chest shook, the repressed sobs still visible to those watching. She looked at me, and her eyes were fearful and desperate—so much different from her usual cold and emotionless gaze that I was used to. "Can… can you get that thing out of her? Like you did with the gas?"

I didn't know what to say. Not because I was hesitating to help Darcy, but because I was shocked that Icy would ask me for help. I felt that she changed from the past a while ago, but this is when the realization hit me. Icy was trying her hardest to hide her tears from Bloom and I, trying to stop her face from showing her distress, and I felt just how much she cared for Darcy. I knew that I was going to do whatever I could to make sure Icy and Stormy didn't lose someone they cared about.

"I can try." I walked over to where Icy was and knelt down next to Darcy's body. I didn't even have to focus my magic to feel Darcy's fear, and it made me wonder what was going on. But I just have to get that potion-thing out of her. I have to hope that I'll be able to absorb it from here and that it hasn't affected her in any permanent way.

I focused my magic, not even worrying about whether or not it would be painful to me. I can feel Stormy and Bloom worriedly looking down on the situation, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Icy not even blinking as she stared at Darcy, waiting for any sign of her awakening. I dived deep into my magic's core and tried to find where the potion was. A second went by before I felt something wrong—a poison—in Darcy's mind. Dragon… if it permanently alters her mind that will be horrible for her. Focusing on getting the poison out was hard on its own, but focusing on that while being careful not to harm Darcy's mind is an entirely different thing on its own. I just have to do this. For Icy, Stormy, and Darcy herself. I carefully tried to pull on the poison, but it just stayed there. It was already… it was already absorbed by her mind. Then I felt it. I felt a foreign energy in Darcy's mind.

"What is it?" Icy asked urgently.

I breathed deeply, planning out what I was going to say without worrying her further. "I can't take the poison out of her mind." Icy's eyes widened, and when I looked around, I saw that Stormy, and even Bloom, was getting more nervous by the second. "And… I think Aria went inside Darcy's mind. She said earlier that she had orders to…" I refrained from finishing that sentence.

"Can you at least get that hag out?" Stormy asked, her voice rising and rising. "Maybe even get Darcy out of the trance or whatever the potion did to her? Anything? Or are you just gonna do nothing and watch her die!"

"She's doing what she can to help," Bloom protested.

Stormy's accusation stung, but I could see the tears in her eyes. She must be under so much stress and turmoil. I knew not to take her tone or words personally. It's just fear leading her to say those things.

"It's okay, Bloom," I reassured calmly, before looking at Stormy. "I don't think I can outright pull Darcy out of the trance, but I can try to weaken Aria's influence on her mind to make it easier for her to get out."

Stormy and Icy looked at each other. "Are there… any risks for Darcy while doing that?" Icy questioned, her emotionless tone coming back.

I think for a moment. "No. And going to be easy enough to find Aria without going into Darcy's memories, or anything else like that. There won't be any threat to Darcy, besides the sorceress, while I do this."

"Alright." Icy nodded, glancing at Stormy before she did so as well. They were all okay with the plan, but if anything, their trust was only making this even more nerve-wracking. If it doesn't work and I'm kicked out of Darcy's mind I would just have to have faith that she would be fine. If Aria is using Darcy's past or emotions against her… I've felt Darcy's guilt of the past, and it's strong. If this doesn't work it's going to be an ordeal for her to do this on her own.

I focused my magic once more, feeling it light up within me.


A/N Wooo! Finally a brand new, fresh chapter! And have some incorrect quotes that are somewhat relevant to this chapter. (Key word being somewhat XD)

The Squad packing for the Dark World:

Musa: Christmas lights?

Iorda: Check.

Aisha: Thermos of hot cocoa?

Iorda: Check.

Icy: Santa suits?

Iorda: Check.

Tecna: Shovel?

Iorda: Check.

Bloom: Alibi and bail money?

Iorda: Check- wait, WHAT?!

Stella: Why don't humans have a specific noise that means "there are bees here, let's leave immediately." Why are elephants more advanced than us?

Icy: We do have a specific noise for it. It sounds like this:

Icy: "There are bees here, let's leave immediately."

Darcy: Don't worry, I've got a few knives up my sleeve.

Musa: I think you mean cards.

Stella: They did not.

Darcy, pulling out knives: I did not.

A/N Have a great day, hydrate, and let me know what you think of this chapter!