Hello! I figured out how to see story stats on the website, and now I know that there are way more people reading this than I first thought. To everyone reading: thank you so much! Also, I got my second follow, so thank you very much for that, and I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Please favourite and review!

'Try it again.'

'Naomi, it's not working!'

'I know, that's why you need to practice.' Roxy rolled her eyes.

'I'm never going to get this!'

'Well then I'd be wasting my time helping you, and, since I never waste my time, that can't be true. Now, try it again.' Roxy stared into the hand mirror, glaring at her hair. Come on, change colour… She screwed her face up in concentration, but nothing happened.

'Rrgh! Why is this so hard?' She flopped backwards onto her bed in frustration. 'I defeated the Wizards of the Black Circle; this should be easy!' She winced and looked at Naomi apologetically. 'Uh, no offence.' Naomi shrugged.

'None taken; now sit back up and keep working on the spell.' Roxy sat back up and sighed.

'Naomi, this really isn't working; I just can't get my hair to change colour, and we're supposed to demonstrate the spell in class on Friday.' Naomi sighed.

'Okay, maybe you're right.'

'Did you just acknowledge that I might be right about something?' Naomi rolled her eyes.

'Don't get used to it. This whole 'just keep stubbornly trying it exactly as it says in the book' approach works for me, but it's clearly not your thing. So, let's try something different.' Naomi narrowed her eyes at Roxy, then her body glowed pink, and suddenly Roxy was staring into her own face.

'Whoa…'

'Okay, watch me,' Naomi instructed. Roxy watched as her hair changed slowly from its natural pink to a pale green, the colour spreading from the roots and colouring every strand. 'Alright, you get that?' Roxy nodded hesitantly. 'Great. Now, keep your eyes on me and try the spell again, picturing how it will look. I'm you right now, so it will look exactly like this.'

'…Okay…' Roxy took a deep breath and focused, thinking back to how it had looked as Naomi had changed her hair. Green, spreading out from the roots, all the way down to the tips…She felt a tingling sensation across her scalp, and she gasped with delight as the ends of her hair turned green. She grabbed the mirror and laughed elatedly.

'I did it!' Naomi smiled.

'Nice one, Princess.' Roxy grinned back at her.

'Thanks.'

'No problem. Not everyone learns the same way; I guess you're more of a visual learner.' Naomi leaned back on her bed. 'So, how's the Sparkle Clique doing with their whole quest bonanza?' Roxy rolled her eyes.

'They have a name, y'know.' Naomi shrugged.

'I know. I just like mine better.' Roxy sighed, but didn't press the matter further. Though Naomi had warmed up to her a bit, she was still decidedly not a fan of the Winx.

'Well, Bloom said they found the Sirenix Book yesterday. Apparently things went a little crazy in the Archive; she said Tecna turned into a robot!' Naomi raised an eyebrow.

'For a reason? Or just because?'

'Apparently something went wrong with her algorithm, and they ended up finding a cursed tome that turned her into a robot when she opened it.'

'Huh.' Roxy waited for Naomi to say something else, but she apparently thought 'huh' qualified as a complete thought on the subject.

'Well, they managed to use their fairy-dust to turn her back, but not before she opened a bunch of books and flooded the Archive.' Roxy paused for a moment. 'I'm not really sure how opening a bunch of books flooded the Archive, if I'm being totally honest.' Naomi shrugged.

'Water, fire, wind…they're all pretty standard protection measures for powerful tomes; if someone that the book doesn't recognise as its owner opens the book, it'll unleash its defence measures. I once wound up unleashing a sandstorm in the house when I opened one of Ogron's spell books. Ogron barely got it shut again, and it took five hours to get rid of all the sand. Once the house was clean, I was given a very stern lecture on the dangers of opening spell books without permission.' Roxy let out a slow whistle.

'Ogron had a book that unleashed a sandstorm? Wasn't that a little…dangerous?' Naomi laughed softly.

'In all fairness, he probably wasn't expecting a curious eight-year old to create a chair-tower up to the top shelf of his bookcase, pull down a book half her size, and then open it. Ogron put shielding spells around his shelves pretty soon after that.' Naomi smiled sadly, and Roxy felt a twinge of…she wasn't exactly sure what. Guilt, or sadness? It was hard to put her finger on it, but it was the same feeling she got every time Naomi talked about her family like…people. Not evil, insane menaces bent on world-domination, but just…people. Naomi's snippets of information on her family were seldom long, and she changed the subject pretty soon after bringing them up, like she was suddenly remembering that Roxy had sealed them in Omega, and it seemed this time was no different as Naomi cleared her throat and looked away awkwardly.

'So. The Sparkle Clique found their book?' Roxy nodded.

'Yeah. They opened it this afternoon.'

'They didn't open it when they found it?'

'No, there's a curse on Sirenix, so they weren't sure whether or not to open it.'

'They opened the other book they found when they found it.'

'Well that's because…' Roxy trailed off, realising she didn't have a good answer to that. Naomi snorted.

'Sometimes I think these people have selective amnesia. Anyway,' Naomi shifted position, 'continue.'

'Well, this morning they discussed whether or not to open the book, and then they talked to Miss Faragonda about it.'

'Do your friends ever do anything without talking to Faragonda about it?'

'…Yes.'

'Name one significant thing they've done without talking to Faragonda about it first.'

'Well, I don't know everything they've ever done,' Roxy said defensively. 'Anyway,' She glared at Naomi as the shapeshifter smirked at her non-answer, 'Faragonda said they had to be in agreement before they opened the book, because the Curse of Sirenix could take away their powers. Forever.' Naomi seemed nonplussed by her dramatic revelation, but nevertheless, Roxy soldiered on with her tale. 'It was a pretty big decision, and they all went off to think it over. Bloom talked to me about it.'

Earlier that day…

Roxy stared up at the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees, relishing this moment of peace and serenity. It seemed like she barely got any time to just relax anymore. But now, she had a full half-hour between classes, and nothing to do but watch the sunlight dance across the leaves. Maybe she could even take a nap…

'Stupid Sirenix Curse!' Roxy bolted upright at the sound of Bloom's annoyed voice. 'Why can't anything ever just be easy? Why is there always some new overly-complicated obstacle?!' There was a pronounced thud, followed by some irritated muttering. Roxy tentatively got up and walked around to the other side of the tree. Sitting on the ground, glaring at a patch of grass like it had stolen her car (or whatever the heck they drove on Magix), was Bloom.

'Hey, Bloom.' Bloom's head snapped up and she gasped when she saw Roxy.

'Roxy! Sorry, I didn't think anyone was here…'

'That's okay.' Roxy sat down next to Bloom. 'So…What's up?' She put a comforting hand on Bloom's shoulder. 'You seem stressed.' Bloom sighed.

'Well, Roxy, there's a very good reason for that. I am stressed.' She picked at an imaginary piece of lint on her skirt, looking simultaneously furious, miserable, and very, very tired. 'The Winx and I were just in Miss Faragonda's office…The Sirenix Book didn't open when Aisha tried, and Miss Faragonda told us we all had to be in agreement before we opened the book, because there's so much at stake.' Bloom was quiet for a moment. '…If we fail in our quest for Sirenix, we'll lose our powers forever.' Roxy gasped. Those certainly seemed like some pretty high stakes. Bloom buried her head in her knees. 'It's just…Why is everything so hard? Why does everything have to be all-or-nothing? Why does it never…stop? It's like…I found Stella in Gardenia Park fighting an ogre. BAM! Suddenly, I'm a fairy. BAM! I get attacked by aforementioned ogre. BAM! I'm at fairy school. BAM! I'm adopted. BAM! The guy I like is secretly a prince, and he's engaged. BAM! I'm the most powerful being in the universe. BAM! My powers get stolen. BAM! I have to fight an army made of pure evil and my magic. BAM! I have to fight my magical opposite. BAM! I turn evil! BAM! My teacher's actually an evil clone! BAM! I turn evil again, and almost bring about the end of the universe. BAM! The wizard that destroyed my planet comes back! BAM! I can't earn my Enchantix! BAM! My boyfriend gets mind-controlled by his psycho ex! BAM!Tecna falls into the Omega Dimension! BAM! Alfea almost burns to the ground! BAM! I think I've defeated Valtor, but, hah, gotcha! Nope! He's still alive, and he kidnaps my freakin' boyfriend! BAM!! I have to free Domino! BAM!! I have to go to a crazy nightmare realm! BAM!! I think it's all over, and then four guys I've never even heard of show up and think I'm someone else, so, obviously, it's time for a new adventure! BAM!! I have to free all the Earth Fairies! BAM!! I freed the Earth Fairies, but, turns out, they want to kill everyone! BAM!! I think the wizards are defeated, but, surprise! It was all a lie and now I've got to stop them and talk Aisha down from wanting their blood! BAM!! I'm supposed to be heading back to Alfea, but no! Aisha's cousin's gone psycho, and now we need a new transformation and a new mission to get it. And, SURPRISE! It comes with the threat of the curse that TOOK MY SISTER'S BODY!' Bloom was crying now, and Roxy wrapped her arms around her. 'Oh, Daphne…' Bloom murmured. 'Why, in all my adventures and new power-ups, have I not freed her from her spirit form? Why is she still stuck under a lake? Why has everyone else from Domino walked away unscathed, and yet Daphne's still a ghost?' Bloom sob-laughed. 'It's been three years now…Why can't the Magic Dimension just stay saved? Why can't the Trix just stay in prison? Why, in a prison filled with empty cells, did the guards think it was a good idea to put Tritannus in the cell next to the Magic Dimension's most dangerous criminals?! Why can't I make it one week into the school year without some new catastrophe?' Bloom sighed tiredly, then looked up at Roxy and wiped her eyes. 'Thanks, Roxy. I think I've needed to have that breakdown for a long time.'

'No problem,' Roxy replied, passing the redhead a tissue. 'You have a lot on your shoulders, Bloom. If I'm totally honest, I'm kinda surprised you don't have more breakdowns.' Bloom laughed sadly.

'I can't have more breakdowns. I'm the leader of the Winx and Fairy of the Dragon Flame; it's my responsibility to be…perfect. I miss when it was fine for me to screw up and the fate of the universe didn't hang in the balance.' Bloom reached under her shirt and pulled out the pendant Sky had given her. 'I thought when Sky gave me this that maybe it could be the start of our lives. That it signalled an end of all the life-and-death situations. I mean, is this just my life forever? I'm happy to be a hero - I love protecting the Magic Dimension - but am I going to be fifty and still fighting the villain of the year? Will I ever be able to just marry Sky and have kids? Will it even be feasible for me to start a family as the only thing standing between the dimension and complete destruction?' She laughed weakly. 'Sorry, Roxy. This is pretty heavy stuff; I shouldn't be burdening you with all this.'

'Don't be ridiculous, Bloom. I'm your friend; you're never burdening me.' Roxy rubbed Bloom's shoulder soothingly. The two were quiet for a minute, Bloom sinking into Roxy's comforting embrace. Eventually, Roxy spoke again.

'…What are you going to do about the Sirenix Book?'

'I'm going to open it,' Bloom said decisively. 'Excessive pressure or no, if I can protect the Magic Dimension, I will.' She sighed. 'Sometimes being heroic is really exhausting.'

'So what did Bloom say?' Naomi asked.

'She was going to open the Sirenix Book,' Roxy replied, keeping what Bloom had said before that to herself. 'They all agreed, and they opened the book. It told them that they had to find the gems of self-confidence, empathy and courage in order to gain Sirenix, and it gave them a new power to make them stronger underwater: Harmonix.'

'And then what happened?' Roxy raised an eyebrow.

'Are you actually…*gasp!* invested in this story?' Naomi rolled her eyes.

'Shut up.'

'But then I can't tell you what happened next. And since you're so gripped…' Roxy ducked as a pillow shot towards her. 'Okay, okay!' she laughed. 'Well, the book gave them a riddle, and Aisha figured out they had to go to a place called The Cove of the Shimmering Stella on Andros. Aisha's parents sent them a yacht-'

'Whoa, whoa, whoa… Aisha's parents just sent her a yacht?' Roxy shrugged.

'They're royalty; apparently they just have yachts lying around that they send to people.'

'Your mom is royalty; does she have a yacht?' Roxy shook her head.

'No, she drives a Ford Focus.'

'Well then I don't think it's a royalty thing.'

'No, I guess not. Though my mom's Ford Focus is really nice. It has a CD player with capacity for six CDs. And extra-large cup-holders.' Naomi raised an eyebrow. 'Okay, it's basically just a regular car. Anyway, do you want to know what happened on Andros or not?' Naomi put her arms behind her head and reclined.

'Proceed.'

'So, Bloom, Stella and Aisha went to Andros while Flora, Tecna and Musa tried to figure out where the cove actually was. Aisha ended up bonding with Andros's selkie, Lemmy.' She paused. 'Do you know what a selkie is?' Naomi nodded.

'I know all about the creatures of the Magic Dimension. Do you know what a selkie is?'

'Didn't until six o'clock today. So, their bonding restored Lemmy's powers, which had been stolen by Tritannus, and the Winx found the Cove. I'm not really clear what happened in there, mostly because Stella's explanation keep veering off into fashion inspiration she'd found on Andros, but I do know that they got another riddle, and they're trying to solve it.' Naomi's eyes sparkled with interest.

'What was the riddle?' Roxy furrowed her brow, trying to remember what Stella had said.

'Venture where the dark depths of the ocean shine, a precious gem, self-confidence lies in the deeps.' Naomi frowned.

'That's pretty tricky.'

'Yeah, they're all pretty stressed out about trying to solve it.' Naomi yawned one of her catlike yawns.

'I'm beat; it's got really late.' Roxy laughed.

'You're tired? But you breezed through class today. It's like you know everything at this school.' Naomi nodded.

'Oh yeah, totally. It's the effort it takes me to tolerate half the people here. Everyone lives in a weird, glittery bubble. That, or they're Olivia.' Roxy rolled her eyes.

'I don't live in a glittery bubble.'

'Whatever you say, Princess.' Roxy checked the clock.

'Oh wow, you were right; it's really late. We'd better get to bed before Grizelda comes down on us for being up past curfew.' Naomi rolled over and pulled her blanket over herself.

'Mission accomplished.' Roxy raised her eyes to Heaven and got into her own bed, putting the hand mirror she'd been practising with back on her dresser on the way. As she caught a glimpse of her reflection, she noted that her hair had reverted to its own pink colour, but she still felt a swell of pride at the knowledge that she'd been able to perform Wiz-Giz's spell. She couldn't have done it without Naomi. As she got into bed, Roxy cast a glance over at her roommate. Despite how prickly and standoffish Naomi had been when they'd first met, Roxy had come to actually really like the shapeshifter. And it seemed that Naomi might be starting to like her a little as well.

'Goodnight, Naomi.'

''Night, Princess.' Roxy flicked the light off, and passed out almost immediately.

Roxy hungrily dug into the omelette in front of her, glancing around for any sign of the Winx.

'Y'know no one's gonna steal your omelette, right, Princess?' Naomi asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at Roxy's repeated searching.

'Ha ha, very funny.' Roxy quickly swallowed her mouthful of food. 'I'm looking for the Winx.'

'You'll know when they're here; I'm sure they'll announce their arrival with confetti or glitter or an obligatory concert or something.' Roxy rolled her eyes and ignored Naomi. It was weird for the Winx to be this late to breakfast: Stella had never missed a meal in all the time she'd known her. Even when they'd spontaneously headed to Italy to seek protection for the wizards, Stella had inexplicably had a meatball sub with her. Not by magic, she'd just had it with her. As she'd said when Ogron had looked at her like she was a bit weird, it was 'for emergencies.' In all fairness, Stella was a tiny bit odd sometimes.

Finally, the Winx walked into the dining hall, accompanied by Miss Faragonda. They sat down and hurriedly started eating, while Faragonda walked up to her seat at the teachers' table.

'Attention, students!' All eyes swivelled to look at the headmistress. 'In the time-honoured tradition of the Magix schools, tonight we will be hosting the annual gala to honour the year's new students. The students from Red Fountain will be performing the traditional gift exchange, and, for the first time, in the name of inter-school co-operation, the witches from Cloud Tower will be attending as well!' There was some uncertain murmuring at the mention of witches, but all Roxy could feel was excitement. Then nerves at the realisation that she might embarrass herself and, by extension, everyone on Earth. Then some mild nausea. Naomi just continued eating a bagel. Miss Faragonda continued her announcement.

'To allow you all plenty of time to prepare for tonight, today's classes are cancelled!' There was a loud cheer from the crowd, and Naomi rolled her eyes.

'Seriously? We've had two days of classes.' Roxy nudged her gently.

'Come on, Naomi. We get a day off; you should be excited!' Naomi rolled her eyes.

'Hooray.' She did a tiny, sarcastic fist-pump.

'I hope you will all help contribute to decorating the hall for the gala tonight,' Miss Faragonda continued over the excited chatter in the dining hall. 'And be sure to dress for the occasion.' Roxy winced. She hadn't really packed gala-wear for Alfea. She'd packed climbing-a-tree-to-help-a-bird-wear, but formal gowns hadn't made it into her suitcase. What was she going to wear? She looked at Naomi.

'What are you going to wear tonight?' Naomi shrugged and took another bite of her bagel.

'Dunno. Jeans? I'd really rather stay in our room and read.'

'Naomi! This is a big deal! You should try to look your best.'

'We have different definitions of what constitutes a big deal.'

'I look forward to seeing you all at the gala tonight!' Miss Faragonda finished, and the hall erupted into excited talking as students discussed dresses, decorating and the boys that would be in the very room they were sitting in tonight.

'So, Naomi, do you want to…' Roxy trailed off as her phone played her mom's ringtone. She answered the call. 'Mom?' Her mother's beautiful face was etched with worry.

'Roxy, honey, something terrible is happening in Gardenia! There is pollution spilling into the ocean off the beach by the bar!'

'What?' Naomi looked up from her bagel with mild curiosity mixed with what looked like concern. 'What do you mean, Mom?'

'Klaus and I went outside, and we saw it, spilling into the ocean in a huge, dark cloud! I can feel it now, polluting and hurting the planet!' Morgana put a hand to her forehead and winced, and Roxy's stomach dropped. Could this be the work of Tritannus?

'Mom, don't worry. I'll be right there.' Roxy hung up the call and hastily got up from the table. 'Naomi, I gotta go. My parents need me!' Naomi nodded.

'Sure. You go.' Roxy turned and headed for the exit, waving to Naomi as she went.

'I'll be back in time for the gala, don't worry!'

'Oh, thank the Dragon,' Naomi said sarcastically. 'I almost had a heart attack thinking we wouldn't be going to that gala.'

As she was running for the door, Roxy almost crashed into Bloom.

'Whoa! Bloom?'

'Sorry, Roxy,' Bloom apologised distractedly. 'But my mom just called me; there's-'

'Pollution spilling into the ocean off the coast of Gardenia,' Roxy finished. 'My mom just called me; I'm on my way now.'

'Us too,' Musa said, walking up behind Bloom. 'Tecna and I are going with Bloom.'

'The rest of us are going to Solaria,' Stella announced, finishing a croissant.

'Solaria?' Roxy asked, confused.

'We figured out the next riddle,' Stella explained. 'It's talking about the Royal Deeps, a place on Solaria. I'm going with Aisha and Flora now.' Aisha folded her arms.

'We'd already be there if you hadn't insisted we stop for breakfast.' Stella looked affronted.

'You can't go on an adventure without breakfast! It's the most important meal of the day! Along with lunch. And dinner. And regular snacks to keep your blood sugar up, of course.' Musa rolled her eyes.

'Of course.'

'C'mon, girls.' Bloom headed out of the dining hall. 'We gotta go!' Roxy hurried after Bloom, wondering whether this pollution problem might bring her face-to-face with the Winx's newest villain.

'Mom! Dad!' Morgana spun around just as Roxy emerged from a portal and landed on Gardenia's beach.

'Roxy!' Roxy flung herself into her mom's arms. 'Oh, I'm so glad you're here!'

'Bloom!' Bloom's mom Vanessa hugged her daughter.

'Mom! Dad!' Bloom pulled back and looked at her parents. 'What's going on?' Mike sighed deeply.

'We were at the Frutti Music Bar, and when we came outside to the beach, we saw…this!' He gestured out to the ocean, and Bloom, Roxy, Musa and Tecna gasped as they saw a huge, dark pool of pollution, getting bigger by the second.

'Oh my Dragon!' Musa exclaimed, staring in horror. 'That's worse than the busted oil rig!'

'We've got to get out there,' Roxy said firmly. 'Now!' Bloom nodded.

'Girls, it's time to transform. I've got a pretty good feeling that we're dealing with Tritannus here, so let's use our new Harmonix powers.' Musa and Tecna nodded.

'Magic Winx! Harmonix!' Roxy stared in awe at her friends' new transformation.

'You guys look gorgeous!' Bloom grinned.

'Thanks, Roxy. Now it's your turn!'

'Roxy, Magic, Transform!' As soon as she was in her fairy form, Roxy and the Winx flew out over the ocean, Roxy feeling sick at the sight of the pollution seeping insidiously throughout Gardenia's beautiful ocean.

'What the hell?' Bloom stopped short and stared. Roxy followed her gaze and her mouth dropped open. They were in front of a waste-disposal plant, and it looked like the workers were…dumping the chemicals in the ocean!

'Uh, I'm not super familiar with Earth's laws, but I'm pretty sure that's illegal,' Musa remarked, staring at the scene in front of her with disgust.

'It is,' Bloom growled. 'But I've got a pretty good idea who's behind this. Look at the workers' eyes!' Roxy squinted, and realised that the workers' eyes were glowing purple.

'That looks like Darcy's magic!' Tecna gasped.

'I see why they call you the smart one, Tecna.' Roxy spun around to see the Trix grinning sadistically down at them.

'Trix!' Bloom snarled. 'What are you doing here?' Icy smirked.

'My Tritannus needed a snack.' Roxy rolled her eyes.

'Then get him some crackers or something.' Icy's smirk dropped and she scowled at Roxy.

'Oh good, it's you again. The animal fairy.'

'It's Roxy.'

'Yeah, whatever.' Bloom glared at Icy.

'Icy, stop this! You're going to irreparably harm miles and miles of ocean!'

'Oh no!' Icy made a fake-shocked face. 'I am? How terrible! If only I was a cold-hearted witch who didn't give a damn! Oh, wait. Icicle spiral!'

'Dragon's Embrace!' Bloom barely threw up her shield in time to block Icy's attack. 'Girls, we need to break Darcy's control over those workers so they stop dumping the pollution. Musa, use Enchantix and take care of that. We'll handle the Trix.' Musa nodded and flew down to the workers, shifting into her Enchantix form in order to summon her fairy dust to break Darcy's magic.

'Oh, I don't think you'll be handling anything, Winx,' Darcy growled. 'Impenetrable Darkness!' Roxy cried out as she was suddenly enveloped in darkness.

'X-Ray Vision!' Tecna didn't waste a beat, using one of her new Harmonix spells to see through the darkness and locate Darcy. 'Storm of Numbers!' The darkness vanished as quickly as it had appeared as Tecna's attack sent Darcy falling into the water, and the technology fairy shot after her.

'Wasp Sting!' Stormy dodged Roxy's attack and laughed.

'Aw, how adorable! Toxic Tornado!'

'Crystal Shell!' Roxy's shield was useless as Stormy's tornado whipped around her, and she struggled not to be sick as she was flung around like a rag doll in the winds. 'Rrgh! How many times am I gonna wind up in some evil vortex?!' Roxy clenched her fists and focused, sensing the animals near her. 'Creatures of the sky and sea, come to me!'

'Yelling won't help you, little girl!' Stormy laughed. A bedraggled seagull flew towards her, and she laughed even harder. 'This is your rescue? Hilarious!' Her laughter quickly died as about fifty more seagulls appeared, swarming her and pecking and beating their wings. 'Aah! Get off me!' Stormy electrified her body and the seagulls shrieked and flew off her, but her tornado had already vanished.

'Hey, Stormy!'

'Huh?' Stormy turned her now scratched-up face to see Roxy launching an attack.

'Mystic Talons!'

'Aah!' Stormy went flying into the waste plant, opening her eyes just in time to see Musa, who'd just finished freeing the workers, summon one of her spells.

'Magic Base Boom!'

'Ugh….' Roxy grinned, then looked to the side. Bloom was locked in battle with Icy, and she was just about to fly up and help her when she saw a shape under the water. It was a triton, with a trident. Tritannus! He was absorbing the pollution, shifting between a normal triton form and a huge, mutated form. If he absorbed all that pollution, he'd regain his power! She looked around, but the other Winx were all occupied with the Trix. Making a split-second decision, Roxy took a deep breath and shot into the water, tackling Tritannus and knocking him to the seafloor and away from his trident.

'What?!' exclaimed the angry triton, looking down to see his body still in its original form. 'Who dares?' Roxy almost told him who dared, but then remembered that she was underwater and didn't have any magic to breathe, so she just glared at him instead and summoned her Wasp Sting, wincing as the attack hit Tritannus with only about a third of its usual impact due to its ineffectiveness underwater.

'Who are you?' Tritannus spat. Roxy ignored him and swum for the trident. He clearly needed it to absorb and channel more pollution; all she had to do was get it away from him. Her fingers were about to close around the weapon when she felt something slam into her and she went flying into the base of the cliff the waste plant sat on. What? She looked back to the trident to see Tritannus with his tail out; he must have hit her with it. He reached for the trident and, despite her rapidly diminishing air supply, Roxy flung her Mystic Talons attack at him and pushed off the cliff towards the trident, grabbing it from the ocean floor. She had no time to celebrate, immediately swimming for the surface, her need to breathe increasing with each passing second. Just as her head was about to break the surface, she felt a hand close around her leg, and she looked down with horror to see Tritannus gripping her ankle, dragging her away from the surface.

'Mmm-mmm!' Roxy thrashed and struggled in his grip, the pressure in her lungs beginning to reach dangerous levels. But no amount of struggling was making Tritannus relinquish his hold on her. She threw an attack at him, but, though he roared with pain, his grip did not loosen. She had to get to the surface! She had about ten seconds left! In a last, desperate attempt, she tried the same spell she'd used on Stormy. Creatures of the ocean, come to my aid! There were a few terrifying seconds where absolutely nothing happened, and her vision started to blur. But then…

'What on Andros…' Tritannus stared in surprise as an entire shoal of fish shot towards him, blocking his vision and hitting him with their tails. 'Aquatic vermin! Get off me!' Roxy saw her chance and kicked fiercely at the hand gripping her leg, and she was overwhelmed with relief as Tritannus relinquished his hold, too distracted by the rapidly-growing shoal of fish swarming him.

Roxy kicked desperately for the surface, keeping a tight hold on the trident.

'No!' She heard Tritannus scream with rage, and she swam faster as she looked down to see the furious triton swimming towards her. Her mind scrambled for a plan, anything! Her attacks were basically useless underwater, and there was no way she'd make it out of the water before Tritannus reached her. His hand reached out for her, and she panicked. What could she do?! Her gaze fell on the trident. Um, hello, Roxy! You're holding a giant weapon! Choosing to ignore her total lack of trident experience, Roxy raised the sharp point on the base of the trident and jabbed it down at Tritannus's arm just as it was about to grab her leg and condemn her to a watery doom.

Tritannus screamed with pain and fell away from her leg, a thin plume of blood colouring the water. Roxy didn't stop to watch though, as she swam desperately for the surface. Tritannus was still coming for her, but his arm was slowing him down. Come on, come on, come on… Roxy broke the surface just as Tritannus was about to grab her again, her wings beating furiously the second they were in the air, and she shot away from the enraged triton, gasping for breath. Tritannus screamed with rage, and Icy whipped around and gasped in horror as she saw his bleeding arm.

'Tritannus!'

'Fire Blade!' Bloom took advantage of Icy's momentary distraction to hit her with an attack, and the ice witch went flying into the ocean.

'Bloom!' Roxy yelled. 'I've got Tritannus's trident!' Bloom's face lit up.

'That's fantastic, Roxy!' Bloom held out her hand. 'Give it to me, quickly! I'll destroy it!' Roxy flew towards Bloom, gripping the trident.

'No! Frostbite!'

'Aah!' Roxy screamed as Icy hit her with a powerful blast of magic; the trident fell out of her grasp, and she fell into the sea.

'Roxy!' Bloom screamed.

'Icy! I have my trident! Let's get out of here!'

'Hold on, Roxy, I'm coming!' Bloom shot into the water after Roxy and wrapped her arms around her, pulling her to the surface and coming in to land on a small stretch of beach. 'Roxy! Are you okay?' Roxy coughed and spluttered, shivering uncontrollably from the frost covering her entire body. 'Don't worry, Roxy. I'll have you warm again in no time. Dragon Aura!' A brilliant warmth flooded Roxy's body, and her shivering started to let up. 'Roxy? Are you okay?' Roxy sat up and nodded weakly.

'I'm fine, Bloom. What about Tritannus and the Trix?'

'Musa and Tecna are going after them.'

'Negative, Bloom.' Roxy turned to see Musa and Tecna coming in to land next to them. Tecna sighed. We almost had them, but Tritannus absorbed some of the remaining pollution and managed to open the gate; we don't know where they went.' Roxy winced. Tritannus and the Trix had got away! Maybe if Bloom hadn't had to dive to save her, she'd have been able to stop them. Bloom saw her expression, and put a hand on her shoulder.

'It's not your fault, Roxy.' Roxy sighed.

'I had the trident. I had the trident, and I lost it!'

'It's not your fault,' Musa said comfortingly. 'That could've happened to anyone. Besides, what you did was crazy impressive.'

'Yeah,' Bloom agreed. 'You stopped Tritannus from returning to full power! Thanks to you, he'll be much weaker until he finds more pollution.' She squeezed Roxy's shoulder. 'You did awesome. And we stopped the pollution and saved the ocean, and that's what really matters.' Roxy nodded and smiled weakly at Bloom.

'Thanks, girls.'

'Any time, Roxy. Now c'mon.' Bloom helped Roxy to her feet. 'Let's get back to our parents. I'm sure they want to hear what happened.'

Naomi sipped her coffee distractedly, watching the people of Magix walk past from her seat at an outside table at a cafe. Despite how utterly ridiculous it was to have a day off only two days after the start of the school year, she was taking advantage of the situation to get away from Alfea and all its many inanities.

She wondered how Roxy was doing on Earth. Great Dragon, did she actually care how Roxy was doing? That was a little…unnerving. Her thoughts quickly moved from Roxy to tonight's gala. She'd really rather stay in her room and read, or maybe go jump in a volcano. How was she going to get out of it?

Having finished her coffee (it was actually pretty subpar; she wouldn't be going back there), Naomi got up and wandered through Magix, looking around her with interest. She knew plenty about Magix, but she'd never actually been there before. It was pretty different from an Alaskan forest. She'd spent most of her childhood in that house in the forest, relishing the quiet and serenity. It was so peaceful. Well, except for that time Duman had tried to make dinner and had somehow managed to blow up the oven. And that time Duman had accidentally set the house on fire trying to make toast. And the thing with the cake that they'd all agreed to never speak of again. It had been agreed by everyone (except Duman) that Duman should perhaps not be entrusted with just about anything in the kitchen. Naomi smiled sadly at the memory of the five of them sitting at the kitchen table and agreeing on that. Duman had protested incredulously, before being mollified by Gantlos. She missed them. She knew they'd all have an opinion on what to do about the gala tonight. Ogron would likely say that parties were drastically overrated, and Duman would inevitably make a sarcastic comment, probably along the lines of 'How would you know anything about parties?'. Gantlos would probably tell her that she didn't have to feel pressured into going to a party she didn't want to go to, while Anagan would probably encourage her to go and make some friends. In hindsight, her family's opinions would probably be generally unhelpful in this situation, but she still wished she could talk to them. She wondered where Ogron, Gantlos and Anagan were right then. She'd read that prisoners frozen in Omega were conscious in the ice; was that true of them? Were they awake? Were they thinking? Were they thinking about her? She hoped they weren't; she hoped they were sleeping in the ice, because the idea of them being awake and aware, but trapped and unable to move or even breathe just hurt too much to think about.

She shook her head and took a deep breath, not at all fond of the idea of crying in the middle of Magix. She walked down the high street, dodging crowds of fairies running in and out of boutiques in a societally-imposed frantic rush to find a dress for tonight. She rolled her eyes. There was no way she was paying hundreds of dollars for a dress she was only going to wear for one ultimately-irrelevant night.

'It's mine!'

'It's mine!' Naomi facepalmed as she watched two girls from her class playing tug-of-war with a frankly mediocre dress. These girls were future guardian fairies? Their respective planets were doomed.

Having had quite enough of watching girls panic-buy dresses they didn't need, Naomi ducked off the high street. Alfea fairies are lunatics. Or they just really like playing into female stereotypes. Naomi found herself on a side street peppered with little shops and thankfully no fairies. Not having any specific destination, she just aimlessly wandered along, glancing in shop windows. When she was about halfway down the street, she stopped short. On her left was a little bookshop, nestled comfortably between an antiques store and a bakery. Maybe it was a side-effect of being raised by Ogron, but Naomi couldn't resist a good bookshop. She looked up at the sign. Fawn's Nook. What a cute name!

Upon stepping into the store, Naomi was enveloped in the comforting smell of old books. Once the door was shut, all the loud hustle-bustle from the city was gone, replaced with a warm, soft, silence. She took a deep breath, feeling instantly calmed. She walked along an aisle, running her fingers along the spines of the books. There were plenty of titles she didn't know, and she felt a little thrill at the prospect of so many unread books.

'Aah!' Naomi's head snapped up and she rushed around the bookcase and stopped short. In front of her was a boy about her age, and in front of him was a huge, precarious stack of books that was swaying drunkenly from side to side.

'Whoa!' The boy stepped to one side, holding up his hands as though to stop the pile from falling, then to the other as the books swayed the other way. 'Whoa, whoa, whoa! Please don't fall on the floor…' The books thoroughly ignored him and finally decided which way they wanted to go, collapsing off the table. 'No, no, no…!' The boy dived forward to catch them. Naomi flicked her finger, and all the books floated back up and onto the table in several smaller, less precarious piles.

She looked down to where the boy was on the ground, arms out, eyes shut, and she had to stifle a laugh.

'Ahem.' The boy opened his eyes and craned his neck around to look at her in surprise. She raised a hand in a small wave. 'I caught the books; you can get off the floor now. Unless you just like it down there?' The boy blinked a few times, then blushed and scrambled to his feet.

'Thanks.'

'No problem. Do I want to know what happened?' The boy grimaced.

'I was walking down one of the aisles, and I kinda tripped and grabbed onto the table. You can probably guess the rest.' Naomi nodded.

'Yep.'

'Thanks for keeping me from inevitably getting banned from the bookstore.' Naomi shrugged.

'It's what I do.' He raised an eyebrow.

'Really?'

'No, I'm a student fairy.' He laughed.

'I'm Aidan.' Naomi shook his hand.

'Naomi.'

'Naomi?' She nodded slowly; evidently he'd heard of her. What judgemental nonsense was about to spill from his mouth? 'I heard you showed some stuck-up princess what was what in Combat the other day.' Naomi blinked in surprise.

'…Yeah. I guess I did.' Aidan grinned.

'I heard you're kind of a badass.' Naomi smirked.

'You heard right, Aidan. So, are you a specialist?' Aidan nodded.

'Yep. That's actually why I'm in town. I needed to get a new shirt for the gala tonight, but everywhere was full of Alfea students running in and out of stores panicking like a bunch of headless chickens.' He winced. 'Uh, no offence.'

'None taken,' Naomi laughed. 'That's why I got off the high street too.'

'So you were out looking for something to wear tonight too?'

'No, not really. I'm not even sure I'm gonna go, if I'm being honest.' Aidan smiled.

'Oh, come on. You should totally go. It'll be fun.' Naomi raised an eyebrow.

'And you know that how? Can you see the future?' Aidan shook his head.

'Nope, I'm just your standard, book-knocking specialist. No clairvoyance here.' He smiled awkwardly. 'But I can sure try and help you have fun. I'm doing the gift-exchange, so let me pay you back for saving me from the books with whatever it is we're giving Alfea.'

'Wow. You're gonna give me a generic thing that every other freshman at school is gonna get? How can I pass that up?' Aidan blushed.

'Okay, then let me pay you back some other way: how about a dance? Though, I gotta warn you, I'm not the best dancer at Red Fountain. Which is a nice way of saying that I dance the same way I get electrocuted.' Naomi burst out laughing, and Aidan grinned. 'Is…that a yes?' Naomi paused for a moment.

'…Maybe. I still don't know if I'm even going tonight.' Aidan smiled at her.

'No pressure. I still gotta go buy a shirt for tonight; hope you'll see it.' He waved and walked out of the bookstore, leaving Naomi feeling…she wasn't quite sure what. She smiled after Aidan's retreating form and blushed. Had he just asked her to the dance? Not technically, but still… She walked quickly out of the bookshop, urgently needing air. That was the first time she'd ever been asked out in any way, shape or form. She hadn't spent much time around people her own age before, and most of the guys she had met had thought she was pretty weird. What if, once he finds out more about me, Aidan thinks the same? Maybe it would be safer to just stick to her original instinct and hide in her room all evening. Scratch that, it would definitely be safer to hide in her room all evening. But…maybe she actually would have fun. She kinda wanted to see Aidan's electrocution-dancing. But if she was going, that meant she had to ask a question that made her feel overwhelmingly nauseous to ask: What would she wear? There was no way she was going to the main shops in Magix. Not only could she not afford anything there, but she was not having a fistfight over a little black dress.

She stopped as something in a store window caught her eye. It was a thrift store, and in the window, along with a whole bunch of miscellaneous stuff, was a floor-length pink dress, framed by a pair of black curtains patterned with silver butterflies. Perfect! Naomi opened the door.

'Excuse me?' She gestured towards the window. 'How much?'

'Roxy, honey? What's wrong?' Morgana sat down next to her daughter on the couch as Roxy chewed her lip worriedly.

'It's nothing, Mom.'

'It doesn't look like nothing.' Roxy sighed.

'Well, it's just that there's this big gala tonight, and I don't have anything to wear. I've never really been a formal gown girl, so not only did I not pack one for Alfea, I don't actually own one.' Morgana frowned.

'Well, that won't do at all. You need to look and feel your best, Roxy. And I might be able to help.' Roxy watched curiously as her mom got up and headed up the stairs. 'Aha!' she cried after a minute, and the former queen of Earth walked back into the living room holding something behind her back. 'I wore this to the winter solstice when I was your age.' She held out a dress. 'Ta-da!' Roxy gasped. The dress was gorgeous! It was a rich, emerald green, with long, loose sleeves and a floaty skirt with a dipped hem. The top of the dress was connected to the skirt by braided green cord, leaving most of the midriff exposed.

'It's beautiful, Mom!' Morgana grinned.

'I was hoping you'd like it!' Roxy stroked the soft fabric of the skirt.

'I totally love it.' She threw her arms around her mom. 'Thanks, Mom.' Morgana hugged her back tightly.

'Of course, sweetheart. Now, how about we get you ready for that gala?'

Poor Bloom! I know you probably weren't expecting that, but I just thought that it was about time we saw a little more psychological exposition on our Fairy of the Dragon Flame. She's right: it's been three years, why can't the dimension stay saved? (And also, why did the guards put Tritannus next to the Trix? The other cells were empty; what were they thinking?)

I replaced the season 5 Alfea-Red Fountain mixer with the welcome gala from season 1. I just thought it would work better, plus it gave me the opportunity to give Roxy and Naomi some formal-wear. The witches being in attendance won't really be significant, but I just always thought it was unfair that they got left out, plus I'm trying to give Alfea and Cloud Tower a better relationship in this story than in the show.

I sent Roxy to Gardenia with the Winx, just because it's her hometown too, and she fought the Wizards of the Black Circle to protect it, why can't she fight a demon-merman? And fight a demon-merman she did: our girl was awesome! And Naomi met a guy... Wonder if anything could happen there? Will she go for that dance he offered?

I left out the challenge of Graynor, just because it was never really plot-relevant, and it seemed weirdly convenient that the Winx were summoned for a challenge that gave them the exact thing they needed to open the Sirenix Book.

Thank you for reading this new chapter! See you soon!