Summary:
Flora's plant experimentation has gone awry and annoyed and angered some of her roommates, so she heads off to the swamps to study. An adventure awaits her and her friends soon after.
A/N: Welcome back lovelies,
I don't have much to say, this is gonna be a slow chapter and not super exciting, but still, a great read and you'll enjoy getting to know our Winx. I'll be honest this was a tough write, and it won't be perfect, but I had a ball writing it when I got the hang of things so again it should still be an enjoyable read.
So, what happened to me?
Got Covid.
Finally talked to my dad.
Got disowned by my dad.
Getting help mentally every day.
And I'm upgrading the keyboard I type with.
Shaved my head.
All in all, crazy last month and I just hope this new month is more eventful and fun… hopefully. I love you guys so much and thanks for hanging in there with me.
Editor:
Paranoidgirl (thanks for the help dude or dudette!)
Covid has seriously affected my mind so I can't promise chapters will be pumped out monthly or daily, but they will be coming. So, without further ado, (My butt has been doing the adieu for a few chapters now lol):
Chapter 13: The Red Willow
The voice echoed through Bloom's mind as her eyes stayed closed, calling out to her like a long-lost friend, "Find me."
The redhead tightened her fist as she felt her thoughts rushing.
"Please… tell me how," she begged.
There was a long pause leaving her in the empty void, but after a few seconds she got a response:
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" the voice snapped back although it didn't sound like the calming voice she heard before, it didn't even sound like her when she wasn't being relaxed. Did it sound higher pitched and… British?
…
Bloom was rudely awakened by arguing in the background. Her strange, questioning dreams were interrupted by the real world once again. She rolled on her back letting out a sigh, she just wanted to spend her Saturday napping after what happened three days ago in the simulator.
Bloom rubbed her eyes as the midafternoon sun shined through the windows of her room. She sat up in the bed where Kiko was lying next to her napping, even through all the melees. She was exhausted; she hadn't even changed out of her pajamas.
Bloom groaned, furrowing her brows. "Why do I even try to sleep anymore?"
"Flora, take your hippy-dippy research out of my space!" Bloom heard Stella shout. "You've gone too far this time!"
"Relax girl," Flora comforted.
"Maybe if I just… lay back down and force my brain to ignore the world," Bloom said, covering the top of her ear with a pillow. She wanted to go back to figuring things out, but couldn't once Stella entered her room.
The princess rushed over and yanked the pillow off Bloom's head. "Bloom, darling, you have to help me!" the princess begged, yanking the girl's arm out of bed, and leading her toward her room.
Bloom groaned, but once she made it to her bestie's room her mouth dropped open at the sight before her.
She really couldn't believe what she was seeing, two of Flora's plants messing around in Stella's closet and vanity drawers while their pots stayed stuck on the windowsill. The vines stretched out far enough to riffle through everything. Green vines from the purple potted plant were dressing up with Stella's dresses and bouncing around in them, while a giant flower in a red potted plant with an expressive face was at her vanity mirror messing around with her makeup.
Bloom's left eye twitched unsure of what to say.
"Okay I know this looks strange, but-" Flora started.
"I agree to let you keep two plants in my room and this is what I bloody deal with?!" Stella snapped, waving her hand angrily at the flytrap. "That abomination is mixing my blushes together! That's not how makeup works! And the bloody vines are clashing colors with my halter tops and skirts!"
"To be fair, these plants feed off reflective light, so your room just happened to be the best lighting for them," Flora explained. "Your mirror helps too."
"Oh, my mirror?" Stella questioned, motioning her left hand towards the plant. "The bloody mirror the Melanoma Vericosa is staring into?!"
"Mimosa Vainatosa," Flora corrected.
"Do you think that's what I needed to hear? The proper pronunciation of the damn flower?!" Stella chastised. The Mimosa took offense to that and rolled its eyes, annoyed. Stella rolled her eyes right back. "Look, I know you're nervous about the botany assignment and freaking about the simulator assignment but this," she motioned around the room. "Is not okay!"
"I wouldn't really bring that up if I were you," Bloom replied, defending Flora.
"Says the girl who-" Stella pulled back, biting her bottom lip as Bloom gave her a deep glare. She realized she didn't want to step on any toes. "You know what I mean."
"Maybe, but don't you two take that botany class?" Bloom reminded her. "Why aren't you freaking too?"
"I'm managing everything well as I always do," Stella bragged. "I'm showcasing a sunflower I've been hiding under my bed to evaluate the effects of flowers without sunlight."
Stella went underneath her bed and pulled out a wilted and possibly dead sunflower. The lack of sunlight did a number on the poor flower, its leaves shriveled and wilted, the petals were all but gone and fallen into the dirt and the rest of it looked mushy.
Flora let out a loud gasp, staring at the dead flower before rushing over and snatching the plant away. She patted the sunflower trying to give it comfort, but sadly its leaves fell in response.
"Mimi, Kiss, cover your eyes!" Flora begged, cradling the sunflower as if it were a newborn baby. The plants looked away at her response. "What did Sunny ever do to you?!"
"It's a part of the assignment you nutter," Stella snapped, taking the plant back. "After it's done you can use it as compost.
"I can't… that is… Bloom, could you finish the sentence for me?" Flora requested, sounding reasonably angry.
"That's fucked up," Bloom replied equally disgusted.
"Whatever, I'm getting an A regardless," Stella said with a shrug as she shoved the flower back under her bed. Flora clutched her heart at the dying pain she felt from the sunflower. She gave the girl a glare, an exhausted-looking one, but a glare, nonetheless.
"For plant murder?!" she exclaimed.
Bloom had already realized how sensitive her flatmate was to the environment, but she never saw her show visceral anger at the mistreatment of foliage.
Stella groaned. "Look, that is not the issue here, the issue is my flat is overgrown with insane foliage!" She walked over to the mirror and tried snatching back her lip gloss, but the plant was keeping a tight grip on it. "Okay, where are my sharp scissors?"
"They're just adapting to their environment," Flora whined. "Stop being so harsh."
"One of them is wearing my Govanna original!" Stella said, rushing over to the vine and trying to pull the dress off the vine's body. The vine went to Stella's eye level seeming to glower at her. "I will cut you."
"You better not!" Flora snapped. "Come on, girl, they're just clothes."
"No, they're couture! Do you know what that means? They're one of a kind! Stretching out my clothes is bad enough, but they're also mixing stripes with florals, it's like a horror show!" Stella said, staring horrified as the vine tossed clothes around after trying on another.
It stretched over to the mirror where the Mimosa Vainatosa was and started looking in the mirror, sort of, to admire itself.
This did it. Bloom burst into fits of laughter at what she was seeing. "This is like a weirder version of Villa of Horrors. I'm sorry Stella. I just… I can't be in here right now!"
Bloom walked out of the room still laughing much to Stella's chagrin. The princess stormed over to her and faced her, vein still throbbing on her forehead.
"Look, I could handle her going on and on for a bleeding month about how she's going to 'use flowers to thwart the witches' evil spells', but the lunacy stops here! You have to understand!" Stella begged, taking the giggling girl's hands. "Your own room has been turned into a gigantic chemistry lab for foliage for the last few months."
"Hey, Bloomie has given me full permission to do so and has even been helping me out," Flora said before Bloom could talk.
Bloom rolled her eyes. "Your plants messing with me on the reg weren't me helping."
"Yeah, but you have been helping me study," Flora reasoned, resting her arm around Bloom's shoulder. "Which I appreciate."
Bloom patted the girl's arm awkwardly.
Stella's cheeks turned red, and she quickly split the two apart. "No, you don't get to touch her after causing such strife. This isn't even the worst you've done! You've been doing this since classes started!"
"Stel, I'm sorry," Flora apologized. "I just know my powers can help save the day!"
"Right, like homeopathy can work against dark magic!" Stella scoffed. "It'll be like, 'Don't you dare mess with us, or we'll hit you with a daisy and go all herbal on you!' Please."
"It's an alternative at least," Bloom reasoned.
"Stel, that wasn't very nice," Flora scolded, frowning. "You swore to us you'd be less aggravating."
"I'm trying, but when foliage is ruining your pallets, you start to lose your patience!" Stella snapped. "That Mimosa whatever completely tarnished my Elsa Truffles eyeshadow palette!"
"I will pay you back," Flora said, calmly.
"I wouldn't offer that," Bloom said, imagining the high price that makeup probably cost.
Stella's eyes widened frantically. "Money isn't the issue! Bloom, have they been messing with your makeup and clothes?!"
"Nah, I don't think they like darker colors," Bloom replied with a shrug. "Which makes it funnier that they like yours."
She laughed again.
"Now is not the time for chuckles. Flora, you better fix this, or I swear to the fires of the eternal dragon, I will haunt your nightmares!" Stella threatened.
"Cheesy Pete, breathe girl," Flora advised, holding up her hand. Stella's left eye twitched in response. "You're totes overreacting. I bet Tecna and Musa are chill about this."
Flora calmly walked into Musa and Tecna's room along with Bloom and Stella. Musa was on her bed, munching on chips while reading over sheet music. The papers were floating in front of the girl which always impressed Bloom. She was still having trouble learning how to do that.
Tecna was missing though.
"Musa, you haven't had issues with my friends, have you?" Flora asked with a smirk.
Musa made some sounds while chewing on her crispy chips, but it amounted to her shaking her head.
"See," Flora said, cockily. "Now where's Tecna?"
"I haven't seen her since I got back from the snack room," Musa replied after swallowing her mouthful of crisps. "I would check the closet though; your plants have been causing a scuffle in there."
Musa pointed towards a purple closet, which Bloom knew was Tecna's. Flora covered her mouth concerned and quickly went over to the door. "I did put those small sprouts in her closet… and that new speedy growing compost I concocted."
"Oh God," Bloom said in realization.
"What?" Flora questioned, slowly opening the door and much to everyone's horror a giant body hit the ground, squirming.
"OH, DRAGON THEY ATE TECNA!" Musa shouted, scared.
"GET ME OUTTA THESE VINES!" A voice said muffled from the tight vines. "I CAN'T BREATHE!"
"Oh shoot!" Flora said, carefully unwrapping the vines from Tecna's face. "Don't worry, I'll just use a spell to dispel the vines. Hey get it, spell, dispel? It's funny right?"
Flora laughed nervously as Tecna glared at her.
"Musa, when did you get back?" Stella questioned. "Didn't you find it weird that human screams were coming from her closet?!"
Musa adjusted her glasses nervously. "I didn't want to go snooping and I just thought the plants were talking."
"The plants were sayin', HELP ME?!" Tecna exclaimed as the vines wrapped tightly around her lips were removed. "Yo' got five seconds to remove these vines or I'm rippin' them off!"
"On it," Flora said quickly. "Um, Unbound the vines that tighten fast, release this girl before she kicks my ass."
"Fittin' words," Tecna said as the vines recoiled and wrapped like a hose being turned off. The furious girl stood up and wiped the dirt off her tracksuit. "It's about time! I was lookin' for my jacket when those nasty things grabbed me! I've been stuck there for…" Tecna checked her watch. "An hour and a half?!"
"Okay, I got back fifteen minutes ago, I'm in the clear," Musa said, giggling.
Bloom smiled, shaking her head.
"I am so sorry," Flora frantically apologized, taking a few steps from the towering girl. "I planted them last night while you guys were asleep, I didn't know they'd get so wild, I just needed a cold dark place for my compost."
"There's shit in my closet?!" Tecna shouted.
"Compost," Flora corrected, but quickly took two more steps back. "I couldn't use mine because it was already full, and Bloom would've killed me."
"She's not wrong," Bloom agreed.
"On the bright side, my compost worked," Flora said, trying to keep the peace. "I… honestly didn't think they'd grow that fast!"
"The point ain't it about them growing!" Tecna replied. "They wilder than a bullfight! Yo' could've asked me to put those monstrosities in there! I might've said yes and been prepared!"
"You see, it's not just me!" Stella said.
"It would've helped if you had asked her, you have to run things by people before you invade their personal space," Musa added. "Especially since she has to clean the closet now."
Flora held her head down. "I know I'm sorry."
"Yer plant gobbled up my notebook, by the way. Yo' betta tell me yo' can get that back!" Tecna demanded.
"I mean eventually it's going to come out, but… you won't want it then," Flora sheepishly answered.
Tecna stalked closer to Flora, eyeing her like a snake about to eat its prey. All she could muster was an angry growl.
"Please don't kill me," Flora begged, cowering. "I can pay you back… sort of… not really! Sorry!"
Tecna's face turned red, but after a second of contemplating how to respond, she quickly withdrew back, held out her hands, and rubbed her forehead. "Control every fiber in my body to not break yo'." She silently walked past her and towards her bed and sat down. "We need to talk about this plant issue."
"Yes," Stella said, glaring at Flora. "This plant nonsense has gone too far! This is a dormitory, not a rainforest!"
"Come on guys," Bloom said, stepping into the middle of the room. "Flora's plant life may be a bit… hectic, but she can get it under control."
Flora sighed. "No… they're right. I'm being a bother. I tried to ignore the problems, but now it's turning my friends into enemies. I just wanted to study extra hard because I have a big midterm and I'm like freaking out!"
"Oh come, you're not that bad," Bloom reassured her. "Right guys? Guys?"
"I can handle it," Musa replied.
Stella and Tecna looked away, refusing to answer. Flora held her head down sadly causing Musa to come to her side and patted her on the back.
"I really wanted to have fun with my plants, but they're just causing trouble, which means…" Flora bit down on her bottom lip. "The best place to escape to is the Black Mud Swamp."
"Black Mud Swamp?" Bloom said with a gasp.
Musa nearly fainted once she heard that, "You can't go. There are Keekbugs, not to mention subterranean sludge slugs! She should stay, right? Tell her to stay!"
"Musa's right," Bloom agreed. "It's horrible there, we almost got attacked by vines when we were there."
"That only happened the one time and I can handle my own there," Flora excused. "I'll move my stuff and finish my work there. Stella, you think you can transport me there quickly?"
"Yes," Stella replied with a smile.
"Cool, I'd rather not bother Palladium, let me go get my things," Flora said. "It should only take a day or two to get everything done. I should be able to find what I'm looking for too."
"Dude come on," Bloom said. "I'm not bothered by the whole plant thing, and neither are they. Right. Guys!"
She turned to face Stella and Tecna again who looked away again. Tecna started whistling as she looked away. Bloom's shoulders slumped.
"Really? Really?" she chastised.
Bloom couldn't believe how her friends were acting and were just letting their friend and flatmate go to some dangerous terrain over just compromising. She wasn't too fond of Flora's fauna either but knew she was really frazzled about her next assignment. She knew the girl wanted to do her best and after what Bloom had been through, she couldn't fault her for that.
"We are willing to work with you… most of us… two of us," Bloom said to the group.
Flora shook her head. "The rooms at Alfea aren't suited for my experiments anyway."
She walked out somberly fiddling with her fingers. Bloom let out an aggravated sigh before saying, "Flora was just trying to prepare for her big exam."
"Bloom, we all have to study. But when we study, we don't tear up her clothes!" Stella countered.
"And we don't try to strangle her!" Tecna added.
"Still, you shouldn't be that hard on her," Bloom said. "So, she's made a couple of mistakes, but that doesn't mean she needs to go live in a swamp! God, she's gonna get herself killed!"
"Yeah, you guys are being kind of mean," Musa said, shaking her head.
"Flo'a's a big girl, she can hold her own," Tecna replied.
Bloom rolled her eyes before storming out of the room after Flora. She found the girl mumbling to herself while collecting her things. Some of her plants were comforting her. While she wasn't fond of her room being used as a floral science lab, she grew to tolerate the flowers and her eccentric roommate's way of life, plus, Kiko had his fun with the plants as well.
"Flora, you gotta stay, they didn't mean it," Bloom said. "We can handle it… to a degree."
"Bloom, really, it's okay," Flora comforted with a smile. "I need to go somewhere that is, like, more my forte and that happens to be a swamp."
"Are you sure?" Bloom questioned.
"Yes, girl," Flora replied softly, grabbing Bloom's hands with her cold long fingers. "Look, I'll send you a text when I get there and one the next morning. You can come down sometime next week, but don't worry about me, 'kay?"
"Fine," Bloom said with a smile. Flora went in for a hug, but Bloom pushed her back laughing. "Not now, but if you get eaten by a Keekbug or sludge… slug, I'll kill Tecna and Stella for you."
"I appreciate that but for me, abstain from violence," Flora advised. "Can you help me pack?"
"Sure," Bloom said with a shrug.
…
A few hours later, Stella appeared back in the flat with a smile on her face. Bloom was relaxing on the couch, having finished another conversation on the magic phone with her parents. She groaned seeing the girl's overconfident smile.
"Happy now?" Bloom questioned.
"I am," Stella replied. Once she noticed her bestie shaking her head, she added, "She'll be fine, she even had a twinkle in her eye when we got there."
"Right," Bloom said, checking her phone for a reassuring text from Flora. After a second, she got a ping.
'Everything is going well' The text read from Flora with a sunflower emoji.
"Well, at least she's okay," Bloom said with a sigh of relief. "Do you want to stay with me when I go to check on her next week?"
"I'd rather not, but since you're both my mates I'll go," Stella said, scratching her arm. "I need more bug bites anyways. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to rebuy numerous makeup pallets." Stella walked over to her room, but before she closed the door to her repaired hinges, she faced Bloom and said, "You have no idea how much convincing I have to give father to send me another lump sum for palettes alone."
Bloom rolled her eyes as the princess closed her doors. Musa walked into the living room while wearing a purple oversized blanket hoodie. "Did Flora text you back?"
Bloom nodded. "She's safe, she even brought a sleeping bag," she replied. "Before she left, she told me she's staying there for a week and to quote-unquote, 'Don't bother me until next Sunday.''" She said the last part in Flora's valley girl's accent, causing Musa to laugh. "Stella's gonna have a lot of fun jumping back and forth to take her to classes."
"She is being a big meanie, so a little retribution will do her some good," Musa said, crossing her arms. "Sorry for sounding so harsh."
"You need to learn the word harsh," Bloom said dryly. "I do get what you mean. I was able to convince her to check in on Flora when we go down there together next week."
"Can I come too?" Musa asked. "Pretty please?"
"Yeah sure," Bloom said. "Think you can convince Tecna to come too?"
"Duh, Techy is super easy to convince," Musa answered giggling. "I mean probably not right now."
Bloom was about to say something when she heard a scream from Musa's room. "IT ATE MY THIRD PHONE TOO!"
"I'll try talking to her after she cleans out her closet," Musa said sheepishly.
…
A week passed by, and everything seemed to be going well for Flora as she spent her days at the Black Mud Swamp studying and preparing for her exam in botany class. She was even able to get exempted from most classes, so Stella only picked her up three times during the week, much to the princess' relief.
But unfortunately for her, Sunday had arrived quickly, which meant this last trip would be her staying for longer than fifteen minutes. Bloom had to practically yank the staff out of her hand to prevent her from leaving.
Speaking of Bloom, while she hadn't missed the swamp, she was glad her flatmate was okay. Musa was chipper as usual and Tecna just didn't care as long as plants weren't attacking her.
Flora, who was her usual relaxed self, placed her herbal tea down on a small makeshift table she created with magic and pieces of wood. "Thank you so much for coming. Like, only true friends would follow me into this swamp."
"No need to thank us… the bugs here aren't bothering the omega out of me," Stella said, swatting away a big mosquito. "Definitely don't feel the mud seeping into my shoes."
"I think you can handle a slight fashion faux pas," Bloom criticized.
"As long as this camping trip isn't too long, I'm happy," Stella replied.
"Don't worry I'm almost done," Flora said. "But my lab setup, do you love it or do you love it?!"
"I love it!" Musa said with effervescent energy.
"So… uh… yeah… yer lab or whateva?" Tecna asked, looking around unimpressed. "I've seen betta."
Musa slapped the girl on the arm. She kept up her smile, but it was strained.
"I'm just sayin' somethin' I was thinkin'. Doesn't mean it don't look… quaint."
"Aww, thank you," Flora said, taking that as a compliment. "I love the smell of the flowers here. Just like home."
"Yup, flowers… that's what I smell," Bloom said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Definitely not bile."
"And you wanted me to stay," Stella mumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose as well. "Smells like that one petrol station bathroom I had to use on a trip to the Valley."
"Just takes a while to get used to it," Flora said with a shrug. She giggled walking around the lab. "It helps that I grew up around the swamps and stuff like that. Totes murder on the shoes though." She stuck her tongue out and adjusted her wedge heel on the soft ground. Stella stared at her, surprised much to her surprise at how the girl could keep her footing in the swamp. Bugs seemed to even avoid her as she had a metaphorical glow around her.
"You're such a strange person," Stella said, gaining a sharp jab in the hip from Bloom. "Ow, it was a compliment, darling."
"I'll take it," Flora said, smelling one of the flowers she grew. "I am really glad you guys showed up today because I have been really lonely without you here. I know I said a week and I'm glad I kept to the isolation, but it gets so lonely, you know? Stella wasn't much for conversation, and I didn't want to be bothered, but I honestly regret it."
Bloom's eyes shifted towards Stella, who simply rolled hers in response. She didn't say it out loud, but Bloom could already hear her complaining: "I had to avoid ruining my outfit."
Sure. Bloom thought, restraining herself from saying it out loud.
"We couldn't let you come here by yourself anymore," Musa said, eagerly.
"I would've left earlier, but I've been having, like, the toughest time finding this specific flower," Flora said, rubbing her arm with a frown. "It's really important to me and will totes help me pass my assignment."
"We can help! Right, guys?" Musa questioned.
Tecna and Bloom nodded, but Stella fiddled with her ring, trying to think of a means of escape, but before she could say anything, Bloom grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close to her mouth before angrily whispering, "Shut the fuck up or I'm tossing your palettes in the toilet."
"Bloody- Fine!" Stella relented, pulling away from Bloom. "What's this flower you're searching for?"
"It won't take long, girls," Flora said, pulling out a thick textbook and flipping the pages to one displaying a specific flower she was looking for, a flower with six purple-blue petals with red stems and anthers. "This is the Cheerful Gladiolus."
"That's gorgeous, darling," Stella said, admiring the plant. "Are you sure you can find it in the muck and grime?"
"Totes. The ecosystem of this swamp is quite diversified, and the Gladiolus's habitat is here." Flora explained. "I need its essence for my assignment this week. I've been searching high and low and while I've come across some pretty flowers, the one I need will def get me an A."
"More sentient flowers, greeeat," Bloom said sardonically. She was becoming increasingly sick of magical flowers at this point and Stella seemed to agree with a silent head nod. She may have been supportive of her friend's studies, but she really wasn't wanting to deal with more talking plants.
Flora pulled out a vial from the table and pulled the cork out of it.
"Actually, we just have to ask the flower to extend one of its petals and then I'll use a drop of this mixture, and… well you gotta like check this out." She released a couple of droplets on a flower growing from the swamp ground and instantly a few more of the same flower sprouted next to it. "It actually works! I learned the potion for this little elixir from my mom, the champ at creating potions. I can create a dozen flowers from this, but I have to be careful, you know?"
"Well, a little coaxing isn't hard for the Winx Club!" Musa said, shouting out their group name.
"It's a very skittish flower; it doesn't let itself be picked," Flora said. "I do appreciate you guys helping though."
"And all we have to do is get a little leaf, and then we're good to go?" Bloom asked, impressed.
Flora nodded.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Tally ho!" Stella said, walking past the group along with Flora and following her down the path.
"Nice to see she's gettin' into the spirit of things," Tecna said, following behind the group.
"It's because there's a special on gemstones airing tonight and she doesn't want to miss it," Bloom replied, chuckling.
"Yup, the whole thing felt naked for a second," Tecna said, chuckling along with Bloom.
…
An hour passed as the Winx traversed the swamps for the Cheerful Gladiolus and most of them were exhausted, to say the least.
"My feet are bleeding!" Stella complained. "Are we anywhere near this bloody plant?"
"I feel like we're almost there, the voice is helping me," Flora said, pushing aside a long leaf and walking through it before it smacked Stella in the face, nearly toppling her over.
Stella seethed, pushing the leaf away as she walked past it.
"Here we go again with the voice," Tecna said with an eye roll.
"I'm telling you it's leading me to the Gladiolus," Flora insisted. "Also, Stel, your complaints are seriously harshing my vibe, so can you keep quiet for a few minutes."
"The nerve!" Stella exclaimed, offended.
"I mean, it would help," Bloom applied aloofly as she passed by Stella, who stood there shocked for a second.
"My own bestie is against me," Stella said, placing a hand on her chest. "This plant better be worth this nonsense."
"I know this is a new environment for you Stella, but you gotta handle it like you would the store," Musa suggested, skipping across the ground with eagerness.
"Oh, please I've handled worse environments and made it out fi-" Stella said, before being cut off from slipping into the mud and falling to her bottom. "Stay calm, this will all be over soon."
She casually stood and calmly walked with the group, keeping quiet, appeasing Flora.
"City folk," Tecna scolded, shaking her head with a judgmental look. "Yo' must've had difficulty leavin' the castle with that spoon in yer mouth."
"Burn," Flora said, chuckling.
"When did it become torment Stella day?!" Stella exclaimed before being hushed by Flora.
The princess grumbled as the other girls giggled.
As the group kept walking, the flower child stopped her footing and noticed an interesting site. It wasn't the flower, but two small different colored creatures swimming in the swamp water and making their way to a water lily and sitting atop it.
"Whoa," Flora said in a whisper. "Girls keep quiet, we might scare them off."
"What are they?" Bloom asked, equally mystified.
"They're water nymphs, they're so beautiful," Flora said.
"Those… are nymphs?" Bloom questioned. She had only seen Daphne so far and these nymphs shared no similar qualities as her. They had webbed hands, tails for feet, and were all different colors. Was this what Daphne also was like and she changed her appearance. Bloom had so many questions now.
"We have to be very quiet," Flora warned. "I have to talk to them, they might know where the flower is, but we can't startle them— Musa what are you doing?"
Musa casually walked past the girls and over to the water nymphs. She crouched down before saying loudly, "Excuse me, little mermaids, do you know where-"
"Ground walkers, we gotta get out of here!" one of the little purple mermaid nymphs said frightened, by Musa's loud chipper voice.
"Oh, no, no, no! Wait! Wait! Please, we don't want to hurt you," Flora said, pushing Musa out of the way. "We're your friends, and we need your help."
"Friends is a strong word," the purple nymph said, sounding suspicious.
"I don't know, how do we know we can trust you?" the pink nymph next to the purple said, placing a hand on her hip.
"Um…" Flora paused, nibbling on her lip.
"We brought snacks!" Musa said, pulling out a bag of red and yellow fruit chew candies from her pocket.
"Why do you have that in your pocket?" Bloom questioned.
"I always carry around fruit chews," Musa said nonchalantly, popping one into her mouth. "Although are these safe for you?"
"We're nymphs, not frogs, pass one over," the purple one said, holding out her tiny hands. Musa handed her one and the purple nymph took a small bite from the chew which looked large in her hands. "Mm, this is fantastic!"
"So cute," Stella cooed.
The pink nymph took a bite next and after letting the sugary confection absorb on her tongue she said, "Okay, we can trust you. What do you need to know?"
"We're looking for a specific flower, the Cheerful Gladiolus," Flora answered. "Do you know where it might be?"
"You might want to talk to the Queen first, she's the one that can give the okay on taking that specific plant."
"We get to meet the Queen!" Flora said eagerly. "I never thought this would happen to me!"
"You literally know a princess and met a Queen," Bloom said, crossing her arms.
"Not a swamp Queen!" Flora exclaimed high fiving Musa.
"Ground walkers," the purple nymph said, chewing on another bite of the fruit chew.
…
The nymphs lead the girls through the swamp, while occasionally snacking on the fruit chew which looked like it could last them a few days.
"What an amazing place! I mean look at all the flowers! The lilies, and gladioli. The water nymphs were right to bring us here. I'm sure we'll be able to find what we're looking for." Flora gushed.
"I pray to the Dragon we do," Stella said, picking a twig from her shoe. After complaining she gasped, staring down at the water. There was a collection of bubbles with nymphs swimming around it. It was a city filled with nymphs. The others followed her eyesight and gasped as well.
This scared the nymphs in the bubbles, and they quickly hid behind the plants except for a slightly taller yellow nymph that rose from a small silver throne.
"Why are ground walkers standing before me?" the tall nymph complained, "Thousia, Clanea explain yourselves! Thousia, you speak first!"
Thousia, the purple one held her head down bowing while saying, "We're sorry Queen Galatea, but they needed our help and-"
"They gave us this magnificent treat!" Clanea, the pink one added. "You gotta try this!"
"If this isn't magnificent, I want them out of here," Galatea said, swimming over to the fruit chew and taking a small bite. Flora held her breath in fear she'd have to leave this miniature city. After a few seconds of chewing and a neutral expression on her face, she said, "Very well, they can stay, would you like any refreshments while you're here?"
"How would we-" Bloom started to question before having her mouth covered by Flora.
"Actually" Flora started as Bloom angrily swiped her hand away. "Galatea, I mean Queen Galatea, your… um… what do I say here?"
"Royal Highness," Stella supplied.
"Your royal highness, my friends and I are here for one thing. All we really want is to touch the petal of a Cheerful Gladiolus. May we?"
Galatea placed her webbed hand on her chin pondering for a second. "Why do you need it?"
"It's for this big school assignment, but like that's not all I need it for like that'd be so weird, like what I like need it for is like—
"I'm going to need you to stop saying the word 'like' after every word," Galatea scolded, holding up her hand.
Flora gulped. "Right, sorry. L- I am also letting you know these would be a great help for working on my potions that can calm people down. It'd be a great addition!"
"Can you lower your voice, we're very sensitive to sound," Galatea requested, covering her ears.
"Right, sorry… again," Flora said in a whisper. "I promise we're not here to steal it or use it for any evil plans."
"Hm… I usually don't say yes to ground walkers, but… I can feel something radiating from you like you have a deep connection to nature."
"I do, I really freaking do," Flora said eagerly, surprising the girls who usually saw her as relaxed, but being around these mystical creatures seemed to set her off with joy. Bloom guessed even in a magical world there were mythical creatures that wowed a fairy. "I have to ask though, how do you remain so well hidden?"
"We keep a low profile. We know where to hide when we need to," Galatea replied. "We've been around for ages."
"How old are you guys?" Bloom asked before quickly adding, "Sorry for asking it that way."
Galatea held up her hand laughing. "No need to apologize, all we have to say is we were around before the separation from Earth, which I'm guessing you're from."
"You could just tell?" Bloom asked with a smile.
Galatea nodded.
"Quick question of many… are all nymphs the same? Can you get bigger or are all of you tiny?" Bloom asked, causing every nymph in the small city to gasp offended.
"How dare you!" Clanea exclaimed, offended.
Flora gave Bloom an exhausted-looking glare before saying, "Nice, you pissed them off."
Galatea on the other hand just giggled, "She means no harm with her words, but no we're not all the same, nymphs like us are only one form of water nymphs and there's air nymphs, fire nymphs, earth nymphs, the list goes on. You can even be a fairy and nymph, but it takes a lot to become one if you aren't born as one. Did that answer your question?"
"Yeah, did that answer your question, ground walker?" Clanea questioned angrily.
"Yes, and sorry for putting my foot in my mouth," Bloom replied, causing the nymphs to laugh.
"Ground walker slang, love it," Galatea complimented. "But back to your other query: Unlike other nymphs, we have to keep ourselves hidden in these swamps to avoid dangerous creatures that lurk here. One such being is the Red Willow."
"The Red Willow?" the girls collectively said.
"Yes, deep in the swamp is a small island called Xilith where we go to get specific plants, and there hides a dark willow tree that can stretch out its branches that will harm any creature that it notices," She pointed down the swamp deep past the trees where the island resided. "Every once in a while, one of us volunteers to go to the island and try to pick at a few leaves, and this time it was Eudora's turn."
Thousia began crying and was comforted by Clanea.
"She hasn't returned in days, and we've grown very worried that the Willow tree has… digested her," Clanea explained.
"It's our destiny. We've been living like this for quite some time," Galatea said, somberly. "We've lost many and found them… but the plant adapts with each passing, and we usually can evade its new tactics."
"That's so sad," Flora lamented. "But we can go save her and get rid of the Willow for you."
"What about the Gladiolus?" the Queen questioned.
"Saving your subject and friend is more important right now," Flora said, pounding her fist into her open palm. "You ready for this girls?"
"We've come this far," Bloom replied. "Should we transform?"
"Duh!" Flora said, happily.
"Marvelous," Galatea said, happy. "We wish you good luck."
…
After transforming, the Winx headed out past the trees flying above the pond. They finally made it to the island which sat atop the swamp floors. It was a small island that occupied most of the swamp. Each girl searched high and low for the creature but didn't seem to find anything.
"Where could this monster be?" Tecna questioned, floating down slightly to some shrubberies.
"I'm not sure, but we have to find it before-" Flora paused, noticing a shadow swimming underneath the waters. "Did you just see that?"
"Nope," Stella said, fluttering her wings slightly higher to avoid the creature. "You know, gals, I was just thinking, the Queen said the monster was gigantic but to her, we're big too so if we average things out, the monster must be a medium-sized creature, right? It makes sense."
"Then why was the shadow under the water so big?" Bloom asked, noticing the shade swim through the water past them again. "Or are we still ignoring that?"
"I stand by my point!" Stella exclaimed, causing the girls to shush her to not be noticed by the monster. "All I'm saying is, I might be right."
As if to test her theory, loud growls were heard, and soon wooden tendrils rose out of the water behind Stella. The Winx Club screamed. The monster dived back under the water.
"What the Omega was that?" Stella asked, terrified.
"The easter bunny, what the hell do you think it was?!" Bloom exclaimed, trying to keep her balance as she floated higher into the sky although she had trouble with a certain blue-haired fairy hugging to her hip. "Musa get off of me!"
"Sorry, I'm kind of scared," Musa replied, although her face didn't show it as she kept up a nervous smile. "Well, at least it hasn't-"
Before Musa could finish her sentence one of the tree tendrils rose from the water, wrapped itself around Musa's hip, and pulled her deep into the swamp waters. Bloom and the others stared at what just happened before Bloom angrily swam down in the waters along with Tecna.
While they went to save Musa, more branches rose from the water and tried to attack Stella and Flora, but Stella successfully shot the creature with a sunlight blast before she pulled off her ring and started aiming energy slicing blasts from her staff.
Under the waters, Tecna and Bloom found Musa fighting off the creature's tight grip around her hip as she held her breath. She was having a tough time, but soon, Bloom swam over and tried using a fireball, but the water smothered the fire.
You're underwater you idiot! Her chastising voice scolded.
Bloom frantically pondered what to do as Musa strained to hold her breath underwater, but while she panicked, Tecna pushed her out of the way and placed a small snake-like device around the creature's branch, and pressed a button.
After a quick second, a surge of electricity shocked the limb and unfortunately, Musa seized in pain before the monster released his grip around her and recoiled back. Tecna quickly grabbed Musa's hand and swam to the top of the water.
Bloom followed behind confused. The girls popped their bodies from the water, catching their breath with Musa specifically taking deep breaths from being under the water the longest.
Musa hugged Tecna who patted her on the back while checking for any signs of the creature.
Musa then said dizzily, "Is it weird I taste burning hair?"
"How… How did you do that? Where did you get that? What the hell just happened?!"
"I bought a few of my electroshock snake biters just in case we dealt with a varmint attacking us. I didn't account for evil tree branches, but it worked," Tecna explained.
"Are you guys, okay?" Flora asked, floating over to them, and holding out her hands.
"Been through worse," Musa said, taking her hand and fluttering her wings slowly, quickly drying off from the water that coated it. She added, "You guys should probably get out of there before your wings get too wet to fly."
"That's a thing?!" Bloom exclaimed, trying her hardest to float out of the water, but was sadly met with her looking like she was jumping in the water.
Tecna shook her head, before taking hold of the girl's hands and lifting her out of the water.
"Okay, we need to stick together, that way the monster will have a tougher time getting one of us!" Flora advised.
"That's the best idea I've heard," Bloom said sincerely. "In situations like these, they say 'let's split up'."
Flora shook her head. "Never mind that, come on girls, fly higher, we have to find Eudora!"
Bloom's eyes widened at the usual calm fairy's frantic behavior. She understood why, just strange coming from Flora of all people.
"What if the monster keeps following us?" Stella questioned.
Flora dodged a swing from the branch appearing out of the water again while pondering what to do next. She put a hand on one side of the temple of her head and took slow deep breaths. It was like she was meditating.
After a second, she pointed down the left path where Stella was floating and said, "We go this way."
"I thought you was the one with the mysterious voice powers," Tecna said, following the flower child down the path.
Bloom shrugged, "Nature is weirder, I guess."
…
After a minute, the girls made it to vegetation, where dying trees and shivering bushes occupied the island. It pained Flora to see such devastation as they kept flying.
"She's gotta be on this part of the island, but this is where the tree is, so be wary and protect yourselves, girls," Flora said, planting her feet on the ground.
The others nodded and walked down the pink fog path towards the tree. As they kept walking the mist became thicker and it made most of the girls start to feel strange. Tecna rubbed her head, before pressing a button on her helmet causing a shield to lower down and cover her face.
She sighed feeling better, but the other girls swayed, and their knees buckled as they kept walking.
Bloom cocked her head, unsure of what that was, but felt too exhausted to ask.
"You gals feel sleepy?" Stella questioned through a yawn. "Maybe we can take a quick nap before we keep searching? I'm right knackered."
"What are you talkin' about?" Tecna questioned. "We can't just sleep, what if the monsta tried to attack us?"
"There's nothing to concern ourselves with, that barmy sunk under the waters minutes ago," Stella said groggily.
"She might have a point," Musa agreed, yawning. "Flora? Do you know what sort of trees these are?"
"Um, it's a… thing… willow… yeah willow… does anyone feel really exhausted," Flora asked swaying. "I feel so… loopy."
"Loopy, that's the best word to describe it," Musa agreed, yawning again.
"I felt strange a minute ago, but I feel fine now, you gals betta cover yer noses or somethin," Tecna advised.
As she said that though, Bloom fell back into her arms, giggling dizzily and then yawning.
"I say we sleep," Bloom said.
Tecna pushed the girl up and rested the girl's arm on her shoulder to help her walk.
After a few seconds, the girls came across a large willow tree that was the culprit for emanating the smoke and it seemed to be making the girls as sluggish as they were, and many other creatures occupied the tree all asleep including a small blue fish-like creature.
"Well, I mean… I think this is the tree…" Flora yawned. "We made it, which means we can rest."
"Am I the only one with some sense?" Tecna asked, holding her hands up in a shrug and confused way. "What's wrong with y'all?"
"What a beautiful place, isn't it?" Stella questioned, laying down on the ground. "Don't you hear the birds chirping?"
"They're sleepin'!" Tecna replied, pointing towards unconscious creatures that occupied the tree. "In fact, there's a lot of creatures sleepin' ovah here. Don't ya think that's strange?"
"Oh, lighten up Techy, they're just resting, and I say we join in!" Musa said, pointing her index finger in the air before toppling backward on the ground. Falling to sleep with a smile on her face.
"Okay, am I goin' insane?!" Tecna said. "I gotta analyze the air, the rest of yo' girls covah yer noses!"
Bloom and Flora kept standing while swaying exhausted.
Tecna held up her arm and pressed a small lit virtual button causing a virtual screen to appear, she slid through a few programs before coming across an oxygen tester. She pressed another button, which caused a red light to scan the air.
"No, it can't be! This substance is sleepin' gas! Girls! Girls!" Tecna read, before looking around and noticing Flora had given up and fallen asleep on the ground. "Dragon's breath it, what did I just say about blockin' out the air?!"
"Just… meditating," Flora said through a snore.
"Wake me in ten mum," Stella said sleepily.
"Tecna?" Bloom said before falling into the girl's arms. "I'm trying, but I think I'm about to fall… asleep."
"Come on, I need ya right now!" Tecna begged, shaking her awake. "Focus on stayin' awake!"
"I've got to— Must stay awake," Bloom said, trying to keep her heavy eyes open. She looked around and spotted the blue creature sleeping at the bottom of the tree. "I think we found Eudora."
With that, Bloom's eyes closed.
"Oh, damn it!" Tecna exclaimed dropping Bloom to the ground. She covered her mouth embarrassed. "Sor'y Bloom."
With her friends fast asleep Tecna rubbed her chin formulating a plan on how to wake her friends up. "Tecna, think, what is a spell you learned that can block out odors?"
She paced for a second before snapping her fingers in figuring out the perfect spell. "An oxygen bubble, I read about it years ago, thank you advanced learnin'!"
Tecna held up her hands before shouting, "Laya us in fresh air, remove the odor that obscures us!"
Tecna's words died down as an oxygen bubble surrounded her and Bloom. The bubble cleared the foggy air and replaced it with fresh air that made Bloom awaken.
"What happened?" Bloom questioned as her eyes opened. "Why am I on the ground?"
"That deadly odor, it's comin' from somewhere, probably the tree, but now yer awake and I need to spread my bubble so our friends and those around us aren't stuck as sleepin' beauties!"
"Um… okay," Bloom said, accepting the speedy answer. "How do we do that?"
"Hands up," Tecna said, raising the girl's hands while adding, "Repeat afta me, Laya us in fresh air, remove the odor that obscures us!"
"Do I say-" Bloom started to question whether she said it like Tecna, but was met with a glare from the southern girl. "So just recite the spell, got it."
"Layer us in fresh air, remove the odor that obscures us!"
With two girls saying it, the bubble became bigger and spread across the area, the narcoleptic fog began to vanish. Soon every girl and creature awakened.
"Well, I- where am I? What happened?" Stella questioned, Once she noticed bugs starting to crawl all over her, she jumped to her feet while scrambling to get the bugs off of her body. "Get them off! Get them off!"
"Turn off the light, the alarm hasn't gone off yet," Musa begged, covering her eyes. "Oh wait, I'm not in bed."
"Thank the Dragon," Tecna said, high-fiving Bloom. "Yer all awake and so are all the critters."
"How did… where did you learn that?" Bloom asked.
"Livin' around animals and an' a bunch of siblin' odors gives a gal time to figure out how to block that mess out," Tecna answered, pressing the side of her headgear causing the mask to pull away.
"That's cool, and your mask blocked out the knock-out gas too," Bloom said with an approving nod.
"Ain't I lucky it came with the battle outfit?" Tecna said with a wink. "It's for protection against facial attacks, but it has its many perks."
Bloom nodded impressed, she secretly wished her outfit came with a cool shield or mask instead of a battle skirt, but at least her magic is getting better.
Beggars can't be choosers, I guess.
She chuckled softly at that thought.
"Why did we fall asleep?" Flora asked, placing a hand on her head.
"Somethin' in this area was emitting a toxic knockout gas an-"
"Excuse me?" the girls heard a small voice say. They turned to find the blue sea creature, Eudora hopping over to them. "What are you all doing here?"
"We came to find you," Flora said, crouching down towards the woman. "You probably don't know us."
"I think I have an idea now that I'm awake," Eudora said, hopping onto the flower child's hand. "All the while I was sleeping, I remained in constant telepathic contact with the world around me, but I had no idea you'd get past the red willow's narcolepsy gas."
"Yeah, we're pretty amazing," Stella said pridefully.
"Imma let y'all have this one too," Tecna said, placing her hands on her hips.
"This is great, we can take you back to your people," Flora said. "We already defeated the beast.
"Actually…" Eudora said fiddling with her webbed hands. "You merely cleared the island of the narcolepsy mist, there's still the—"
Her words were interrupted by the creaking of the tree branches that reached out towards the group. The girls dodged out of the way, but the branches simply became wilder.
"Monster," Eudora finished, gulping nervously.
"Oh—" Tecna said.
Then Musa, "We forgot —"
Then Bloom, "About!"
"The Tree!" Stella finished, sobbing in fear.
The girls nervously took notice of the killer tree that towered before them reaching out its sharp branches to impale the girls. It took one look at Eudora and aimed a small sharp branch her way, but Flora was quick to grab her and knock them both out of the way of the oncoming impalement.
Stella aimed a light ball at the tree, but it simply shot out a blast that dissipated the orb.
Musa removed her headphones and aimed them at the tree like a boomerang which nicked the tree causing it to become angrier and strangely Flora begged her to stop.
"Don't hurt him!"
"It's attacking us!" Musa replied, grabbing her boomerang headphones. "We have to do something or we're gonna be kebobs!"
"There's gotta be another way to stop him without killing him," Flora said, rubbing her chin.
"The Red Willow tree is a formidable foe. It has been around for eons, causing death and destruction to whoever approaches it. This narcolepsy mist was just a new tactic. You won't be able to defeat it," Eudora said, as Flora kept a soft grip around her. "I'm so sorry you were brought into this."
"... I am too," Flora said, standing up and placing Eudora on the ground. "But maybe I can… reason with him."
"You can't, he is filled with negative energy that no one has been able to destroy!" Eudora warned.
"Destroying it isn't the option," Flora said calmly. She smiled softly before making her way towards the tree, avoiding every branch attack as she came closer to the trunk. Her breath remained steady. The other girls kept hidden, even Eudora hid behind a tiny rock, but Flora was fearless as she walked towards the beast.
Bloom readied her hands for a fire blast, but Flora put up a hand to stop her and placed the other one on the trunk of the tree then rested her head on it.
"I know you're filled with strife and rage, but listen to my thoughts and relax," Flora whispered. "Tell me what the pain is you're feeling."
Flora went silent and the branches paused as the flower child used her energy to read the tree's energy. Her body shook and tears formed in the corners of her eyes as she saw every painful deed the Red Willow had done towards others such as the nymphs. She could feel her heart beating erratically realizing how rooted in destruction the tree was, but it wasn't too late to save him.
After a few minutes passed, she opened her eyes and turned toward the group. Her friends gasped at her glowing green pupils.
"There's a lot of… pain in him," Flora said calmly. "Years of strife from and towards humans and other creatures, but it's not too late to give him a new life."
"You really think you can do that?" Stella asked, keeping hidden behind a rock.
"I've never been more sure," Flora replied, turning back to the tree, and humming peacefully.
Her breath steadied before a branch tried to make contact with her back. It was wanting to fight her positive influence, but Flora's relaxed energy was stronger as she kept her hand placed on the tree and it began changing colors, pulsating, and recoiling its branches.
Flora's body began trembling again as she moved her hand a few inches from the trunk. Bloom walked closer to her and noticed her hand was literally pulling black sparkling bright energy from the tree.
"Awesome," Bloom said, breathlessly.
"Thank you," Flora said, with a smile. "I'm almost done."
After another second passed, Flora pulled her hand back and her eyes turned back to normal. She nearly toppled to the ground but regained her footing thanks to Bloom.
She groaned before saying, "Stay back, this is pure dark energy. It's small, that's the most I could pull from it, but it should be enough to calm his soul."
"Flora… you have to teach me how to do that," Bloom complimented.
Flora giggled. "It takes time, now if you'll excuse me," she kept holding the sparkling dark dust in one hand while digging into a small pouch on the hip of her outfit.
She pulled out a small circular vial and carefully filled it with the dark dust before quickly sealing it with a cork.
"Now I just give it a little plant food," Flora said, tucking the deadly vial into her pouch and pulling out one with small clumps of what looked like dirt. "It's a concoction I brought with me, that calms plants in one step."
"How did you learn to make that?" Musa asked, taking the words out of Bloom's mouth.
"My mom taught me," Flora said, sprinkling the tree with the crumbs of dirt. "Just a little magic compost that's a great cure for all ailing plants."
"You made a magical plant healing packet of crap?" Bloom questioned.
"It sounds gross when you say it like that," Flora said, slightly offended. She added a couple more sprinkles of compost on the ground of the tree and before everyone's eyes, the tree began to change colors along with the branches going back into place. While the tree couldn't speak, it relaxed to show any negative energy it had was gone now. Flora felt relieved before saying, "All is good now."
"What?" Tecna said, cautiously walking towards the tree. She looked around as the tree stood still, not attacking anymore. She scratched her head, confused. "You… and it… how in Sam hill did you do that?!"
"I grew up on a planet of flora and fauna, it kind of comes with the territory to deal with creepy and angry plants such as trees," Flora answered nonchalantly. "One time, there was this flytrap that tried to take hold of my sister and my mom hopped in and used the magical compost, which we call Calm-post, to stop the creature. Cool right?!"
Everyone stared at Flora who had a smile on her face which was strange given the story just told.
After a second Musa squealed, "I love it!"
"I'm not quite familiar with the ground-walker language, but that sounds like a good thing, so very cool," Eudora said, giving a thumbs up with her webbed hand. "Do you hear that?"
"The birds are finally chirping," Stella said smiling.
"Better yet, it's nature reawakening," Eudora said.
"Yes, we did it!" Flora cheered, hugging the nearby Bloom. Musa joined in causing the redhead's eyes to shift confused at what was happening.
Why am I a beacon for hugs? She thought, awkwardly patting the girl on the arm. "Right, can we head back to the mini magical kingdom now?"
…
The group made it back to Queen's temple with Eudora who was welcomed back with open arms and a couple of salvaged Xilith leaves. After transforming back into their civilian clothes Flora explained what she did to defeat the dangerous Red Willow.
"The Red Willow has been calmed?" Galatea questioned, surprised. "You didn't destroy it?"
"Him," Flora corrected calmly. "And yes, he is tranquil like a turtle resting in spring water. I couldn't kill him, he just needed some... tranquility. When we left, I could feel the aura around the island change. Like everything was brought back to life. I'm not sure what the Red Willow went through over the last few millennia, but he's at peace now."
"Wow, I was right about you," Galatea complimented. "You are one with nature. Not compared to us, but you're getting there."
"Well, you know… thank you," Flora said, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. She high-fived Musa with a triumphant smile.
"You're the better ground walkers, we've dealt with," Thousia said, chewing on the fruit chew that the nymphs shared.
"Please, call us the Winx," Flora said confidently.
"Well, Winx, how can we ever repay you?" Galatea asked.
"Well, you know, the Cheerful Gladiolus will be the best gift," Flora said, innocently.
"Of course," Galatea said. "Although we can only give you one since the Red Willow caused a good amount of damage to our environment before you changed its alignment. We'll be okay for a while. We've tried growing the plants here on our soil, but it doesn't work, unfortunately. The Xilith alone will take months to regrow."
"It's Mother Nature's will, sadly," Eudora said somberly.
Flora held her head down pondering how she could continue helping and after a brief pause, she snapped her fingers while shouting, "I HAVE A PLAN!"
"As long as it involves keeping your voice down, we'll take it," Galatea said, covering her ears.
"It does," Flora replied, biting her lip with a smile. "Even Mother Nature can use a friendly little boost sometimes."
Flora opened up the pack she brought on the journey and dug through it to find her magical floral-growing potion. She whipped it out happily.
"I introduce you to: the vegan rapid-growing and cloning elixir!" she said, showing off the bottle to the Queen. The bottle looked giant to the Queen and her subjects which interested her. "Watch this, Queenie."
She dropped some liquid of the potion onto a green Xilith leaf and clones of the leaf quickly materialized. The flower child clapped eagerly at her potion continuing to work.
"Marvelous!" Galatea exclaimed as the other nymphs cheered. "You saved us!"
"Way to go Flora!" Stella said, patting her friend on the back. "You're brill!"
"That is somethin' to brag about," Tecna added.
"Indeed, in fact, you may keep the entire plant," Galatea said as the nymphs swam over with the plant in front of them. "As long as you let us keep one of those potions."
Flora nodded passing the vial to the Queen. "Soon as I get home, I'll put it in the richest soil."
"Yay!" Musa cheered, throwing her arms in the air before being shushed by the hearing-sensitive creatures. "Whoops sorry."
"We make one final request," Galatea said as Flora took careful hold of the flower. "Leave our hideaways and city secret, we don't want… What's that word? Tourists. They'll most likely cause trouble."
"We've had to move our city twice because of some nosey ground walkers," Eudora said.
"The secret is safe with us," Flora said, imaginarily zipping her lips. She turned towards the other Winx. "Right girls?"
The Winx nodded.
"Enjoy your Gladiolus, you earned it," Galatea congratulated.
"I just want to thank you… you know for…" Flora fumbled over her words, blushing. "You get what I mean right?"
"Yes," Galatea said giggling.
"Seems that flower power really is a thing," Stella said, impressed.
"Yeah, so you know what that means?" Bloom asked, crossing her arms. "Go ahead, apologize."
"What?" Tecna and Stella exclaimed.
"You said you'd apologize for being jerks and you have yet to do that," Bloom brought up. Musa nodded standing next to Flora and Bloom.
"I'm sorry, although conflicts do occur regularly in one out of five friendships, I didn't mean to snap at ya like a guard dog keepin' protection, but-" Tecna apologized before being cut off by Musa.
"No, buts are for bottoms right now, not this," she reprimanded, causing Bloom to chuckle.
"Point taken, I'm sorry," Tecna actually apologized.
"I am sorry…" Stella paused. "But in my defense-"
"Stella!" Bloom scolded.
"Fine I'm sorry for snapping and you already apologized so it's all good," Stella replied. "My father already sent me the funds to buy new makeup and clothes."
"Oh, you poor baby," Bloom said with flat sarcasm.
"Apology accepted, but you guys did have a right to be giving me 'tude, and once again, I'm sorry for causing so much strife, but you won't have to worry," Flora reassured. "Plant experimentation will be kept in my section of the room and with this baby, I'll be making a lot of potions and have a new friend for my garden!"
"You're quite the interesting ground walkers," Galatea finally said after watching the girls talk. "We wish you good luck on whatever journeys you might take and wish you farewell."
"Farewell, Queenie," Flora said in a hushed voice.
With that, the Winx went on their way back to Flora's campsite and while talking Stella mentioned one thing, "I'll probably throw out that flower after the class presentation tomorrow."
"You better not!" Flora exclaimed, startling the girls, but after a second, they all burst into laughter. It was clear that Stella was messing around and luckily the week had ended and the Winx were back together again.
…
End
Thanks for reading. See you in a month! If you have any questions, comments, concerns, noticed errors that I can fix, or just want to say hello, comment down below and also tell me what you think! Like and follow this story for a more action-packed adventure with The Winx Club! I love you guys! Have a great day!