Chapter 38: Raid of Cloud Tower
As the Specialists slowly recover, many receive treatment from Ben and Lea using Cure, the Alfean students and teachers offered their help with what they can do to take their worries of the school under threat of monsters.
Lea finished up healing the scratch on one of the boys' arms after his fight with the Grimm until it faded. "There ya go, kid. Just take it easy before your ready for another fight with them."
Flexing his arm and smiles to show his gratitude to Lea. "Thanks a lot." Lea stood up to find Brandon, Sky, and Timmy before him.
"Something up?"
"Yeah, got word the Winx came back with Bloom and Taren." The prince told him. "How's it going here?"
"Getting too many as I can, Ben's helping out and Yen Sid too, but so far we need a lot of help to deal with this problem." Lea said as he looked around and scratches the back of his head. "This is just like the war back then. I'm beginning to wonder what's going on back home."
"Why don't you ask us, yourself?"
Lea spun around and was surprised to recognise the voice of another familiar face, walking into the hallways was Riku.
"No… way? Riku?" Lea asked if he was not imagining things but clearly remembers the same silver-haired keyblade wielder he fought alongside many years ago against the Organization.
Brandon heard him and thought if he was dreaming. "Hold up, you mean THE Riku?"
Timmy adjusted his glasses to be certain.
Riku chuckled and approached the spikey red haired keyblader before patting him on the shoulder. "Been a long time, you seem to not changed much."
"Not changed? It's been years since we last saw each other." Lea told him with his arms crossed over his chest. "So how'd you get here?"
Riku gave a soft groan and brought his right hand to his face. "Let's just say we had a… interesting flight. But Sora and Kairi went ahead to find Taren."
"Uh, sir?"
Riku turned around to meet three teen boys who looked at him with wide eyes. "Yeah, something the matter?"
"Riku, let me introduce you to Prince Sky. Brandon, and Timmy. These guys have been friends with Taren, Ben, and Mal."
Sky nodded to confirm his statement. "He's right, and uh, it's really an honor to meet you master-"
"No need to be formal, just call me Riku." Riku said with a friendly smile. "I heard about what happened on Red Fountain. Sorry, we couldn't come to help."
"Thanks, but doubt that would have made much difference for what we fought." Timmy said. "But is it just you or will be more?"
Riku shakes his head. "Two of my buds would no doubt be at Domino to help your friends out." Looks over them and smiles when he spotted Ben by the stairs. "Wait, Prince Ben? Is that you, kiddo?"
Ben recognised Riku and could not believe that he was in the Magic Dimension. "Riku? I don't believe it!" Runs down the stairs to greet a familiar face. "So good to see you!"
"I'll say, look at you. You look completely different from the last time I saw you." Riku looked at Ben's clothing and his blue coat, gloves, and a hat, given the prince a complete opposite look to his usual formal clothing.
Ben knew what he meant and reached the back of his head to scratch out of shyness. "Yeah, I guess I went through some changes since becoming a keyblader."
Riku had to agree with him on that when going on adventures and face hard challenges. Whatever training the three new keybladers had gone through seems to make some effort thanks to Yen Sid's help. "Well, I think it looks good on you. I bet no one back on Auradon would have recognise you."
"Hey, you should have seen him take on a Deathstalker, one of those giant scorpions back in the swamps." Brandon came up to him and put an arm around the bashful prince. "He's been supporting us and helped us grow stronger since day one."
"You guys took part in it too." Ben told him as though it wasn't much of a big deal to him.
Timmy nods. "Yeah, but without you guys, we would never have been able to defeat the Grimm."
"I think you can agree with them on that, Ben." Riku can tell the way the Specialists gave praise to Ben and the rest showed how strong their bond to rely on each other. He would also wonder how much they've changed, and how much this will impact their lives now they've become wielders of the Keyblades. His ears caught the sound of the doors open and found new people coming in. "Oh, there they are."
Taren walked beside the girls with Bloom holding his hand as Flora was beside her, he spotted Riku and surprise to see him in Alfea. "Riku?"
Riku waved his hand to him as the Specialists spotted the Winx Club had made returned safe and sound. Brandon spotted Stella and waved to her. "Stella, so glad you're safe."
Stella gave a smile to him. "Brandon? What are you all doing here?"
"And what happened to everyone?" Flora asked after seeing the state the Specialists were in.
"We were attacked by the Grimm, the Trix joined in and they seem to have friends that came out of nowhere." Ben told them. "But what about you? What happened on Domino?"
Taren and the Winx were silent with Bloom's face became saddened. "The Trix came to Domino and took both of us by surprise. We thought to take them on but they had overwhelmed us. The Trix… they stole my powers. They now have the Dragon's Flame."
Unable to think of anything to say when in shock to learn what has happened to Bloom, now without her powers she was vulnerable, but what else was worse was their enemies now have their hands on the source of magic to change the tides in their favor. The Trix and Tezzeret were more dangerous than ever.
"Guess that explains how they easily kicked our butts hard." Brandon confirmed his fears when they remembered how Icy froze the whole building into ice.
"But that doesn't explain where they got such a big army like the ships for support." Timmy pointed out.
Taren heard Timmy's mention of an army and curious know to what he meant. "What army?"
"It wasn't just the Grimm we fought, they came out of no where from the sky and bombarded the school to weaken our defenses." Sky explained to him of what he remembered from the battle. "Didn't see it coming but we were so focused on the Grimm they must have brought back up."
"Those were Tezzeret's forces. I recognised them anywhere." Macbeth walked in to share his knowledge. "And now with his army freed, they could be more powerful unless we stop them."
Behind him were new faces for everyone until two people, a man with brown spikey hair and a woman dark red hair.
"Sora. Kairi. Guess you had an interesting trip?" Riku called out to them, the Specialists realise who they were and can easily see some similarities from Taren's parents.
Taren could tell they found out who they were and felt shy about it while smiling nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Uh, guys. Um, meet Sora and Kairi, my parents." Gesturing his hand to his parents and did the same to introduce his friends to them. "Mom, dad, these are Sky, Timmy, and Brandon."
"It's nice to meet all of you." Kairi gave a friendly smile to them and spotted Ben. "Ben! It's good to see you as well."
Ben smiled back at them and thought about asking them about his parents and hope they are safe. "Good to see you as well, are my parents and everyone doing alright back home?"
"Not to worry, they're fine. Just worried but wishing you to be safe." Riku assured him and can understand his worry for his family. "But we need to catch up on everything, sad to say we may not have time with the enemy preparing to attack."
"Everyone, follow me to my office." Faragonda requested them to bring up what has occurred for the time and agreed with Riku as time was at the essence with the Trix and Tezzeret building up their army.
"SORA! RIKU!"
Sora and Riku heard another voice and suddenly in a strong hug by Genie who appeared before them, hoisting them from the floor. "OH! It's good to see you guys again! I've missed you so much! How's the family? Alrek and Hana doing good? Where's the rest of the old gang? Oh! Is Eden worried about me?"
"Good to see you still around." Sora was happy to see another familiar face.
"Yeah, they're doing alright." Riku told him. "The others are here too."
"Ahem?" Kairi called for his attention and smiles.
Genie dropped them and flew towards her. "Ooh, Kairi, and looking gorgeous than ever. I bet you must be so happy to see your little boy back."
"I am, and also pleased he's doing well and made friends." Kairi smiles to know he was fine and also hoping to know about them. "And also learn pretty much some interesting things that happened."
Unsure what she meant as Taren was curious to know what she meant. But had this nagging feeling she was on to something, especially when he noticed Bloom's sudden flushed face and Stella making an innocent look that meant something as the girls looked at her.
"Boy, you be in for a surprise as Taren-" Genie noticed Taren waving his hands across to signal him and almost spilled the secret. Nervously chuckled, he smiled towards Kairi to make a quick recovery. "Made a bunch of new friends and learned something new!"
This didn't escape Riku's notice who noticed how nervous and frantic Taren was and had a pretty good idea what was up. Sora was confused as to what was going on. "What was that about?"
Riku turns to Sora and patted him. "Think you be in for a surprise of what your boy's been up to."
Not aware of Mal who was standing from the second floor to see new faces, she didn't what to think or how to approach them when realising the two being Taren's parents, and also being the mortal enemies of her mother before her birth.
She was both nervous and somewhat scared, not even sure how they would take the news of who she really is.
"Hey, Mal." Snapped out of her thoughts to hear Ben call out to her and now have been noticed by them.
"Sorry, just uh, thinking of something." Mal stuttered and look to meet the new faces. "So uh, you must be Riku, Kairi, and… Sora? Um, please to meet you."
The three looked at her in surprise by her presence as she gulped nervously with being stared at until the brunette named Sora came towards her.
"Heard much about you from master Yen Sid. It's very nice to meet you, Mal." Sora gave a warm friendly smile and reached out his hand to the surprised witch.
Almost hesitant to respond until she slowly reached for his hand to accept. "N-Nice to meet you, and also heard much about you from Taren."
This was the first time everyone noticed how… nervous Mal is when she approached the trio, almost like she was scared or something. But then it occurred to them that Mal was the daughter of Maleficent, so it leaves in wonder if they know or how long until they figure it out.
Making their way to the headmistress' office, everyone gathered with valued information each group has of the situation, and possibile to stop the war before it could get any worse. Taren stood between his parents and his friends with Bloom stood close to him for support and comfort. Taren and Bloom shared what they discovered on their trip to Domino, starting with Daphne who called to them and discovered much about the Dragon's Flame. However, Taren decided to reveal what he learned on his part after Bloom until everyone knew what was going on. Only the rest of the Winx and Sky's team remained outside for the time being until further discussion
"You think they would take our idea? I mean, it does sound crazy even after you lost your powers." Taren whispered to Bloom after what she told the teachers of the plan she thought of.
"I know but have nothing else to lose and have to risk it." Bloom replied while scooping his hand in hers. "But I know you have my back."
Taren smiles at her knowing he would never let her go on her own and continued to watch his parents talk with the teachers. He knew he was nervous about telling them he was now in a relationship with someone, but also with two girls. Somehow feeling as if whenever he got out of trouble, another comes along.
Bloom noticed Sky seem somewhat distant and thinking of something. "Sky? What's the matter?
Sky turns to Bloom who called out to him. "Hm? Nothing. I just got this strange feeling."
Faragonda turned to Bloom after making the decision carefully. "Well, Bloom, we have seriously considered your proposal, and we-"
"Accepted it?" Bloom immediately figured what they were going to suggest and "And that's why you didn't ask the other Winx to come to this meeting."
Saladin turned to the headmistress upon finding out about this. "You mean to say that the others know nothing of this?"
"I think it's best if Bloom fills them in, they'll take it better." She reasoned as it felt the right thing to do for letting Bloom's friends know from her.
Yen Sid nods his head. "I believe that sounds like a reasonable suggestion."
Confused by what was going on as the Eraklyon prince spoke out. "Excuse me but what are you talking about?"
"We're discussing Bloom's plan for getting back the Dragon Flame. She hasn't told you anything?" Saladin sounded surprised that Sky was left out about it.
The prince turned to Bloom who sheepishly smiles while Taren gave a soft chuckle.
"You are going to accompany this girl to Cloud Tower." Saladin told them which surprised Brandon and Sky upon hearing about the plan.
"What?"
"Only a total lunatic would consider going anywhere near Cloud Tower right now!" Sky argued.
"Exactly. That's the very last thing the witches expect from us." Bloom made it clear to them of the idea. "I need to get right into the castle! We have no other choice."
"By the time they find out, it will be too late." Taren gave his statement. "Trust me, I know how crazy it is but it sounds like the best idea we can use."
Lea thought of it and smiles and figured Sora's and Kairi's boy would tag along, he reminded Lea a lot of Sora who would jump in to help. "I like this plan already, kid's got spunk."
Feeling uneasy about it, Brandon was still unsure if it would work. "How are you gonna do that?"
"Easy. We can take the tunnels." Knut told them.
"Knut is very familiar with the old underground corridor system linking the three magic schools. He will be the one leading us on this mission." Bloom explained to them what she found out as to how the Trix snuck into Alfea and remembered one of them during the dance night.
"And I know the place during my time in Cloud Tower." Mal added with her knowledge of the school when she did more than study their spells and curses.
Ben had taken some thought of it before he turned to his friends to give his answer. "Sounds like an idea. Even if it's crazy but your right, we got no other choice."
But Sky still thought it was dangerous for them to go, especially if Bloom was going when she believed Taren would try to talk her out of it. "Come on! You've lost all of your magic powers. You're putting your life at risk!"
"But I have no choice, don't you understand? As long as the witches and Tezzert possess the power of the Dragon Flame, nothing can stop them! The Flame is a part of me. I'm responsible for it." Giving them a reason for taking part in the mission, knowing how dangerous it is and wanted to stop them so no one else gets hurt or lose Magix like what happened to her homeworld.
"Bloom." Stella seems to know Bloom would not back down and supported her choice.
Kairi smiles and sort of reminded herself back then when she decided to join her friends. Turns to her husband to share her thoughts with him. "Well, I can say she's made up her mind." Gains a nod to agree with her.
Sky urns to Taren for some help reason with her. "Come on, even you know this is dangerous. They have the Dragon Flame and she won't stand a chance against the Trix, especially Tezzeret and the Grimm if you guys aren't around."
Taren sighed and hated that he was right. "Yeah, I know. She told me this plan and thought it was crazy as you said and I know it. But, like you said they have the Dragon Flame and can't let them have it for long."
Bloom smiles to know Taren gave his support and knew he be worried for her. And didn't escape his parents who noticed the looks they were giving each other either but noticed he was hiding something during the conversation.
Taren decided to reveal something else before they leave. "Also… there's another thing to bring up. You see, when we got to Domino, we found something more about the Flame and a bit about my family's history."
Curious to what they discovered and believed could be important to know. "What is it?" Kairi asked her son.
Taren and Bloom looked at each other as she nods her head. "What Taren is trying to say is… I'm not the only keeper of the Dragon Flame. There was another as it split its power to not only my ancestor, but to another."
"What?" This news startled the group who first heard about this from Bloom.
"You mean it divided its powers to another vessel? I never would have thought it was possible." Faragonda was overwhelmed to learn about this, it was never mentioned in the stories or information.
"Yeah, it turns out the other first vessel was none other than Chandra." Taren said and surprised Macbeth about this.
"Chandra had the Dragon Flame? That explains how she became so skilled with magic, I thought it was all from her training."
"And that's not all, she passed it down to her descendants like Bloom's. No one knew about it because they wanted to keep it hidden so no one would go after both if anyone found out. Sp her family remained in our dimension as a perfect place where no one would find or know about it." Taren explains to them the truth.
This would make a reasonable idea with having the intense power could have been dangerous for both keepers of the flame to be in one area too long. "So does that mean we now need to find any possible descendants?" Mal asked them. "Cause at the moment, we don't have much time."
"Um, we already know who has it." Bloom said. "And standing right here."
"You do? Then who could be the second kee-" Ben asked her but then it hit him with the realization, shared the same thought with Mal who looked directly at Taren. Yen Sid came to the same conclusion as Macbeth with the boy smiling sheepishly at everyone.
"Yeah. I was surprised as you all were." Taren said, scratching his nose with all eyes on him.
Riku blinked his eyes in shock when trying to understand what he just found. "Wait a moment… Taren?! As in this kid has it?"
"That has to explain all the strange stuff you pulled, like turning the Grimm to stone, those dreams you had, and maybe the eyes as well." Stella added from what she learned.
"Wait, maybe that explains how you were transported to earth after me and Riku saw a dragon, flying to the sky when you vanished." Sora remembered that day and understood what Daphne meant as she somehow became connected to him.
"To think there was another and was right under our noses." Cadatorta commented and a thought occurred to him to share with the others. "Saladin, this could give us an advantage."
Saladin agreed with him. "Yes, neither the Trix nor Tezzeret seem to know or suspect young Taren has the other half of the flame."
"The witches maybe, but not sure about ol' Tez, he's bound to suspect something and would no doubt discover it."
"There's a lot I figured out but won't have time, if we get to Cloud Tower now we might have a chance." Taren told them and hopes to see reason.
Finally gives in to see them made up their minds, Sky sighs and turned to Bloom with a smile knowing he was beaten. "So… when do we get going?"
"As soon as I've convinced Musa, Tecna, and Flora to stay here." Bloom told him.
"I'm going with her, but maybe some of us should stay behind." Taren said.
"I'll stay behind to help the others." Ben told them. "They're gonna need a lot of help against the Grimm and these dark bladers."
"Indeed. Their powers are essential to the protection of Alfea." Faragonda said and walked up to Bloom, placing her hand on her shoulder to support her decision. "The signs are unmistakable. Look. A final match is imminent."
The mirror revealed to them the army of Grimm surrounding Cloud Tower and growing in numbers, all sorts of them and evil warriors. In the air, several airshps similar to the ones that destroyed Red Fountain joined them
"We need to prepare ourselves for battle." Cadatorta said and turned to the Keyblade masters. "What about you?"
"We're staying to help, King Mickey and his team will be here shortly, just had to deal with stuff back home." Sora told them.
"Didn't come all this way to chicken out now." Riku said with determination to help out as he can.
"Hello? Anyone read me?" They hear a high-pitched voice coming from Sora's phone and picked it up.
"Hey, is it?" Riku asked and knew who it was.
"Hold on." Sora put the image to reveal king Mickey. "Micky! How's it going?"
Taren and Ben were taken by surprise to find the king on the screen and glad to see another familiar face.
"All going well, we're preparing to help out as we can and wait for the portal to open for Magix. I hope everything is going alright."
"Is that a giant mouse?" Stella whispered in Bloom's ear.
"I think so, but probably expect to find something unexpected." She said and not wanted to sound rude while they talk.
"Things are a bit complicated than you think, your majesty." Riku said. "We're with the teachers now and preparing to defend the school."
"Good to see you again, King Mickey." Faragonda spoke out to see him.
"Headmistress Faragonda and Headmaster Saladin, good to see you." Mickey greeted them. "I see that Headmistress Griffen is not present, so something must be up. And is that Taren and Ben?
Ben and Taren smile at him through the screen. "Glad to see you okay, your majesty." Ben said.
"No need for formalities, guys. But, I heard a lot of stuff happened and how you've grown, guess it shows promise in a new generation of Keyblade Wielders. Look forward to see you guys again and how you've improved when we get there."
"We better go and be ready, wish us luck." Sora told him and ready to close the connection.
Taren then decided to ask his father about his past to know what happened when he last came to the Magic Dimension. "Dad?"
Sora turned to see his son in wonder along with Kairi. "Yeah, Taren? What is it?"
"I want to know something, what happened between you and Tezzeret? What did he mean that you did… something to him to be what he is?" Taren asked his father and wanted to know. He deserved to know after all that's happened to him. Now spoke firmly with the right to know. "I want to know, dad. I got chased, almost got mauled by the Grimm, and fought him, which I ended up with a lot of bruises on me. Also, a lot of my friends got hurt by him."
"Taren." Bloom reached out to him to calm her boyfriend from getting mad at his father. She honestly can't blame him with some history between them and mention of her own biological family if he knew about them.
"You might as well tell him, Sora." Riku told him and can see the look on the teen's face that he was not happy to be left out of some secrets. But when he heard about the kids confronting a powerful enemy was any parents' worst nightmare and feel they should have come sooner.
"Sora. I think he needs to know." Kairi said and believed he was old enough to understand what happened.
This was the first time Mal and Ben saw how serious Taren was and thought the brunette would give some knowledge of what happened all those years ago. She didn't say a word since it wasn't her business but something for the father and son to deal with.
With little choice, Sora sighs and gave a short pause of silence until he started. "After our final battle with Xehanhort and the Organization XIII, there was… a price to pay which I willingly did to restore the heart of someone who we lost. I used the Power of Waking."
"The Power of Waking?" Mal asked out of surprise when she heard of it. "That's the ability to restore a heart from its sleep. I'm amazed you could master it."
"That doesn't sound very powerful to do such thing." Sky said and knew Timmy would be intrigued when he hears about it.
"Indeed, but it is extremely dangerous if not performed correctly. It was considered to be the last resort for many." The Grand Master of the Keyblade told them with the basic knowledge of the powerful magic spells.
Sora nodded to agree with the master. "He's right. But it was worth the risk to save my friends. And your mother, Taren." Kairi reached for his shoulder to softly hold as he held hers.
Taren was not sure what he meant as the first time hearing about this. "Mom? Why? What happened?" Watching both his parents glance at each other with a slight sense of hesitation and that made him worry of what happened back then, even noticed Riku and Lea look quiet as the king. "Mom? Dad? What happened?"
Riku sighs and looked at him. "Brace yourself, kid. This was something none of us liked to remember."
"There was a lot at stake, and when your mother's heart was taken… but not just Kairi, everyone I knew was lost. I felt like everything around me was taken from me and almost gave up until I found out about the Power of Waking's ability. Despite the warnings and the consequences, I was out of options and did it to bring your mother back along with everyone's hearts. I used it to change history to prevent history repeating itself."
This surprised everyone who heard about this the first time, Macbeth spoke out to him. "You used it to change history? That's considered a taboo when trying to alter the course of history."
Mal had to agree with him after studying the abilities of the keyblade during her training to know how to use her own and what spells to perform. But what Sora did was almost sounded reckless had it not been for a noble cause. "Yeah, I'm with Macbeth on this. Changing history isn't like trying to rewrite a book or anything. It's extremely dangerous and not even one who uses a keyblade has the power to do that."
Sora nodded and agreed with them. "I know, but given the risks we were in to defeat Xehanort, I had to do it to save my friends."
"You see, he had to go to different places in time and space to retrieve our hearts and change history to defeat the Organization." Lea told the group of teens of the story and remembered seeing his two best friends fall in battle before they were saved.
"But what does this have to do with mom? I know she was one of the princess of Hearts back then but-"
"They took mine and… shattered me." Kairi answered with discomfort and saw the startled looks on the group, knowing they would be shocked to hear about it. "I was later brought back, but for the price your father was sent away to another world and almost lost him."
He was startled to hear about this about his mom who was… in a way 'killed' and then brought back. Overwhelmed with this realization and not sure how he could feel about this but no doubt it was terrifying and must have hurt his dad a lot. Taren would probably feel the same had it been those he loves.
Bloom silently gasped and brought her hands over her mouth, she thought it was terrible and almost wanted to burst into tears but wanted to be strong to show support to Taren when he just heard what happened.
Sora nodded to confirm it. "Yeah, I knew I wouldn't be back but I couldn't bare the thought of continuing on without Kairi. So I was sent away but knew I would come back just like how I did before. Only to find myself in the Magic Dimension."
"There's one thing that doesn't add up." Ben brought up. "We heard from stories of what happened when you came here and helped defeat the evil forces, but how did you round up in the Magic Dimension?
"There's one thing that doesn't add up." Ben brought up. "We heard from stories of what happened when you came here and helped defeat the evil forces, but how did you round up in the Magic Dimension?"That does seem like a good question." Stella asked and was curious to know.
It was something that has never been told how Sora found himself in the other dimension when at the time the barrier between them was up. Sora took some time to make a response to that question before the spikey brunette began to speak. "Well, to be honest it was weird and not sure how to explain it, one moment I thought I was on my way to a new world, the next came something else."
Suddenly Bloom remembered what she found out about the Dragon Flame. "Wait a sec, Taren, didn't your family inherited it and some connections to them?"
Then he remembered what Chandra showed him and caught on to what she meant. "Yeah, I remember. Dad?" Turns to his father. "Was there a moment you had a strange dream? I mean, not the usual dream when you got a keyblade, but something else? Something like people or… maybe a dragon?"
"A dragon?" Sora asked him when asked about it. Scratching his head to think and remember something. "You know, now that you mention it. Something did happened that moment but came so sudden I barely remembered."
"Wait, what are you on about, Taren?" Brandon asked, wanting to know of where he was going with this.
"Remember when I said it was passed down through my family? Chandra told me he had it without knowing and it became active to help him." Maybe after he used it the flame must have brought him to the Magic Dimension." Taren shared his theory with everyone when he remembered when he found himself on Earth.
"Wait, so your saying I had it as well?" Sora did not think it was possible, if he was the previous vessel, he would have felt it. "But… that doesn't make any sense, I would have known that I did by now. Right?" Trying to make sense of what Taren had explained to him.
"Perhaps it does and you were unaware of its presence, I am trying to understand how this could be, but perhaps it came to you when you most needed just like when you found yourself in the Magic Dimension." Yen Sid explained his theory to Sora and thought of it as the possible explanation.
"That could make sense. And all this time I thought you had the old dumb luck on your side." Riku told his best friend with a grin.
Sora gave a chuckle and a smile. "Guess so, but at least I didn't lose my keyblade or get stranded somewhere forever." But then turned back to Taren about the other subject. "I'll explain the rest since we're on a limited time.
Taren took note and understood that they needed to stop Tezzeret as soon as possible promised them and won't go down without a fight as the wielder of the flame.
Taren was with his friends to discuss their plans of who was staying behind and going.
"So, while you and Mal join Bloom, Stella, Sky, and Brandon. I'll stay with the others to help out." Ben explained of what was currently happening.
Concerned for his well-being but confident that Ben would be able to take of himself. "We'll be back as soon as we can to help. Just watch your back."
Ben appreciated the concern and patted Taren on the back. "No worries and good luck." Then turns to Mal who was suddenly quiet as Taren leaves. "Mal? You alright?"
"Yeah, just… fine. I mean, nothing to worry about." Tries to not show it and didn't look at him with her arms crossed over her chest. "Just don't do anything reckless."
"Don't worry. But this is the first time you showed actual concern for anyone other than Mirta." Ben said and thought it was nice to see some caring side of her being shown more.
"Hey, I just like to keep a rep, you know!" She implied and felt her cheeks flushed. "Doesn't mean I care for my friends."
"Well, here's something for luck." Ben approached her and caught Mal by surprise when he leaned forward and pecked her on the cheek. Her eyes widen in shock and felt her cheeks.
"Wha… I-I mean… I-that is… uh…gotta go! BYE!" She suddenly sprinted off after making a fool of herself stuttering in front of ben after he suddenly kissed her on the cheek. Decided to take her mind off it as she can to create an army of tree creatures to defend the school before she would have to leave for Cloud Tower.
Unable to shake the thought of the kiss and her growing crush on him, her fingers traced her cheek where she felt his lips touch and had this strange tingling feeling that made her heart skipped a beat.
'GAH! Focus, Mal! Just kick the Trix's butts, maybe that will get me out of this feeling.' Not wanting to say it out loud, but she was starting to see how Taren must have in his crushes. However, she would let out a mental squeal that she just had been kissed by a prince. 'If Evie finds out, she be so jealous!'
Taren approaches the Winx who were with no doubt giving each other a group hug after they've been, he held a note to write down to Flora as he figured they were on a limited time and had to make it quick.
"You ready, Taren?"
He turned to see his father and Riku behind him. "Yeah and what about mom?"
"Your mom's staying behind to give support since we have Yen Sid and Lea backing up with Ben." Sora told him.
"Yeah." Taren summons his keyblade before them and sees his mom come up to him.
"Just come back safely, both of you." Kairi said to both Sora and Taren before pulling them into a loving embrace with her arms around their necks. "And if you get injured or anything worse like another disappearing act, you're both grounded."
"Uh, noted." Sora smiled sheepishly and was confident to not worry her.
"N-No worries mom." Taren groans and figured she say something like that, but knew she'd only say it to show she cares for them.
Releases them from her hug and steps back to give some advice to her son. "And make sure until that Bloom gets her powers back, you keep her safe. She seems like a nice girl, like to get to know her after this."
"Uh, r-right. Sure." Taren gave a nervous smile.
"And also perhaps that girl named Flora as well." His mother said with a growing smirk on the corner of her lips
Taren nods his head. "Sure. I'll-wait, what?" Not certain what she meant by before he was yanked away by Riku.
"Let's go! That Knut said he and Mal found the right path." Riku drags him to the well and passes the girls before waving them and hope they be safe. Could she have known something was going on between him, Bloom, and Flora? He just hopes his parents don't get the wrong idea he was doing something behind the girls' backs when it was made clear from Bloom the two wanted to share him.
The hard part is going to explain this relationship with the parents and hopefully understand it.
With Taren being the last one to follow and turned to the girls. "Good luck, we'll be back in one piece."
"Watch out for any Grimm or giant bugs." Musa said and wished him luck.
Taren nodded and turned to Flora who showed concern for him, wanting to say something but made a note to give to Musa. "Here, just something to explain."
"Thank you." Flora took the note and wanted to show her affections but understood with his mother present and waited for the moment. "And please come back safe and sound, don't let anything happen to Bloom."
"Don't worry. We'll be alright and…" Remembering the last time when the girls heard about his condition and were scared for his well-being after the fight with Tezzeret. Not sure why he was hesitant to leave soon but figured with the war going on, despite the fact his mom was watching. "Ah, screw it." Without thinking, the red-haired teen pulled the startled Flora for a quick kiss on the lips, even with his mother was watching and thinking he was going to be in trouble.
Kairi was astonished to see what just happened, now wanting to know what was going on while Ben was surprised as well, yet unable to hide the growing grin on his face.
"Later." Flora stuttered and watch him leave with a blush on her face, almost thought he would be nervous around his parents. Yet, she found it sweet of him to return his affections to her and wished to have lasted a little more to savour the moment more had it not been for the crisis.
"Let's hope they make it." Returned from her moment of thought to hear Musa with Tecna leaning over the well to watch them leave.
"Everyone get ready!"
They all hear the collective roars of the Grimm marching to Alfea, the Tree creatures under Mal's command stood before the gates to slow down the horde while the shooters concentrate on the flyers.
"Just like old times, huh?" Lea said before summoning his keyblade into action along with Kairi.
Kairi agreed with him with memories of her fights with the Heartless. "Yeah, but only they want to literally kill us." Ran towards the battle and supported the fairies by casting magic commands towards the Grimm, she heard there were some of Tezzeret's forces that use replica Keyblades but not all perfect and look mutated or spectres, the rest were some ancient soldiers that chose loyalty towards him.
The fairies blasted away towards the Grimm with walls protected, but couldn't just sit around to do nothing. Kairi sprinted the Specialists who were focusing their fire on the first Grimm to breakthrough. "Thunder Raid!" Throws Destiny's Embrace like a boomerang and struck the Centinel through the neck, along with threw more and returned to her hand. A small dragon-like Grimm flew to the ground but blasted away by a burning chakram by Lea. "Looks like some new ones, they didn't waste any time." Turned his keyblade into a pair of chakrams, twirling them in his hands and grins. "These guys could use a bit of heat."
Timmy appreciated the help and summoned his Titan, Icarus to for the extra help. "Thanks for the help, we could use it more than ever."
"Yeah, just be glad we all came to stay." Ben replied before blasting the Grimm with Thundega and struck down a Beowolf with a diagonal slash across the jaws.
Flora spotted one of Ursa was coming at Kairi with her focus on the Lancers, not aware of the ambush and stepped in to blast it with spores to grow on its head. The Ursa was blinded and lost focus on the keyblade master, alerting the red-head to noticed it and struck her keyblade to the ground to create pillars of light to destroy those in range.
Kairi turned to see Flora who came to her help and smiles. "Thanks for the help."
Flora nodded and looked up to her dorm room and found the small image of Mirta watching from the balcony. "Flora, Watch out!" The Fairy of Nature turned around to find another Lancer preparing to strike with its stinger, however, it did not see a spinning keyblade sliced through it in half and evaporated. Discovered to have been Kairi's work and smiled.
Lea stopped for a moment and thought he heard Mirta's voice. "Mirta?" Looks around and thought he must be going crazy. A group Beowolves circle around the keyblade master, annoyed and hardly considered them a threat. "Either I'm hearing things or just having a bad day. But I'll take my anger on you guys."
One by one, he slashed through each one with his keyblade, cutting them into pieces and blasting one of them in a pillar of fire, one of them he threw a roundhouse kick and punched its teeth out. Another tried to attack with its claws out until suddenly stopped… with its head separated from its neck and slumped to the ground. Lea smirks and looked at his work with the Grimm disappearing. "Take a lot of years to get me, got it memorized?"
Mirta found her father and could not believe he was here fighting them, and also discovered he was using a keyblade just like her friends. Her parents told her stories about them and especially from Lea whenever she thought he knew them or was one himself. Now proven a fact after seeing him in a battle, she felt amazed by how skilled Taren was fighting them. So many questions to ask and hoping he doesn't know about her current state as a pumpkin, knowing well of being protective over her. But saw others as well and one looked almost similar to Taren before they left, which means they could be his parents as well.
Kiko and Pepe ran for their lives with the unfortunate luck of having an Ursa chasing after them until the duckling and rabbit were cornered and trapped. The Ursa snarled and glared at them when suddenly Genie appeared in a safari outfit.
"Crikey, mate look at those amazing teeth! They could cut like a thanksgiving dinner." Genie spoke with an Australian accent. "Say, mate, could ya open up and say 'ah'?" The Ursa growls and made a loud roar at the Genie. Hardly affected and shrugged his shoulders. "Eh, good enough. And just one thing to knock out a big fella like you." Pulls out a huge mallet and smashed it onto the Ursa's head to the ground hard. "Well, no rabbit or duck for you today."
Della charged in screaming from the top of her lungs. "MAKE WAY FOR DELLA DUCK!" Throws a series of kicks into a Sabyr's face, doing more damage with her prosthetic leg, and threw a punch at it. She jumped onto its back and rode it like a horse. "Come on! Giddyap!" She cheers on and threw a couple of sphere-shaped bombs. "Who wants some of Della, come on!"
Genie watches and was unsure as to what to think of it. "Boy, now I know she's Donald's sister. Both are nuts and she's got issue."
Ben struck through a Sabyr through the mid-section when it tried to pounce him with its two razor-sharp teeth but wasn't fast enough, but out of nowhere a dragon Grimm, snarls at him and prepared to attack until suddenly, it froze in place and slashed a few times. Another one came at him until Cadatorta showed up and punched it cross the jaws, allowing Ben to cut the Grimm from its neck.
"Don't let yourself wide open, Ben. Keep your guard up." The Headteacher told him which he took to remember.
"Got it and thanks for the help." Ben said as many Specialists fought hard along with Timmy with Icarus fighting alongside Macbeth with Breaker. Cadatorta approved of the development from the students and thought after this, he would make their training more intense to be ready next time. The Head Teacher spotted a large Deathstalker crawling over the wall. "Come on! We gotta push them back!"
Tecna thought they should do the same to summon their Titans and join the fight than do nothing. "Well, what are we waiting for?"
Flora, Musa, and Tecna transformed into their Winx forms and were ready to fight the Grimm. After that, they summoned their Titans, Shinobi, Ariel, and Springer.
Musa took flight above her friends for combat. "Girls, what do you say we show them what we're made of? Winx attack!" Blasts her magic against the Deathstalker in the eyes, allowing Spinger to leap over its head, causing the giant scorpion to lose focus and tried to brush the furry Titan away when failed to notice Lea, Ariel, and Shinobi charge at it from all corners and attack.
Kairi and Yen Sid gave some support and watch the scene. "Those girls sure are giving it their all."
"Indeed, but I just hope we can buy time and our friends succeed." Yen Sid told her before shooting out his hands to blast a Lancer with his magic. They all wish for their friends and loved ones to be back safely.
Back in the tunnels, Knut was leading the group through the underground tunnels to reach Cloud Tower to sneak through. However it seems for Knut, he felt something was off about the tunnels even with Mal's help.
Both the ogre and Mal noticed a lot of tunnels than expected, it could be a lot trickier than the two expected.
Knut stroked his chin to think of which one to remember, even Mal was trying to find out what was going on.
"Well, guys, which way do we go to get to Cloud Tower?" They hear Sky ask the two to know which way to go.
"I'm not sure. Things are different down here." Knut said as he thought for certain there was only one direction.
Mal found something on the walls, one of the tunnels looked freshly dug and… drilled. "Something tells me, we had some unexpected company. Feels like Grimm were here a while ago."
"They must have used them to confuse anyone who finds this place." Riku stated and had no choice but to carry on to the main one.
"It's those witches' fault!" Brandon grunted with the job much harder than they thought.
"Not to worry, I think we can search the trail using my magic." Mal assured him.
"So, Knut? How is it you came to know Lea?" Sora asked him in wonder
"Oh, that's easy. When I was out in town for some food, it was under attack by some monsters. I thought I was a gonna but then Lea came along and saved me. I know his keyblade from the stories that happened some years ago, and we stayed in touch." Knut explained to them the story of how he and Lea met.
"And when you said you played the double agent, that's how Lea knew?" Mal inquired to ask him.
The ogre nods to confirm it. "Oh, yes, I thought to mention it to him to help for old times sakes and thought to tell him the details. That's probably how your wizard friend found out."
"Good to know Lea didn't fully retire from being a keyblade wielder, least we now know the full story." Riku said.
"Yeah, sorry we beat you up a little with trying to attack us." Taren felt a little bad for doing so when they first met.
"No biggie, otherwise they would have suspected something." But Knut suddenly stopped from his trek and looked worried when he felt something unnerving about the tunnels.
"What is it, Knut? Did you find something?" Bloom asked him.
"I dunno. It's just that I feel like… we're not alone down here." Knut told them out of worry if there were either other creatures… or maybe Grimm still around to act as guards.
Stella decided to cheer Bloom up. "Relax, Bloom. Stay close to me and nothing will happen to you."
"I envy you, Stella. You can still defend yourself. Well, I... I've no idea what I'll do when I find myself in front of the witches." Bloom said in concern of what could happen to her and her friends.
"They'll have to go through us first." Taren assured her as he would not let anything happen to her again. But, he feels like this was too easy and thought they would have come across any monsters or Tezzeret's personal soldiers. Whatever happens, they had to be ready.
"Keep your guard up, no telling what could happen." Sora told them and continued onwards.
Little did they know a small metallic probe was watching them pass by and make their way to the witches.
Within Cloud Tower, the probe from the tunnels transmitted the image to Tezzeret and the Trix. Tezzeret did not say a word when he knew full well of his old foes, controlling his emotions upon seeing Sora through the image.
"Excellent. Everything is going according to plan." Icy said with a grin on her face.
Stormy turned to her in confusion. "What are you talking about? Our troops are falling back! Tezzeret never sent his army with them!"
"I know they are." Icy told her. "I want this war to last a long time. I want Alfea to suffer a slow, humiliating defeat. The Grimm are numerous and will never give up the fight, especially with a new army to surprise our enemies. So ultimately, they will bring down Alfea!"
"Do not underestimate the keybladers, Icy." Tezzert reminded her. "We may have been lucky to bring down two schools, but the battles against the kingdoms of this world will be different. We must be ready for the moment to strike if we are to continue this war."
"He's right and looks like they got back up now. We gotta watch out for them as well." Darcy had to agree with him with no knowledge of the keyblade masters' strengths and limits, but with Tezzeret who fought them before could give an edge.
"Alright, after running into a few… death traps, I think we should be halfway and as long as Knut has his sense of smell, we could find someplace without problems." Mal said and thought of an idea. "But maybe another way, I can get us through using my shadow magic, I can get us all through safely."
"Right, like when you brought me back to Alfea on the dance night." Bloom remembered and thought it was a good idea.
"Uh, are you sure about that? I mean, a lot of us to take." Stella said with uncertain and not like being in the dark so much.
"Not to worry, been doing some practice to get better now. So should be easy to slip pass some dangers until we reach Cloud Tower." Mal assured her with limited options to take.
"Wait, as in something like the Corridor of Darkness? Riku asked Mal but seeing her shake her head.
"No, nothing like that." She told him. "This is much safer and can be much faster. Sooner we sneak in and surprise them if we run into a trap."
"I'm with her, lots of tunnels and probably creatures live here." Knut nodded his head. "The moment we stop and check I can smell the place."
"Well, I think that's the idea we can use." Taren supported the idea and agreed.
Bloom nodded as did Sky and Brandon.
"I'm interested to see how this works for you." Sora was intrigued to see what powers she can do.
Mal stood with her hands spread with her keyblade to cast its magic, her shadow grew bigger and slowly it surrounded them. "Just relax and I'll do the navigating or Knut to find our way through." They slowly sunk into the shadow and let themselves be pulled down and enter a new dimension.
"Whoa, okay, this is a little… new." Riku said and had to admit this was new while felt the near weightlessness a little and easily adjusted to the new feeling.
"Knut should still smell from here, the moment he picks it up we're out of the shadows." Mal told them and began taking them a few places for Knut was trying to catch a scent.
Knut leaned close to the portal and picked up something. "Stop!" They emerged from the shadows and found themselves in another part of the tunnel. Getting a strong whiff of the scent. "Hang on a sec, I know that stink!" Knut presses on the wall of the tunnel with everyone close beside him. However, he leaned too close to the wall and with his larger size broke through the wall and fell through. Sliding right down to who knows where.
Mal and Riku looked at each other as the ogre was sliding downwards.
Taren was able to see how high they were and a little nervous "Well, who wants to go fi-AAHH!" Suddenly felt himself being pushed and now followed Knut from behind.
Bloom gasped and gave a stern look at the culprit with her arms crossed. "Mal! Did you push him?"
Mal suddenly gave an innocent look and whistled with her hands behind her back. "What? This was your idea and his. Someone has to get the big guy in case he's in trouble. Plus, he slipped." As she stated when she used a simple bit of her magic to push him through.
Riku could not hold back the laugh while Sora decided to follow and make sure his son was okay. And can tell the red haired girl wasn't so happy about it as he was, he better watch out for what's down there.
"Come on, let's go get them." With Sora's words spoke and Bloom wasted no time to make her way down to check on them.
"One of these days, I'm going to be pushed to the limit and get back at her." Taren grumbled and wiped the muck from his face after he was pushed and slide down to the bottom, it was fortunate they made a safe landing with Knut beside him. "Hey, Knut, where are we anyway?"
"We've reached Cloud Tower!" They turned to see the rest of the group come down.
"This isn't what I had in mind." Brandon said when he looked around to see so much garbage and junk.
"This must be the castle's garbage dump." Mal believed and held her nose to block out the stink..
Stella could not handle the stench and took Mal's idea from breathing it in. "Urg! What a stench! Yuck-o! We've got to find the way out of here and back into the castle itself."
"Yeah. But first, let's give Knut a hand." Bloom suggested they help the ogre up on his feet. They all came to grab him by the arms and pulled. "Come on-What was that?"
They heard some rustling sound coming from somewhere
Stella did not like the sound of it and wanted to be out of the place as soon as possible. "I don't know and I don't want to know."
"Come on!" Riku grunted and lifted Knut up to his feet.
Mal suddenly had an idea from her research of the school. "Guys, I think we need to go. Right. Now!"
"What's the matter?" Sora asked her.
Knut had the same idea as Mal and picked up a scent he was familiar with. "Oh... Oh! Beetleroaches!"
Emerging from the earthly mud, large brown and green giant insects with red eyes and carnivorous jaws surrounded the group.
"What are these things?" Stella asked, she shivered by the sight of them.
"Giant garbage-eating bugs." Knut cried out.
"Cloud Tower decided to use them as their personal garbage disposal." Mal explained to her. "I've read about them and keep them fed by anything that's sent to the garbage chute to keep the trash from piling up and smell."
"I still can't believe it. You manage single-handedly to escape from the dungeons of Cloud Tower?" Sky was surprised and impressed after hearing about Riven's narrow escape and survived.
"To tell the truth I didn't get to go very far." Riven told him and pointed his finger upwards. "Up there, past the Grimm and down the dump. The witches have set up a protective shield. If I had gone one step further, they would've captured me."
"But how did you manage to escape?" Bloom asked him, she thought if he got out they could use that path to sneak in.
"As I jumped out of the high tower window, I was absolutely sure it was all over for me. But then, a buttress broke my fall and I slid all the way down into the dump. I had to pull myself together. The place was teeming with beetleroaches. I lay low and looked for camouflage and most importantly - a weapon." As he explained about his survival to avoid capture and end up food to the roaches they fought earlier, Riven did not seem confident of what happened to him. "The rest of my stay here hasn't been particularly exciting."
"You kidding? You had to put into practice everything we learned at Red Fountain. Survival in a zone totally infested with Grimm." Sky told him and showed how he was impressed with Riven. "Hey, do you remember Codatorta's lesson?
"Never hide downwind and keep your fingers out of your nose." Brandon stated from what he remembered. "And Don't get me started with Macbeth's, that guy kept us training for hours until I tired out."
"Oh, yeah, I remember that." Mal shivered of the memories of their training.
Riven laughed with them and sounded much nicer than he was when they first met, he glanced to the group with something to say to them. "Um... listen, everyone... I wanted to apologize for all the things I've done."
"Don't worry about it buddy! We'll talk about that later, okay?" Sky smiled and accepted his apologies.
"Right! We're on a mission here, let's not forget it." Bloom smiles and wraps her arms around them for a moment.
"So are you with us?" Sky asked him and hoped he really back on their side.
The magenta-haired teen gave a confident grin to Sky with his answer. "You bet!"
"Well…" Mal thought it through. "Fine. But doesn't mean we let you off so sudden."
"Yeah, same here." Taren said and feels like he's just like his dad to give people another chance. They hear Riku and Sora laugh and looked at them.
"What?" Taren asked them.
Both the masters looked over their shoulders to them. "Nothing, just brings back memories when we went on our adventures, only that I sort of end up being under the control of the villains one time."
"And all it took was his friends to knock some sense into him." Sora said with a grin.
"Really?" Bloom asked.
"Yeah right, only the keyblade chose him and his childish acts that brought me back to myself." Riku responded with a laugh and turned to Riven to give an advice. "Here's something to remember, Riven, right? Don't give your heart to the darkness, as long as you got friends by yourself, they're your strength."
"Uh, sure. I'll keep that in mind." Riven took it to thought. He took a good look at them when he realise who they were and never thought one of the heroes he heard about was actually Taren's father, but made a lot of sense. But then he remembered something that Tezzeret told him. "Wait, I just suddenly remembered. Does Destiny Island ring a bell?"
Everyone stopped to turn to Riven. "Yeah? It's our home, why?" Sora asked him.
"Okay, well let's just say I was met by Tezzeret and told me what he was going to do when he leaves the Magic Dimension. Not only is he raising an army, he's gonna launch an invasion, starting with the islands." Riven swallows and finishes what he was afraid to say. "He's going to cause a massacre on everyone who lives there."
"WHAT?!" Taren could not believe what he was hearing and fear this was going to be history repeating itself. His friends, family, and the thought of his little sister in danger came to thought if he didn't stop them. "Oh no."
Bloom gasped and remembered the visions her sister showed her, all those people were going to be killed by the warlock. Even Stella found it appalling than what the Trix ever did to them.
"I don't believe it!" Riku growls and grips his fists tight. "All this for revenge? I never thought he go so low-"
"There's more to it than just revenge, Riku. He's doing it to make sure some prophecy he was told won't happen." Taren told them.
"Prophecy? What are you talking about?" Sky asked him.
"The Drocarhen." Bloom added to share what she knew. "Tezzeret was once a keyblade master like them, but was in fact after power and was told the Dorcarhen people, one of them would receive the powers of the Dragon Flame to defeat him and a group of dark Keyblade wielders."
"It was all a ruse to keep all of us busy so he can focus on his mission." Taren nodded and turned to his father. "I think that's what he's trying to do what he failed to do, bring back his army and finish what he's started from the last Keybalde War."
"So he wanted to keep us out of Magic Dimension to find the Dragon Flame, but never knew there be new keybladers that would be chosen." Sora started to understand what was going on now. The thought of his family, Kairi, Taren, and Hana in danger was something. "Now we know his true motive, he has to be stopped. Everyone's lives are at stake with Magix and the islands being the first to fall."
Taren agreed and shared the same idea. "Sorry, I didn't bring this up earlier. I know we both have some secrets to share but-"
"It's alright, I owe you answers and will give them to you when this is over." Sora placed his hand on his son's shoulder and smiles. "Just looking at you reminds me of myself, but you've come a long way than I could have. At first, I was a little worried but never hurts to let you choose your own destiny."
Taren smiles when hearing the praise from his father to fully accept him as a keyblade wielder and now wanting to make him proud to follow his footsteps. "Thanks, dad."
Riku latched his arm around the confused teen's shoulder with a teasing grin. "And maybe he'll tell us about he's gained the love of a princess."
Taren's face turned red and stuttered. "Uh-We-well, y-you see uhh… dad? Uh, something, I've been… meaning to tell you about something." He gulps and scratches the back of his head nervously.
Bloom smiles to see them interact so well and maybe ask him to know about her parents if he knew them well. But when she noticed the silver-haired male lean towards them and saw him stutter for some reason, then suddenly she heard him about their relationship, she knew would come about and uncertain how Taren's parents would react when they find out. Would they freak out and get mad at them?
"Guys, come on. Knut has found the tunnel that leads right into the castle." Mal told them when they see Knut heading off to follow the scent and decide to catch up with them. This doesn't mean they were out of the woods yet, for their little visit won't be a walk in the park.
"Master Tezzeret, we lost sight of the intruders. Neither our scouts, probes, or the Seers have found them." A soldier reported to him while in the study searching through books.
"Let the Trix deal with them, if they found the tunnels they should be here by now. Keep a look for them." It was obvious they wanted to retrieve the girl's Dragon Flame, thinking it was foolish of her to try such a stunt, clever but foolish. He had better hope the Trix find them before he prepares for the next assault. "Ready the next wave, this time send our forces to the city."
Once they've entered the school using the secret passageway Knut found, he continues to sniff around for where they were. Turns to the group to follow him. "It's this way." Passing through the corridor but stopped and raised his hand out to stop the others.
"What's the matter?" Sora asked.
"Seers." Knut whispered and pointed to the corner to find a See floating through the corridors.
Stella shivered to see a creepy jellyfish Grimm while Mal and Bloom remembered what it is and heard from the Trix as one of their communicators. "That's what I saw in the alley when we first met the Trix." Bloom whispered.
"We gotta sneak past it or they'll know we're inside." Mal had an idea in thought to use her magic.
Knut stopped her as he knew what to do. "Wait here. I know of another passageway." Wasting no time to feel the walls for a face, pressed it and a door opened before him. Waved to the others to follow him before the Seer would notice their presence. Walking through the pathway and emerged through the other side, finding themselves emerge from a wardrobe and in a dark and creepy-looking dorm room.
"Where are we?" Taren looked around and not sure who it belonged to.
"This is the Trix's room. Knut, why did you brought us here." Bloom recognised the place when she and her friends snuck into the castle one time to retrieve Stella's ring.
"He wanted us to see a good example of bad decorating." Stella said, causing Mal to mentally sigh and roll her eyes.
"From here we have access to the castle." Knut explained for reasons of bringing them to the Trix' dorm.
Bloom and Mal walked over to the door and carefully opened it to peek through, they find numerous Beowolves standing guard across the corridors, but what caught their attention were the ghostly creatures that wonder e hallways, looked almost black smoke and carrying twisted forms of keyblade-like weapons.
"What are they? ghosts?" Bloom whispered and almost immediately closed the door without making a sound.
"I dunno, but don't want to stick around to find out." Mal responded to her and felt their presence disturbing as if they were not human or some sort of Nobody-like creature.
"How's it look?" Taren asked them.
"The corridors heavily guarded." Bloom told him.
Knut smiles with his knowledge of the castle comes to help. "Getting out of this room is not a problem." Chuckles and explains to them. "I've learned to move about the castle without being noticed."
"I'm impressed how I never noticed this around, Knut." Mal had to give him credit for being so sneaky for a large ogre.
"First, we need to go down a couple of stories. The tunnel leading us down is through there." Knut points towards a mirror attached to the wall. The group came close to it and seem unsure about his claim.
"I don't know, looks like a regular mirror to me." Sky seems to believe so.
"That's because you're not thinking like a villain, Sky." Mal told him and decided to explain. "From all the passageways, it's obvious the Trix have many hidden in plain sight."
"She's got a point, maybe Knut can demonstrate for us since he hasn't shown any deception." Riku said and willing to give Knut a chance.
"Come on, we've no time to waste." Knut wanted to prove he's on their side and not the Trix or Tezzeret.
"Hey, ladies first, Brandon." Riven suggested for Brandon to go first.
"And children next, Riven?" Brandon countered, causing Mal to hold back the snickering.
Bloom decided she would go first but Sky stopped her. "Let us go first, it could be dangerous in there." Sky told her and not wanting to risk her safety.
"Gotta agree with him on this, Bloom." Taren agreed and wanted to keep her safe from harm. Making their way towards the mirror and found it was indeed another secret passage, walking through as Knut waited for the last one to go through before following them down the spiral staircase. The pathway eventually leads them outside and continued onwards to reach their destination.
"They're inside the castle?!" Tezzeret snarls and slammed his against the table, one of his probes spotted the group and was surprised to discover Riven somehow survived the fall. He should have sent his scouts to be sure the former Specialist was found, and eliminated. Informed of their plans to ambush their enemies, but somehow they bypassed their security and traps set for them. "Get me Icy at once!"
Obeying his orders and contacted Icy through a hologram. "Everything all set for our 'guests', dear Icy?" He spoke with a calm expression, masking the growing frustation within his mind.
Oblivious to what was going on and smiles with confidence. "Oh yes, they should be in the castle by now with our trap set."
"Well, it just so happens they took a slight detour." Brings up another image of the group with Knut and the keybladers with the Winx and Specialists heading somewhere else. He can see Icy's expression became annoyed and mad.
"NO! Those sneaks! I knew they'd try something."
"And it seems they had help from your former lacky and Mal's knowledge of the castle's secret corridors." Tezzeret stated, not exactly pleased with them. "They must not leave the castle. Alive. If you want to keep your new powers, do so instead of sitting around!"
Icy growls and becoming annoyed by her partner ordering them around, but reluctantly agreed. "Fine, but no worries, we have the Flame and they are nothing but ants to us. We'll crush them and you can focus on sending the army to attack the rest at Alfea. I'll call Darcy and Stormy to be ready and let them know what's happening."
With communications down, leaving the warlock trying to control his frustrations by the sheer arrogance of the Trix ever since they gained the Dragon's Flame and already assumed they've won. "The Trix are starting to become more and more like their ancestors. They crave power so much, it blinds them from the bigger picture in front of them!" This was just like how Domino fell when he failed to capture the Dimensions' most treasured and powerful magic, all because the Ancestral Witches because they lacked the patience or work with others but themselves.
For her sake, the Trix better do their job or it will be their downfall.
Either by the Winx.
The Keyblade Wielders.
Or him.
Okay, gotta stop there, but I just never thought I get this much done. Over 13k! That's a new record and in a short time! Luckily had some source material to help me out and wanted to get the first story arc down as possble to. I have some idea of the flashback of how Tezzeret became a cyborg in this version compared from the MTG verse, so was trying to think of what his soldiers be like as some I thought be based on the MTG Aether Revolt art, and the curropted 'dark keybladers' be some phantoms be the corrupted versions of undead or phantoms that have been exposed to the veil prison or something went wrong after trying to create their own kleyblades.
I hope you all enjoyed it and will make another shortly, also wish you all a merry christmas and hopefully 2021 be a better year after what we've went through. Sadely the government in the UK have made harsher laws on social distance and make it dificult for anyone to adjust to see friends and families at this time. But hopefully we pull through and give support to those who are struggling.
I apologise for not noticing the mistakes, seems there was a bug on the documents but fixed it now.