It was a gruelling ride through the storm with many close calls. The clouds above a stretched-out black with only strikes of blue and purple when the mighty lightning zapped across the canvas. The rain froze one's fingers off if not for the magic the students circulated through their bodies. And the flying debris didn't make it any easier, draining their power as it forced them to use shields one after another.
"So, what exactly were you…investigating!?" Mercury shouted against the storm. His brown hair was one wet mess. His throat was sore all that scream-talking took its tall. Nonetheless, they needed to coordinate.
Clue was pressed into Sienna's lap. Her jaws still jittering she answered, "A mystery!" She hollered to Mercury sitting up front making sure Kitty stirred them right and as he slashed some branches to keep them all safe.
Seth shook his head, his claymore was no use on a packed Terror Wolf back. So, he was the lookout on the rear. "That's VERY SPECIFIC!" His sarcasm blew away with the gust bashing into everyone's faces.
"What kind of mystery?" Sienna asked with care and understanding. She didn't have to scream as she sat right behind Clue and kept her sheltered.
The blond Pixie dug into her brown coat pocket and pulled out some black cloth, "Someone's running around in these woods and nature ain't liking it. Can't you feel it, Sienna?"
Sienna closed her eyes focusing only on shaking her head, the rain was way too distracting and she was scared to get hit by some little stone or whatever in these howling winds. "Sorry, not my planet, Clue."
"Oh." Clue sounded a bit disillusioned, "I thought you Joined Track students are the cherry on top of all students in all the Kingdoms."
Mercury looked behind himself with a good ounce of scepticism. "And how would you know that we are from the Joined Track, little Lady?" His eyes formed slits his voice strained. Blade wasn't right to hate the Pixies in their entirety but he couldn't argue with her sentiment of them keeping tons of secrets. And a Pixie all alone in this storm was more than a bit suspicious and the cloth seemed all too ordinary. 'Maybe an extra test from the teachers…'
"Easy! Lady Snow is with you! She's the ice Fairy every noble despises! And she's part of the Joined Track! Everyone on Eraklyon has heard that news!" the little Pixie yelled back at him. All this screaming didn't help anyone. It was necessary yet created a bit of adversity where theoretically there was none.
Seth frowned, 'Makes sense I guess…' He looked to Mercury to search his eyes for his opinion. There was no real reason to suspect Clue and Sienna bonding with the Pixie was a good sign that little fly was an ally. Yet Blade's run-ins with Guardian Pixies made it hard to believe. Both boys gave each other a little nod. There was no ground to categorise Clue as a threat. "That cloth could have come from anyone!" Seth noted in the end.
Snow held on to Sienna yet her mind was somewhere else entirely. 'Will they even let us in? Or… what if they… the last ball….' She didn't like the Lordship up ahead but there was no way around this. 'No. It's more important everyone stays unharmed. No matter what they say about me…'
"But no one from Eraklyon wears black this season!" Clue protested heavily her little magnifying glass-like wings flaring up in her magic.
Sienna nodded, "That's true." She somehow felt so proud. In fact, her whole stomach was still tingling with butterflies and she couldn't explain why. She had heard a thousand times about Pixie bonds, the real deal was so different. "You got keen instincts!" She cheered.
"Yeah! I'm the worlds' greatest detective after all! Nothing escapes my eyes and ears!" Clue gave Sienna the biggest smile. Her heart pounding when she looked at Sienna's baby blue eyes. "I'm telling you, something is afoot. Keep your eyes peeled!" She gave a stern warning as a bolt of lightning shot through the sky and flashed her sunglasses in an intriguing gleam.
Blade glared over her shoulder at the second Terror Wolf. She tried to get a glimpse of that stupid Pixie. 'Tch. that's the last thing we need…' She grumbled annoyed. Her body tensed and she bashed a wet dreadlock out of her face.
"Heads up front!" Nebula gave a nod, "Veil! Solid fog!" She created yet another shield to compensate for Blade's sloppiness.
Blade flinched as she saw the branch bounce off, "Crap." She growled and her grip tightened around her sword and refocused. 'Get your head into the game, Blade.'
Kitty chuckled, "Don't worry, I'll help you put that Pixie through the wringer once we're in the dry!" She backed Blade to the fullest. Pixies were a menace and so maddening with their pipsqueak voices. "Can't believe Sienna would stab you in the back like that!"
"That's not how that works!" Nebula countered. She had learned the hard way not to jump to conclusions or judgments though she understood Blade's sentiment. Clue had nothing to do with Blade's troubles though.
Kitty snorted and nearly made the wolf stumble. Barely she got the grip back beneath her summon's paws. She pretended that she hadn't slipped up. "Last time I checked one has free will to choose allies. That Pixie bond seems rather fishy and forced if you ask me!"
"It's more like a precognition without visions! And nature grants a gaze of compatibility as well! Besides, who are you to talk? With your taming and pummelling beasts!" Nebula grinned not that Kitty saw it but even in this storm her sass came through.
"HEY! I DON'T FORCE MONSTERS TO FOLLOW ME! I COPY THEM FOR SPELLS! AND FOR THE SHAPE-SHIFTING SORCERESS, I PROVE MYSELF STRONGER! WORTHY! AND THEY STILL CAN REFUSE! That little shit did nothing but googly eyes!" Kitty vehemently protested her voice echoing out even to Mercury behind them on the second wolf.
"LOOK!" The Specialist shouted as he pointed forward with his wind axe. The Forest was clearing away laying bare some meadows, trimmed hedges and several buildings, pompous in style and definitely weatherproof.
Blade breathed through finally some roof insight. Yet her eyes darted around, "Nebula."
"Yeah…" Nebula tugged a bit nervously on her mauve-coloured vest. The wind was still howling and the rain battering but it was a bit like an eye of the storm. It was less, and the reason for that was the gaping swirl up above. The storm, they had been fighting for minutes now, was spreading out from this point into all directions.
Seth, Sienna, Snow and Mercury quickly closed the gap to create a solid formation. "By the Great Dragon, what is that?" Seth blinked in disbelief as he jumped off the Terror Wolf. The beasts flanking them all at the rear for now.
"Calling this one in…" Mercury quickly smudged his bracelet free from mud and called in Red Fountain. He didn't like this at all and he could feel the hairs on his neck stand.
Clue proudly stemmed her hands into her hips, "Told you so. Something is a-."
"Afoot. You said that already," Blade cut her off harshly. "Where are the people? I don't see a caster…. Piercing Spear." She didn't waste a second created a more fitting Fairy weapon and disintegrated her sword. "Winx..." She turned back into her form. The blue uniform was a welcomed change to the wet street clothes.
"HE-" Kitty was about to shout but Sienna held her mouth shut.
Sienna shook her head, "Don't." She tried to make anything out. Yet not even the windows were lit in the estate.
"We're going stealth," Seth agreed and took the lead as Mercury was busy finding a signal but the storm made it hard to get through. The sword hilt was fast in his hands.
"I'd say… it's a natural storm turned with magic into a hurricane… so to speak," Snow clenched her fists. Everything felt so eerie. Her heart pounded, her breath a bit short. 'How did we miss that?' She couldn't feel Black Magic. "Light Magic… but why….?"
"Why indeed," Clue pushed her glasses back and flew forward. She was more than eager to find out what was going on.
Mercury pulled the Pixie back, "Stay put. We can't have you run into something, cause you went recklessly exploring." He looked up front. They were in a solid arrow formation. Seth at the tip. Nebula and Blade second Snow behind them. Kitty and Sienna were behind her. And he was the rear. The connection was finally established and he breathed through. "Team Leader Mercury here, Erakylon herb mission. We encountered a... Light Magic phenomenon, it's a storm at the residence of the Lord...Snow?" Mercury whisper-yelled to her, but everyone was so tense and she focused on getting some orientation. "Well, the Lord near our mission spot for the herbs. We don't see people around. But no Black Magic either as much as the girls can tell."
"Understood," the Red Fountain personnel typed along. "You're connection is shoddy. Proceed with caution. Don't go in deep. We'll send some backup. They'll be there in a few minutes. Keep the line open," the experienced trainer answered calmly.
'Gotta keep everyone safe.' Mercury's eyes fixated Blade shortly before he shook his head, 'Everyone.' He breathed out deeply once more.
"There!" Clue pointed an arm out that was lying on the ground. The rest of the body was hidden behind the trimmed hedge. And she got hushed directly.
"Let's go," Snow grew tenser. Her snowflake-like wings jittered although she was on the ground and not even flying, "We can't let them just lie there and die. Maybe they know what's going on." She urged. Her heart pounded in her chest.
"We found a possible casualty just a few feet away. We'll proceed for first aid." Mercury made the judgment call and pointed in the direction, hoping that Red Fountain would manage a surrounding feed.
"Be CAREFUL," The trainer answered the intercom crackling slightly.
Seth gave the marching order. In formation they crossed the open space, "Be ready for anything," His grip tightened around his claymore as he raised it ready for activation. Step by step they closed in.
"No sign of a-" Mercury signed to hold quickly, "Shit. Static." The video was flickering like crazy and he couldn't understand a word that was being said on the other end. Some stared at his bracelet while others stayed on the lookout.
Kitty growled as her eyes searched the hedge and rooftop rims, "Well fix it then. We just had a connection."
"I'm trying," Mercury tried to boost the signal.
"That arm looks pretty much unmoving to me…" Nebula sighed. They had seen such scenes on Desertia when they had fled the palace. 'Dead… maybe…' She hoped that wasn't the case and closed her eyes for two seconds, to get her head clear.
Snow went utterly pale and she already had a white-complexion in the first place. Her Hands shot to her mouth to hold it shut. She was rattled. With all these seemingly empty and abandoned buildings and that storm… and just… all of this. She stumbled a step back.
"Might be unconscious," Seth didn't look but he could hear the Eraklyon's Lady's breath get stuck. Not surprisingly these were Court people she knew. "Let's turn back," Seth pushed backwards, he had no idea how to keep Snow calm if that person was dead and someone she knew. He hoped for the best, sure, but was it foolish? "We don't know what's going on here. We need the connection to Red Fountain, we're not ready for this." For once everyone agreed and they turned on the spot with a rushed step.
Out of the blue Mercury got flung back right into Sienna and Kitty with some force and they all ended up on the ground. He ground his teeth. That had hurt even if his Paladin training armour kept him from scratching his skin open.
"Hey, watch it!" Kitty pushed Mercury to the side as a spear shot past her face. She flinched as the spear's gust blew against her ear. She was about to bitch around as all watched as Blade's spear hit an invisible wall some weird runes shimmered through shortly and it shattered on impact and dissolved.
"Shit." Blade cursed. Her eyes went wide and that wasn't just any run-of-the-mill magic shield.
"What's-? Why? An inverted shield!?" Clue was dumbfounded and rapidly turned her head towards the manor. Nothing. The storm was still going but the rain ebbed down with the wind.
"Layered attack!" Mercury shouted the command. Stealth was over. 'Gotta get out now.' His mind was racing, they had straight-up run into some form of trap and he wasn't keen on ending up like the person behind the hedge. Mercury loaded his fire and wind axe for a combo and sent the swirl of an inferno directly at that barrier. Quickly followed by the others.
"Freezing Heart!"
"Dark strike!"
"Plasma Sphere!"
"Pierce!"
"Sound Scythe!"
The brunt of spells crashed into the shield and into each other. A roaring thunder that shook the air around them and lid up like crackling fireworks and smoke.
Seth turned his back on them to guard their rear his sand claymore would be no help here. "Crap, how did you miss that?!" He noticed the runes covered the sky as well as they appeared and vanished again. It was like a dome encompassing the whole estate.
The rest didn't wait for an invitation and sent another round at the shield. Their shouts echoed through the dying down storm. The Fairy Magic hit followed by Kitty's slash yet even with the unstable mix which increased the impact there wasn't even a dent, a flicker. NOTHING. Utterly outmatched.
"We're so screwed!" Kitty clicked her tongue. "Stop holding back, Sienna! Use your touch spell thingy!" She pulled the Fairy in and pushed her towards the shield.
"Hey!" Sienna hissed but there was no time for bickering. "If that didn't scratch it-"
"SIENNA." Mercury was on full alert his wine red crystal of his armour glimmering as he infused magic into his every muscle. Surely an attack was imminent. His cheeks flushed with prickling warmth.
"Rude!" Clue complained and dashed after Sienna as she rushed towards that invisible wall.
"Winx!" At first, it was temperate when Sienna placed her hands down. Magic flickering from her every pore, "Resonance!" She stemmed against the barrier her heels dug into the mud grasping for a better hold. The vibration shaking through her arms. She grounded her teeth harder and harder. Her hands heated up. Normally it was so easy to break shields for her but all her vibrations got dispersed so evenly she couldn't get the right frequency. "Convergence!? No. I can't-" Her words got stuck in her throat. Trapped.
"Hello? Mercury? Come in," The trainer looked up to the others in the Central Command Centre. "Thirty-second window ran out. Upgrading threat level to emergency." The blinking consoles in front of the coordinators were in rows. As they relayed messages and sent teams out managing all efforts on Magix and keeping an eye out for off-world student teams. "Contact the Eraklyon army. Inform them of the new status." The trainer's fingers flew over the console as well. Seconds could mean anything.
"Black Magic Hunter Division, Where to?" The voice rang through before the video of the call even got established. The Fairy on the other end already looked grim but ready for anything in her white robe and dormant Red Jade tattoos.
"Lord Ramon's estate. We lost contact with a Joined Track team. Seven Students. Lightmagic storm spell reported, caused the connection to break. One possible civilian casualty was already reported. They wanted to triage. We ordered to stand by and wait otherwise. Relaying last transmission log."
"Got it. We're on our way, around two minutes," The Fairy gave a nod and cut off the transmission as she walked away her hair flying in her steps.
Another trainer breathed through, "Alert out for Head Hunters, waiting for possible response times."
He quickly sent the log files to the Council for the records. "Council got a team on stand-by if the Hunter Division needs backup," a third one added firmly. "Let's hope it's just a spell gone wrong."
Riven sat in his pimped personal Owl polishing some armour and weapons. The console lights tinted the blue metal of the ship green. His feet were up as he was leaning far back in his cockpit chair all relaxed. The console behind him flashed up. "Another emergency? Man, those keep coming this week. Red crystals again…such a pain." He rolled his eyes and at least gave a glance over the shoulder. "Huh?" He set his feet down on the ground as he moved the screen. "BY THE DRAGON, WHAT ARE THOSE SNOTS DOING THIS TIME!?" He fired up his Owl's engines while he checked the Head Hunter response list. "Come on, Anyone… it will take me forever to get there. Time to burn those engines, damn it, Timmy will have my head."