Yes, that's right! Two chapters at once! Whoo!

'There you are!' Roxy exclaimed as Naomi walked up to the Winx and her friend. 'Where were you?'

'Talking to Stella. She's okay now, by the way.' The Winx all gaped at her, and she rolled her eyes. 'Yes, yes, mouths closed. Move your attention elsewhere.' She frowned. 'Why's everyone hanging out here?' Flora sighed miserably and pointed at the water. Naomi turned and promptly uttered an expletive Anagan would have winced at and Duman would have…well, he'd actually taught it to her, so he'd be impressed. The water was once again filled with trash. Including a whole damned chair. How did a chair even wind up in the sea?

'What happened?!' She poked at a can with her foot. 'Call me crazy, but I could swear we cleaned this place up.'

'We did,' Musa replied, scowling at the trash. 'Apparently Gardenia has a new offshore attraction.'

'Huh?'

'According to my satellite feeds, there's a huge floating island of trash just off the coast of Gardenia,' Tecna explained, tapping her phone and bringing up a hologram of what was definitely an island of trash.

'Ugh. Great. We've got our own Great Pacific Garbage Patch.'

'What's that?' Musa asked curiously.

'It's a huge area of ocean contaminated with tens of thousands of tons of plastic,' Naomi explained.

'Oh!' Flora gasped. 'But that's awful!' Naomi raised an eyebrow.

'Didn't you live on Earth all summer? How are you this surprised? Ow!' She rubbed her arm, shooting Roxy a glare. 'Seriously, Princess? Elbowing?' Roxy frowned, and she sighed. 'Fine. Sorry.' She frowned at the sea. 'Sucky day to be the environment.'

'I'm afraid this could go even deeper than environmental concerns,' Tecna explained. 'I'm afraid all this pollution could bring Tritannus back to Earth.'

'Well this day just gets better and better,' Naomi deadpanned. 'Seriously? Mutant trash boy?' She winced, remembering that that was Aisha's cousin. 'Uh, no offence, Aisha.' Aisha gawped at her like she'd just uttered the ancient incantation of N'katar, which opened a portal to the Netherworld to unleash hordes of demons. Though, if Ogron's reaction when he'd found her reading the spell aloud at age six was anything to go off, gawping was not the preferred reaction; rather, the appropriate response was to shriek with panic, dive forwards and seize the book, all prefacing a very stern lecture about reading random spells aloud and potentially ending the world.

'We need to get out there,' Bloom declared. Naomi raised an eyebrow.

'And do what? It's an island of trash, Bloom. What exactly are you planning on doing?' Bloom opened her mouth, then closed it again, evidently at a loss. 'No, that wasn't me being sarcastic, I'm genuinely asking 'what are we going to do?''

'We won't know what we're dealing with until we get out there,' Bloom replied. 'Also, 'we'?'

'Uh, yeah. You didn't really think you were leaving me on the beach, did you?' Bloom shrugged.

'Didn't expect you to come. If Tritannus does show up, it could get dangerous…'

'I fought the Trix, Bloom. Solo. Think I can handle a guy that eats trash. Absorbs trash. Whatever. Either way, I got it. Plus, I'm not letting Roxy do this without me.' At her final words, Bloom smiled.

'Alright then. Let's get out there. Magic Winx! Sirenix!'

'Naomi, magic, transform!'

'Roxy, magic, transform!' Had anyone been watching, they would have had to shield their eyes from the blinding flashes of light as the seven girls transformed.

The light fell away, revealing the Winx in their new Sirenix forms, and Naomi let out a slow whistle.

'Nice…'

'Should we go find Stella?' Flora asked. Naomi shook her head.

'I wouldn't. She kinda yelled at Brandon, so they're patching stuff up.' Bloom nodded.

'Okay, we'll let her know what happens later.' The fairies took off, flying over the trash-filed water, Naomi and Roxy's wings beating madly to keep up with the Winx's higher forms.

'How do we find this place?' Musa called.

'Look that way?' Naomi pointed left, and everyone gasped in horror and disgust. Tecna had been right; it was a literal island of garbage. Naomi wasn't even gonna ask how all this trash had wound up on top of each other; she was too busy holding back a gag at the smell. Oh, the smell. She could practically taste it, and it made her want to be sick.

'Naomi?' She felt Roxy's hand on her shoulder, and looked up, realising her nausea must have been more evident than she thought. 'Are you okay?' She nodded, swallowing hard in an attempt to keep back the bile rising in her throat. 'What's wrong?'

'That thing…reeks.' Musa raised an eyebrow.

'Uh, I'll agree there's a bit of a smell, but…I'm not sure it's that bad.' Naomi shot her a glare.

'Try having shapeshifter senses.' She gagged, and Flora's eyes filled with concern.

'Oh, hold on!' She held her hand up in front of Naomi's face and blew over it, small pink blossoms spilling from her palm. Naomi took a deep breath, the stench of trash replaced by the sweet scent of roses. 'Is that better?'

'Way, way better,' Naomi replied appreciatively. 'Thanks, Flora.' Flora smiled sweetly.

'No problem. The spell should hold up for at least fifteen minutes, so you'll be able to cope with the smell.' Naomi smiled gratefully.

'You good now?' Roxy checked, and Naomi nodded.

'Then can we get going?' Aisha snapped. 'Or do you need some nose plugs?' Naomi scowled at her, but held back a snarky retort. This girl had her reasons for not being super nice. She had her reasons. Which didn't make holding back the great sarcastic comment she'd just come up with any easier.

'Yeah, we're good.' The group continued the flight towards the island, Naomi incredibly grateful for Flora's spell as they flew over floating trash. Having senses as strong as hers was usually awesome, but it also meant she was much more vulnerable to strong stimuli. Duman had taught her how to suppress certain senses when she needed to, but it was a difficult skill to master, and she was yet to get her head around it.

She sniffed. She was certain she'd just smelled something under the spell…something familiar…but all she could smell was roses, and there was no way she was breathing without the spell; she'd choke. But, turned out, she didn't need to sniff the air; what she thought she'd smelled revealed itself in a burst of lightning atop the island.

'Is that the Trix?' Musa exclaimed. Tecna nodded.

'Affirmative. And there's Tritannus!' She pointed to the base of the island where a purple-haired triton with a trident was emerging from the water. Bloom scowled.

'You were right! This mess has attracted Tritannus!' Naomi snorted.

'That's not a very nice way to talk about Icy, Bloom.' Musa stifled a surprised laugh, turning to Naomi with a grin.

'Oh…I like you.' Naomi smirked.

'Then you are in a very rare and exclusive club.'

'What are they saying?' Aisha demanded as they flew closer. 'What are they doing here?'

'Hold on…' Naomi frowned, concentrating on tuning into the Trix's conversation with Tritannus. Her sense of smell may be impeded, but her ears were as good as ever, and she managed to pick up on their words over the crash of waves.

'Tritannus has never seen so much garbage,' she relaid. 'And now Stormy says she's gonna serve it up for the 'future emperor'.'

'Wow. Conceited much?' Musa remarked. Naomi frowned. Emperor…? Why did that sound so familiar? Before she could place why the words sounded familiar, she picked up on Stormy's next words.

'Dark Tornado!'

'Oh damn. She's summoning a tornado!' Everyone exchanged panicked glances as a dark purple mass of wind whipped around the island, sending trash everywhere. Naomi could see Tritannus struggling against the winds, trash flying all around him.

'Is it wrong that I'm hoping he'll get clonked in the head with a tyre?' she called over the wind.

'Nope!' Aisha yelled back. 'I'm pulling for that chair!' Naomi hid a smirk. Ooh, vicious. If they weren't basically obligated to hate each other, she might actually really like Aisha.

'Tritannus is going underwater!' Bloom exclaimed.

'He's going to absorb the toxins from the trash!' Tecna yelled back. 'If he does that, he'll regain his powers!'

'I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that would be a bad thing,' Musa commented.

'Yep!' Bloom frowned. 'Okay, Aisha, Flora, Musa, you go underwater and try to stop Tritannus from regaining his powers. Tecna, Roxy, Naomi, we're on the Trix.' Aisha, Flora and Musa dove, while Naomi shot towards the trio of witches.

'Obsidian Flux!'

'Lava Jab!' Her and Bloom's attacks shot forwards, slamming into Stormy simultaneously, sending her flying backwards and causing the tornado to disappear.

'Oh, great, you again.' Icy scowled at the the four fairies. 'Don't you have anything better to do than show up and annoy me?' Naomi shot her a mischievous grin.

'But annoying you is so much fun. And so easy. It's barely even a challenge. I mean, when you rock up wearing tentacles…you're practically writing my mockery for me.'

'You won't be smiling when we show off our new powers!' Icy snarled. 'Ice Bolt!'

'Virtual Protection!' Tecna's shield stopped Icy's spell easily, and Naomi snickered.

'Huh. You know, the corners of my mouth are turned up. Now, I'm no scientist, but I'm pretty sure that's a smile. So the evidence would suggest that you were wrong, Icy; I'm still smiling. But let's ask a real scientist. Tecna?' Tecna nodded.

'Yeah, Icy. She's still smiling. Let's see if you can do the same! Genesis Blow!' Icy flung up a shield, but as she did so, Naomi dropped and fired, her attack shooting under the protection and eliciting a shriek of surprise and rage.

'Watch your six, Ursula.'

'Dragon Fire!'

'Mystic Talons!' Darcy and an only just recovered Stormy were sent flying by the attacks, and Naomi smirked.

'Wow. And you guys almost took over Magix?'

'I am getting really sick of you!' Icy screamed. Naomi shrugged.

'I am a bit of an acquired taste. Endless Change!' Naomi's spell shot towards Icy, shifting between electricity, energy, mist and finally settling on thick, dark bindings that whipped around Icy.

'What?!' Icy struggled against the bindings, her eyes burning with cold rage. 'Rrgh! You'll pay for that!'

'Sure. Cash, cheque or credit?'

'Digital Strike!' Icy went flying into a mound of trash, and Naomi snickered.

'Oh, sorry, looks like you're too busy gagging to take any payment.' Icy's lips curled into a sly smirk, instantly making Naomi nervous.

'Looks like you're too busy defending against Darcy to pay me anyway.' Naomi whipped around, seeing Darcy aiming an attack at her.

'Dark Orb!' She blinked with surprise when she didn't feel an impact.

'Naomi, look out!' Tecna cried, a few seconds too late.

'Hypnotic Wave!' Naomi cried out as magic overwhelmed her mind, dropping to crash-land on the trash. She glanced up, seeing the Darcy she'd defended against vanish, the real Darcy grinning down at her from where she'd been hidden behind the trash. Damn! How had she missed that? Normally she'd smell a trick like that a mile off, but here, surrounded by the stench of garbage, all she could smell were the roses from Flora's spell. A smell that was rapidly wearing off, the stench of trash starting to assault her nose.

'Neon Splice!' Tecna blocked the Trix's subsequent attack, bending down to check on Naomi. 'Hey, you okay?' Naomi nodded, staggering to her feet.

'Damned Trix…' she muttered.

'Sisters, we got what we needed!' Icy yelled. 'Let's get off this filthy little planet!' The Trix turned and went to dive, Bloom and Tecna shooting after them.

'Roxy, Naomi, stay here!' Bloom ordered. 'We'll go after the Trix!' Naomi wanted to argue, but she was too dizzy.

'Naomi!' Roxy flew over, landing next to her. 'You okay?' Naomi nodded.

'Damn illusion…' she groused, kicking a can. 'Can't believe I got tricked that easily.'

'It wasn't your fault,' Roxy reassured her. 'You were great in that fight.' Naomi folded her arms and frowned, unconvinced. She'd got tricked by a two-bit illusion. She'd never been tricked that easily before!

She coughed, Flora's spell starting to fade, being replaced by rank garbage stink. Roxy's face filled with concern.

'C'mon. Let's get you back to shore.' Naomi nodded, knowing that arguing wouldn't do anything. After all, it wasn't like she wanted to stay out here, choking and gagging. She fluttered her wings, lifting into the air, starting to fly back towards shore.

She and Roxy made it about twenty metres before something tackled her, closing hard, cold metal around her and crashing into the water.

'Naomi!' Roxy scream was muffled as Naomi went crashing beneath the waves, struggling madly. She didn't know what had her, but she knew it was about to let go.

She summoned all the magic she could to her fist, slamming it into her assailant. To her relief, it let go, and she kicked away, swimming for the surface.

As her head surfaced, she felt a hand close around her wrist, and Roxy pulled her from the water.

'Naomi! Naomi, are you okay?!'

'Think so…' she gasped.

'What was that?!' Naomi fluttered her wings, flying under her own power. She had a horrible, horrible feeling that she knew what that had been.

She saw a dark shape shooting for the surface of the water and yanked Roxy backwards just as the thing that had haunted her nightmares for weeks burst from the sea in a blinding flash of silver.

'Endgame?!' Roxy exclaimed. 'I thought we sent this thing packing!' Endgame blasted at her with crackling energy, as though to establish that it hadn't been sent packing in the least.

'Crystal Shell!' The attack cracked the shield, but didn't break through, and Naomi tensed up with panic.

'What do we do?'

'I vote for turning this thing into scrap. Mystic Talons!' The attack barely fazed the android, and Naomi froze as it turned its cold gaze on her. No…not again. 'Naomi! Naomi, move!' Naomi barely registered Roxy's panicked cries. She'd been kidding herself that this thing hadn't lurked in the back of her mind for the past month, but she'd been lying to her own face. Every flash of silver made her entire body shake as she fluttered in space, paralysed with terror.

Seeing she wasn't going to move, Roxy grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her out of the way of Endgame just as a metal hand was about to close around her ankle.

'Let's hide in the trash!' Even through her panic, Naomi knew a bad idea when she heard one.

'What? That's a terrible plan!'

'You got a better one?' Roxy demanded, yanking her down to take shelter behind a washing machine that was rapidly blown to smithereens by a blast of energy.

'You know, you'd think I would,' Naomi replied, backing up as she watched Endgame scan them. She hated how much her hands were trembling. She hated the sweat pouring down her neck. She hated how weak her legs felt. She hated that her fear was obvious enough to prompt Roxy to say what she said next.

'Naomi, get back to shore. I'll handle this thing.' Despite how much she wanted to turn and run, Naomi shook her head, trying to ignore the shallow gasps of her breathing. She wouldn't leave Roxy to fight on her own. Dammit, all the times I want the Winx to leave me alone, and the one time I could actually use them…

'No. We do this together.'

'…Does it make me a terrible friend that I'm relived as hell you said that?'

'It makes you sane,' Naomi replied, taking a deep breath. 'Let's turn this thing into just another floating piece of trash, Princess.' She leapt forward and transformed into a lion, bring her wickedly-sharp claws down and slashing at the android's metal chest, managing to tear a shallow gash, seeing through to wires and sparking electricity.

'Wasp Sting!' Endgame cocked its head, unimpressed.

'Roxanne Wilde.' Roxy recoiled as her name emanated from Endgame in his cold, metallic voice. 'You are not Endgame's mission objective. Your involvement is illogical. Endgame will eliminate you to achieve its objective.'

'Oh yeah?' Roxy snarled. 'Eliminate this, tin can! Mystic Talons!' Endgame lifted a hand and grabbed the attack mid-air, crushing the energy in its fist as Roxy gawped.

'Eliminated.'

'I didn't mean it literally!' Roxy scowled at the robot. 'Naomi, we may need some heavier fire.' Naomi glanced around, dodging blasts of electricity. Her eyes fell on a tumble-dryer sitting atop a pile of trash.

'Got it. Cover me.' As Roxy blocked Endgame's attacks, she transformed into a monkey, swinging and scrambling up the pile, before at the top she shifted into a gorilla, clamping her strong hands around the appliance and lifting with all her (significantly increased) strength.

'Heads up, Princess!' Roxy dived back just as the hunk of metal went slamming into Endgame, the two crashing through the trash and falling into the water.

'Phew…' Roxy muttered. 'Naomi, c'mon, let's get back to shore!' Naomi breathed a sigh of relief, sliding down the heap of trash, but as she ran towards Roxy, she screamed, feeling a hand close around her ankle. She barely registered Roxy's panicked cry before her lungs were filling with briny water, and she coughed and choked, lungs burning as she looked down to see Endgame dragging her down. She tried to blast at it, but her magic just bounced off. She started to shift, but screamed as Endgame tightened its grip, almost breaking her ankle. Her vision started to blur. Was this drowning? She struggled to keep her vision clear, blinking as a flare of green light lit up the sea. She turned her head, her eyes widening to see a furious Roxy five metres away, eyes burning as her hair floated around her in a hot-pink halo of power and rage.

Green energy burst from her hands, the anger-fuelled magic actually having an impact on Endgame for once, before what had to be a hundred-thousand sardines swarmed the robot.

'Error. Error. This does not fit with standard behaviour patterns for Earth animals.' Endgame swatted at the fish, and Naomi felt its fingers loosen around her ankle. Taking her chance, she shifted into a tiger shark, whipping her fin out of Endgame's grip.

Seeing her new form, Roxy's sardines swam for their lives, but that was fine. She could handle herself now. She opened her toothy jaws wide, snapping them shut on the same hand that had trapped her only seconds earlier.

'Error. Damage sustained.' Hell yeah you've sustained damage. Naomi grinned with satisfaction as Endgame's slit stared uncomprehendingly down at its crackling stump, before looking up at where its hand was hanging from Naomi's jaw.

'Receiving directive change. Retreat.' Naomi frowned. Receiving? Did that mean…someone was controlling this thing?

She watched as Endgame shot for the surface, bursting out of the water and jetting into the sky, the end of its arm still crackling.

She swam up, turning human again and crawling back onto the island, the stench's assault on her nose barely registering over her confusion and panic.

'Are you okay?!' Roxy cried, scrambling out of the water and pelting over to Naomi. 'Are you hurt?' She checked her over, wincing as she saw the dark bruise around her ankle. 'Ooh, that's not good. Does it hurt?'

'Mm mm mm.' Naomi raised an eyebrow at her own voice. What the hell?

'Um, Naomi?' Roxy grimaced. 'You've still…got the hand…in your…um…mouth…' Naomi looked down and saw the hunk of metal hanging from her jaw, and promptly spat it out.

'Bleh.' She met Roxy's eyes, holding her gaze for a moment before bursting into a giggle fit as Roxy stared at her, dumbfounded. In truth, Naomi was just as dumbfounded. What the hell was wrong with her? She could have died, and she was laughing like a lunatic. It gradually occurred to her that this was her mind's coping mechanism. Protecting her from the deeply traumatic experience she'd just been through. She was starting to get scared of when the giggling stopped.

She felt a tear join the saltwater coating her skin, followed by another, and another, until they were streaming down her face and she was in Roxy's arms and her breath was coming in deep, raking gasps.

'What the hell?' she whispered. What did this thing want?

Naomi sat on the wall where she'd talked to Stella, staring out at the ocean, the piece of Endgame heavy in the bottom of her bag. She'd changed since that morning, borrowing some clothes from Roxy to hide the scratches and bruises adorning her body.

The Winx were scattered across the beach, discussing their loss today, and she could see Aisha standing by the water's edge, staring out to sea with the same lost, miserable expression she herself was sporting. Bloom had filled her and Roxy in on what had happened after they'd pursued Tritannus into the Infinite Ocean, where the triton had revealed his and Aisha's family transformed into mutants, ordering them to defend him, meaning the Winx could do nothing against them, as they weren't acting of their own free will. As they'd been changed by dark magic, the Winx should have been able to free them with fairy dust, but they couldn't use Enchantix in the Infinite Ocean. So it looked like everyone had had a sucky day. Frankly, Naomi couldn't wait for Roxy to finish talking to her parents and get them both back to Alfea. She wanted to go, as soon as possible.

'Hey.' Naomi froze at the familiar voice. She wasn't really in the mood. But, seeing as how Stella couldn't read minds, the princess of Solaria plopped down on the wall next to her, smiling at her. Naomi tried to smile back, but she was too tired and sore, and it looked like Stella was picking up on it.

'What's wrong?' Naomi looked away, rubbing her eyes.

'Just tired. Today was…a lot.' She blinked with surprise as Stella gave her a one-armed hug.

'I'll bet. Bloom said you were pretty fierce against the Trix.' Yeah. Right up until I got tricked by some dumb illusion. 'And you really helped me earlier. I may not see what you see in them, but I gotta give this to the wizards: they did a great job raising you.' Naomi just stared into Stella's warm, smiling face for a minute.

'…Wow. Now I'm surprised you're being nice.'

'Why? It's the eyeshadow, isn't it?' Stella giggled and nudged her playfully, and Naomi felt her lips twitch. Stella was pretty nice when she wasn't acting like a child.

'So, you had your first run-in with Tritannus,' Stella continued. 'What did you think?' Naomi rolled her eyes.

'He's not up to your last villains' standards.' Stella snorted.

'True, honestly. I mean, I'm sure he's very powerful and all, but…' She stifled a laugh. 'He's powered by trash! I'm sorry, but how am I supposed to take that seriously?' Naomi snorted. The girl had a point. She could just picture the look on Ogron's face if he heard about Tritannus's power-source. Trash? Really? What, were all the decent powers taken?

'I mean, Musa said he's actually got the Trix calling him an emperor? How conceited can you get?' Naomi frowned, remembering what she'd meant to tell the Winx before Endgame had shown up and blown all thoughts of everything but survival out of her mind. She turned to look at Stella.

'Stella, I think there's a bit more to it than that.' The mirth in Stella's golden eyes dimmed at the serious note in Naomi's voice.

'Oh boy. Why do I get the feeling you're about to tell me something I don't want to know?'

'Depends. Do you want to know about an insanely powerful artefact in the Infinite Ocean that could allow Tritannus to rule the universe?' Stella stared at her for a minute.

'…As a guardian fairy? Yes. As a girl who's just had a stressful day? No, there is nothing I want to know less.' She sighed and rolled her eyes. 'But I guess guardian fairy has to win out. You know something?' Naomi nodded.

'Think so.' Stella hopped down from the wall and held out a hand for Naomi.

'Then we should tell the others.' Naomi reticently took Stella's hand, secretly grateful for the help as pain landed through her ankle, garnering a worried glance from Stella. 'You good?' She gave her a tight-lipped smile and nodded, following her into the bar. But inwardly she was cursing that damned hunk of metal.

'This had better be important,' Aisha started irritably, folding her arms as she sat down at a table in the Frutti Music Bar. 'And it had better not be about vegetable dresses, Stella.'

'Don't be ridiculous, Aisha!' Stella rebuffed. 'It's about fruit dresses. Vegetables are so two hours ago.' Aisha stared in horror for a moment before Stella giggled. 'I'm just kidding. I'm sticking to fabric from now on. Actually, Naomi's got something to tell us.' Aisha looked like she might have preferred the fruit dress, but Naomi was way too tired and sore to give a damn what people were thinking, so she just readjusted her bag for the hundredth time, still very aware that she had a piece of the crazy robot that had been attacking her lying in the bottom of it.

'Really?' Bloom asked curiously. 'What is it, Naomi?'

'Remember how Stormy called Tritannus 'future Emperor'?' Musa nodded.

'Yeah. Narcissist much?' Naomi sighed and played with her hair, the nervous tic garnering a worried glance from Roxy.

'I'm not sure it's that. I mean, the guy seems like he definitely is a narcissist, but…I think…'

'What?' Musa prompted. 'The guy's not an emperor, Naomi.'

'Not yet. Look, I know a lot about magical lore, and there's one legend where emperor and the Infinite Ocean meet. The Emperor's Throne.' Aisha's eyes widened.

'I've heard of that! But it's just a story. Nobody older than nine believes in it.' She frowned. 'Though…if anyone was going to cling to a belief in ultimate power…it'd be Tritannus.' Stella raised a hand.

'Um…sorry to sound dumb, but…what's the Emperor's Throne?'

'It's an artefact in the Infinite Ocean,' Aisha explained. 'A huge throne carved from stone. According to legend, whoever sits on the throne will become emperor or empress of the Infinite Ocean.'

'Wait, what?!' Stella exclaimed. 'So all Tritannus would need to do to rule the Infinite Ocean is sit down?!' Naomi shook her head.

'You're not the first person to think like that. The throne still stands, but it's no longer intact. The power of the Infinite Ocean was channeled up to whoever sat on the throne through the legs. One legs still stands intact, but the other three have been broken.' Tecna frowned.

'That doesn't make sense.' Roxy raised an eyebrow.

'What doesn't make sense? Crazy artefact threatening the dimension, take a sledgehammer to it…no emperor. Seems straightforward enough.' Tecna shook her head.

'Destroying an artefact as powerful as this shouldn't be that simple. The magic in the throne would have had to go somewhere.'

'You're right,' Naomi replied. 'The legs were broken, but the magic that coursed through them was channeled into three powerful jewels, used to power the Pillars of the Infinite Ocean.' Stella nodded.

'Okay…let's pretend I have no idea what that is.'

'The Pillars of Light, Balance, and Control. They maintain harmony across the Infinite Ocean. But…if the pillars were affected, there's a strong chance that the effects could spread to the Magic Dimension.'

'Well that's just fantastic,' Musa deadpanned. 'Let me guess: if Tritannus gets these jewels, he can fix his fancy BarcaLounger.' Naomi nodded.

'Yes.' Musa facepalmed.

'Great.'

'There's a bit more.'

'Does there have to be? Can we not all just be this depressed and stop there? I'm miserable, how about everyone else?' Naomi sighed.

'Sorry. But…if Tritannus becomes emperor, his powers would affect every body of water in the Magic Dimension.' Everyone except Aisha gawped at her.

'Yep, I'd have been happier not knowing that,' Musa remarked. 'Every body of water? Are you serious?' Aisha nodded.

'She's serious.' Everyone was silent for a minute, evidently unsure what to do with this information.

'Well…well even if Tritannus has some throne, we'll still stop him,' Bloom said after a minute.

'Yeah!' Musa concurred. 'We've beaten Valtor; we can beat the Incredible Trash-Eating Boy.' Naomi snickered, and Musa grinned. Damn. This girl was snarky. She liked it.

'So Tritannus will target these Pillars?' Flora asked.

'Probably,' Aisha agreed.

'What if they're just a legend like you said, though?' Musa asked. 'Then he couldn't do anything.' Aisha shook her head.

'The throne is usually considered a legend. But the Pillars are very, very real.'

'Damn.' Musa had pretty much summarised the situation.

Naomi stared down at the hand on her desk.

'...I'm not really sure what we're looking for, Naomi,' Roxy said, staring down at it too. 'It's a hand. A robot hand. It doesn't even have a serial number we can use to track down where it was made.' Naomi raised an eyebrow, and Roxy shrugged. 'I watched a lot of Hawaii Five-0 with my dad.' Naomi sighed and rubbed her temples.

'I know, I know. It's basically just a hunk of metal. But...it's the best lead we've got for why this thing is after me.'

'You know who might be able to get something from this?' Roxy suggested tentatively. 'Tecna.' Naomi shook her head.

'No. I'm not having my personal crisis turn into another Winx mission, okay? It's just not something I can handle.' Roxy nodded and let the subject drop, returning to her pointless staring. After a minute, she poked the hand with a pencil. Expectedly, nothing happened.

'Okay, this is totally pointless. I know you don't want to show this thing to Tecna, but neither of us knows enough about tech to make any headway here. Poking it with a pencil was genuinely the best investigative idea I have.' Naomi nodded. Roxy had a point. She knew loads about arcane magic, but tech this advanced was just outside her wheelhouse. Though... She thought for a moment.

'What? You have 'just figured something out' look. What is it?'

'I think I might know someone who can help.'

And they've got a lead! Well, technically, they have a hand, but it's a start! And I had Naomi explain about the Emperor's Throne now, just because I wanted the lore to make a bit more sense when it comes to how the seals could fix the throne.