The wizards were just not prepared for an ambush, they had to retreat to regroup and regain their strength, Gantlos in particular was having trouble with his more vampiric state whilst fighting the sun fairy, and had gotten burned pretty bad.
The winx huddled, jumping gleefully at their temporary victory, but Stella didn't join them. Her jaw clenched as a heat seemed to melt her core. Pain.
"You okay, princess?" Brandon approached her in concern. The others turned, seeing tears well in her eyes. She opened her mouth, but only squeaked out a painful noise.
"Oh my word— Stella your hands! They're burning!" Flora rushed over to her seeing UV burns spread slowly up her arms, "we have to get her home, quick!"
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"I'm healing her as best I can, but she just starts burning again…" Bloom was absolutely bewildered by this, Flora was trying non magical remedies, aloe specifically.
"I'm just waiting on Faragonda to answer, the internet speed here isn't as fast as on Magix," Tecna had figured if this was a magic problem, Faragonda may be able to help.
"This doesn't make sense — I'm in complete control of my—ah," Stella winced as Flora applied more gel, "my powers…"
"Girls? Is everything alright? What's the emergency?" Faragondas concerned voice came over the telecommunication device, "Oh my word, what has happened?"
"We aren't sure, it's like she's getting sun burnt from inside out, Bloom and Flora have been trying to heal her, but the burning keeps coming back. Could there be something wrong with her believix?"
"Sunburnt you say?" Faragonda looked knowingly at Stella, "Yes…yes I have no doubt this is related to your powers—"
"I am the fairy of the shining sun—OW!" Stella hissed, "I don't get sunburnt!
"I know it's hard to have your powers betray you, Stella. However, I do know how to help. You aren't just the fairy of the shining sun: you are the fairy of the sun and moon. It seems that the lunar half of your powers have been oppressed for so long, it's caused an imbalance within you."
"An imbalance?" Stella blinked— she wasn't sure what that meant.
"Yes, for fairies like Musa, Tecna, Bloom even— it's fine for them to focus on one aspect of their power, for that's all there is to it. But when a fairy such as yourself has two magical sources within her— such as wind and rain, light and dark, or in your case, sun and moon: she needs to train both equally."
"So what exactly is happening to me?" Stella was impatient now.
"The constant use of solar magic without the cooling counterbalance of your moon powers was like a fire left unchecked, nothing is cooling you off. If you keep this up you are going to be burned by the very power you have!"
"What can we do?" Layla asked, concerned for her friend.
"To restore equilibrium, Stella needs to embrace her lunar abilities, to let the soothing light of the moon cool and temper the heat of the sun. Only by weaving both forces together can she find true balance and regain control over her powers. However, to do this. You must start all over…It's going to be a complete reset for you— I'm afraid you'll have to take a step back from this mission for your own safety."
Stella stared in disbelief — starting all over? Step back? Her heart sank as flora tried giving her a consoling hug, she wasn't thinking of the burning sensation anymore. Just an empty feeling in her heart.
