A Demon's New Groove 3 - (Winx Club, Valtor!SI)
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So, what happens when you are trying to enjoy the holidays - which you 'fought' for - and someone decides to kind of ruin your fun?
Good question which, I am saddened to admit, was my current predicament.
One moment the beaches got reopened and I found a nice spot to happily enjoy that small slice of paradise, the next one I had a red-haired gremlin hovering over me with giddy eyes and a big grin plastered on her face.
My saving grace from a fright was that Tressa was actually in her human form and wearing a proper bikini that hardly showed much - I know that babe-watching is part of the experience but... I kind of want to waste a day or two being nothing more but a sacrifice to the tan gods.
"Train me!"
I groaned, fixing my sunglasses to show the heavily disappointed look she was meant to see as I delivered my response.
"Add some context to that silly request or I will assume you mean something quite inappropriate, young miss."
The girl smile fell, but she didn't appear outraged or anything. In fact, she appeared more confused by my 'request' for clarification as I had forgotten, within a fairly reasonable mental slip, that she was actually a sheltered princess and had no clue on what intimacy was beyond 'hugging under the sheets'.
"What?"
"If a girl, in a beach, asks a man, regardless of how many centuries he has upon her, for training, the first thing that comes to mind is not 'oh, you want to train how to fight' and it will be perceived as flirting or a seduction attempt."
Like, it was common sense. It may not be the case most of the time, but I wasn't going to allow some chick to just go around and ultimately end up getting tricked by some displeasurable individuals.
Her jaw instantly fell the moment I said that, her eyes widened astronomically and her cheeks burned red at the implication.
"Eww, that's gross! I-I am not asking you out for a date!"
"Then add context to your words. Instead of a simple 'train me!' say 'I want you to teach me how to fight'. More details imply less chances for innuendos and misunderstandings."
...
"So?"
"I think the answer to that is no."
"WHAT?! Why not!?"
I flinched at the noisy attitude of this bratty princess. "First, I am not interested in taking on Padawans. Second thing, I am retired."
"What's a Padawan?" Tressa smartly asked, deciding to tackle this one step at the time.
Okay, maybe I am being a teensy bit passive aggressive. But, you see, I should have been spared of trouble with what I have done to make this an 'one-time rescue thingy'.
I saved her home, I told her to not tell anyone, and her being there was literally a violation of that simple deal. What's wrong with these people?! Is this because of the hot sun? Don't they fear the heat stroke or do they welcome it to the point of being this dumb!?
...I think I am feeling better now. Maybe.
"A term from a movie quite famous on a planet I visited a while ago."
"Oh."
There was more surprise and I frowned.
"Do you know what a movie is?"
"Y-Yeah!"
I blinked, deeply unamused by that attempt to boldly claim that lie to be true. It was my fault for not remembering that the underwater section of Andros was backwater as heck. So yeah, they don't have movies.
"Anyway, I am not taking you as my student."
"But-"
"And before you try to make the case that 'but you are a good and cool guy', I will tell you this simple thing you may have ignored: I am retired. I don't do stuff unless it is a favorable for me."
...
"W-Well, I told my parents I was already studying under you-"
No.
"And so they allowed me to pack my things-"
No no. Don't you fucking da-
"So, it would kind of feel weird to go back now and-"
"I think you can go and tell your parents you did something without thinking, because, breaking news, that's what happens when you don't think over your actions and just 'go for it'."
She bowed her head and... sat down by the sand. Nearby me. Not going away at all.
The only relief there was that she wasn't crying. It wouldn't have changed shit, but it would have made the sight a ugly way to spend a few unwanted hours of distraction.
To make things worse, I could tell that the weather had decided to give me the finger. Or that was what I thought as I hadn't noticed that the source of the sudden shadow casted upon the entire beach was soon to hurl the biggest roar I have heard in a while.
"GYOOOOOHHH!"
We both turned to see a Kraken. you know, large squid with a single mouth and... no eyes. Quite the unsightly entity, and a tedious one to handle by common magic as it had some resistance to it and could heal any cut tentacles.
I saw Tressa turn to me with an excited look that said 'do something cool!' and I rolled my eyes at that.
Still, as the beast was clearly moving towards us, I decided I had to do something. And that something was snapping my fingers, conjuring a large anvil above the monster and then use a simple push spell to increase its deadly descent upon the beast.
One moment the Kraken was a scary bastard, the next one its main body was crushed in a single go.
It could heal its tendrils, but it definitely couldn't heal a full-body destruction like the one I delivered. Some of the greenish blood splattered all over, forcing me to conjure a shield to shelter both me and Tressa from the disgusting bile coming our way.
The other civilians weren't as fine as the panic they had experienced doubled as they were hit by a wave of rancid green goo.
I saw the terror running amok, frowned as the guards were moving to escort others out of the beaches to keep those close for an unknown amount of time and... I growled.
"I guess my holidays here have to be cut short-"
"Where next?!" Tressa asked, her drive rekindled by the sight of destruction and gore I had caused. I found myself frowning hard at her. "Pleaseeeeee?!"
...
"I am not training you, but I guess I can allow you around for some more. No backsie though."
She opened her mouth, but it was too late.
With a snap of fingers, we were both no longer in Andros, but somewhere else entirely. A different planet, one with three suns- no, it is not Tatooine. Especially since this one had actually no deserts because of magic keeping most of the heat away.
I landed on solid ground, Tressa eep'd as she crashed onto some dirt. There was no mud since there was hardly any rain around and... yeah, she looked very upset since she was greeted by dirt.
"What?"
She rolled her eyes, retrieved her bag and fetched herself a towel and a fresh pair of clothes - after all, we were far from the seas and in quite the illustrious kingdom that was soon to hold the most important event this side of the year. Thank God I had read some magazines on the topic and I had memorized this specific bit.
Didn't you hear the news? The Solarian Golf Season had just began and anyone with cash could join for some solo golfing!
...
The upcoming royal wedding? Why the hell should I give a dime about it if I had no stake in it?
It was a pity that Aisha never told them about Andros' beaches - Stella would have loved to visit a place like this one for summertime.
This was one of the many thoughts that came to Bloom's mind as she silently and lonely wandered the area where the Kraken had been spotted and defeated.
Most of the girls didn't want to see the gruesome sight, but Bloom had decided to play detective as she heard that there was a high chance that the one that had saved Underwater Andros was the same individual that had killed the monster. Which was impressive - in both circumstances.
Tritannus had been mutated with some dark magic and the Trix had supported him, yet they had lost to this unknown person.
Same for the Kraken, a monster known to be extremely resilient to magic and owning a rather powerful healing factor. To see both cases solved so quickly truly left the entire Winx Club in confusion.
They had arrived on Andros by the notion that the crises were equally time-intensive. So, for them to arrive with most of the threats already taken care off was shocking to say the least.
Tecna had ran some calculations to see how feasible that truly was, but she estimated that even the 'average strong warlock' would have struggled immensely just to see one of these two threats handled.
For said individual to face both, it meant that they were incredibly powerful and well above the average.
So, while the others were shifting their duties between investigating in the two royal courts in Andros for any eye-witnesses, Bloom was happy to have been spared to chase after nothing and... actually look into a place that, for some reason, resonated with her.
No, it's not the beach that makes me feel so 'at home'.
She held a hand over her chest, blue eyes aimed around to find any clue of what was making her feel this way. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't pleasant even. In fact, the 'neutrality' of that sensation felt wrong. It felt... unnatural.
While the redhead couldn't find any confirming proof of her growing suspicions that this individual they were looking for may be connected to her somehow. It was a hunch right now, but it felt strong enough for her to believe such.
Still, it was too early to call this a threat or not but... something about this didn't just feel right.
AN
Trovlar goes for some golfin' (with Tressa on tow) and Bloom is hot on his trail despite him doing everything to prevent that. But of course, the plot has to play rough on those trying to break from the mold.
Coups? Let's do two at once!