Winx 9
The week after classes resumed, Prince Sky and Riven were sparing on the training grounds.
As the Prince swung his double bladed phantoblade at Riven, but was surprised to see the magenta haired teen raise his knee and dropped his elbow to catch the blade.
With the blade locked between his two limb, Riven kicked the Prince onto his back.
"Damn, where did you learn that move." Sky groaned.
Riven held his hand out to pick his squad mate up "Kenny taught me that one, and it's not the only thing I've learned."
"It's definitely weird meeting your uncle and grandparents through a friend." Sky joked.
"A little but I've had a blast during the break. Going on missions, learning new skills, I didn't want it to end." Riven smiled gleefully as he thought back on the last 3 weeks.
Sky pats Riven on the shoulder "I'm glad you're happy man, but don't forget about our time here. With our midterm results, we're in the running for best freshman squad."
"Hey if you and Brandon trained with the castle guards as hard as you say, it should be a piece of cake." Riven states.
The two teens walked back to their dorm room. It was a fairly spacious with 5 single beds each having a nightstand and dresser on the left, a desk on the left and a trunk at the foot of the bed. They heard Timmy and Austin arguing with Brandon.
"I'm just saying this is insane, you'll never get past security." Austin states.
Timmy points at a map of Cloud Tower "But if he comes in through the top, he should be able to sneak through the defenses."
Curious Sky asked "Please tell me you guys aren't planning a Cloud Tower Panty Raid…. Without the whole squad."
Austin shook his head "No, Brandon wants to help Bloom sneak into the school, but he doesn't understand how stupid an idea it is."
"Aug is right, witches powers are at their highest during a full moon. So heading into their school is a bad move." Riven adds.
Brandon argued "But the Winx managed to do it, and with Timmy's tech we should be able to slip in and out without notice."
Sky asked "Wait can't we ask Jackie to help out? She might be able to sneak them in."
"I can't put her in that situation, especially with her coven being at the lower end of the hierarchy as is." Austin explains.
"And I doubt Darcy or any of the other Trix would be willing to do a favor for you Riven." Brandon asked.
They looked to see Riven blankly staring at the wall until Austin snapped his fingers in front of me.
Riven blinked as he asked "W..wait, did you guys say something?"
"Yeah we were just saying Darcy wouldn't help us sneak in." Timmy answered.
Riven sat down on the bed and rubbed his eyes "100 percent, especially with his things are going. Things just aren't clicking between us anymore."
"Maybe because instead of an edgy bad boy, she got a hotheaded softy." Austin guessed as he rustled his head.
Riven smirked as he slicked his hair back "Possibly, but I gotta still try to make things work."
Brandon brought focus back to the map "Okay guys, enough about Riven's love life. We gotta come up with a plan."
"Look man it's not a good idea, you could get serious S…." Sky exclaimed before stopping himself "Squire Brandon."
Brandon placed his hand on Sky's shoulders "It's alright I'll be careful."
The prince ran his hand through his hair "You better, especially when protecting Bloom."
"I'll finish mapping out the route, think you could tune up Brandon's Wind Rider." Timmy said as he looked at Riven.
"I could give it a look over. Cone on Austin, you still need to brush up on vehicle maintenance." Riven said as he got up and dragged Austin out by his hair.
Austin groaned "Alright, but I call dibs on your jello for dinner."
The next morning Team SABER was in the courtyard with a barely conscious Brandon.
Sky gentle slapped the squire "Come on man, I know you just got in but how did the mission go."
"When we got to the book, it told Bloom that she came from a bloodline of evil witches." Brandon said as he struggled to keep himself awake after the stressful night he had with only 30 minutes of sleep.
The boys were shocked as they exclaimed "NO WAY!"
"Are you sure that was it, you know how things could be misinterpreted." Sky argued.
"Besides just because she has some bad apples in her family tree, doesn't mean she'll end up like them." Riven states.
Brandon nodded his head "I know but I didn't react to the news the best. Even though I knew she was the same Bloom as I meet her, something inside of me felt afraid of her."
"Maybe because of your witchphobia." Riven muttered under his breath but it was heard by the whole group.
Ashamed Brandon hung his head down "Probably, I'll try talking to her later and make things up."
The group heard Austin's phone ring, the Beast Tamer answered without looking at the caller ID "Go for Austin."
Bloom spoke from the other end of the line "Austin you need to come to Alfea."
"Bloom we were just talking about you. Don't believe anything from that book, you've got the heart of a fairy through and through."
"I know that but you need to hurry to Alfea. Jackie got hurt." Bloom said.
Austin dropped the phone as he summoned Nimbus to flew toward the school for Fairies.
Once he got there he didn't waste a single moment to properly land Nimbus and just allowed himself to fall from half a story from the ground.
He got up and ran towards the infirmary to see Stella outside the door.
"H-…how did this happened…. and how bad is she hurt?"Austin struggled to ask as he caught his breath.
Stella escorted Austin into the room as she said "It seems her and her roommate Mirta found out about the trick the Trix had planned for Bloom. While they were able to help, this was what happened to them."
Austin was in shock as he saw in the room was a pumpkin and an ice statue of Jackie on the beds.
Bloom rushed to hug Austin and cried "I'm sorry, If I wasn't so stubborn on finding out about myself.. they wouldn't have gotten caught up in this."
Austin took in a deep breath as he patted Bloom on her head "It's not your fault. You're as much a victim as they are."
Only a few minutes later , the rest of SABER rushed into the room as Riven asked "Austin what happened, you just left out of nowhere."
"What happened!? What happened is your girlfriend cursed one of your squadmate's best friends!"Musa angrily shouts as Riven.
Riven looked at the ice statue of Jackie and balled his hand into a fist to the point he nearly drew blood.
"So what did they say, can this be fixed?"Timmy asked.
"The staff says it might take a while due to the complicity of the curse. Even the nurse is having difficulties identifying the nature of it" Flora sadly admitted.
"What about your wizard buddy , I'm sure he'd come in to help Jackie." Riven asked Austin."
Austin banged his fist against a wall "I can barely sneak Opie out to the neighboring islands, getting him off Andros would be impossible."
Brandon placed his hand on Austin's shoulder to console him "Don't worry, we'll get them cured. One way or another."
Austin says "Yeah, and it seems our best bet is to go right towards the source."
The next day as Austin and Riven were walking through Gloomy Wood Forest, the latter asked "Dude are you sure we should be doing this alone, the Trix don't seem like the barraging type."
"Weird, for someone who's dating one of them, you seem a bit hesitant to face them." Austin questioned.
"Look I'm just saying that with their recent activity, we shouldn't be going outnumbered." Riven states.
Austin tapped his pendant "Im going in with 7 of the best buds a guy could ask for, worry about them."
Riven counted the petals on the pendant and smirked "Thanks, I feel the same. So what makes you think they'd lift the curse?"
"I have an ace or two up my sleeve that could convince them if negotiations get rocky." Austin answered.
Riven smirked "Oh yeah that Stormy had a crush on you."
Austin chuckled "Good to see you still have your sense of humor."
The two stopped at the clearing as the saw The Trix levitating in front of them "Darcy told us you wanted to meet with us, so what do you want." Icy impatiently demanded.
Austin cleared his throat before telling them the reason "In an attempt to pull a prank on Alfea , you cursed two witches. I ask for you to reverse it."
Stormy furrowed brow "Why would we do that? Those weaklings sided with those pixies, they lost the right for mercy."
Riven pleaded "But the staff is having trouble dispelling the curse. They might be like that for the rest of their lives."
Icy chuckled "That's the point of a curse, besides who'd care about them."
Austin tightened his fist and inhaled. After exhaling he states "What if I told you , I know how you can acquire the Dragon's Flame?"
This piqued the girl's interest as Icy asked "Go on."
"I'm the Godchild of the Crowned Princess of Domnio and nephew to her betrothed. For a while I've been searching for the Dragon's Flame and discovered the embers. If you undo your curse, I'll lead you to them." Austin said as he held his hand out.
The Trix started at each other before Darcy says "We've thought over your offer and we decided…. NOT!"
Stormy conjures a blast of wind and threw it towards the Specialist Duo. The boys managed to avoid the strike as Austin shouts "But I thought the Dragon's Flame was what you want."
"We do but we want the source, not just some embers." Icy said as she shot icicles at the Beast Tamer's feet's.
Austin pulled out the Varia-Rod "So much for diplomacy, looks like we have to make them agree the hard way.
Darcy smirked "Unless you're using the royal we, this fight is a 4 on 1."
Before Austin could ask what she meet, the beast tamer saw Riven swing his Phantoblade at his staff.
While their weapons were pressed against each other , Austin noticed the vacant expression in Riven's eyes and a glowing purple D mark on his forehead.
From the corner of his eye, the Beast tamer saw Darcy shoot a lightning blast at him, he actives the Shield of Sand to block the attack.
Austin says as he jumped back to gain distance"I knew something was up with you and Riven. He always felt a bit glum after your dates."
Darcy gestured Riven to attack "Don't worry, you won't live long enough to see him."
Just as Riven got into striking range, Austin threw a small bag at the curved blade as a cloud of golden dust enveloped him.
Riven groaned and sneezed as the glowing mark disappeared as he regained his agency.
"Wait, what happened. Did the deal go through." Riven asked as he looked around.
Austin says "Afraid not, but it does seem I broke the spell Darcy had over you."
Riven stared at Darcy who was holding her head in pain. Before he could ask her a question, Icy threw a barrage of ice shards at the boys.
Using the shield, Austin was able to defend themselves from the assault.
"You can work out the breakup later, for now let's deal with these witches." Austin said as the rod extended into a Bo staff.
Riven tightened the grip on his sword and shouts "You've chosen the wrong guy to mess with!"
Icy scoff at the threat "Please, what can the two specialist do against the top three witches at Cloud Tower?"
Austin smirks "Normally you'd be right, but we have something most Specialist don't." From Austin's pendant a massive orange aura manifested in front of him. It formed into a 5 meter tall muscular yeti like creature with snow-white fur, hairless brown hands and feet, dark-brown claws, a brown muzzle, a pair of sharp horns that jutted from its forehead.
The beast roared with enough force that the Trix were knock out of the air. "H…how, how did you managed to tame that creature?" Icy asked with her voice filled with fear.
Struggling to speak, Austin replied "Nearly died at Glacial Plains but meeting Polaris was worth it."
Darcy and Stormy tried blasting at the creature but it seemed all their efforts did was enrage the beast.
The yeti slammed its claws into the ground, knocking the girls off their feet as they felt a chill enveloped their body.
Stormy shook the paralyzed Icy "Come on snap out it, Freeze this thing."
"You can't, Glaseadian Yetis are the ultimate predator to any ice elemental." Icy said as she struggled to keep her composure.
Right as Polaris was about to slash at the girl, Darcy's emmited a dark sphere of magic that enveloped the Trix to protect them.
Though the sphere broke the second the yeti's attack made impact , the girls had vanished from the woods.
Austin dispelled Polaris as he dropped onto his back "Man, I forgot how much energy it takes using that guy."
While Riven was checking to ensure the Trix weren't still around , he asked "So is that thing about you being a prince true?"
Austin groaned before answering "Pretty much a figurehead, a symbol for the people to believe in Domino's survival as a culture. But it's not who I am."
"Okay then, tell me who you are then?"Riven asked as he laid down next to him.
"I'm someone who wants to explore the magic universe, meet new people , learn new things and have memories to last a lifetime." Austin replied.
Riven smirks "Yeah that does sound more like you."
Austin chuckled before sighing "I'm sorry things between you and Darcy didn't work out."
"Hey turned out she had me under some puppet spell, so the relationship was never real to begin with. Though I do want to know something." Riven said as he got up.
As Austin picked himself up , he agreed "Spill."
"If you had Fairy Dust on you, why didn't you use it on Jackie or her coven mate? Riven mentioned.
Austin rubbed his neck "I only had enough to dispel one spell. Jackie would've killed me if I saved her over Mirta. And Mirta would've felt too guilty if picked her."
Riven sighed "Guess the only thing we can do know is regroup."
The duo walked back to Red Fountain and as they entered , Brandon asked "So what happened?"
"So we have good news, bad news , shocking news and really bad news." Austin said as he threw himself on a bed.
Hesitantly , Brandon asked "So what's the bad news?"
"The Trix aren't willing to undo the curse and tried to kill us after asking." Riven answered.
"The shocking news" Timmy asked.
Austin moaned "I'm sort of the Prince of Domino."
Sky chuckles "Yeah and I'm the Ghost Owl."
Timmy corrected him "Actually that's Austin too."
"Well that's only when Kenny working as the RedWing." Austin clarified.
The Eraklyon duo look at their squad mates in shock. "You really live an interesting life Austin." Sky commented.
"Yeah but now the really bad news, The Trix somehow figured out where the Dragon Flame is and where to get it." Riven announced.
Timmy panicked as he shook Riven by the collar "Why didn't you guys lead with something like that."
Austin slapped Timmy to calm him down "Because we didn't want to freak you out, besides knowing where it is and acquiring it are two separate things."
"Fair point but them having that type of power is bad news, even the 3 headmasters wouldn't be able to stop them." Timmy said as he rubbed his cheek.
"So what's the good news out of this mess." Brandon sighed as he rubbed his forehead.
Riven responds "Austin managed to break the spell Darcy placed on me, so I'm single again."
Curious, Brandon says "Wait like an actually spell, how long?"
Riven shrugged his shoulders "Who knows , could've been from the helmet they tricked Bloom into giving me, when she helped me after the track, or even our first date. All I know is that all of it was a lie, and I'm glad to be my own person again."
Austin says "So now that we're all on the same page and our secrets out, what's our next move?"
Sky raised his hand as he says "Well not all our secrets are out."
"Sky, I'm sure it's not as important as Austin being the Prince of Domnio or the Trix knowing where the dragon's flame is." Riven argued.
The Prince took a deep breath as he said "That's the thing…" He points to Brandon "He's Prince Sky."
Shocked, Timmy asked "Hold up, if he's Sky, who are you?"
The real Sky responds "He's Brandon, and we switched identities before enrollment."
Austin began to chuckle with Riven joining him a few moments later.
"And what's so funny about that?" Brandon asked.
"It's just so obvious when you think about it, you'd have to be a fool to fall for it." Riven states.
Jokingly Timmy suggested "Well that makes us a trio of court jesters."
"So you guys aren't mad we been keeping this a secret for the past several months?"Sky asked.
"Hey I did the same and you weren't pissed, so I'd look like an ass if I didn't return the favor." Austin smirked.
Brandon sighed "Honestly that's a relief, having to pretend to be a prince was way too much pressure."
Sky shook his head "You'll still have to do it around other people."
"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" Brandon explained as he face planted into the ground.