Blaze has found the Royal Palace at last. He's met the spirit of Daphne, who has revealed to him new facts.
The battle with the giant snow-monster and the Army of Goldum was terrible. Fortunately, the Specialists arrived just in time. It's time to go back to Alfea.

-

"I really think it's tacky to come back empty-handed from a trip. I know we didn't find the Dragon Flame, but we should've at least picked up some T-shirts."

"I really don't think anyone expects souvenirs from a dead planet, Stella."

"Uh, okay."

They stepped off the ship, where Faragonda and Saladin awaited them. "Welcome back, all of you!" Faragonda greeted warmly. "Blaze, how are you feeling, dear?"

"Fine, Ms. Faragonda."

"So, you were able to help them?" Saladin asked the Specialists.

Sky shrugged, giggling softly. "Well, they were fine without us."

Y/n put her arm around her, declaring, "No way! We would've died without you guys there!"

"Uh, yes. They should get major extra credit," Stella agreed.

In the courtyard, Kiko and Pépé were playing leapfrog together. Squeaker stayed in the pavement, watching while licking her paws.

"SQUEAKER!" Y/n ran over and picked up the cat, startling her so bad, she tried to jump out of her mistress' arms, pushing against her as she squeezed her tight. "Oh, I missed you so much, my wittle baby kitty!" Seeing Pépé, she put Squeaker down, hyperventilating, and picked up the duck, noticing bruises, cuts, and frostbite all over him. "What happened to you?"

"Icy." Knut stepped up, holding out his hand for the duck.

"KIKO, SQUEAKER, PÉPÉ, GET BEHIND ME! Y/N, MAGIC WI -"

"Wait, Y/n!" Faragonda cried, taking Pépé out of her hands quickly before she could drop him in her transformation. "It's alright. The ogre is on our side now."

Jack wordlessly took the duck from Faragonda and ran his fingers over the frostbite, healing it instantly.

"He fought courageously against the forces of evil," Saladin agreed.

"That's peachy keen with me as long as he improves his hygiene," Stella mumbled.

Knut bent over, Kiko sniffing his hand hesitantly. "Pépé and I managed to run away from Cloud Tower. They chased us, but we were too fast for them."

"Indeed. We don't even know what happened to Ms. Griffin."

Smiling sweetly, Stella offered, "I've got an extra bottle of perfume. You want?"

"Thank you!" He grabbed her, crushing her body into a hug.

"Ah -! Squashed!" But once she was let go, a smile curved her lips. She had been crushed.

Tecna, meanwhile, had been too busy watching the boys set up. "It's getting a little crowded here, don't you think? I've got some spare room in my bedroom, if you can't find the space."

"It's true then? Red Fountain Castle was destroyed?" Blaze demanded worriedly.

"Yes. Unfortunately, the boys will stay here for now."

Tecna shot Blaze a thumbs-up, who rolled his eyes at her. She met eyes with Y/n, who giggled. All the girls seemed excited, except for Musa, who stared blankly ahead, then walked off.

"Musa?" Y/n shrugged at the others, then ran off to find her.

-

She knocked on her bedroom door, to no answer. "Musa? What happened out there?" She opened the door, finding no Musa.

She found pictures.

Dozens of them littering her floor and taped to the wall. Each of them contained Riven and sometimes Darcy, her face blacked out or cut off. On her wall on a corkboard were different photographs with red string attaching them, as if planning. She slowly backed away, not turning to bolt until the doors were shut.

-

Stormy cackled at the broken Riven, still hugging his knees in the cell. Next to her was Darcy, who watched him with longing. "Look at that driveling idiot," she snickered, then tilted her head to Darcy. "Hey, Darc. Do your thing."

She was still watching, her hand reaching for the bars. 'Riven...'

"Darcy!"

Snapping out of it, she glanced at Stormy, then pushed her sunglasses up. "Yeah, sorry. Let's go."

They walked off, leaving Riven in the cell. Images of him appeared behind him, which he noticed, startled. "What's going on? What are you trying to do? What do you want from me, huh?!" They only glared at him, even as he ran up in a threatening manner. "Come on, speak! What is it?! What do you want, huh?! Come on! What are you waiting for?! What?! Who are you?!"

The clones began to morph into monsters, all gross, slilmy, dripping with green goop. "You stay away from me! Go away! Go away!"

They fell into each other in the ground in a huge puddle and solidified as one, creating one giant monster. Riven's anger faltered, revealing a scared boy when he looked at it. "No! You're not me! That's not who I am!"

Something took over his mind, sending flashbacks speeding through. Pushing Brandon - Prince Sky, at the time - away from him when he was trying to help. Pressuring Y/n to go to the Rose Ball with him. Nearly killing Sky - Brenda - during their training over a petty fight. Even things he had not been present for her saw, most notably how his infatuation spell seriously affected Blaze and Y/n, hearing her crying into the phone as Flora made her call Blaze. And he saw Musa the day he had rejected to help her, crying her eyes out on the Specialists' ship. "It can't be real..." He noticed that everytime he moved, the monster copied his movements, even when he sank into the ground, holding his knees. "It's impossible..."

He reached out, his finger shaking, poking the monster. "You are real..." He fell back, hands tightening on the floor. A drop of water splashed next to it, which he figured was from the roof. But two more came quickly and he realized it was his own tears. He wiped them away before facing the monster again. Instead of tears, green goop had fallen from it and splattered against the floor. He looked into its eyes, seeing his reflection whimpering back at him. "Alright, big boy. I have no way of defending myself against you, but I won't panic. I don't go down so easily you know. There are many things I don't like about myself, but I'm far from being a monster, okay? I have a heart! And even though I can't be sure they'll ever be able to forgive me for all the things I've said and done, I have a few friends too..."

The monster began to fade, no longer having a host to feed on.

"Hey. Kiddo."

Riven looked at the doorway, getting up when he heard a posh voice calling for him. "Huh? Ms. Griffin, is that you?"

Across from him was Griffin, her hands on the bars in the cell she was locked in. "What are you doing here?"

"Paying the price for my foolishness. I, too, have shown poor judgement. I should've realized sooner that their ambition was dangerous in scope, not encouraging the roleplay throughout the school. Harmless pranks were all well and good, but those evil witches were serious. I should have known from the night of Alfea's welcoming dance..."

"But it's not your fault. It would've been impossible to guess what they were planning. I've got to try to get out of here." He looked around and saw a bent pepper clip. Feeling the edge, he knew at once that it would get him out. "I've always been good at picking locks. The person hasn't been born yet who could keep me locked up."

The lock clicked and he was able to swing the door open with ease to cross to Griffin. "Don't worry, Ms. Griffin. I'll get you out of here in a second."

"Don't waste your time, kid. Believe me. If it was as easy as that, my dark powers would have taken care of that lock long before now. It's an ancient Runic lock. It's unbreakable." He can't over it, noticing a pattern on it without a lock. "My girls are busy preparing a potion which will allow me to confuse the protection Runes for a few seconds." The witches inside with her were busy stirring a cauldron. "And then..."

A deadly noise came from down the hallway, Griffin's stoicism changing into a look of fear. "The scrapers! Save yourself!"

"But you -"

"You can do nothing for me! If they touch you, you'll turn to rot! Run!"

-

"This is a suicide mission, I know. But I'm not leaving my best friends down there to die." Y/n and Stella were already transformed, along with Jack, who was insistent on coming to 'protect Y/n', something that Blaze was not too pleased with.

"I'm sorry, I wish I could help you," Blaze said.

"Same here," Flora sighed.

"Same old story! You're stubborn as a mule!" Musa declared, her arms crossed.

"Oh, Flora, Musa..." He went for a group-hug, then reached out for Y/n to take his hand and pulled her in.

"Hey! Hugs here, too!" Stella rushed over, squeezing the life out of them, while Tecna stood by, sniffling, turning away to wipe her eyes. "Tecna! Are those tears I see in your eyes?"

"Uh, no. A speck of dust got in my eye."

"Aw, Tec..." Y/n broke from them and gave her a hug, Tecna awkwardly reciprocating, sniffling again.

Brandon's head popped out of the well. "Sorry to break up the hug-fest, Y/n, but time is wasting and Knut found the right path."

"We'll all be thinking about you, sweetie. Good luck," Flora said as Blaze climbed down, followed by Stella, while Y/n opted to fly. That was when Flora let her smile drop. "And please, come back safe and sound, okay?"

-

"So you're not a prince?" Stella demanded of Brandon as Knut led them around the corridors towards Cloud Tower.

"No," he replied hesitantly. "Unfortunately, I'm Brandon, Sky's page. And I'd like to see a movie with you."

"You're kidding." Stella tossed her hair over her shoulder. "Sky tricked Blaze and you tricked me. Now you want to see a movie with me?"

"Well...I thought we were friends -"

"Yeah. Friends."

"Hm..." His gaze was fixed sharply ahead, Stella catching the outline of his jaw, sending her weak in the knees. "I guess you've only ever dated princes before, huh?"

"I never said that. Besides, I can say with one hundred percent certainty that my last relationship ended worse. Trust me, you do not want to deal with Amaryl when she decides to be bitchy." Seriously, she continued, "I'm mad that you lied to me."

"Jeez, Stella, I'm really sorry. It's a long story."

"Well. First let's take care of business. Then we can talk about us."

Knut stopped, torch held up.

"What is it, Knut? Did you find something?" Blaze asked.

"I dunno. It's just that I feel like we're not alone down here."

Y/n took Blaze's hand and squeezed it. "Don't worry, Blaze, I'll protect you down here."

"That's very cool of you, but I have to be ready to fight on my own. Sooner or later I'll have to confront the witches and I'll have to defend myself."

-

A craven flew out to the teens from a perch on one of the tunnels, Stella shuddering away from it. "There are three tunnels. Which one do we take?"

"Um...I don't know," Knut admitted.

"What?! In the last half hour alone, you've nearly led us into fourteen death traps!"

"Stella, girl, shush." Turning to Knut, Y/n asked, "Isn't there any way you can remember?"

"Well..." He took in a deep sniff, then turned to one of the tunnels. "I left a bag of donuts at Cloud Tower. I can let you right to 'em. This way."

"Are you sure?" Stella asked, begrudgingly following.

"I smell 'em. Two chocolate, one glazed."

-

Where they ended up instead was down a chute and into a pile of trash.

"A GARBAGE DUMP???"

"Princess, please, stay calm."

"Jack, I don't think you understand, A GARBAGE DUMP!"

"At least we're almost there," Brandon told her.

She sat in the middle of the dump and began kicking her legs and arms. "THAT'S IT I'VE HAD IT I WANNA GO BACK TO ALFEA!"

The ground under her began to lift up and she was bouncing on top of a hard, slimy shell, being raised into the air.

"Beetleroaches."

"I think I might puke," Stella deadpanned.

"They'd like that. Oh, and try not to touch their saliva."

"EWWW! Touch it?! As if!"

Brandon pulled out his sword, his back to Sky's. "Well what are we waiting for? It's extermination time."

"No! Wait!" Blaze jumped in between them. "If we attack it, you'll hit Y/n."

"HEEEEEELP!"

"Well, what are we going to do, negotiate?" Stella demanded.

Jack raised his staff and flew for the bug, hitting it over the head so that it dropped Y/n. She was picked up by the queen, Blaze being the one to charge this time. "Leave her alone, you big - ugh!" He was thrown off, landing a good few feet away from them.

Brandon aimed his spear, freezing his arm. "Go on! What are you waiting for?" Knut asked. "Throw it!"

"I'm afraid I'll hit Y/n."

"BRANDOOOOOON HAAAAALP!"

"Your number's up!" A hooded figure jumped up and rode it around, shooting his gun at it. "YEE-HAWW!" Y/n was still on the back, holding onto the guy, screaming over the gunfire. He grabbed onto her and jumped off, taking most of the fall with her landing on top of him. "That was the Queen Roach, so they follow her."

"Thanks, but...who are you?" she asked.

He stood up, helping Y/n, then discarding the cloak. "Just a conceited, arrogant, cocky waste of good oxygen."

"Riven?!"

-

"So no head?"

"Unfortunately, no," Riven grumbled. "Darcy just told me it was over. I'm guessing the others put her up to it, but it's them or me. I...don't want to be a bad person anymore...look, Sky, Brandon, I wanted to apologize for all the things I've done."

Sky put her arm around him, shaking his shoulder. "Don't worry about it, buddy. Anyone can fall for the wrong girl."

Y/n put her arms around them in the middle. "And hey, sorry about the Day of the Rose festival."

"Nah, I deserved it."

"Friends?"

"Um...sure?"

"Cool! So, Riven. Tell me what you think about Musa."

-

In the next chapter, at Alfea, the fairies and the Specialists are waiting for the Trix's next attack. Blaze and Y/n's group moves to the corridors of Cloud Tower to get to a room where there is a giant flame. Is that really Blaze's flame? Unfortunately, the Trix will find out that they have visitors.

-

We're
The magical Winx Club
We're best friends and our hearts will beat as one
Yes that's us
We're the kids of marvelous Winx Club

Winx!
Winx Club!
Energy!
The Winx is warm!
Under the sign of the Winx!
Winx Club!
Winx Club!

We're
The magical Winx Club
We're all tied to the same fate together
We're the kids
The wonder kids,
That's us
The magical Winx Club
So happy to be flying from heaven to earth
This magic feeling
This is our Winx Club!