▪︎ Author ▪︎

The cafeteria, which used to be full of voices and bustle, was almost in completely silent. Some tried to start conversations in whispers, but any shadows that passed through the walls or the floor silenced them. They all had the same thing in mind, last night's revelations about Verena.

At one of the tables in the middle were the Winx and Sky.  Trying to console Terra and Musa. Their eyes were red and swollen from crying. Their friends wanted them to eat something, but they were so immersed in memories that they didn't hear anything.

Yesterday, before Verena's arrival, Viperine came over feigning sympathy before bragging about Sam's death.  Apparently during the Burned Ones invasion, the Medusa petrified him. And unfortunately his statues were broken.  After a search of the school, they found the remains of stone.

A small flurry drew the group's attention to Beatrix, Dane, Riven, and Viperine sitting at another table. Viperine looked worse than Terra. She was a little disheveled and under her eyes were dark from a bad night's sleep. And she seemed to try to keep some distance from Dane and Riven. Which made them a little confused. Beatrix was better, but she was still tired and sleepy. After all, she was the one who had to be woken up by her roommate's screams.

With the silence in the school, the sounds of heels were easily heard, approaching the cafeteria. Verena appeared, walking calmly. Everyone held their breath in fear of what she might do.

Verena ran her eyes over the students, stopping temporarily at Viperine before stopping at the Winx table.

"Why are you crying?"  she asked gently

"Don't pretend you don't know" Sky rolled his eyes angrily. "You managed to fool everyone with your little care talk"

"I faked a lot of things, blondie. Caring wasn't one of them" She replied "But I don't expect you to believe that now"

"Verena" A thick voice called out.

Andreas and Rosalind cautiously descend the stairs.

"Damn. I really scared everyone" she sighed closing her eyes for a moment "I left a letter on Dawling's desk. Read it later, Rosalind."

"I'm the headmistress of Alfea now, Verena"

Verena muttered something inaudible and laughed derisively.

"Of course you are"

"What are you doing here?"  Rosalind asked

"I came to bring some people" Verena replied looking to the side and nodding.

More footsteps were heard. Behind Verena came the students who were petrified. One of them was Sam Harvey.

Viperine frowned, confused. Terra and Musa's eyes widened and they ran to him.

"How..?"

Verena stared at Viperine with a small smile and a raised eyebrow.

"I still have a lot of cards up my sleeve, stone maker" she said, almost laughing "You guys look terrible. Bad night? Don't believe it if you don't want to but... I regret a little. With time it will stop"

Exchanging a look with Sam, Verena flashed everyone another smile and walked out.

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"What's up man?"  Sky asked as Sam pulled him, Riven and the Winx up to their suite.

Closing the door, Sam asked everyone to sit on the couches.

"Verena wants to talk" He said sitting between Musa and Terra.

"What?" Riven asked

"I have some things to tell you" Everyone jumped and turned to see Verena sitting on the door step of Stella's room.

"More lies?" Sky got up trying to advance towards her but was held back by Riven. Verena didn't move and remained calm.

"I don't know when I'll get back from my trip, so I decided to share some secrets with you"

"Will any of them explain everything you've done?" Aisha stood up too, crossing her arms.

"Everything I did was partly for me, for my father, and mostly for my son Cassian"

"Yours and Silva's?"

"Yeah, Riven. Mine and Silva's" Verena smiled sadly and took a deep breath "The first one is more for you Bloom. But just ahead, Rosalind and Andreas will know too."

"What is it?"  asked the redhead

"Our bond doesn't just come from magic. It comes from blood"

"What do you mean?"

"My goodness." Stella exclaimed "Are you sisters?"

"No" Verena denied "We are cousins"

Everyone's eyes widened and their mouths opened in shock.

"Cousins?"  Bloom repeated

"Uhm. Our mothers were sisters."

"What's my parents name?"

"I don't know. I couldn't remember. But it's one of the things I'm looking for to find out."

"Where are you going?"

"I can't risk you or anyone else going there..."

"Then you won't tell. What's new" Sky huffed.

"If you huff again I'll turn you into an ox for a whole day" Verena threatened

Sky swallowed hard.

"Can you really do that?" Riven asked a little hopeful

"I can. Now can we get back to business because I have to get out of here soon?"

"What else do you have to talk about?"  Aisha sighed and sat back down.

"It's about Viperine. There's something you need to know about her"

"She's a monster. That's all that matters"

"Carefull how you speak Terra..."

"Riven, stop" Verena almost yelled. She glared at the nature fairy "Some are not born monsters. They are created. Monsters create monsters"

"Exactly!!" Terra shouted "Someone was crazy to fall in love with a Medusa and have another little monster"

"It's not her fault!" Verena yelled back "Medusas are sterile"

Terra was ready to continue the discussion, but she stopped when she understood Verena's last words.

"So how...what...." Terra stuttered

"That's what I want to explain" Verena rubbed her forehead calming down "It's sad that Alfea is the best school in the other world and doesn't have the knowledge about Medusas to teach the students. But also, it's rare for anyone to know. And who knows. doesn't mind telling. And no one made effort of trying to find out."

Taking a deep breath, Verena braced herself. Feeling regret for letting her anger convince her to make Viperine relive that memory.

"Bloom, in the first world, you may have heard about Medusa from Greek mythology. Right?"  Bloom nodded with a confused face "What do you know?"

"Same as everyone else here. Only, it wasn't a fairy. And it was uglier."

"Not even on earth. Amazing" Verena shook her head. "The mythologies, legends, fairy tales of your world are a twisted version of our world. Or is it the story of some human who was lucky enough to see a little magic. In your world's mythology, Medusa was a priestess of Athena, goddess of wisdo. She was a beautiful woman. And she was faithful to the goddess' followings. One of them, chastity.  Unfortunately for her, her beauty was so great, it caught Poseidon's attention. God of the seas. He courted her several times, but she always refused. One day, he got tired. He chased her to Athena's temple and….” Verena took another deep breath. Trying to gather strength "He raped her, at the foot of the great Goddess statue. While Medusa screamed for help and begged him to stop. After he left, the Goddess punished Medusa. To her, Poseidon was just being a man and following his instincts. It was Medusa's fault for having seduced him with her beauty."

"That wasn't fair" Bloom muttered making Verena agree

"Athena then turned Medusa's beautiful hair into snakes. Her beautiful face grew scales and her teeth became fangs. The lower half of her body, a snake's tail," Verena continued, feeling sick to her stomach. "Here, in this world, the first Medusa was a fairy of nature. Like you, Terra. And like Viperine once was. She had a pet snake that she got from her mother. One day, a group of men found her, they didn't accept no for an answer, and they did to her what they wanted against her will. She wanted revenge. She was so disgusted with men that she wished with all her might that she could turn them all to stone and then break them to pieces. Just as she felt they had done to her. Gradually, she was turning into the only being she trusted. Her snake. And her wish came true. She gained the power she wanted. Turn people into stones."

"Did she go after the men?" Musa asked nervously

"Yes. But when she found them, they were doing to another woman what they did to her. After she killed them, she screamed to the heavens that every woman who went through this nightmare must gain her power so they could take revenge. Her fury was so strong, that once again, her request came true. Spreading like a plague. From that day forward, many women, of many ages, were transformed just like her. When they were fairies, the power came stronger.  Being seen as monsters, they were hunted to death. For many, they were extinct. But I've met several besides Viperine"

"Oh my God" Aisha whispered

"I think I'm going to throw up" Musa said putting her hand over her mouth

"So, Viperine she.." Riven couldn't finish. Like everyone else in the room, he was horrified by what he had just heard.

"Want to know how old she was?" Verena asked, looking straight at Terra who had tears in her eyes. "13 years old. A child. Her mother, instead of taking care of her, took her away to be raised by someone else. Who isn't considered an angel either. But at least she raised her as her own daughter. I'm not telling you to forgive Viperine, or ignore what she did.  Nor am I justifying her actions. What I want is for you to understand that not everything is her fault."

Standing up, Verena walked to the door.

"Musa?" She called gently "Would you join me please?"

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▪︎ Verena ▪︎

"What do you need to talk about?" Musa asked

"Before I answer, I know you're afraid of me. I don't want to and I won't hurt you"

Musa's eyes glowed purple sensing my emotions. Smiling in relief, Musa's heart calmed and she seemed to feel safe with me.

"I wanna help you control your powers better. Teach you things you won't learn in a classroom"

"How? You're leaving"

"With your permission, I want to create a small bridge between our minds. Every night when you go to sleep or during the day if you prefer, I will create a scenario and I will teach you" I explain slowly "In the first days until you get used to it, you will feel very tired. And I ask that this stay between us until I return"

We both continued walking while Musa thought about her answer.

"Are you going to teach me how to use my magic in combat?"

"When you're ready...I don't see why not"

I hope I'm here to fulfill that promise.

"Okay" replied confidently "And I won't tell until you're back"

Smiling at her, I lead her into an empty room to create the bridge.

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"I was wondering when you were going to show up" Andreas' voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

I turn to see him leaning against the wall next to the door.  Beatrix beside him.

"What do you want?"  I ask as I continue to walk to my car

"To talk"

"When I get back" I huff opening the door.

I curse as Andreas comes up behind me, slamming the door.

"Now!" holding my arms he turned me to him "You have a lot to explain, young lady"

"So do you Andreas" he was surprised and took a step back.

"You haven't called me that in years" he murmurs making me let out a bitter laugh.

"We're not of the same blood, but somehow I gained your talent to lie to the people I love" I say low, my eyes stinging "But you know, some things I've done, some lies I've told, I can blame you for them. You lied first"

"No. You lied first"

"What did I lie to you about?"

"Your powers"

"Not telling was not lying. I was protecting myself"

"From your father?"

"That was one of the only things I've done right all these years. I don't even want to imagine the things I would have done for you if you'd asked knowing what I'm capable of. Although it can't be worse than Saul hating me now"

"Saul?" he repeated, wide-eyed "Do you... really love him? How?"

"I do. A lot. I met him a month before your birthday. And I kept in touch with him. If you hadn't lied to me, I would have come here looking for him, and told him I was pregnant." I confess to him. "Lies from you and Rosalind took five years from us. Cassian could have grown with his father. And I could have had a happy life with them. And aside from the fact that I wanted to find out who I am, I believed in you, I thought I was doing bad things for something good. The end justifies the means, as you once told me. Why make up that story? Why say that Saul tried to kill you while you were trying to save Aster Dell?"

"Because I wanted to be a hero to you"

"YOU WERE!" I scream making them jump in fright "You were my hero since the day you found me! Why didn't you tell them they were blood witches? Why lie to them? Why make them think they were taking innocent lives? They spent sixteen years blaming themselfs"

"I was following orders.."

"From Rosalind. And you never questioned it. Well done soldier."

"You don't understand"

"Then try to make me understand" He turned his face, red and wet. I shake my head shifting my attention to the girl next to us "What about you Beatrix? You let Viperine tell about me"

"I'm sorry" Beatrix cried and hugged her body. For a moment, I see the little girl who used to come to my room at night because she didn't want to sleep alone.

"Oh you're sorry. How cute. I've always wanted you to have friends. But what you did is without excuse. Viperine never liked me. And you acted with her behind my back more than once. You're my sister and you stabbed me in the back."

"Sorry.."

"Keep your apologies to yourself. Both of you."  I try to wipe my face opening the door "We're a fucked up family of motherfucking liars!"

I get in the car without being held this time. Far from school, I hit the steering wheel hard, crying with rage.

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1.Yesterday we had the sad news that the series was cancelled. Netflix could have done at least one more season to give a better ending than this.

2. It's not because the series is over that this story will also stop. It wont. I'll try to create a good story for all of you.♡  Because I want a better ending.

3. We will enter season 2 in the next chapters. But, it will take a few weeks to be posted for personal reasons.

Hope you enjoyed today's chapter ♡
Don't forget to vote and comment ♡