Chapter Text
"Finally we are out of there."
"I couldn't resist any longer."
Icy smiled "A perfect escape plan takes time and patience, sisters, and you both know it."
"Yeah, whatever" Stormy stretched.
"We are out now, and with those olograms in our place it wil take a while for them to notice we have escaped" Darcy smiled, then turned to her sister "Where to now, Icy?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
The one thing that had kept her going during those long months of prison was her crave for revenge. Delicious, murderous revenge.
This time was different though. This time she didn't want to destroy the Winx because they defeated them.
She wanted to punish them because in their final fight with Valtor the Trix had taken a step back. They did not fight for him. They had let the fairies defeat him, and did nothing to stop them.
And what had they gotten in return?
She remembered the scene as if it happened the day before.
Bloom had let Valtor hit her with the water stars again and again, telling her friends to let him do it. And then, when she couldn't take it anymore, she had crashed to the ground, almost passed out.
Afterwards, they discovered that she had used her fairy dust to unlock Valtor's chest and free the spell of the elements. Defeating him after that was easy for the rest of the Winx.
But the Trix could have helped him, they could have made the life harder fot the fairies, and yet they didn't.
They could also have destroyed Bloom right there and then, while she was laying on the cavern's floor, barely conscious, and totally defenseless. And yet, again, they didn't.
And how had the Winx repaid them? Letting those damn Templars taking them away once again.
The Trix had not fought back either, tired and resigned to their fate.
Truth to be told, Icy had expected Bloom to say something in their defense. She was a do-goody fairy after all, and the witches had actually done a good thing, so she should have appreciated it, and..
And Icy could have destroyed her!
It would have been so easy!
Thinking back at that moment, seeing Bloom's pale form laying there, powerless..
No. It would have been too easy.
And after everything they had been through, their last fight should have been worth remembering.
That's how she had justified her unusual mercy to her sisters and herself anyway.
Somehow, that didn't soothe her fury in the least.
Instead in all those months the strange sense of betrayal she had felt had turned into resentment first, and hunger for revenge later. But that was great actually.
Revenge was something she understood well.
Once she had made it her main goal, everything became clearer, and formulating an escape plan had been easy from there. Yes, it had required a great deal of patience, but it had been worth it.
And now she could actually focus on the revenge part of the plan.
Icy smiled evilly "We are going to find the Winx and make them pay."
Their laughs resonated into the air long after the three had disappeared into a portal.
-
"Ugh, why did they all need to come to Earth of all places?"
"Yeah, don't tell me, I hate this planet."
"I don't like it either" Icy agreed with her sisters "But we do have some fond memories here."
She remembered well how good it felt to take Bloom's magic from her. How powerful they had felt once the Dragon Fire had boosted their powers.
She also remembered how lost they became into its greatness. How a crazy, maniacal fog had invaded their minds.
It had been like being on a high. They had felt unstoppable and capable of anything, except all that power had made them crave for more and more. And so Icy had forgotten why she had secretly wanted it in the first place, and had decided to use it to conquer all the magical dimension.
They had failed, and so it all backfired spectacularly.
But she couldn't deny that it had been one of the greatest experiences in her life.
Stormy chuckled "Yes we certainly do. We really did a great number on Bloom the last time we came here."
Darcy smiled as well "Sweet memories indeed."
The witches shared a smile as they exited the portal and looked over at Gardenia.
They immediately noticed something different.
Darcy hovered on the city, her eyes moving around quickly "Sisters, can you sense it too?"
Icy closed her eyes and concentrated on the world around her. Yes, something was definitely different.
Both her and Stormy wore disgusted scowls as they answered "Fairy magic."
"Exactly" Darcy shook her head "We can't leave for a couple of months that those fairies think they are all powerful."
"Yeah, bringing magic back to a planet like Earth sounds arrogant to me" electricity took life on Stormy's fingertips "Let's put them back to their place."
Icy smiled "I couldn't have said it better, sisters."
She glanced at Darcy, and the witch immediately casted a tracing spell "This will lead us to them in no time."
-
"Isn't that… Bloom?"
Stromy's voice sounded strange, a bit disbelieving, and that alone should have warned Icy that something was off. Yet it wasn't enough to prepare the ice witch at the scene before her when she turned around with the worst intentions in mind.
Said intentions immediately vanished in thin air as did every thought of revenge.
Beyond the trees, in a clearing a few metres from them, Bloom laid with her stomach on the ground in her fairy form, but something was wrong.
She looked different from the last time she had seen her. Her little dress and big wings had been switched by a skirt, a top and even bigger wings.
So the Winx had gotten a new transformation. Would they ever stop?
It wasn't that which had caught her attention though.
It was the fact that she wasn't getting back up.
She was in a crater, probably caused by a powerful blast, and her magical aura was missig.
Behind her towered a man cladded in black, with long red hair swinging in the wind. Its color wasn't like the flames in Bloom's strands though, it looked more like fresh blood.
He was toying with the empty, unique vessel of a substance Icy recognised immediately, but it was Darcy who named it.
"Crow's dust" the witch affirmed "She's powerless."
"And her friends are nowhere in sight" Stormy added, delighted.
Icy wasn't listening though, she couldn't stop looking at the scene before her, a bad feeling forming into her stomach.
"I'll admit it fairy" the man said "you and your friends gave us some troubles. This is the first time I had to use the crow's dust in all these years of fairy hunt."
"Did he just say fairy hunt?" Darcy murmured "Who is this guy?"
"I don't know sister" Stormy answered, a big, evil smile on her face "but I already like him."
"Silence" Icy's voice was even colder than usual, so the two witches obeyed immediately.
"I had kept it with me all this time for a special occasion. You, fairy of the Dragon Flame, certainly are one" a pause "A shame I didn't have enough for your friends, but I'm sure my boys can handle them."
At that Bloom tried to get up, but the man kicked her hard into the ribs, and she collapsed back down with a moan of pain.
"Icy! What are you doing?"
Darcy's urgent whisper reached the other witch' ears, and she stopped.
She hadn't even realized to be almost the end of the trees, nor that her long nails had broken her palm' skin, so much was the force with which she was clenching her fists.
She looked at her hands, surprised to see bloodied halfmoons on them.
What was she doing?
The man put a foot on the small of Bloom's back and pushed her a bit more into the ground, adding "And then we will get that little fairy and complete our collection."
Even though she was in clear pain, the fairy gritted her teeth and talked back "You will not touch her! And you won't get away with your crimes! We'll grow even stronger then we are now, and we'll defeat you! We always do!"
The man laughed "So fiery! I love that about you, Bloom, a shame you won't be anymore after this!"
He lowered his upper body and murmured something under his breath. His hands glowed purple, grabbed one of the fairy's wings and started to pull.
Bloom screamed atop of her lungs, her face paling for the pain, and immediately tried to squirm away, her movements violent and wild. She also tried to yell some spells, but her magical aura was still missing, meaning her powers weren't back yet. She was defenseless.
The man pushed her even more into the ground, shouting at her to stay still, and with an horrible tearing sound, her wing began to lacerate.
If possible, Bloom' screams became even worse to listen to. She started sobbing, and planted her fingers into the ground, trying harder to get away from him, but to no use.
The witches were frozen on the spot, shocked by the scene, and before any of them could say something, the man stopped.
Bloom went silent, her breath heaving, but kept squirming. She was still sobbing, and when he stilled she started kicking, but it was an attempt so weak the man simply chuckled.
"Well, I have never seen a fairy so fiery before! And your power truly is as great as they say, or the wing would have broke already. The more powerful the fairy is, the most resilient her wings are, as experts say" he moved his thumb on the limb in his hands, and Bloom shuddered "Not pleasant huh? And it hasn't even come all out yet! Better get back to it then, don't you think?"
Bloom whimpered, her whole body shaking and squirming wildly while the other wing fluttered uselessly.
Icy felt extremely unsettled watching the scene, but it was when the man started to pull again, the tearing sound resumed, and the fairy yelled at him to stop, begged even, that she saw red.
She didn't even realize to have casted a spell, she just gave in to the fury that was consuming her body, and her magic answered.
The man was hitten by a powerful ice blast, and flew backwards with a surprised, pained scream.
Music for Icy's ears.
She emerged from the cover of the trees, followed, after a moment, by her reluctant sisters.
She didn't wait for them though. She marched forwards, her magical aura surrounding her, and stopped right beside Bloom's injured form.
The fairy looked up at her, her face wet with tears, and her voice trembled when she spoke "I-Icy?"
She hadn't heard her voice laced with such anguish, such fear ever since that moment she had realised the Trix weren't just students messing around, but powerful witches who wanted her Flame and were going to get it. And even then Bloom didn't look as afraid as she did in that moment.
Icy didn't like that had been that man to turn the fiery fairy into that vulnerable mess.
She didn't like it one bit.
Said man slowly stood up, and asked "Who are you?"
"Who are YOU?" The witch talked back, new, seething ice forming into her hand as she narrowed her eyes.
"I am Ogron, leader of the wizards of the Black Circle" he answered, eyeing her warily "Your turn."
"I have never heard of you" Darcy intervened, looking at him curiously.
"You, on the other hand, must have certainly heard of us" Stormy continued, studying him with hungry eyes.
"We are the Trix" the two sisters finished as one.
Ogron's eyes lightened "But of course I have heard of you! You are the witches who almost conquered Magix, and the Winx' number one enemies. Until now at least" he laughed, unaware of the twitch of Icy's eyes "Surely you'll appreciate my work then. Want to help me finish?"
He gestured toward Bloom, still helplessly laying on the ground beside the witches.
The fairy tensed, and her good wing fluttered, but she didn't seem able to do anything more than that.
While Stormy was ready to accept and Darcy looked still uncertain, her yellow eyes going from the man to Bloom and back again, Icy had already made up her mind. Ever since she had seen the wizard hit the fairy, actually.
"Maybe you haven't heard" she started, her voice deadly cold "but the Winx are OURS to destroy" she lifted her hands "And NO ONE else's!"
Another blast, even more powerful than the previous one, forced him to roll out of the way, and even then one shard of ice reached his shoulder, breaking through the heavy fabric of his coat. He screamed in pain, and one hand immediately went to press on the injure to stop the bleeding.
Ogron looked at Icy, then at her sisters who, even if they hadn't attacked him, held a defensive stance, their hands glowing with power.
She smirked. Even if they didn't understand or approve her actions, they would always have her back in a fight. As she would to them.
Icy focused all her attention on the man in front of them.
She saw uncertainty in his eyes, but also the desire to finish what he started. His eyes moved to Bloom and remained there a bit too long for the witch' liking.
She took a step forwards, shielding the fairy from his gaze, and made an inviting gesture with her hand, tone low and dangerous "Please, try me."
The red fog that had clouded her mind moments before had disappeared, replaced by cold, calculated anger, her speciality. Her desire to destroy him had gone nowhere though, and it reached peaks it never had with the Winx. And that was saying something.
She felt her magic seethe within her, anxious to vent off her fury, and smirked. The target of said fury was right in front of her. Too bad for him.
Just as the ice in her hand started grow more powerful, though, Ogron took a step back.
He must have seen the crave for murder in her eyes, because he snarled but averted his gaze, looking at Bloom once more "This isn't over. I'll be back for your wings, both of them."
Wrong move.
Icy didn't even try to stop her magic as a blast of ice answered the new peak of anger.
The man must have been expecting it though, because he was already gone by the time she unleashed her power, freezing and destroying the ground where he was standing just a moment before.
A few, tense moments passed when they all waited to see if he would have reappeared or not.
When they realized he was really gone and not coming back any time soon, the witches broke their fighting stances, but the frail, uncertain silence remained.
At the end, Icy turned around, walked past her sisters and stopped in front of the injured fairy.
The two of them held each other's gaze in a strange silence.
Bloom's eyes, still wet with tears, went back and forth between her owns, no doubt searching for something, anything to justify her unusual behaviour.
The witch knew she wouldn't find anything though.
She had mastered the ability to make her own expression unreadable a long time ago, but a part from that, Icy herself wasn't sure about how she felt. Her facade was as cool as always, but inside, well, it was another story.
Too many feelings clashed within her, fighting to be acknowledged.
Some she recognised easely, others unsettled her, and others she would simply totally ignore.
Truth to be told, she would ignore them all altogether. She didn't have the time nor the will to deal with them, not in that moment, nor ever.
Not when her greatest enemy laid on the ground in front of her, still trembling, and her instincts were not what they should have been.
The fairy's whole body was tense, and she looked like she was desperately trying to keep herself together and not break before the sisters.
Her eyes were narrowed, but new tears kept wetting them, so it was hard to cover before her glare.
Icy moved her gaze to Bloom's back and almost took a step back.
Her wing was tore almost in half, and it was laying down, while the other was up, fluttering from time to time. The fairy didn't seem able to move the damaged one. Also, even though the colors of both limbs were pink, purple and light blue, near the laceration there were pools of red.
The witch didn't know if it was because of the effort the membranes had been put through or because of some sort of internal bleeding, but the dark color was such a stark contrast with the other light ones that alone screamed something was wrong.
No blood in sight though, so that must have been a good thing. Hopefully.
But Bloom was still laying there, and making no effort to get up. That was worrying.
If there was one thing that Icy knew for sure about her, in fact, was that the damn pixie really didn't know when to stand down. So seeing her like that was very upsetting.
Her eyes moved on her back again, as she wondered if the injure was worse than what it looked like.
A memory came to her mind. More like a flashback actually.
She remembered one of the first lessons of their first year at Cloudtower. It was a class about all the magical creatures that lived in Magix. That day the teacher talked about fairies.
She explained that wings were not only extra limbs for them. They were part of their very nature, their soul, their being; they were what made a fairy such.
The entire class considered the concept very stupid. After all, witches didn't need wings to be magical nor to fly. On the contrary, since they were so important to the fairies, that made them a weakness, something to be ashamed of that needed to be hidden.
The teacher had simply shrugged and answered that she as well as all others magical creatures that were not fairies simply couldn't truly understand what their wings meant to them. She also added that fairies had not, in fact, divulged all the informations about their wings.
Then, she answered that yes, wings actually were a fairy's greatest weakness, but only in the first stages of her transformation. In fact, the stronger the fairy became, the most resilient her wings would be, to quote the textbooks.
The class, of course, grew excited at the new information.
It was no secret that there was a rivalry between Cloudtower's witches and Alfea's fairies; the one between the two species was a conflict as old as the magic dimension itself.
Nowadays though, even if continuosly fed by the numerous prejudices that concerned both parts, it mostly consisted in fairies and witches completely ignoring each others. There were always people out for blood though, from both parts.
Okay, especially between Cloudtower' students.
Fairies were pretty easy to impress, after all, so they mostly kept away both from the witches, their school and their hangouts. Also, they were extremely boring do-goody losers, who never seeked confrontation, or caused trouble for fun.
Witches, on the other hand, were another story.
They needed no excuse to start a fight with the fairies, and knowing their greatest weakness was something they were extremely excited about.
Icy was interested as well. Even if her primal goal was the furthest thing from messing with those pixies, that didn't mean she couldn't have her fun some time or the other. Also, you never knew who your enemies were going to be.
The teacher had immediately spoiled their fun though. As soon as she noticed the excitement growing, in fact, she specified that the only reason she told them that was because hurting a fairy by her wings was something extremely off limits.
It wasn't something to do lightly, just for fun, because the consequences were extremely serious.
Destroying a fairy's wings, the teacher told them, was devastating and could have great repercussions on the fairy's psyche, even made her lose her mind in the worse cases.
The thing was so bad that some of the most important and severe Magix' laws forbaid anyone to do such a thing, the only exception being life and death situations, which were very unlikely to happen.
How many times a fairy attacked and tried to kill someone after all? None.
Because those pixies were just boring like that.
After that, the teacher spent the rest of her lesson explaining in great details why, while messing with fairies was okay, one should have never done so by touching their wings. It simply wasn't worth it, the punishment was far too great.
At that point Icy had simply stopped listening. No need for her and her sisters to get into troubles beforehand for something as stupid as a petty rivarly.
They had more important things to accomplish.
In that moment, as she took in Bloom's trembling, pale form, she wished she had paid more attention.
As she looked into the fairy's eyes, both pained and defiant, she found herself itching to do something, to be closer to her, and so she approached.
She was worried, and scared for the reason of it.
Because Bloom was seriously hurt, and suddendly she coulnd't bare it.
She was furious.
And she wanted- needed to..
She crouched down and the fairy drew back as much as she could.
Icy should have expected it, really. And yet, she had to pretend it didn't sting.
That made her even more annoyed at herself, at the ungrateful fairy, at the whole damn situation.
"What are you doing?"
She swore she had never heard Bloom's voice so fragile before.
And just like that, all the irritation left her replaced by something she deeply despised. More worry. Wonderful.
And what was she supposed to answer, when she herself didn't know in the first place?
Stormy saved her though, when she repeated, with a much more heated tone "Yes, Icy, what the hell are you doing? Why did you antagonize him?"
What could she say?
She felt Bloom's burning gaze consume her, searching for answers she didn't have.
She turned her head sideway to her sister, and simply replied "Didn't you hear me? No one messes with the Winx but us."
Stormy opened her mouth to talk back, but she preceeded her "Now go make sure that cheap wizard doesn't come back."
For a moment her sister didn't move, and sparks run through her thick hair, but then she exchanged a gaze with Darcy, and when the other witch nodded to her, she stomped away.
When she turned back to the fairy, she found Bloom already looking at her.
Her brow was slightly furrowed, and Icy knew her answer hadn't fooled her as it didn't her sisters, and sighed. At least Darcy wasn't questioning her at the moment. She had no doubts she would later.
For now though she had time.
Her sister wasn't impusive like Stormy, and she wouldn't have undermined her authority nor discussed her orders in front of the fairy.
Meaning she could deal with Bloom in peace.
She came closer to the fairy, still keeping her gaze, and noticed she didn't withdraw again. Taking that as a good sign, she moved her eyes as well as her hand toward Bloom's back, to check on it.
But when Bloom understood what she was doing, she visibly paled, her whole body tensed and trembled, and she leaned away, still uncertain about the situation but clearly uncomfortable.
Icy noticed, and put her hand on the skin of her hip instead, her touch pressing enough to tell her to stay still and, to her own horror, gentle enough to be reassuring.
But the redhead jerked her body away and sucked in a breath, and Icy froze, feeling stupid and rejected. She concentrated on the stupid part, and told herself that was why witches never let down their guard.
Before she could think about what to say to save the situation though, Bloom surprised her; she whispered "Your hand is very cold."
Her voice was still trembling, but she leaned her body back where it was before, against the witch' fingertips.
Icy felt said fingertips and the whole arm catch fire, but for once it wasn't an unpleasant sensation.
To say that she was shocked by that even if little, trusting gesture, would be an understatement.
They had been through so much after all, put each other through so much. Leave it at fairies to be so trusting after all that.
She wasn't going to complain though.
Icy was so relieved she could have smiled widely, but she limited to smirk instead.
She still had a reputation to uphold, after all.
"What did you expect?"
That exchange put them both more at ease, and Bloom relaxed slightly when she answered "Fair enough."
Then she tried to lift her upper body from the ground, but Icy put a gentle yet firm pressure on her hand, and ordered "Don't."
Bloom turned her head to look at her, uncertainty written on her whole face.
The witch guessed easely what was going on in her mind.
They were sworn enemies. Icy wasn't hurting or attacking her right then, but could she really be trusted?
She saw doubt all over Bloom's face as she searched her eyes for answers.
Icy let her see everything she needed. She kept her expression open, melting away her ice mask, and the fairy seemed to see it. She seemed to perceive the vulnerability underneath it all, because her eyes widened slightly in confusion.
Or maybe the fairy simply realised she had no choice but to trust her. She was injured, scared and powerless.
Not really the best conditions to refuse any help she was offered.
Also, she was still trembling, and her face was still too pale for the witch' liking. She was also blinking too many times, as if she was struggling to stay vigilant and focused as well.
In other words, she was going to get the help Icy offered, either because she would accept it, or because she would just pass out and get it anyway.
Bloom seemed to come to the same conclusion, because her body relaxed under the witch' hand and collapsed to the ground in exhaustion. She even laid her cheek on her arm, but kept her eyes on the witch, half lidded but alerted.
Icy gave her a slight nod, then moved her gaze on the big, angry bruise forming on the fairy's pale skin, just below her hand.
"Darcy."
Her sister immediately came closer at her commanding voice.
She knelt down and moved an hand on the space above the injure, being very careful in not touching the skin though. She knew how possessive Icy was, and had no desire in making her even angrier than she already was.
Darcy murmured something under her breath, and a violet light filled her eyes.
After a moment, the shimmer vanished and she asked "Does it hurt to breath?"
Bloom furrowed her eyebrow, then winced and nodded.
"I see" Darcy stood up "You have two broken ribs" then she moved her eyes on her sister and muttered "A little ice could help."
The corner of Icy's mouth lifted almost imperceptibly in gratitude, and Darcy responded in kind.
Then she looked at the fairy's back and added "I don't know what to tell you about" she gestured vaguely at the damaged wing "I mean, we attended the same classes at CT, and they told us almost nothing about those."
"I know" Icy replied, following her gaze, then spoke again "Perhaps you could check it out nonetheless?"
Darcy knew it wasn't really a question, but she still shook her head "I don't think I'll understand much of what I'll see, but I'll do it if it eases your mind."
Icy nodded, and the two witches crouched down again, but the fairy drew back this time.
"Don't."
Bloom's voice was still shaking, but the edge was back, and her body tensed again.
Icy would have found it amusing that the fairy actually considered fighting them when she could barely keep her eyes open, if not for the fact that her stubborness could have made her condition worse.
Still, Icy sighed and lifted her hands "She just wants to check out your wing.."
"I said don't!"
She laid on her hip, her front facing them, and her wing dropped down, making her wince, but she remained like that, glaring at the witches.
You could tell the two Trix were still shocked by the whole situation, because otherwise they would have lost their temper already.
Still, Darcy was getting really annoyed "Ehi, we are just trying to help!"
"Get the Winx then" Bloom didn't miss a beat "If you truly want to help me, call them. They'll know what to do."
Darcy simply crossed her arms and looked at her sister, waiting for her decision.
Icy studied the fairy for a few moments, then nodded "Go call those pixies and get them here."
Her sister lifted an eyebrow, but accomplished.
Yeah, Icy didn't like it either.
Helping Bloom was already bad enough, but having the entire do-goody crew seeing it? That was just humiliating.
And yet, what choice did she have? The fairy wouldn't let them touch her wings, not after what that pathetic warlock tried to do with them, and it wasn't like the witches knew how to help either.
Sighing, she slowly lowered her hand on the bruise and delicately caressed it with her thumb. A thin layer of snow covered it immediately.
Bloom's breath itched, but then evened out and she came back laying on her belly, more relaxed now, and whispered "Better, thank you."
Icy didn't answer, but her caresses didn't stop.
A strange silence followed.
Well, not so strange after all. What could they possibly have to talk about?
They weren't friends. The total opposite in fact.
And yet, even when they were fighting against each other with everything they got, they didn't do that. There was never this quiet, this emptiness, this cursed silence.
They used to banter all the time, push each other's buttons and all of that.
So yes, maybe Icy wanted to break that silence, but she couldn't. Because doing it would have meant aknowledging the unique situation they were in.
Aknowledging Icy saving Bloom's life out of nowhere. And that just wouldn't do.
The witch was so not opening that carn of worms.
So of course Bloom did.
"What are you doing here again?"
Icy sighed "Getting revenge on you infuriating pixies, can't you see?"
"Really"
The witch scoffed and removed her hand from the fairy' skin as if it burned her "Yes, really."
"Seems quite the opposite to me."
Icy could feel her eyes melting the side of her face, eager for an answer she couldn't give her.
And yet she was grateful.
The fairy wasn't calling her out the way she could have, laying the truth at their feet. Baring Icy's weakness even more than the witch herself had already done.
She could be humiliating her, and yet she wasn't. Stupid sweet fairies.
But, she wasn't backing down either. She wanted an answer for that sudden change in their usual game, and she was going to get one.
And she was doing it the only way she knew of except calling her out: pushing her buttons.
It was.. kind of.. considerate.
And that was the only reason why Icy bit back without actually doing so.
"Well, seems to me that you weren't doing a great job either" a pause "or was getting your ass kicked part of the plan?"
Bloom glared at her, but the witch could see the corner of her mouth fighting not to lift up.
Yes, that was a more familiar territory, for both of them.
"Whatever" Bloom grumbled, then met her eyes for a moment before whispering "Thank you though."
Icy diverted her gaze "I meant what I said. You are ours to destroy, and ours alone."
This time the smile did appear on the fairy's lips "Right. Can't have some random wizard take all the fun away from you, can you?"
The witch eyed her long nails with nonchalance "Exactly."
Bloom chuckled, but then took in a sharp breath and stopped. Her nails dived into the ground as she tried to controll the pain she was in. Still, her eyes turned watery again.
Icy clenched her fist and added, tone even "So your wing better not fall off or something, because there is no fun in defeating you like this."
Both a bait and a question. Would her wing be okay? Would she be?
At that the fairy looked at her with a new intensity, many emotions crossing her eyes, then her face darkened as she answered shakily "It shouldn't."
And she left it at that.
Stupid infuriating fairy.
Did she want Icy to outright ask her things, like, directly? Because she was in for disappointment then.
The witch couldn't expose herself that much.
She was curious though.
A part for that single lesson they didn't tell them a thing about wings at CT. She didn't even knew if there were spells to tore them off, let alone that it was possible to do so with one's bare hands. The cruelty there put hers and her sisters' in real shame. She had never seen anything like it.
Well, truth to be told, she had destroyed a fairy's wings before, right there at their school even. The poor girl had fallen to her knees with a pathetic wail. Icy had laughed then.
She didn't find anything funny in that moment. On the contrary, her fingers twitched with the impulse of reaching out and caress Bloom's injured limb gently. But she couldn't. And she doubted the gesture would have been appreciated anyway.
Clenching her hand to prevent it from reaching out without her consent, she asked, voice low "Does it hurt?"
Bloom released a shuddering, painful breath "Like nothing else ever has before."
She closed her eyes to keep the tears in, but a few escaped her nonetheless.
Her fingers were still planted into the ground, knuckles pailing for the strenght with which she was clenching them, and the witch could see both dirt and blood adorning her nails, or what remained of them.
Icy grimaced, her fingers twitching, but she forced herself to keep her tone even when she said "You know, I would put some ice there as well, if you asked nicely enough."
It was the wrong thing to say.
Bloom tensed, and with a sudden movement she turned her body around, shielding her injured back from the other girl. Her arms shook with the effort to keep her damaged wing off the ground, and she visibly paled, but held still.
Panic filled her gaze, but the fire was back as well.
"The last time your ice touched a fairy's wings you destroyed them. I think I'll pass."
The snap of her fingers resonated again in Icy's mind, as well as her satisfied laugh, and judging by the look she was giving her, Bloom was thinking about that exact moment too.
Just great.
Her gaze fell back to her nails "She got them back, did she not?"
The fact had made quite the news back then. All Magix talked about how one of the Winx, Musa, had saved her princess' life, got her Enchantix, and then used it to give her wings back to her before the situation could get worse.
That happened over an year ago, and the fairy in question wasn't even a member of the redhead's precious group, and yet she could have been, by the glare she was giving her.
She had no doubt she should have conjured a shield had Bloom had her powers. Clearly she had not forgotten who did it.
Wings really were a touchy subject huh.
The fairy scoffed "No thanks to you."
The witch crossed her arms, standing up "She was in my way. She got it coming at her."
Bloom lifted an eyebrow "Really, that's what you are going with? We are always in your way. I have always been in your way, ever since day one. And yet you have never went for such an extreme, vile measure with us, with me."
She knew.
Once she had frozen the redhead's wings, making them heavier, almost impossible to move.
That had just slowed the fairy down, gave her a hell of a scare, but she could have done worse. With a snap of her fingers, she could have destroyed her wings easely, just like she had with the princess of Melody.
For a moment she had actually thought about doing it. After all, back then the Trix were already Magix' public enemy number one, so breaking one more law, even one as important as that, wouldn't have been a big deal, not after all they had already done.
And yet.
At the time she had never done such a thing, and had had no intention of testing the theory about wingless fairies going insane on Bloom's skin.
She was her most worthy opponent after all, and favourite fairy too. Who would have challenged her like the redhead always did if she had to retire due to insanity? She didn't even want to consider it.
So for how close she had been to doing that to her, literally a snap of fingers away actually, she never did it. And seeing her there in front of her, vulnerable and shaky and afraid, with the fire always so present in her gaze flickering, well.. She was glad she didn't.
Not that Bloom needed to know that.
Icy's reputation was already enough in shreds as it was. No need to give it the fatal blow.
That, and the fact that apparently Bloom thought that she had to justify her actions to her made her irritation grow to a critical level. She knew answering her the way she was burning to probably wasn't the right move, but..
She was far from being her usual collected self that day.
"I'm sorry, do you honestly believe to be in the best condition to annoy me right now?"
She felt her magic tingle her fingertips, but resisted the urge to conjure ice on them. She was fairly confident to look enough threatning to the fairy already, and scaring her wasn't what she wanted to do.
The redhead deserved to be put in place though, and this time she totally called for it. And she was lucky that was all she was getting.
Bloom's mouth snapped shut at that, her eyes widened slightly at her menacing tone. She clenched her fingers a bit more into the ground, but remained silent.
Good.
Icy smirked, genuinely enjoying her little victory.
Then she widened her arms in a placating gesture, and slowly lowered herself back to the ground "Like I already said though, it's just too easy like this."
She smirked again, but then softened the line of her mouth and added, with her most sincere tone "I won't do anything to your wings, Bloom. It just doesn't feel right."
The fairy took in her expression carefully, then her stance relaxed a little, and she eased her weight on one hip. Her gaze became more intense though, and her good wing beated once, slowly.
Suddendly Icy felt her face go on fire, and the impellent urgency to squirm and divert her eyes, but she didn't move a muscle. Instead, she returned her gaze with the same amount of intensity, and lowered her voice when she added, tilting her head "Only because it would be too easy that way of course."
Her wing beated again and the corner of her mouth turned upwards slightly "Of course."
They held each other's gaze a few moments longer, Bloom looking more intrigued by the minute, when-
"BLOOM!"
Their bubble broken, they both turned around in time to see Stella flying at them at top speed, one beat of wings away from actually charging.
Icy barely had the time to stand up and get out of her way that the fairy landed exactly where she had been a moment before and started asking question at light speed.
"Bloom! What happened? Are you alright? Why are you- WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR WING? WHO DID-"
She stood up, turned around, light already gathering at her hands, so pure and powerful its color was a blinding white instead of the usual yellow and orange.
"THAT'S IT! THAT'S THE LAST STRAW! HOPE YOU'LL ENJOY THE VIEW, BECAUSE IT'S THE LAST YOU'LL EVER-"
"STELLA STOP!"
Bloom grabbed her friend's ankle and pulled at it, then groaned in pain.
Stella's light immediately dimmed, and she crouched near her friend, worry written all over her face.
"Bloom, don't move! Don't worry, we'll get you out of here and the Trix won't touch you ever aga-"
"Stella they didn't do it!"
The blonde took in a sharp breath, and seemed to stop functioning for a moment "What?"
In that moment Darcy arrived on the scene as well, breathing heavely, followed by Stormy.
Icy lifted an annoyed eyebrow "I thought it was implicit that you had to explain her the situation."
"I tried!" The witch of darkness replied, still catching her breath "But as soon as I said Bloom was injured and pointed a direction she flew off at the speed of light! I followed her as quickly as I could!"
Icy sighed; she understood of course, having seen herself the blonde fairy arriving on the scene.
She then spoke to Stormy "And you? Why are you here and not watching that wizard?"
"He disappeared, and the others are still fighting with those pixies" the witch answered, then added, annoyed "Something we should be doing ourselves."
Icy bared her teeth at the second blatant show of disrespect of her authority in one hour time, and opened her mouth to put her rebel little sister back into her place, when Bloom spoke first, alarm and fear clear in her voice.
"The Winx are still fighting them?" She tried to stand up "Stella we have to-"
But she winced, and her friend immediately put an hand on her shoulder, keeping her in place "You have to stay right where you are, and don't move. The Winx are fine, Roxy is helping and she is getting much better at fighting than we were at her age."
Bloom's hands clenched more at the mention of that name, and Icy absently minded wondered who that Roxy was and why had Bloom reacted in such a way.
The redhead didn't seem convinced by her friend's words "They are too dangerous to be faced by them alone, we have to-"
"Ogron isn't there Bloom, and without their leader they are not so much of a threat. We were fighting them off pretty easely in fact" Stella moved her eyes on the witches watching them "And as Stormy said, he disappeared, or better, he never came back after he followed you."
She lowered her voice then "Was it him?"
Bloom's lips formed a thin line, and she shut her eyes, nodding shakily.
Stella's face turned into stone. She clenched her jaw, and fury and regret both crossed her face.
She grabbed her friend's hand tightly with her own, and whispered, tears gathering in her eyes "I'm so sorry I wasn't with you Bloom, I should have been with-"
The redhead squeezed her hand back "You are here now. And I-I will be okay."
"I'm gonna kill him."
Icy's eyes widened. That- wasn't something she was expecting.
By the look of it, neither were her sisters. Stella was the literal definition of a sunshine girl after all.
And yet she didn't doubt her declaration for a second.
For somebody so warm, the blonde's gaze was deadly cold, and her voice had the kind of calm, detatched tone only someone who is visioning something murderous in their head could get.
And she knew something about it.
Another thing not less surprising was that Bloom hadn't reprimanded her for her statement. She hadn't grimaced, or winced, or anything. And she didn't look like she was going to say anything.
She was staring at the ground without really seeing it, pain and hopelessness in her eyes, and a sad, resigned expression on her face.
Icy had never seen her like that. She looked empty. Like all her unyelding optimism had left her. Even worse, she looked like she didn't blame it.
What was going on? One year of prison and that was what they came back to.
"First though" Stella said after a few moments, her gaze focussed on the present once more "Can someone please explain to me what is going on here?"
She gestured between them and the Trix with her hands, her posture still defensive but less tense than before, since the witches hadn't acted hostile towards them yet.
"Icy stopped him."
Well. Way to go and throw a bomb Bloom. As always your grace and throughly thinking shine through.
Stella's eyes went from Bloom to them and back again.
She looked like she had an hard time understanding what her friend had said.
Icy couldn't really blame her. Everyone in that clearing was in her same situation.
Well, everyone except Bloom apparently.
She had spoken with such an ease, as if it was something that happened every day. Her voice had sounded a little more alive than before, but a part from that her tone hadn't changed. As if that wasn't anything out of the ordinary, complicated or shocking to her.
"What?"
Stormy chuckled "Yeah, I would say she is deluding, princess, but she is not. That's exactly what happened."
Great. Truly a magnificent choice she had done, choosing that day to get up in the morning.
All eyes went on Icy, all of them with billions of questions swimming within, and Stormy's disbelieving tone had done nothing to try and prevent that outcome. She really needed a chat with her little sister later.
Icy sighed "You are welcome."
"But hum" Stella's gaze went from one witch to the others "Why did you- I mean-"
Darcy, Ancestors blessed her, kept quiet, something Stormy apparently couldn't for the life of hers manage to do that day.
"Oh, because you guys are ours to destroy, and NO ONE ELSE'S!"
Darcy flinched at her mocking tone, knowing that it would get their younger sister in trouble later, but it apparently didn't register in the blonde head of the fairy standing in front of them.
One moment later, in fact, her hands were back glowing with power, her gaze filled with pure, unrestrained rage, but Bloom stopped her by grabbing her ankle again.
"Don't. I told you, she stopped him. And, she didn't harm me afterwards. We just waited for you to come here."
Her voice was shaking again, and she was blinking a bit too hard for it to be something other that an effort to stay conscious a little longer.
Icy sighed "Maybe you should take care of your friend now, instead of trying to annoy us any further."
She had no more patience.
Stella didn't take her suggestion like the witch would have liked her to "Do NOT talk to me like you know what's best for her-"
"Listen here pixie" Darcy intervened, her tone harsh "You can stay here and fight, Ancestors know Stormy would like it-"
"Very much" said witch commented.
"-or you can reflect upon the fact that we didn't harm her when we could have. Instead, we came to find you so you could help her! I mean, why are you even still here?"
"Because you witches can't be trusted! You don't just do a good deed for the sake of it!"
"And I never will again, if this is what I get in return" Icy replied, tone just as cold as her name suggested.
The fairy was walking on thin thin ice there. She was testing her patience when it was already at the lowest point it had been in months. That was beyond unwise.
Stormy seemed to think it too, because her jaw clenched as she bit back another mocking comment. About time she caught up.
Stella didn't look convinced. Her fingertips were still glowing, and all her pent up energy was screaming to be released so loudly Icy could feel it too.
At the end Bloom was the decisive factor.
And when wasn't she?
The redhead looked beyond exhausted, because she laid her forehead on the ground again and whispered "Please Stella."
At that the blonde fairy backed off completely. She sneaked an arm underneath Bloom's and slowly helped her sit, murmuring incouraging words all the time.
The redhead, while clearly in pain, was way more relaxed than before and succeeded in standing on her knees.
"If we can't eliminate them today, must we really stay here and watch this pitiful display unfold?"
Icy gritted her teeth, but she knew Stormy was right. There was no need for them to stay any longer. Bloom was in good hands then, and soon the others Winx would have arrived as well. Ancestors forbaid she had to bear all their disbelieving and questioning stares too.
So she agreed "I suppose we have to find a place to stay after all. It won't be long before the damn Templars come looking for us now."
Her sisters grew visibly nervous at that, and she couldn't blame them.
She turned around and lifted her hands to open a portal, when-
"Icy wait!"
The witch turned back, surprised.
Bloom was still on the ground, looking like she could collapse any moment, but her gaze was clear when she spoke "I owe you."
And that was it. Three simple words that somehow felt heavier that everything they had ever said to each others. The urgency in her tone made Icy pause.
She waited for something more, because there had to be, but Bloom didn't add anything else, so she furrowed her eyebrows and looked from one fairy to the other, questioning.
Stella visibly stiffened, but otherwise didn't move nor say anything.
Finally, Icy asked "What do you mean?"
It's not that she didn't understand what she had said. It was that the two of them simply weren't in a position to owe each other anything. How could they while fighting at opposite sides of the battlefield?
It didn't make any sense.
The redhead seemed to understand that, because she tried to elaborate "I owe you for-"
"Don't say anything else Bloom" Stella interrupted her harshly, hitting on Icy's nerves yet another time that day "If she wants to understand she will. It's not that hard."
The witch had never heard the blonde fairy speak in such an harsh way to her precious friend, and yet Bloom didn't seem fazed.
"But it's true" she replied calmly, eyes still on her "Is it not, Stella?"
The other fairy clenched her jaw and shot the witches a look of pure anger, but at the end admitted "It is."
Bloom took a deep breath, and her gaze became even more intense than before when she spoke "If you'll ever need me, Icy, for anything, I'll come."
A moment of heavy, astonished silence, then Stormy bursted out laughing "Isn't that just hilarious sisters? Little Bloom here will have to answer our call."
Darcy chuckled as well, but Icy didn't, she just kept looking at the fairies, studying their deadly serious faces.
"Not yours" Bloom intervened, glaring at the two witches "Only hers."
When her gaze moved back to meet Icy's, it was so intense she almost diverted her eyes.
Instead she lifted an eyebrow, still surprised "For whatever I need? Just like that?"
Stella almost growled, but Bloom calmly confirmed "Just like that."
Icy moved her eyes to the fairy's damaged wing on instinct, and suddendly she remembered something else about that lesson at CT.
"When a fairy reaches her final basic form she unlocks her fairy dust" the teacher told them "It's a product of their wings, and an extremely powerful one. Usually they use it to break spells, especially evil ones, which, I know, isn't anything extraordinary. What makes fairy dust powerful is its versatility. In fact, it can be used in literally any way its fairy wishes, the only limit is her imagination."
The fairy dust primal use was breaking evil spells.
Icy also remembered the Winx using theirs to trick and defeat Valtor. And he was no beginner in the magical arts.
So could it..?
Icy blinked.
Bloom was still looking at her.
She seemed curious yet reluctant, diffident yet open. And her gaze was so intense the witch could feel it melt her walls.
She could also hear the fairy asking her to do the right thing, and she could tell it was not a small feat by her heavy gaze and deadly serious expression.
Icy's eyes moved to Stella, which seemed in the process to try and incinirate her on the spot with her glare alone. With effort, the witch suffocated the impulse to smirk at her and instead pondered for a few moments.
Bloom was one of the most important persons in Stella's life, that was painfully obvious, and the light fairy was fiercely protective of her friend. It was also obvious she hated that situation, and yet she had done nothing to oppose to it.
She had done nothing to stop Bloom for saying those words, and yet it looked like she had very much wanted to. But she didn't.
This was big.
Icy's eyes moved back to Bloom, but there wasn't much considering she had to do.
Bloom was, arguably, the most powerful fairy in the universe, and she was not going to waste her offer.
She would have to tell her everything though. She very much rather come back to Roccaluce than doing that, but it was necessary to get her help.
Her sisters first though.
Finally, decision taken, Icy took a step back and spoke "Come find me when you'll have solved the situation with those wizards."
They hold each others gaze for a moment longer, then Bloom nodded.
"And take care of that" Icy added.
Then she turned around and opened a portal, gesturing at her sisters to go before herself.
She glanced back one last time and saw Bloom still looking at her with that intense gaze of hers, and her good wing fluttered a bit when she returned it, a light red blossoming on her face.
Icy smirked, strangely pleased, then finally turned around and followed her sisters into the portal, pondering on the correlation between blushing cheeks and fluttering wings.