SECRETS | Fate: The Winx Saga ~ Alternate Season 2

Chapter 5

In the late afternoon, Farah was walking briskly towards her office, troubled. Sky now knew the whole truth and may have felt some resentment towards his parents for the secret they had kept for so long, but that wasn't what was bothering her. Something else was on her mind, something far more serious, an evil spirit. Rosalind. In the last few days, Bloom had been bombarding her with questions about her former mentor, which had dredged up a painful past. The two fairies had had a stormy and toxic relationship for many years, but the headmistress couldn't blame her student, whose only goal was to find out her origins. She was aware that the girl was going through a rough period, especially as Rosalind was haunting her dreams and continuing to sow evil from her cell in the basement.
Farah would never have peace, after Andreas, it was Rosalind, the other ghost of her past, who was resurfacing. The truth about the massacre of Aster Dell and the family of her student, the mind fairy had recently found it out. On learning that Rosalind had lied and that civilians were at Aster Dell when it was destroyed, she had inquired about the identity of the unfortunate victims, and what she had discovered was beyond comprehension. Only two babies, twin girls, an air fairy and a fire fairy, had not been found in the rubble of their witch grandmother's house, as if they had disappeared. Their parents were among the innocent victims of the massacre, in which she had unknowingly taken part in. She would never have enough of the rest of her life to forgive herself for such an abominable act. She had shattered lives: Bloom's, Beatrix's, but also the lives of many families. She was not yet ready to tell the truth to the two fairies, it was still too painful for her.
In spite of herself, Farah was the possessor of a lot of heavy secrets, the weight of which was getting harder to bear with the years. But she was not alone in dealing with them; she had taken Saul into her confidence.

Suddenly, as she entered his office, the headmaster's wife felt a powerful negative energy filling the room.
Immediately she had a bad hunch. She knew that this heavy atmosphere was not related to her thoughts. No, something much more serious had happened, something that had shook the walls, something that came from the basement.
She opened the door and rushed downstairs to her enemy's cell in alarm. She opened the armored door, which revealed the empty cell. Rosalind was gone, and so was the force field.
In shock, Sky's mom let out a gasp.
Bloom. She was the only one with enough power to free her. The poor thing had been unable to resist her hypnotic call and the lure of the promised answers.
At that moment, Farah blamed herself. They could have avoided this if she had told her what she knew.
Now Rosalind was on the loose and could be anywhere, plotting her revenge. The fairy knew that she would be her first victim, and that she would not hesitate to attack her loved ones.
She was swiftly overcome by a flood of unpleasant memories, before fainting and collapsing on the floor, shocked and exhausted.

***

Half an hour later, not seeing his wife in the suite or in her office, Saul went down to the basement, worried because the door leading to it was not properly closed. She had most likely gone down to check something.
He ran through the underground passages until the white light of Rosalind's cell caught his eye. The fairy was lying almost lifeless in front of it.

"Farah!" he shouted, rushing towards her in panic.

He quickly and frighteningly realized that Rosalind was no longer in the cell. Had she harmed her? It was not possible, his fairy was far too strong, she could not have passed away. Not like this.
He crouched down trembling and softly ran his hand over his wife's cheek, who was still unconscious.

"Sweetheart, please wake up," he whispered, his hands grabbing her face, afraid of losing her. "I'm here, you have nothing to fear."

But no matter how much Saul was pleading with her, she wouldn't open her eyes. Not knowing what to do, he decided to call his best friend to the rescue. He pulled out his phone and called Ben, who picked up within seconds.

"Hi Ben, I have a big problem, I'm in the basement with Farah, she's passed out and Rosalind has escaped," he explained nervously.

"What?!" the botany teacher exclaimed in shock. "I'll be right there!"

He hung up and the Specialist took his wife in his arms and carried her away from the gloomy place.

***

About an hour later, Farah came to her senses, lying on her bed with her husband and Ben at her side.

"Sweetheart! You're awake!" rejoiced the man she loved, relieved. "I was so scared, I thought Rosalind had harmed you!"

He hugged her tenderly before placing a kiss on her lips.

"Here, drink this, it'll make you feel better," Ben added, handing her a cup of herbal tea.

She took the cup, thanked him, and took a sip, while Saul was staring at her anxiously.

"No, Rosalind didn't do anything to me, she was already gone when I got to the basement," she reassured him, placing her hand on his. "I felt a powerful negative energy and went downstairs."

"Do you think Bloom helped her get away?" Ben questioned, sounding dark.

A cloud passed over the headmistress' face and she nodded.

"I'm pretty sure because she's the only one here who can communicate with her, and only a power as strong as hers could break the force field. Rosalind kept manipulating Bloom by exploiting her main weakness: her need to know her biological family. I so regret that I didn't tell her the truth."

She collapsed on her husband's shoulder, in tears. With Rosalind's release, a host of painful memories was assailing her, her past was destroying her again.

"We'll figure this out," he comforted her, equally unhappy with the knowledge that Rosalind could come after his wife at any moment. "I'll talk to Sky about this, and above all, tell yourself that I'll never give up on you, that we're one and the same, and that we're stronger than her."

Ben sat down on the bed and placed his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Saul's right, Farah, we'll protect Alfea and the students, all three of us, and we'll ask the Queen for help if we have to," he agreed.

Sky's mom nodded and smiled faintly, unconvinced. She wasn't alone in facing Rosalind, but in the face of her traumatic memories, she was. No one could ever take them away from her.