SECRETS | Fate: The Winx Saga ~ Alternate Season 2

Chapter 8

Tonight, Ben had gone to his friends' suite at their request. For several nights, Farah had been prey to terrible nightmares referring to her past, to her profoundest wounds. Rosalind took advantage of her sleep to penetrate her mind and torture her psychologically. Saul was forced to wake her up several times a night, but the couple could not take it anymore. In addition to the psychological torture, they were both exhausted by the fairy's multiple assaults. It was becoming almost impossible for them to live.
Farah had managed to get through the day, exhausted, but she knew that if she didn't manage to neutralize Rosalind quickly, she might lose her life.
To help his wife protect her mind, the Specialist had called on his best friend, hoping he would find a miracle solution.
The latter was sitting at the table with them, fearing what they would say to him about the current situation.

"Ben, we haven't told you everything yet so you don't have to worry, but tonight is a serious time," Saul announced, looking grim. "Farah is in great danger."

The professor stared at his friends, both alarmed and puzzled. He knew Rosalind was on the loose, but knowing Farah and her powers, it surprised him a little.

"Can you explain this in more detail?" he asked quietly.

Sitting across from him, the fairy nodded, very pale, her face lightly illuminated by the bedside lamp.

"I've been having nightmares again since Rosalind was freed. She takes advantage of my sleep to exploit my deepest wounds and create nightmares. Saul is forced to wake me up every time because he is afraid I will pass away, and he hardly sleeps at all to protect me."

Her husband tenderly grabbed her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. Knowing she was in danger hurt terribly.

"I'm afraid for Farah, we have no solution, we're at a dead end, she's wearing out, and I think I'm going to lose her," he added, on the verge of tears. "I don't know if you'll be able to help us, but if you have any ideas on how to protect Farah's mind with plants, we'd love to hear them."

Ben pushed his glasses farther up on his nose, thinking. He wanted to help them in any way he could, but he didn't know of any plants or potions that could protect the mind. Yet something else came to mind. Something dangerous.

"Rosalind is still inside the barrier, where she can access your mind, so I see only one solution: trap the ground to kick her out of here," he offered, not very enthusiastically.

Farah shook her head in disbelief.

"That won't work, you'd have to trap the surrounding area, it's too dangerous for the students. Ideally, the barrier would recognise Rosalind as an intruder and send her back the other way," she replied, her jaw clenched.

At that moment, Ben seemed to smile again. His friend always had good ideas, and he had to admit that this one was better than his own.

"Okay, but we'll need a personal effect from Rosalind to activate the protection spell at the Stone Circle," he acquiesced, quite confidently.

Before Saul could give his opinion, they heard a knock on the door. Three sharp knocks.

The mind fairy got up to open the door, intrigued. Who could be knocking at the door at this time of evening?
She discovered her son on the threshold, also very pale, as if he was hiding a huge secret whose weight had become too heavy to bear.

"Sky, what's wrong?" she questioned, stroking his cheek, concerned.

"Mom, I have something to confide in you," he admitted, looking serious.

She beckoned him in, dreading what he would reveal. For him to be in such a state, it must be quite important.
He walked over to the table and sat down on the fourth chair, next to Ben. The young guy soon decided to put an end to this tense atmosphere.

"Bloom freed Rosalind the other day, she confessed it to me yesterday."

His mom struck the table violently, hand flat.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed, her anger only growing. "She can't be trusted, I warned Bloom about her. Rosalind has manipulated her from the beginning and she got her way. Now no one is safe anymore. She'll try to get back at us any way she can."

She took the young Specialist's hand as if she feared losing him forever.

"Be very careful, honey, she won't hesitate to come after you to hurt us."

He smiled sadly. Farah had always protected him, and she would continue to do so until she died.

"Yes, Mom, I'll be on guard, but I'm worried about you, especially since you've been having nightmares again," he told her, nodding.

Sky was scared, really scared of losing his mom. Rosalind was mad at her, he knew that. And Bloom had allowed her to carry out her plan. His resentment towards her had not diminished, what she had done was unforgivable.

Saul turned to his wife, anxious about what would happen next and about a possible alliance between Bloom and their enemy.

"What do we do about Bloom? Do you want to make arrangements?"

She sighed, the look on her face reflecting her helplessness over the situation.

"What arrangements, Saul? Bloom is only a teenager, when she set Rosalind free she wasn't thinking of the harm she would cause, she was just seeking the answers I refused to give her," she retorted, feeling some regret.

Her husband gently brushed her cheek with his fingertips.

"It's not your fault, love, she wasn't ready to hear the truth yet, Rosalind would have found some other way to manipulate her to lure her to her," he murmured reassuringly.

The student nodded in support of his dad's words.

"I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't go into the forest to get to Rosalind," he decided, willing to do anything to save his mom. "If they meet and Rosalind tells her the truth, she'll turn against us, and the Dragon Flame is the strongest power."

"That's why we have a plan in place to drive Rosalind out of our area through the Stone Circle, but we lack a personal effect to make it work," Professor Harvey said.

They still had to find one, but Farah had her own idea.

"I'll search the drawers of the castle, I'll find something of hers."

The four of them exchanged a worried glance. They knew that the mission would prove perilous and that they would have to be cunning to keep Rosalind in the dark...and Bloom too. The lives of all the residents of the castle were at stake, especially their own.