The Purge Feast - Fate: The Winx Saga

Be vigilant

The unrest in the Greenhouse was almost palpable from the air. It enveloped the Winx like a thick layer of smoke and hardly allowed a steady breath. Rosalind's plan to sacrifice Farah would cost more lives than just her headmistress's. If the barrier around Alfea fell, which is kept up by Farah's magic, then many fairies would lose their lives tonight. One thought kept creeping in, but nobody dared to express it out loud: Rosalind wanted to make sure that the barrier fell at the right moment. A moment that would give her a tactical advantage, even if it meant putting the whole school in jeopardy and breaking her promise of safety.

A look out of the large, ivy-covered window revealed that the sun was already setting. The sky was a deep orange, giving the impression that the clouds were on fire. A last piece of sun could only be guessed over the tops of the trees. The mighty rays lashed through the foliage and enveloped the forest in warm light for the last time for the day. It didn't take long until the last rays of sun disappeared from the sky and instead of the fiery orange, a cool blue appeared. A perfect contrast to what seemed tangible just a few minutes ago. But the discomfort that came with the blue sky wasn't just down to the drop in temperature and the chill of the oncoming darkness. Along with the darkness that seemed to be trying to consume everything around it came the fear of the inevitable: turning away from Rosalind to save the lives of many fairies, or at least try to save them.

After Stella reported to the others what she had heard from Rosalind's henchmen, every second counted. They didn't know when or where Rosalind was going to carry out her treacherous plan, except that it was this night. Aisha had been asking around the castle to see if she could pick up any more clues to the plan, but Rosalind was more silent than the grave she was digging for the fairies she wanted to protect. So now it was up to them to get as many fairies to safety without Rosalind knowing about it. It was one thing to save Farah's life, but neither could the Winx fairies allow their classmates and teachers to perish at Rosalind's hands. So while Ben Harvey, Terra, and Flora dealt with the counter potion to wake Farah from her unwanted sleep, Bloom, Aisha, Musa, and Stella rounded up some fairies and teachers who were a priori opposed to Rosalind's taking over Alfea and did not appear to join her avoidable war.

Only when night fell and the starry sky began to glow did Professor Harvey complete the antidote. With Bloom, Musa, and Stella in tow, the four Alfeans slinked through the castle's corridors, trying to slip past Rosalind's guards undetected. Thanks to Stella's light magic, this was an easy task. But it wasn't until the four fairies had safely arrived at Headmistress Dowling's apartment that Stella dropped her light magic. Now Bloom and Musa dared to take a deep breath again, as they were afraid on the way here that the guards might notice their breathing noises.

"Let's get down to business quickly!" Mr. Harvey said. From now on everything went pretty fast. Each of them knew what to do. While Stella and Musa kept an eye out for Rosalind and her henchmen in the hallways, Bloom helped Mr. Harvey administer the counter potion to Farah. Bloom carefully sat down on the edge of the bed, right next to her Headmistress' head. With the help of Harvey's guidance, the fire fairy gently placed her hands on the back of Farah's neck and head, lifting it slightly. Her right hand lay directly under the intricately braided bun, which she eyed for a moment. Some strands had already come loose from the otherwise strict braid, so that the loose strands fell softly around her face. Just the sound of the vial's cork being pushed out of the teardrop shaped glass with a gentle pop snapped Bloom out of her thoughts. Her blue eyes scanned the tense face of Ben Harvey, who was once again taking a close look at the silvery viscous liquid in the vial he had just completed moments before. With a sigh, he took a step closer to Farah and carefully poured the liquid into her mouth without spilling a single drop. Before the teardrop-shaped glass was completely emptied, Bloom asked: "When will she wake up?"