Magix Ultra

Chapter 21

It took a few days of planning before the Winx departed for Aeros. Chiara knew she had to do it someday but no matter what she didn't feel ready. Her old home didn't feel like home anymore. Not since that day.

After checking into their lodging, the Winx spared no time and went down to the van they rented that was waiting outside. Originally Stella wanted to be the driver but due to past events,Chiara and Bloom pulled her off of the driver's seat and let Aisha take over.

Which was a good call too since Stella would've been distracted by all the fashion pieces put on the display by the many boutiques in the city. Chiara could only smile at her antics as Musa scolded her to focus on the task at hand.

"So Chiara...you got a crush on an alien." Aisha suddenly said from the driver's seat. Which made said fairy choke on air.

Oh no.

"Wha-Uh-Umm I-I don't have a crush on Zero!" Chiara denied. Upon seeing Aisha's smirk from the rearview mirror, she immediately realised her hiccup.

"Funny,I didn't say anything about this Zero guy."

Chiara suddenly felt a sense of deja vu coming on. It didn't help that all the attention was on her now. Not wanting to restart the cycle of denial,she decided to mind as well just come clean.

"...Yes, I have a massive crush on him."

A silence followed before it was broken by Stella's ear piercing squeal which made Aisha almost swivel off the road.

"Stella!"

"Sorry! I'm just happy that she finally has a boyfriend!"

"Okay first, he is not my boyfriend. And second, yes I like him but I don't if he likes me. Third, my first boyfriend was... you know, him." They all knew that him referred to a certain blue bird vigilante. The universe of the Young Justice League wasn't something Chiara liked to talk about.

"Yeah well,first love isn't everything. What matters is how you feel now." Bloom advised.

How she felt now? After more than one near death experiences, Chiara was more than confident of how she felt for the ultra.

"While you're right on that one, how about you poke at my none existent love life after we finish this." Now she did have a point.

The place that they were headed to was about two hours away from where they left. Normally, magical transportation pads are used to get around from one place to another. But the pad at that place had been destroyed during that day.

Since dealing with the aftermath of that day was hard enough for her Chiara, being the only who could decide what to do next about that place, kept putting off making plans of what to do. Which is why the pad there had never been repaired up to this day.

Abandoning it felt wrong and horrible. Yet there was always something holding her back from not only getting the job done, but finally starting it. Be it a mission or most of the time, herself. Which she now realizes is coming back to bite her since they'll sure be having a hard time finding anything under all the rubble.
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"Dont give up so easily!...."

"The thing with liking someone is...It might hurt a lot."

"But...it makes you happy just being near the person you like."

"Meeting someone like that is amazing!"

"So... you can't leave them..."

"No matter what happens!"

"If you really like that girl,then go and see her now!"

"Standing around here and doing nothing won't get you anywhere!...."

Those were the words said,or more like yelled, by Geed's human friend amd AIB agent from earth, Moa. The words of wisdom came when a monster was throwing a tantrum just because the girl he likes was being distant. Back then,Zero thought the situation itself was ridiculous.

But now he can see that it's coming back to bite him. If a monster could man up and admit his feelings then why couldn't he? The words Chiara uttered before vanishing kept playing in his mind.

"...I like you!..."

The feeling was mutual. She liked him back. According to Zett and the rest of the new generation, she has for a while now.

"You found anything Hikari?" Zero asked as he stepped into the Chief Scientist's lab. Earlier on, Hikari had done some tests on Zero's Ultimate Bracelet at the ultra's request. This was because right before she vanished, Chiara did something to it. Since then, it kept pulsing with her familiar energy so much that it was hard to ignore.

Did she cast some sort of protection spell? Or did it now hold the answers to finding her? Wherever she may be.

Unfortunately, Hikari had no definitive answer other then it being Chiara's magic. And he could only get a proper reading on magic using a piece of tech that he helped her develop. Hikari did most of the building whereas Chiara incorporated magic into it thanks to what she learned from her friend Tecna, a literal fairy of technology.

Using regular tech would only give them scrambled up results when used on magic. So, Chiara proposed on making a device that was compatible with magic. With it, they're now able to achieve clearer and more informative results using the tech they made. Although it didn't it help much with finding the fairy, it was still useful for their current problem. Which was the threat of Armadus looming over them.

Nera had been making herself known across the galaxy by taking lives and spreading Armadus's name. She kept marvelling on the fact that even though the first time was a failure, her darling will rise again. Within a short span of time, Armadus became a threat that was the same level as Belial.

All of a sudden, alarms were going of in the lab.The systems that the device was connected to showed warnings and high distress levels.

"What? What's going on?" Zero questioned, his voice nearly drowned in all the siren noises that were blaring. He followed Hikari's line of sight to two enlarged holo screens. One showed the outside of the M78 planet, seemingly empty with a few meteors passing by.

The other holo screen however had a big circle which symbolizes the planet. But on the left side of it were dozens of red dots slowly coming near it. Realizing what was happening,Hikari gravely uttered,

"It's an ambush!"
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"You ready?"

Chiara nodded and with that, they made their way onto the grounds of her old family estate. The lush greenery and colourful flowers that once greeted guests were now withered and dried up. Small and large cracks covered the pavement of the walkway.Each step she took felt heavy. Chiara could hear echoes of her childhood all along their walk.

It took a while until they finally reached the threshold of the manor. Or rather, the ruins of it. They didn't know where or how to start. It seemed like even the slightest touch would cause more damage.

But Chiara knew this place well. Since going inside seemed very unlikely, they could start with other areas first. And there was one spot Chiara felt drawn to the most.

"Alright girls, we shou-" turning back Chiara found herself alone.

"Girls? Stella? Bloom? Tecna?" She called out to them. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. That's when she realised that the ruins they stood at just moments ago was no more.

In its place was an open field of green grass and colourful flowers. The eerie atmosphere was replaced with one that felt calm and lively.

Suddenly, a female figure passed right beside her. Her silver hair, longer than Chiara's, and flowing white dress momentarily covered her line of sight.

"Dear!" Said the woman as she approached a man in black robes. He too had long jet black hair. But not as long as the woman's. Hearing her voice, the man turned around. Chiara caught sight of his tense amber eyes that immediately softened once he laid eyes on the woman.

His small frown curved up into a gentle smile as he opened his arms to embrace the woman in white.

"I've missed you,Armadus..."