Winx Club: Dark Magic (Season 4)

XXIII: Breakthrough

Aiyana was already focused on Gantlos when he turned his head to look at her. She was very evidently exhausted and frustrated, just judging by the look on her face, but even Gantlos had to credit her for still standing upright and trying over and over without giving up for even a second. Whenever one of the Wizards was ready to throw their hands up and call it a day, Aiyana was still ready to give it another shot, even if she hadn't seen any results after countless hours of failure after failure without a moment's rest.

"Try again," Gantlos simply said, taking a step to stand directly behind her.

Aiyana sighed, but didn't retort. She took another deep breath and went to shoot her hand out, but hesitated and bristled as Gantlos put one of his hands on each of her shoulders. 

"What are you-"

"Don't worry about it," Gantlos instructed, his face stoic. "Try again."

Aiyana obeyed, fully outstretching her right hand again, and Gantlos felt both her shoulders tense and seize as she did so. He also observed the slightest jerk forward of her right hand, as if trying to shoot the magic through her palm. 

"Stop," Gantlos repeated his first command, removing his hands from her shoulders. "You're still too afraid of your power."

"Tell me something I don't know," Aiyana huffed, looking at Gantlos over her shoulder. "I'm trying-"

"That's the problem," Gantlos informed her. "You're trying to dictate. You're trying to force your power to do exactly what you tell it to, instead of giving it some freedom. You're too afraid of being controlled by it that you're demanding complete submission from it."

"Okay," Aiyana nodded, "and?"

"And," Gantlos explained, "that's not how magic works. There's give and take."

"Are you implying that whenever you use your powers, you try something and just hope your magic doesn't have its own idea and betray your intentions?" Aiyana asked assumedly. "That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen."

Gantlos shook his head. "No, that's not how it works. Not when you become sufficiently acquainted with your powers and experienced. I've been doing this for centuries, so I can command my powers to do whatever I like. But you're just getting to know yours. You have to persuade your magic to reveal itself, like coaxing a scared animal out of its hiding place; you have to convince it of your amicability, and show it you're willing to cooperate. Trying to wrestle and smother it to gain full control over it is hardly an effective form of negotiation."

Aiyana bit her lip, considering the Wizard's words. Eventually, she turned fully around to come face-to-face with Gantlos. "Okay. Tell me what to do."

"First, understand that magic wants to be used. It will always desire to be freed, and the only way that happens is when it is wielded by its host. This fact makes it extremely protective of its host -especially a blood-bound magic like yours- so don't be so afraid of it. It will never intentionally do you ill; its first priority, under any circumstance, is to ensure your health and well-being, as you and your power are eternally tied to one another." 

"Oh," Aiyana said. "I... I didn't know that." She stared down at her hands, studying them, no doubt wondering about the untapped power within them. 

"Enough attacking," Gantlos decided. "Just try to coax the energy to reveal itself to you. Don't try to force it to do any one thing, just give it some freedom and see what it does."

Aiyana looked at Gantlos for a long moment, then back at her hands, and swallowed hard. "Alright," she said finally. "Alright."

"And relax," Gantlos added. "Don't be so tense."

Aiyana nodded once, then gently lifted her hands between herself and the Wizard, palms facing up. She closed her eyes and her breathing slowed and deepened. A minute of silence passed, then another one. Gantlos watched the muscles in her neck and forearms gradually release, her fingers becoming less stiff with each breath. Another deep breath, and something happened. Just a flicker - a small, dark spark from her left palm, then two more from her right. Gantlos stared intently as the fairy continued trying to coax her power out. 

The small, random sparks of dark magic slowly became more frequent and grew in size. They stopped looking like sparks and turned into ribbons of shadow, moving with fluidity and grace. 

Aiyana finally opened her eyes several moments later, and Gantlos instantly saw that her irises had turned from their usual faded violet to a deeper indigo, with the blackness from her pupils seeming to extend further, corrupting the color with darkness. A look of amazement was immediately present on her face as she observed the now constant display of dark magic emanating from both her hands. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she played with the power, watching it jump through her fingers and twirl around her wrists in an elegant fashion. Gantlos didn't even notice he was smiling until it was too late, and he quickly dialed it back, trying to appear as indifferent as possible. The shadows danced between the fairy's hands, travelled up her arms, and interwove themselves between locks of her dark hair before twisting into the air above her and vanishing into a puff of black and purple smoke. 

By the time the magic had finished its show, Aiyana was beaming from ear to ear. After carefully summoning a few more shadows from her palms and joyfully observing their movements, she eventually bid the energy adieu and rested her arms at her sides. 

"Thank you," she said to Gantlos, still grinning. 

The Wizard only nodded, his face having returned to its usual half-scowl. 

"You don't have to look so apathetic all the time," she pointed out. "I know you enjoyed that too."

"I don't know what you mean, fairy," Gantlos denied. 

"Well done," Ogron applauded, interrupting the two of them. "It seems we've had a breakthrough. I think we'll call that enough for now, before you collapse from exhaustion, Aiyana. Might as well end on a high note."

"Sounds good to me," the fairy agreed, following Ogron back to the castle, though not before whispering to Gantlos as she passed him, "You can't convince me I didn't see that smile."