Winx Club: Dark Magic (Season 4)

XXIV: Trian of Zenith

"This place gives me the creeps," Stella said for the third time. 

The Caves of Cognitus had proved to be a labyrinth inside, and after almost an hour of wandering through various near-identical tunnels in complete darkness -save for Tecna's glowing holo-map and Stella's sunburst light- the Winx had eventually resolved to split into two groups to cover more ground. 

Stella, Aisha and Musa traversed the echoing caves together, though every turn they took gave them the eerie feeling that they'd already wandered the same tunnel before. 

"I'm not one to throw in the towel," Musa said, "but even I'm starting to wonder what we're gaining from this."

"I know," Aisha nodded, "it feels like we've already been here."

The three fairies surveyed their shadowy surroundings, all of which seemed identical to every other cave they'd trekked through that day. 

Stella sighed, stopping to lean against one of the cave walls for a rest. "Who's to say that this so-called "elder" is even in these caves in the first place? I mean, Tecna said he hasn't been seen in ages. What if we've wasted all this time just to come up empty-handed?"

Nearing the end of the space Stella's light reached, Aisha had to stop and turn to the fairy of the Shining Sun. "I don't like this any more than you do, Stella, but we need to hold on to some kind of hope... or else, what's the point of this entire mission at all?"

"Love the sentiment, but we can't just keep wandering in circles hoping we trip across something new instead of getting more and more lost," Musa replied. 

"Ugh," Stella huffed. "This is the Planet of Technology and Logic, for goodness' sake. Why doesn't anything here make sense?"

Aisha's ears perked up. "Stella, that's genius!"

"What, something I said?" Stella asked, confused. 

"Yes," Aisha chuckled. "Zenith is the Planet of Technology and Logic all on its own, but we're trying to play guessing games instead of following the logical route." 

"In that case, I have an idea," Musa chimed in. 

Aisha and Stella both stared at her with baited breath. 

"Stella, turn off your light," Musa instructed.

The golden-haired fairy raised an eyebrow at her friend, but slowly allowed the light in her hands to dim and eventually fade completely, leaving the three girls in complete darkness.

Or so they thought. 

Only a moment later, Aisha noticed a dull green glow emanating from the wall opposite her, forming perfectly straight lines that pulsated in one direction. "There," she pointed. "What are those?"

"I saw lines just like that on Tecna's holo-map earlier," Musa recalled. "They must be a natural part of the planet's energy, like veins carrying it throughout the realm."

"Whoops, guess I was just a bit too bright for us to see those," Stella realized. "Though, I'll always advocate that more light is better in almost any other circumstance."

"So, should we just follow them?" Musa asked. 

"Can't hurt to try," Aisha shrugged, starting to follow the pulsating lines in the direction they led. "Not like we can be any more lost than we already are, right?"

"Right," Stella shook her head, falling in line behind Aisha and Musa. "That's exactly the vote of confidence I needed..."

~<->~<->~<->~

"Well, that turned out better than I expected," Tecna admitted as Aisha, Musa and Stella emerged from the tunnel just opposite her. 

Tecna's team had spent the past two and three-quarter hours searching the caves for any sign of the wizard Trian, only to finally find their way to their current location: a well lit dome-shaped cave with over a dozen tunnel openings extending in every direction. The binary veins of the cave all seemed to converge in this very spot, illuminating the space and providing a much needed reprieve from the dimness of the tunnels. 

"You're telling us," Musa responded with a smile, "I was starting to wonder if we'd ever find our way back together."

"I'm just glad to see some light," Stella beamed. "Reunited, at last."

Roxy let out a laugh at Stella's joyous reaction. 

"Now that we're all together again, what now?" Bloom wondered aloud. 

"Everything is pointing to this exact spot," Tecna confirmed. "But there's nothing here. Not even my holo-map is detecting anything aside from a strong energy, but that seems to be self-evident."

"You might want to take another look," Flora mused, a small grin on her face as she delicately pointed to the top of the cave ceiling. 

The Winx collectively drew their gaze to where Flora had gestured to see a figure emerging from the very middle of the dome, where the veins all met in the center. As they waited in eager anticipation, the figure came to be seen as an elderly man with a neatly trimmed white beard and short hair, and a subtle, blueish tinge to his skin. He descended gracefully into the room, holding a silver staff, his green and white robes floating around him as he came down. The thing that had everyone truly captivated was the magnificence of his eyes: a brilliant green, one that seemed to brighten the entire space even more than the cave's light. By the time he touched the ground, there were no questions about the man's identity. 

Tecna stepped forward, eyes shining with fascination as she addressed him: 

"Trian."