The Steel Fairy ‖ Fate : The Winx Saga

03 ‖ The Queen's choice

The whole student body is gathered in the great hall. Some sleepy faces don't realize what is happening. I'm full awake but I don't either. It's been decades since the Otherworld went through a war.

Dowling, Silva and Harvey are up on the balcony, probably discussing what to do next. I guess they are waiting for higher instructions.

Stella is hiding in the corner among her crowd. People approche them, like vultures, trying to get a scoop.

"Did you know, Stella?" "Did your mom tell you?", others ask. Yeah, like if Queen Luna included her daughter in any decisions she took...

"Fuck off!", shouts Riven. I move away from them.

Some really don't have their priority straight because they are talking about me, in a not so soft whisper : "She almost killed Silva this morning. She still doesn't control her powers." "Is she not a second year?"

"Fuck you!" I mutter before leaving the main building. Whenever news will come out, they will find a way to me eventually.

Outside in the courtyard, the graduated Specialists are leading the operations. Vehicles are equipped, munitions stocked up, medical kits checked and packed in the trunks. Marco is shouting instructions to a group of undergrads recruited to help doing while superiors are busy thinking.

"Hey!" I hear but I don't locate the caller right away. And then I see a short but muscular ginger guy waving at me. Kiel, Marco's roommate from when they were still studying here. He was a friend of Jaxton too... He always had great tips to give me to improve my sparring skills, and was one of the few to care about me after the incident. Did he feel responsible for what I did ? Because of the various techniques he taught me ? His light blue eyes were fixed one mine, kindly ignoring the armor that was spreading to my neck.

"We're pulling up a barbed-wire fence around the school yards. Want to help?"

He shows me the big roll loaded on the back of the pickup truck. Marco eyes us sideway but doesn't say anything. "Sure." I mutter. I don't have anything else to do. I hop onto the truck and he climbs behind the steering wheel. Vera, a first year Specialist, gives me a tight smile from the passenger seat. I can't do much better in return.

We drive across the neatly mown lawns, past the School gates, toward the forest. We stop a little before the tree line. I jump out of the car.

"We are double lining the barrier?" I stretch my hand to touch the invisible curtain which shimmers under my finger tips.

"Yes, from the inside." reply Kiel. "The magical barrier is for the Burned Ones..."

"And this one is for...?" ask Vera.

"We don't know yet," says Kiel. "But we'd better be prepared."

The Specialist opened the tailgate of the truck and I motion to them to move back while I unload the roll safely on the ground. I have to concentrate on the mass of metal but it's not as painful as it would be for them to lift it on muscle strength.

Vera grabs some of the wooden stakes and a hammer and Kiel secures the fence on them with wires. I move the roll carefully, making sure they're done working on their section before unrolling the next one. We make good progress. Vera is uneasy, but I don't think I'm the reason why. She keeps looking sideways to her superior as they work close to each other. He, on his side, is fully focused on the task. Kiel is not a student anymore, he's a soldier and the queendom is at war.

In the distance, we hear engines before we even see the vehicles. We stand tall while six black sedans pass next to us, Solarian flags flying on the fenders, followed by two army tanks. The Solarian delegation that the Headmasters were waiting for.