Winx Club - Eternal Spark

Chapter 3: Night meeting

A black sky filled with stars had long since spread over Alfea. The students had already gone back to their rooms to sleep for the night, except for the Winx, who were gathered on the steps at the entrance to the school, only able to see each other thanks to the moonlight, which cast a faint blue glow over the entire schoolyard.

The girls were silent, each lost in thought, brows furrowed, as if trying to find the solution to some insoluble problem. All of a sudden, Stella let out a loud sigh, breaking the oppressive silence.

"How about we put up some posters?" The blonde fairy suggested without much conviction, her chin resting lazily in the palm of her hand. "You know, the kind with a picture and a description that goes: 'Have you seen this dead guy around? He's nice and doesn't bite...oh, and he's not actually dead."

Tecna rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation at Stella's ludicrous attempt at humour.

"My dear Stella, I hacked into Magix most confidential records to get what little information we have on Hagen and you want to put up posters?" She asked, about to lose what was left of her patience after this endless day. "You realize that if we get caught, we could be in big trouble? Have you ever heard of jail?"

"Not quite, Tecna." Stella objected with a cheeky smile. "You could get into big trouble. As far as I remember, we haven't done anything illegal...at least, this time."

Tecna jumped off the step she was sitting on and looked defiantly at Stella, her hands filled with neon green sparks of electricity.

"Now you've done it! Stella, say another word and I swear I'll turn you into a..."

"Enough, you two!" Musa shouted, stepping between the two of them. "I know we're all tired, but fighting won't help us find a solution any faster!"

Tecna lowered her eyes in shame, brought back to her senses by Musa's words. She lowered her magic-filled hands and placed them behind her back before whispering a shy "sorry" to her friends, ashamed of the immature behavior she had just displayed.

"Not my fault Tecna takes everything wrong," Stella hissed, giving the purple-haired fairy a dirty look.

"Stella!" Bloom, Aisha, Musa and Flora shouted, as they always did when Stella would say something outrageous.

Stella stared at them defiantly for a few seconds without saying a word, too proud to back down. Then her expression softened, and she sighed, wailing.

"Alright... I'm sorry Tecna, I'm in a bad mood today..."

Truth be told, they were all in a foul mood. After a boring and endless afternoon of classes where they had to endure the hostility of the other students, they had spent the evening trying to find a way to locate Hagen in the endless maze that was the Magical Dimension, but to no avail. The task seemed impossible, no matter how they looked at it. As dusk fell, they had decided to go for a walk outside and make the most of the absence of the other students, all of whom were already asleep. They had hoped that nature and some fresh air would help them find a solution to their problem. Unfortunately for them, the air happened to be more cold than fresh, and the grasshoppers' singing made it almost impossible for them to focus on anything else. They had been on Alfea's stairs for over two hours and had not made any progress.

"In any case, with the state of our reputation right now, I have a feeling that people would rather hinder our search than help us," Aisha grumbled, thinking back to Stella's poster idea. "I'm afraid we can't count on anyone but ourselves to find him..."

"I guess you're right," Flora whispered with her melodic voice. "But perhaps we should ask Ms Faragonda for help? She doesn't hate us, and she knew Hagen, so she must know a lot more about him than we do. Maybe she knows about some kind of hideout he used to have..."