Winx Club - Eternal Spark

Chapter 4: Ghost in the well

Overjoyed, Daphne opened her arms wide and dove towards Bloom. Anticipating a violent collision, Bloom and Musa leapt backwards and fell to the ground. They closed their eyes in preparation for the impact, but it never came. Daphne simply passed through them. The only thing they felt was a warm gust of air.

The two confused fairies scrambled to their feet, rubbing their sore limbs.

It took Daphne a few seconds to realize what had just happened. When it finally dawned on her that she couldn't interact with the material world anymore, she turned to Musa and Bloom with an apologetic look on her face. She was just as disappointed as they were.

"Sorry," she apologized with a voice filled with sorrow. "It's been so long since I've seen anyone. I forgot I wasn't... you know."

"It's nothing," Musa reassured her with a pained smile.

Unlike her friend, Bloom struggled to conceal the disappointment on her face. She would have preferred it if Daphne had crashed into them - at least that would have meant that she was still alive. Even so, she found herself clinging to the warmth she had felt when Daphne had passed through them. She could still feel it against her skin.

"It's been so long since we've seen each other, Daphne... so long I can't even remember when the last time even was..." Bloom muttered, only now beginning to realize just how long it had been since they'd seen each other for the last time. "I have so much to..."

The sentence fell from her lips as she noticed the urgent looks the Winx were giving her. Looks that said, 'We're really happy for you, Bloom, but we haven't got all night.' She let out an annoyed sigh and turned back to Daphne. They were right, but she hated it.

"I... I have a lot to tell you, but I think I'll have to save it for another time," she said in a choked voice, casting bitter glances at her friends. "We have something to ask you..."

"I understand," Daphne giggled, winking knowingly at the rest of the Winx, whose impatience she had sensed. "I'm not sure I can stay long anyway... there's very little water in the well after all."

Bloom opened her mouth to try and explain the reason for her call, but everything in her mind was getting all mixed up. Seeing her sister again had turned her upside down, and she was no longer able to put two coherent thoughts together. She just wanted to hug her and cry in her arms to let go of all her negative feelings. Luckily for her, Aisha noticed her distress and took it upon herself to explain the situation. The fairy of waves bowed to Daphne's spirit and began speaking, still bowing to her, as Bloom watched in dismay.

"It's an honor to meet you, Princess Daphne. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Aisha and I'm the Princess of Andros. I believe our kingdoms were once known as allies. Please forgive our impertinence, but we are in need of your help. We're in search of a man by the name of Hagen, who was a member of the Company of Light, but we have no idea where he could be. We'd like to know if you have any information that might lead us in the right direction..."

Bloom listened to her friend, agape. She felt the need to intervene several times during Aisha's speech, to tell her that she didn't have to be so solemn with her sister... but just couldn't bring herself to.

After all, what did she know? Aisha had probably been brought up to behave like this with other royals, it was normal for her...and probably for Daphne as well. This only seemed odd to her because she had grown up on Earth. As if to prove her right, Daphne smiled warmly at Aisha and returned her curtsy, without a hint of hesitation or unease. The nymph then raised her head to the sky, seemingly remembering a long-forgotten past.

"I knew Hagen. Well, 'knew' is a big word, but he was around a lot," she replied with an endearing smile. "He had become very close to our father, so close that he had been appointed his personal blacksmith. He was regularly in charge of my protection, and yours too! But... I'm sorry, he was a bit of a boor and I never really spoke with him... I much preferred Faragonda."