｡･:*:･ﾟ★"Then I'll rip her throat out. Next problem.":*:･ﾟ☆

｡･:*:･ﾟ★"I played the 'do you know who my mate is' card, obviously."･:*:･ﾟ☆

Octavia

Shit. SHIT.

This is not good. This is not good. I race through the hallways, Sky close on my heels. Why would she give us this now? Why risk giving it to random fairies to just pass along and hope it gets to us safely.

"My love?"

Terra's gone after Bloom, said she'll try and talk her down. Play the whole "if there was ever something between us" card. Sky and I both tried to talk her out of it but she's determined to help us. To help herself in some way. I can't deny her an opportunity to do that herself.

"Octa." I ignore Sky.

I'm shaking. The death grip I have on that fucking vial the only thing keeping me grounded. I have to find Beatrix, and Bloom. And even fucking Stella considering she had the stupid vial in the first place.

"Octavia!"

I whirl around on the hand that grips my arm, half wild as a snarl breaks free from my lips. Sky's eyes are wide and shocked as he grips my arms before- I desperately struggle free from his grip, from the arms banding around me as I'm crushed against my mate's chest.

Distantly, I can feel moisture drip down my face. Ragged sobs and heavy breathing echoing through the room. I don't feel that though. I know it's me, the broken girl slumped in the male's arms but- it's also not me. It's like I'm not there. Like I'm not feeling.

Sky's voice begins to drift through the fog, echoing in my head as he murmurs nonsensical words of comfort.

Are- are you okay. The shadow stutters and I wince at the reminder that even they fear what is to come.

No, but I will be.

Have we got a plan.

Maybe. It's half baked and completely insane.

We've survived on worse.

But it's not just you, me and Beatrix anymore, is it?

Silence.

"Octa?" Sky's voice is quiet and I take in the closet he has hidden in, not glamorous at all especially with the sweeping brush digging into my back and the scent of chlorine permeating the air. "My love, tell me what's wrong and I'll fix it. Okay? I promise I'll sort it."

He sounds so desperate. So eager to stop whatever has brought me to tears because he knows it's not a person he can kill. I gently pull away from him, each move slow and calculated since I know he's a hair's breadth away from going into full Alpha-male-territorial-kill-mode. The sound of me clearing my throat is too loud in the silence between us and I stare up at my mate through teary eyes, fully appreciating that I must look like a mess to him right now.

"I-"

"Sky? Pixie?" A voice hisses through the door, we both turn in shock at the sound of gentle knocks. "You in there? Fenriz got me."

Sky opened the door, taking away the folded up chair he had used as a temporary lock long enough to drag Riven into the cleaning cupboard with us.

"How did you get out of Dowling's dragon blade assembly?" Sky questions with a frown as he runs a hand up and down my side in comfort. "There were guards there to make sure we didn't run off and try to cause trouble or steal one of the blades."

"I played the 'do you know who my mate is' card, obviously."

"Riven." Sky admonishes but I can hear the amusement in his voice.

"What? It sounded urgent, and bad- really fucking bad. So both of you, spill the tea. Now." I blink at the bite of authority in Riven's tone. Helios, I forget how strong and powerful he is sometimes when I'm so used to him being my kind and gentle mate. "Well? Either of you? I didn't get the death glare from Andreas and Irene for escaping without them for nothing."

"Rosalind is back." I blurt out into the darkness, grateful for its presence so that I don't have to see my mates' reactions. Even if their Dumaris senses allow them to see in the dark. "She's on the warpath and wants Beatrix and I back as her pets. In fact, she's got us in her clutches already."

"Then I'll rip her throat out. Next problem." I don't bother to comment on Riven's display of aggression.

"She's drugged us Riven, we'll be under her control by the end of the night." Their snarls come as no surprise and I lean back against Riv when he sidles up behind me, cradling me in his arms as Sky's head drops down to rest on my shoulder. "It's a dirty trick, old magic but it's no doubt one of her many contingency plans for whatever she's got planned tonight."

"Tonight?" Sky questions voice calm as he takes a steadying breath and moves away from me. "She's going to use the crowds leaving and the celebration as a distraction."

"Yep." I whisper, voice full of defeat. "And then we're all fucked."

"Am I the only person who thinks we're overestimating this bitch?" Sky demands and I scoff.

"Helios, I wish." I mutter while softly shaking my head. "Rosalind knows shit. Dirt, knowledge, spells, secrets, codes, passwords, people, history. She's spent years - decades - building her empire. If she wants something, she gets it. Killing her comes with a death sentence and a hundred contingency plans."

"Then we trap her again." Riven states and despite the conviction in his voice I don't believe him. "We'll trick her, weaken her with a poison or sedative, make a stronger prison and then dump her in the ocean with a believable lie about her being sent to foreign worlds as a general ambassador for the queen."

I'm starting to see who the mastermind general Riven could be. Sky can lead armies, he inspires trust and respect but it's Riven who would make all our plans.

"Then, after a suitable period of time we make up for some quiet retirement or apparent death should we need to use her as a martyr. Then the blame can't fall on us publicly and if we can be bothered we could go back and actually kill her."

There's a shocked pause.

"How long exactly have you been planning this?" Sky asks in disbelief.

"The past 30 seconds but I've been gathering favours and knowledge myself since Pixie declared her a threat."

"So not thirty seconds."

"Well I thought you meant that exact plan. I have thirty-two of them waiting in the wings for you."

A desperate bubble of a laugh echoes through the room and I can't help but shake my head at the absurdity of it all. That they think they could just take down Rosalind. Rosalind the General commander, slayer of the Wyrm, advisor to the late king and the most powerful headmistress Alfea has ever seen.

"You make it sound so easy." I whisper.

"It won't be." Riven confesses but there's a quiet determination in his voice. "But we can do it."

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Sky

This speech is boring as hell, Dowling gives beautiful, inspiring words but quite frankly I'm too pissed with her to care. Fucking Rosalind appearing and causing problems but perhaps we could use her to our advantage. We still have to defeat the Burned Ones after all. Let her kill them and hope she dies in the war as well.

Seems too fanciful if I'm being honest.

I glance at my mate, frowning when I see the soft smile adorning her face as she sits by her sister's side. Fake, all of it a mask. She insisted that we go to this stupid assembly that seemingly lasts hours. The crowd seems to be interested in it but I'm too busy scanning those assembled for potential threats.

Thank Helios for the cover of being a guard, I would draw too much attention to myself with the amount of effort I'm putting into glaring at each suspicious person. Not then any of them would really support Rosalind. It's the smooth talkers and those who fit in we need to be concerned about. Riven has gone to find Aisha and Bloom, or more accurately to find Terra who was looking for said girls but seems all of the winx suite bar Stella have vanished.

Beatrix was about ready to start a hunting party when we relayed all the information we have to her via shadow message.

Thankfully dad stepped in and ordered her to stand down. He, Irene and Silva are at the back of the hall, standing straight as representatives of the school but from their proximity and subtle movement of their lips I get the impression that they're plotting something.

That and Silva just signalled for me to join them.

"It's none of those assembled here." Silva tells me as we enter the outer hall to talk in private. "Granted, some of them may be muscle but the main leaders and instigators would have to be here often so it's teachers and students."

"And she already has her claws in Bloom and Aisha." I mutter and he sighs.

"We managed to apprehend, Aisha, Musa and-" He pauses, glancing back into the courtyard. "Brandon."

"Stella's boyfriend?" I ask in shock. He has no links to Rosalind that we know of.

Silva shakes his head. "For what it's worth, I don't think he's connected to Rosalind. She quite frankly doesn't trust males and Brandon has too many connection to the mages and witches of our world for her to trust him."

"Then what did you apprehend him for?" I ask in confusion.

"I think he was trying to help Stella to be honest. He gave us that purple vial you told me about, he saw it on Stella's desk with a note attached - a threat from Bloom. Thought he could deal with it himself."

I drag a hand through my hair in irritation as Silva looks away, both of us clearly annoyed at how complicated this is getting. There's too many players, too many distractions.

Riven has found Terra unconscious in the Stone Circle. Belial whispers to be from his place hidden up my sleeve. I almost smile at the irony of that. She's slowly waking up but there's scorch marks on the ground.

Bloom?

Most likely.

"News from Riven." Silva asks when he sees me looking at the shadow now resting in my open palm. I nod in the way of an answer.

"He's found Terra. She was knocked out in the stone circle."

"Sweet Helios." Silva turn away briefly, hand resting on his hip as he snarls in indignation. He and Harvey raised all of us together, I've been friends with Terra and Sam since we could talk. "This is getting out of hand. We need to find Bloom and someone needs to be on fucking Rosalind watch."

"Saul." Andreas' gruff voice calls as he joins us in the corridor. "Message from Tomen, he's run into a pack of Burned Ones on a supply run."

"Do we know it's him?" Silva demands.

"He did that- facetime, thing." Andreas makes a confused face and I fight the urge to laugh, feeling mild hysteria bubble up as this day really turns to shit. "It's him alright. They're at the village, camped out in Sebastian's shop but the whole village is crawling with the damn things. They've entered no houses but they've gone through the village street by street. Tomen claims it's like they're searching for something."

"Right. Fuck." Silva snaps, dragging a hand down his face. "Sky, call Riven. Gather the specialists and pack up the trucks. Have Octavia scout ahead for us with the Shadows."

"What about Rosalind?" I hissed in shock. " We can't just-"

"The population of that village is just over 2,000. The visitors from this event number in the hundreds and they've all left meaning the roads will be swamped." Silva snarls. "We have a job to do. No one knows of Rosalind, she's a war hero for Apollo's sake. She's not a viable reason for not sending aid and going there personally."

I fight back a snarl and just nod in agreement.

"Beatrix and Irene will be here." Andreas states, "They can keep us up to date and they both know the contingency plans should Rosalind threaten them personally."

I turn away with a nod, unable to look at them as I stride through the halls. Fuck. This is bad. Really fucking bad. Did Rosalind manage to do this?

Tell Riven to gather the specialists in the warehouse and to armour up.

And Octavia?

She's coming with us. Scout ahead for us, we need to know what we're facing.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆

Andreas

"I'm struggling to see how a single Burned One outside the barrier is a serious problem." The queen states in her holographic form before Dowling and Irene. Huh, the two of them look civil- what the fuck? Why the hell is Irene playing Civil? I really need to just get this bullshit over with but the whole war situation is getting in the way.

"But it's not just one and it's not outside the barrier." I declare as Saul and I step into the room and stand by Harvey's side. "There's a large pack of them in the village. The specialists hunting them are regrouping in a local shop but they've taken too many losses to be any form of defence on their own."

"I'll send in the Solarian troops." Luna states, instantly disregarding her previous hesitance. "What is being done currently?"

"We have the specialists mobilising as we speak." Saul takes over. "The strongest of the fairies are joining us and your daughter, Octavia has sent her shadow ahead to scout-"

"I want my daughters to have no part in this."

"I understand your hesitation, Luna." Dowling intercedes, ever the diplomat. "But they are needed. Stella is one of our primary medics and leads many under her command, she will remain at Alfea to tend to the wounded. But Octavia-"

"Octavia has led a mission like this many times, I am aware." The queen cuts off the headmistress with a harsh glare before turning to me. "You need her, but I don't want a repeat of the Ricki situation."

"She has her mates now." I answer gruffly, glaring at the woman who claims to parent the girl I helped raise. "They will help to curb any... bloodlust."

Luna stares at me for a minute longer before the projection cuts off and the office is left in a suspended silence as the four of us look at each other. We're back there, back during the first war. The four of us stood together, Harvey and Rosalind with us as we stood over the bodies of those we couldn't save.

"It's happening then." Irene whispers a hand protectively resting on her bump. "We're going to war."

"Luna will no doubt declare it after this attack is dealt with." Farrah states, voice thick with grief as she slumps back to sit on the desk behind her. "I never thought we would be here again. Especially with Rosalind so clearly trying to make a grand escape."

"What can we do." Saul whispers, voice broken. "The villagers will be slaughtered. Sky just texted saying the shadows came back with news of bloodshed."

"Rosalind can't see you Andreas." Irene whispers, tears welling in her eyes. "She can't see me either. She'll get in your head again and we both know how desperate she was for a shapeshifter child."

Saul snarls but doesn't disagree.

"We'll think of something." Dowling answers, reaching out to clasp Irene's hand for a moment before Irene pulls away and moves to her mate.

I tense when Irene looks between Saul and I, something sad and knowing breaking in her eyes as she gives her mate a quick kiss before bringing me into a tight hug.

"Saul asked you to fight for your family. Sometimes fighting means staying away and we both know that all too well." She pulls back and I feel my own tears well up as she whispers, "Don't leave with unfinished business. Tell him. Before it's too late."

I stare after even when she's long gone, swallowing back my tears at the thought of leaving Sky once more. At leaving Beatrix, Riven and Octavia. Not to mention Saul, but there is a chance he would come with us.

"Have you got a safe house in mind?" Dowling asks as she moves to the war chest that serves as a talking piece coffee table.

"Yes." I answered without hesitation. Octavia helped me set it up, she has connections that can deal with jumping through legal hoops. "I can take Irene there if we have to run."

Saul nods at my statement but I can see the indecision in his eyes. I know the feeling. The choice of saving yourself and your family and leaving your soldiers and children behind in consequence. Dowling pulls out her gear and I move to leave, giving Saul a look-

"Saul-"

"No, Farrah." I interrupt. "I know Rosalind fucked with your head when it came to Saul and Irene but now isn't the time for apologies. You can confess your truths and sins when we win."

I grab Saul's arm and drag him from the room.

"What do you mean 'fuck with her head'." Saul murmurs and I for a second I feel bad for his confusion.

"You and I both know the only time when Rosalind approved of your relationship with Irene was when she thought she could get another Shapeshifter to manipulate and mould from birth." Saul stiffens at the reminder and I fight down my own snarl of rage at what they lost. "Once she decided that was no longer an option she needed her only shapeshifter under control and having a mate she loved made her erratic."

"She tried to threaten me in the beginning." Saul confesses as we walk through the hallways. "To force me to leave Irene and when that didn't work she tried to threaten my life to control her but-"

I relish in his small chuckles of laughter and I don't bother to hide my own grin at his next words.

"But we both know how that ended with the burning of EastCliff"

A/N: Fight scene coming up soon, there will be plenty of drama as you can imagine.

Has anyone got theories about what will happen? With Rosalind, the Burned Ones, Dowling, Bloom etc.