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When Marion stepped out of the Red Fountain ship onto the Alfea courtyard and she and Faragonda saw each other again after what had felt like a lifetime, all they could do was cry.
After Marion and Oritel's rescue from the dark abyss that was the dwelling of the Ancestral Witches, she had taken a few days to start getting reacquainted with her castle, her family and the Magical Dimension as a whole. The last of the three would take time, seeing as much had changed in her absence, but Marion knew that there was no better thing to start with than a reunion with her dearest friends. Faragonda, the Headmistress of Alfea College for Fairies and a woman Marion would've died for, was up first, which led her and Oritel to the doors of her old school.
Faragonda, expecting them outside with Hagen in tow, nearly burst at the sight. While she was very emotional and aching to hold her friends, she wanted to give them the space they needed and thus waited for them to initiate any possible physical contact. Then, the second Marion threw herself into her arms and hugged her, Faragonda squeezed her close and let out a choked sob. Oritel hugged Hagen like he was finally seeing a brother again, and Marion's legs gave up under her. Faragonda followed suit as they sat on the ground. She caressed Marion's long hair, neither of them in a hurry anywhere.
When Marion and Faragonda finally parted and managed to stand up, they both broke into the widest, most tearful smile. Marion allowed Faragonda to hug Oritel tightly as she moved on to embrace Hagen. The group of friends felt like no time had passed since their last meeting, but it also seemed like it was forever ago. The rest of their day was spent catching up and reminiscing together, but in the morning Marion requested a private conversation with Faragonda.
More than happy to talk to Marion again, Faragonda took her on a walk on the Alfea grounds. Marion admired the college she had also once made memories at and graduated from. Everything was so recent that she found it hard to believe she was actually no longer imprisoned in Obsidian.
"I still can't believe I'm here," Marion finally murmured, scanning at the lovely pink building, "I wasn't sure if I'd ever see this place again."
"I wasn't sure either," Faragonda replied sadly, "I wanted to hold on to hope, but you were so completely lost that no one could trace even a tiny piece of your magic and so I… I didn't know what to do. I tried, and so did Griffin, but we had to hold each other back from venturing too deep into the dark. Believe me, I would've drained myself of all my powers if it had brought you and Oritel back."
"I'm glad you didn't," Marion said, "Alfea and Cloudtower need you two, and so do I."
Faragonda smiled and touched her hand. "I promise we won't be parted like that again."
Marion beamed and looked around once more. Alfea had not changed; it was as beautiful as it had been and it felt as much like home as it had felt the last time she had stepped foot on the campus. For a moment Marion simply gazed at the young fairies that were going about their day and then she took note of two familiar figures through a large window, knowing that her husband and Hagen were chatting inside. This made her smirk.
"So much has changed over the years, but some things have stayed the same," she said with a teasing tone to her voice, "Hagen still looks at you like you're his world."
"Marion!" Faragonda exclaimed and blushed intensely as Marion giggled. She found it amusing how easily flustered Faragonda still was when her relationship with Hagen became the topic of conversation.
"Come now, I saw you two yesterday," Marion explained, "He cares for you deeply. It makes me happy to know that you've had him here with you."
Faragonda's face fell a little. "Yes, well… Not for as long as you might think. He came here from Hoggar a short while ago, and getting him out of his gloomy castle took some effort. Before that moment I hadn't seen him for years."
"Years?" Marion questioned, stopping in her tracks. Faragonda nodded affirmatively. She sensed that they were getting into a longer conversation and conjured a picnic blanket for her and Marion to sit on. Once they were settled, their discussion continued.
"It's hard to imagine him anywhere but by your side," Marion said softly, and her comment tugged at Faragonda's heartstrings, "Did something happen after Oritel and I disappeared?"
Faragonda looked down at the grass, suddenly silent. Marion could tell that she was reliving uncomfortable memories and touched her shoulder lovingly.
"You don't have to tell me if it's difficult."
"No, it's alright," Faragonda reassured her, "Like Griffin and I, Hagen, too, tried his everything to find you. He exhausted himself attempting to feel the presence of Oritel's sword, his best work to date. When nothing yielded results, I think he blamed himself."
"Blame- Blamed himself?" Marion exclaimed in horror, "How could our capture by the Ancestral Witches be his fault?"
Faragonda chuckled sadly. "He has always been stubborn, he found a way to make it so. When we had to pick our lives back up and create a routine somehow, Hagen just… left. It was all too much, so I understand his desire for solitude - I just didn’t expect it to last for as long as it did. I let him go because I didn’t want to force him to stay and I had to tend to Alfea anyway. That was the end of it.”
"How did you find him again?" Marion asked curiously. Faragonda's eyes regained a happier gleam.
"It was the Winx who did," she replied and saw her friend's eyes widen, "Bloom sought him out on her quest to find you. Hagen, of course, had no idea who she was. He had been alone for far too long, which obligated me to intervene."
Faragonda stopped herself, recalling Hagen pointing a sharp blade at Bloom's throat. Her cheeks reddened slightly. "…I'm sure Bloom would gladly tell you the details."
The expression on Marion's face changed at the sound of her daughter's name. Her mind was filled with images of Bloom and found that picturing her as an infant came easier than thinking of the adult she was now. Still, she hadn't had either version of Bloom in her life for very long, which was something she mourned every day.
"Bloom is so much older now," Marion said quietly, "The last time I saw her before ending up in Obsidian she was a baby, snugly wrapped up in a blanket in the arms of my pre-teen. Then an eternity passed, or maybe the blink of an eye, and suddenly she was standing in front of me as this beautiful young woman that I hardly recognized. When I think about all that I missed it feels like my heart is being crushed."
Faragonda took Marion's hand into both of hers. "Oh, Marion…"
"And my firstborn!" Marion faltered, tears appearing in her eyes, "Daphne is gorgeous and so very grown up as well, but she doesn't have- She's incorporeal, Faragonda! I hate that I can't wrap my arms around my sweet girl and hold her. And do you know what kills me too? One of the first things I noticed when I saw her again is that she doesn't have the Dragon Flame, I could feel its absence."
"Did Daphne already tell you the story?" Faragonda asked, to which Marion nodded.
"She did," she lamented, "And every time I recall it, it hurts. You know, I was the Fairy of the Dragon Flame once, and it was the most beautiful feeling in the world. My mother also carried the Flame, as did her mother before her, and when I gave birth to Daphne, our firstborn child, that power came to her, as is tradition. However, I didn’t lose the entirety of it upon this change - I kept a piece of the Flame kind of like a memory, a relic of having been its guardian. But because of the terror of the Ancestral Witches, Daphne parted with the Dragon Flame before she had even gotten to properly experience it and reach her full potential. She tore every last drop from her very being, transferred it to Bloom and sent her to Earth so that both her little sister and the Dragon Flame could survive. To carry that power means to be intrinsically linked with it, and I cannot imagine the feeling Daphne must have felt when she severed that bond. I don’t wish it on anyone.”
Faragonda's heart ached for her friend and her family. "Daphne showed great courage at such a young age."
"Of course she did, she's Oritel's girl," Marion whispered, "I'm so proud of her, of both my daughters, and Bloom is radiant. Being the Fairy of the Dragon Flame becomes her and she carries it like a queen. I also don't regret following Oritel into the dark void, because he's my soulmate and I would follow him anywhere, but I just wish that my girls didn't have to go through what they did - that our family was never separated like it was."
Marion leaned her head on Faragonda's shoulder, basking in the sunlight. The soothing summer breeze helped her relax quickly, but the pain lingered in the back of her mind. She sighed deeply.
"And now, after everything that's happened, Daphne is cursed and I'm suddenly a mother to two adults," she said, "It's not over."
"If it's of any comfort, you and Oritel have an army of people behind you," Faragonda replied, and began to smile as she saw familiar fairies in the distance, "Bloom, in particular, continues to be well looked after."
It didn't take long for Marion to notice what Faragonda had seen. The Winx sat down on a large picnic blanket of their own on the other side of the courtyard. The picture wasn't quite complete without Bloom, who was spending the day with Daphne, but the arrival of the rest of the group was enough to pique Marion's interest. She lifted her head up just as Stella turned to wave at Faragonda cheerfully, and unknowingly sent a moderately strong wave of magic through the older women.
"They're very powerful fairies," Marion said thoughtfully.
"Indeed," Faragonda agreed, "Some of them I think you recognize."
"How could I not?" Marion questioned, her gentle gaze sweeping over two particular princesses, "Aisha and Stella are spitting images of their mothers. I remember when they were little and I was pregnant with Bloom. I was so excited for her to grow up with them, and when she was born I got a brief glimpse of how great that would've been before the witches began to torment the Magic Dimension. Seeing that in the end the girls found their way to Bloom anyway makes me happy, but I..."
She paused. There was a lump in her throat. "Everything is so new, and I'm still coming to terms with the fact that all five of those girls, who are strangers to me, probably know my daughter better than I do."
"They love Bloom very much," Faragonda said comfortingly, "And they will be happy to tell you anything you want to know about her years here."
"I don't doubt that," Marion assured her, "In the short time that I've spent with Bloom so far, she has already made it clear that she loves them equally as deeply - I think she would even give her life for them. Their friendship is precious and meaningful."
"Much like yours with Luna and Niobe," Faragonda reminded her friend with a cheeky grin. Marion chuckled.
"Yes, like that," she said, and in her voice was a great longing to see her friends and Alfea roommates again after several grim years of separation, "I will forever be grateful for the Winx's presence in Bloom's life, but I just don't know them like she does. Then again, I don't know her like they do either. None of this means that I don't trust them, because I do, but it's- It's complex. Apart from the few memories I have of Aisha and Stella when they were babies, I know little."
Faragonda was instantly struck with an idea. "I could tell you about the girls, if you'd like."
Marion was curious and eager to learn about the people who meant the world to her daughter, so she agreed.
"Where shall I begin?" Faragonda debated, knowing that the Winx had done and experienced so much together, "Well, Stella was actually the one who brought Bloom to Alfea."
"Truly?"
"Yes! She was Bloom's first friend here."
"Luna's pride and joy," Marion murmured tenderly, "I should've known she would find her."
"Ever since she did, and introduced Bloom to the others, that group has been inseparable. Much like her mother, Stella is kind and deeply protective of her friends, and never hesitates to stand her ground - sometimes to the point of getting her in trouble with her teachers," Faragonda halted her tale with a light laugh, "Her powers of the Shining Sun are strong, and she displayed this when she protected Radius and earned her Enchantix in the process. Stella is a mighty opponent for any evil. Solaria could not wish for a finer Guardian Fairy and Crown Princess."
Marion looked over at Stella. She was lying on the picnic blanket with her head on the lap of the girl Marion had recently learned to be Flora. Stella had her eyes closed as she bathed in the summer sunlight, and Marion could tell even from afar how much she loved it. She understood that sensation; being in the presence of fire, and feeling the the Dragon Flame within her, was heavenly to her.
With the exception of Radius' warm brown eyes, Stella had inherited her mother's gorgeous looks, and Faragonda's description of her personality and courageous acts to protect her family made Marion recognize both of their traits in her. She was beginning to anticipate speaking to her herself, knowing that there was no way her friends hadn't raised the most wonderful young woman in the world. With this in mind, Marion fixed her gaze on Aisha, who sat next to Flora with a tiny pixie asleep on her shoulder.
"What of Aisha?" she asked curiously, but kept going, "Oh, she looks so much like her mother. When she was a baby, Niobe sat with her by the ocean even if she was too young to understand a thing. I imagine she still loves the water."
"Very much so," Faragonda confirmed, "She's the Fairy of Waves, and a force to be reckoned with. When Andros was in grave danger, she saved Queen Ligea's life and earned her Enchantix powers by doing so. This was a very selfless act, because she chose to heal her aunt instead of undoing a curse set upon herself by…"
She hesitated. "By Valtor."
Marion flinched slightly, and Faragonda, noticing the way her friend balled her hand into a fist, worried that she had overstepped a boundary.
"Do you want me to stop? I can if you want me to."
Marion shook her head. "No, tell me more. You said Aisha was cursed?"
"Yes. Valtor blinded her," Faragonda resumed her story, "But luckily her Fairy Dust was powerful enough to restore her sight. Like her friends, she's a strong fairy, as fierce as Niobe with Teredor's passion for safeguarding her people and her homeland. One day, Andros will have a great queen, but the rest of the Winx already have an even more terrific friend."
Marion felt emotional when she gazed at Aisha, Niobe's brilliant girl. She could recall the day Niobe told her she was pregnant like it was yesterday, and since then Aisha had evidently grown into a beautiful person and a Crown Princess her country could stand behind. Marion could sense the magnitude of her and her friends' magic across the courtyard and made a well-educated guess that Niobe and Teredor's pride for their daughter knew no bounds. Bloom having had both Aisha and Stella by her side throughout her years at Alfea made Marion feel elated.
"Tell me about the girl next to Aisha," she switched her focus onto the next fairy, "The one with purple hair. Tecna, right?"
"Ah, Tecna and Aisha's worlds were actually very intertwined not too long ago," Faragonda explained, "When Valtor began his terrible conquest to take over the Magic Dimension, he opened the Omega Portal on Andros. As more and more beings that were locked in the Omega Dimension escaped, the portal became highly unstable. Knowing that a total collapse of this rift would've destroyed not only Andros but everything we hold dear, the Winx headed to Aisha's home realm to attempt to stop the chaos. This is where Tecna earned her Enchantix powers: she made an immense sacrifice and single-handedly closed the Omega Portal."
For the first time since Faragonda started telling her stories of the Winx, Marion froze. She changed her position on the blanket so that she could properly face her friend, unsure if she was lying.
"That is not possible," Marion insisted, but doubted herself, "…How is that possible? That would require a tremendous amount of magic! How did a single fairy close a portal that dangerous?"
"Sometimes I still find myself asking the same question," Faragonda admitted, "But you said it yourself, they're all powerful fairies. What Tecna did that day was exceptional."
"What happened to her then?" Marion asked, keen to know more, "I would've thought that the impact of closing that portal killed her, but evidently it didn't, thank goodness."
"Tecna was sucked into the Omega Dimension," Faragonda answered pensively, "The girls thought that she was dead, as did I. The Winx were crushed, but also angry like never before, and only more eager to destroy Valtor for good. Eventually they found Tecna in the Omega Dimension and put an end to Valtor's reign of terror. I think Tecna will carry the weight of what happened to her for a long time, but she has already come far. She's courageous, analytical and kind, and I can think of no one better to be Zenith's Guardian Fairy."
Thinking of Tecna stunned Marion. She had never heard of anyone closing the Omega Portal alone. That gate was practically impenetrable for a reason. Sealing it when it was spiralling out of control and then surviving such an intense blow was proof of how remarkable Tecna was. Marion felt suddenly humbled in the presence of her daughter's friends.
"How incredible," she said quietly, "Could you tell me about Flora next?"
"Of course," Faragonda gave a happy reply, "She's the Fairy of Nature, the Guardian Fairy of Linphea and an older sister to Miele. Too many foes have underestimated her and seen in her only a girl with an affinity for flowers, but her ability to connect with all aspects of nature makes her a powerful fairy. After she earned her Enchantix by rescuing Miele from danger she bested three evil witches called the Trix, and she has been a vital element of keeping Alfea safe throughout her and the Winx's time here. Flora is gentle and caring, but also a strong-willed defender of the people she loves and a formidable rival for any challenger."
Flora was indeed much like Faragonda had described her. Marion watched her conjure up a daisy from the grass and tuck it behind Stella's ear. Then she created another one and sent it flying through the air until it landed softly onto the head of the pixie still sleeping atop Aisha's shoulder. Aisha giggled at the sight of her pixie companion's little flower hat, making Flora laugh too. The sweet moment touched Marion's heart.
"Oh, Flora loves her friends so much," she said and gave Faragonda an affectionate look, "She reminds me of you."
"Now, that's high praise," Faragonda said with a chuckle, "I believe we still have Musa left."
"Yes, please tell me about her," Marion sat up straight and focused on Musa. She was lying on her side with headphones on, lightly bopping her head to the melody of whatever song she was listening to. Occasionally she offered her headphones to Tecna, whose face lit up at every song recommendation she received.
"It probably isn't hard to guess that she's the Fairy of Music," Faragonda started, "She's Melody's Guardian Fairy and an advocate for the arts. Her home realm and friends are also very important to her, and she doesn't hesitate to defend them or even put herself in harm's way for them. In fact, she earned her Enchantix powers by saving Princess Galatea from a destructive fire that was created by dark magic in the Alfea library. Musa's way of harnessing music and using it to her advantage is astounding, and I'm sure she could produce a sound wave strong enough to make Hagen's castle crumble."
Once Marion had received a short introduction to each of the Winx, she fell silent. She had less to say than she expected, because the degree of what the girls had gone through was unreal and she had to sit with that for a while. The Winx had achieved a lot, but also experienced things Marion wished girls their age had never had to. She knew firsthand that acquiring Enchantix often involved hardships, but the Winx had withstood a new level of difficulties while gaining this fairy form. For a period of time, they had even lived with the gut-wrenching thought that Tecna, an essential part of their group of six, was dead.
It was then that Marion envisioned Niobe and Luna, who had lived with this same possibility about her for almost two decades. If the Winx had been shattered, she didn't dare to imagine the hurt her two best friends had had to endure. After finding Tecna alive and adjusting to the shock and the joy, the Winx had vanquished Valtor, a wizard who Marion herself had fought once. To top it off, they had journeyed to Obsidian with Bloom and been subjected to that dimension's oppressive darkness just to help their friend liberate Domino and free her parents. It was all overwhelming, and Marion estimated that there were probably so many things she still didn't know. Looking at the girls now, happy and together, made her emotional. They were heroes and Guardian Fairies with important duties, but also daughters, friends and people deserving of rest.
"I see why Bloom is so fond of these girls," she said at last, her voice tender, "They really do seem like amazing people. Did you have any idea who they would become when you met them?"
Faragonda smiled, thinking back to when both she and the Winx were younger.
"Not entirely. When they were freshmen I could feel that there was something that set them apart from the rest, but I didn't know the kind of extraordinary things they would come to do," she explained, "The Winx truly blossomed when they gained their Enchantix powers, and it has been a privilege to watch them grow into brave, kind-hearted, wonderful young women. They are dear to me and I'm very proud of them all."
"And for good reason," Marion added, "I look forward to getting to know them, and my daughter, better. Thank you for telling me about them."
"It was my pleasure," Faragonda said and pressed a kiss onto Marion's temple. Marion leaned into the gesture, ecstatic to be able to be so close to her friend again. Not long after she heard the sound of footsteps approaching them and turned to discover Oritel and Hagen making their way over. She grinned, her heart doing somersaults at the image of her soulmate.
"Look, we have company," she teased Faragonda, "It's my king and the man who's looking at you with stars in his eyes."
Faragonda rolled her eyes, but couldn't keep herself from blushing again. "Alright, I get it, thank you. Him and I still have things to discuss, you know."
"What?" Marion asked lightheartedly, "Forgive me, I couldn't hear you over the sound of Hagen being in love with you."
Faragonda drowned her face in her hands and Marion laughed merrily right as Oritel and Hagen arrived at their sunny spot. They seemed a little confused at the interaction they had missed, but Marion waved her hand in a dismissive fashion. Faragonda looked up and shook her head, simultaneously embarrassed and overjoyed to be messing around like that with her again.
"Oh, how I've missed you! Marion, Queen of Domino or Alfea freshman, the world may never know…"