Hey everyone, I'm baaaaaaaaack! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've posted the next story, but I had a couple others to work on, and I have all my schoolwork. But I got a review on the last story in the Quest for Power Series asking me when I was going to post the next story, and it prompted me to get it ready.

All right, we're ready for the next story, and I know you're tired of hearing it, but if you haven't read the previous three stories, READ THEM!!!! Trust me, you won't keep up with this story if you haven't read the others, particularly since it has Guinevere and Nirvana in it. All the remaining fics will as well. I hope you enjoy this first chapter and again, I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you guys. Happy reading!

Chapter 1: Shadows of the Future

"Now what do we do?" asked Musa as she lied down on her bed. Even though it had been a day since the girls had gotten back from the Realm of Angelicas, she was still exhausted and understandably so, because of what she and the girls had just been through. Being trapped in the dungeons, barred from transforming and fighting Paritho had really worn her out and the others out.

"What do you mean Musa?" asked Tecna, who was the most tired of them all. After all, she was the one who had almost married the creep behind their latest mission. She was still recovering from the fact that she'd actually kissed him. "That was incredibly disgusting," she said silently.

Musa responded with, "Well we just got done with our latest adventure on Angelicas and now are we supposed to just wait for the next one? I mean, isn't there someway we can find out who's next for all this danger?"

She was, of course, referring to the villains who had been and were still trying to obtain their powers. Each of the realms these girls came from had a supreme power source that only the princess could control, and each member of the Winx Club was just beginning to gain hers.

They had so far defeated Icy, Darcy and Stormy, who had kidnapped them all and stolen their powers, but were defeated very soon afterward. Those three, however, were like bad pennies, they always turned up. They had then met Guinevere, the Princess of Rampara and Flora's cousin, who had spent the majority of her life under a curse and had needed someone, namely Flora, to break it. In doing so and in purging both their realms from darkness, they had gained the ultimate power of their lands.

After that, a man named Paritho kidnapped Tecna and took her back to Zenith so that she could release the power of her realm, and then marry her. He'd taken her back to Angelicas for the wedding and when the others went to rescue her, they met Nirvana, the real princess, and after defeating him, she got her full power as well.

"I doubt there's anything we can do," said Bloom. "I guess we just have to wait."

"Maybe Ms. F. knows something we can do," said Musa.

"Musa, I don't think we should bother Ms. Faragonda unless it's urgent," said Guinevere. "I say we relax while we can."

"I think Guinevere's right," said Flora. "Let's go out and do some shopping."

"I don't really want to go shopping," said Layla. "We don't really need anything."

"What we do need is some fun and relaxation," said Stella. "And I think shopping will give us just that. I say we go."

"Yeah, you're right," said Bloom. "Let's go."

They all went outside the school and managed to catch the bus going into Magix. They chatted aimlessly for several minutes, just glad to have each other's company.

"When you do you think Nirvana will come and join us?" asked Layla.

"Probably in a few days," said Tecna. "She has to make sure that her people are safe. I mean, that's a princess's duty, isn't it?"

"So now you're interested in being a princess," teased Stella. Princess-related things had never been a popular topic with Tecna.

"I have to get interested now, considering I just found out I am one," she replied.

"That must have been a real shock," said Flora.

"It was. I thought I knew who I was and where I belonged, but now, it's like I have to find myself all over again. It's just so strange."

"I know exactly what you're going through," said Bloom. "I found out I was the last remaining member of the Kingdom of Sparx from Icy, Darcy and Stormy, remember that?"

"Yeah, and then we had to go through them and the Army of Decay," said Stella, still cringing at the thought of those creatures that had attacked the school, and how they had almost completely ruined her outfit.

"It sounds like you guys have had quite the adventures these last couple years," remarked Guinevere.

"We have," said Layla. "Do you want to hear about them over dinner later?"

"Heck yes, but don't you think we should save story time until Nirvana is able to join us? She'll probably want to hear about all this as well."

"That's a good idea," said Musa. "I'm not gonna want to explain it all again."

"Yeah, that'd just be…" began Stella, but she was cut off. They'd just gotten off the bus at the mall, and when she saw what was in one of the front windows, she ran towards the entrance with a delighted grin on her face.

"It's the latest design by Spella McCartney," she said. "And it's on sale!"

By the time the others reached that particular store, Stella already had about twenty different outfits to try on, and was grabbing more and more off the racks each second. It took a ton of persuasion from the girls for her not to buy the whole store. Finally, she settled on ten new dresses, as opposed to all 25 she had wanted.

When the girls got back to Alfea, it was starting to get dark out and they had just enough time to drop their purchases off in their rooms before going down to eat dinner with the rest of the school. They all went to bed fairly early that night, each one tired from shopping and from their day on Angelicas the previous day.

Musa, however, was the only one who couldn't sleep. She laid in bed, tossing and turning for several hours into the night. Finally around midnight, she couldn't take anymore. She silently got dressed and walked towards the door to the room she shared with Tecna. She stopped a few times when she thought her friend was going to wake up, but managed to make it to the door to Bloom and Flora's room without making any noise. Thankfully, Bloom and Flora had the door out to the hallway, so she was able to slip out into the corridor and shut the door softly behind her.

"I hope Griselda doesn't catch me," she thought to herself.

She made her way silently through the halls of Alfea, looking over her shoulder every few seconds to see if she was being followed. Every time she saw a shadow or heard a small noise, she tensed up in fear, but it was only an owl passing by the window, or one of the pixie pets looking for a midnight snack.

"These missions are starting to get to me," she said out loud. "Thankfully Ms. F's office is only another hall down."

"Miss Musa!" barked a sharp voice.

Musa jumped nearly a foot in the air as she heard the voice crack like a whip through the still, quiet atmosphere of the nighttime school. She spun around to see who it was, her hand over her heart, then felt both relief and anxiety wash over her as she saw Griselda standing there, looking as grouch and surly as she normally did. Musa gulped; she was in for it now.

"Hi Ms. G," she said. "I was just uh…"

"Just sneaking out to see one of those Red Fountain boys I expect."

"No, no, that's not it," said Musa quickly. "I was just going to see…"

"She was coming to see me," said another voice. Musa turned around and breathed a sigh of relief to see Ms. Faragonda coming towards them, a kind smile on her face. "You were on your way to see me, weren't you Musa?"

"Yeah I was," replied Musa, gratitude washing over her like the waves.

"That'll be all Griselda, you can go back to your rounds now," said the headmistress.

"But…" began the Mistress of Discipline, but she was cut off.

"I said that will be all," and she gave her a look that said the conversation was over.

"All right then," said Griselda, but both could tell she wasn't happy about letting Musa go unpunished.

"Thanks for that Ms. F," said Musa, as the two entered the headmistress's office.

"It's perfectly all right my dear. It's obvious that you need someone to talk to."

"Is that why you're still awake? Did you know I was coming?"

"Yes I did. I didn't think it would take you this long to come to me though."

"Yeah, sorry about that," said Musa sheepishly.

"Now Musa, what's on your mind?" asked Ms. Faragonda. "I can tell there's something bothering you. What is it?"

"I'm just wondering if there's any way we can find out which of us is next to potentially get her powers stolen," said Musa. "I want to be ready to go when the danger starts again."

"I'm glad you want to be prepared for what's coming. Yes, there is a way," said Ms.

Faragonda. "Let me show you something my dear."

She walked to her bookshelf, took some books off one of the shelves and opened a secret compartment in the back. Inside it was a small hand mirror, with intricate gold work around the handle and the rim. Ms. Faragonda took the mirror out of the compartment and handed it to Musa.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" asked the fairy of music.

"This mirror will show you anything you want to know. There are many others like it, all in different shapes and sizes, at least one in every realm. There is one somewhere in your realm I believe. Just concentrate and it will show you anything, past, present and future. Give it a try."

Musa thought about how she wanted to know which one of her friends would be next and gasped at what she saw. She saw herself tied up in a cave, several dark rings revolving around her and a man standing in front of her, telling her lies about her friends. Icy, Darcy and Stormy were standing behind him, laughing maliciously. Finally, the dark rings stopped and the ropes came off, but what she saw wasn't her. It was a girl that looked like her, except she was dressed all in black. She was a witch!

Musa let out a strangled cry and dropped the mirror as if it was something that could harm her at any given moment. Ms. Faragonda held out her hand and a bubble formed around the mirror, preventing it from hitting the ground. She guided it back to the bookshelf and placed it gently back into its compartment.

"What is it Musa? What did you see?" asked Ms. Faragonda.

"I'm the one," said Musa. "I'm next."

She sank further back onto her chair, trying to keep herself from fainting. "I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to faint, I'm not going to be sick," she kept telling herself, but the more the thought of this future, the more afraid and disgusted she became.

"Drink this, it'll help," said Ms. Faragonda, pouring her a cup of hot tea. She took a sip and instantly felt a little better, but still afraid.

"What am I going to do Ms. F?"

"The best thing for you now is to stay with your friends and to not go anywhere by yourself. Tell the girls what happened and then tell the boys. I'm sure they'll all be willing to protect you."

Musa just nodded, not really taking in her words.

"Why don't you go get some rest my dear?" asked Ms. Faragonda. "I'll take you back to your room if you'd like." Musa just nodded. They walked back to the Winx girls' rooms in silence and when they got there, Musa just nodded good night and went back to bed.

She spent the rest of the night tossing and turning, not able to get any sleep. As she stared up at the ceiling, her thoughts drifted to Riven. She knew he'd protect her, but what she wanted to know was if he'd protect her because he had feelings for her. She couldn't help but think he'd only do it because it was his job.

"I don't know what I'll do if he doesn't love me," she thought. "I didn't realize how I really felt about him until we went to ShadowHaunt to rescue Bloom, and he showed some signs that he loved me then. But since then, he's barely shown any sign of affection. I just hope that he…"

She was cut off when she heard a sound coming from her window. Someone was throwing pebbles against it. She got up and went over to see who it was, and smiled to see Riven down there. He waved to her and gestured for her to come down and see him. She opened the window and used her wings to drift softly to the ground next to him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Couldn't sleep," he answered. "Something told me you couldn't either, so I decided to see what was up." He looked at her face and saw that he was right. "Is there something going on I should know about?"

"Before I tell you, I have to ask you, are you the real Riven or are you after my powers?" she asked, backing away from slightly.

He looked shocked and confused at her answer. "Musa, I don't even have magic, why would I be after your powers?"

"What did you say to me when we went into ShadowHaunt?" she persisted.

Riven looked a little nervous, but replied, "I told you I didn't know what I'd do without you, and asked you to promise to come back to me."

Musa breathed a sigh of relief and said, "okay, it's the real you."

"What's going on?" he asked, crossing his arms and looking a little angry. "What's with the interrogation?"

She sighed and told him everything that she had seen in the mirror. When she was finished, she looked up at him and said, "I'm scared. I'm so scared Riven."

"Don't worry," he said, hugging her. "You'll be fine. I promise I'll protect you."

"I don't really see what you can do," she said. "If it's going to happen, trying to protect me won't do much good."

"I don't care," he said. "I'll protect you no matter what."

"Thank you," she said, giving him a small kiss on the cheek. He stuttered at that, which made her smile a little bit. He watched as she flew back up to her room and closed the window. He started back for Red Fountain, not able to deny that he was worried about her. He'd never worried about anyone before, it felt so strange.

"Don't worry Musa," he said. "I won't let anyone hurt you, I promise."

Author's Note: Okay, so Musa knows she's next and she has Riven's word that he'll protect her, but you can probably guess that he won't do a good job of protecting her. Wait until you see how the bad guy here goes about kidnapping her. Now in the next chapter, Musa will tell the girls what happened, get a huge surprise, and I haven't decided if the next chapter's the one where she's going to sing, but it will be one of the next two. I hope you guys like Kelly Clarkson, because this fic is going to feature TWO of her songs! I'm not going to tell which ones though, that would kind of give the plot away. Stay tuned!