Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club.
...What? You were expecting a joke? Sorry, I used up all the good ones in the last story. Poor planning on my part, I know.

Welcome back everyone, I hope you enjoyed the holidays. I am posting this to celebrate my favorite holiday. No, my favorite holiday isn't Christmas. It's January sixth: Twelfth Night. Christmas means spending time with the dysfunctional branch of my family, but Twelfth Night is spent with what I refer to as my extended family, which is much bigger, much nicer, and much more interesting than my biological family. It includes a lot of cool people, including two or three physicists, two rock stars (okay, one and a half), about a dozen actors (not movie actors, play actors. Although, now that I think about it, one of them actually was in a movie about five or six years ago. Not a big name movie, in fact I doubt you've ever heard of it, but still a movie.), five or six authors, and more doctors than I can count. You see why I prefer Twelfth Night to Christmas? Enough about me, on with the story!

"Thermal Wave!"

Dhalia launched a blast of heat at the Aeropedes flying towards Perdi.

"Thanks!" Perdi yelled, turning back to her own opponents. She put her fingers to her temples. "Cognitive Break!"

Three of the Fire Wasps she was fighting suddenly went berserk, flying in circles, crashing into trees and each other, and shooting fire from their stingers.

"Reality Sphere!" Reyva yelled, twisting the universe around her into a shield. The blasts of flame the wasps released impacted and vanished. "Watch it there Perdi! Those bugs almost hit me!"

"Sorry!"

"Girls, not the time." Artis said. "And I should know." She hovered over a group of angrily buzzing Slicer Beetles. "Chrono Lock!" The insects froze, not moving in the slightest.

"Can we just finish this fight?" Amelia asked. "If we don't wrap this up soon we're going to be late for our lunch reservations!" She rose above the battle on the wings she had fought so hard to earn. "Mystical Pulse!" An explosion of pure undiluted magical energy shook the air with Amelia at its center, wiping dozens of creatures from the sky.

Ten minutes later the five fairies stood in the wreckage of the fight. Insect carapaces littered the ground.

"Well, I'd say that was successful." Reyva said. "Now, let's go home. Spacial Rift!"

A portal opened in front of the girls.

"You are never going to get over the fact that you got to keep that spell, are you?" Artis teased.

"I like it!" Reyva said. "I liked it when I was the Fairy of Space, and I like it even more now that I'm the Fairy of Reality." She sobered. "I just wish it didn't see so much use."

She had a point, Amelia brooded. The five of them were fighting in the war against Eclipsis. Because of their new strength and their experience in Univix, Bloom had made them one of her emergency response teams.

Of course, the fact that they were responsible for Eclipsis's escape from Univix was probably another factor. Bloom was big on second chances, but they had to be earned, so she was giving them the opportunity to regain her trust.

"Alright girls." Dhalia said. "Let's report back to Bloom."

They stepped though the portal.

In the five months since Eclipsis had returned to the Magic Dimension, Alfea had been transformed into a command center. Alfea had a long tradition of having its students play an active role in the events of the world, and because of that tradition its students had become the first line of defense in the war against the monsters. The young Fairies of Alfea, the Witches of Cloud Tower, and the Specialists of Red Fountain were the vanguard of the armies of the Magical Dimension. Their job was to handle minor attacks and try to contain the more severe incursions until help could arrive.

Bloom served as their commander. She lead by example, and her sheer power made her one of the Magic Dimension's strongest defenders, but she'd also proven her skill as a leader. She possessed an uncanny ability to put together effective teams, and she was a decent strategist. Maybe not as good as Tecna would have been, but Tecna was busy with her robot army anyways.

So far they'd managed to keep Eclipsis and her monstrous forces at bay, but they weren't making any progress either. Eclipsis evaded their best traps with ease. One group of fairies actually did catch up with her. Seven fairies went on that mission. Only four made it back, and one of them died from her wounds soon after.

If nothing changed the monsters would eventually overrun them.

Bloom was busy in her office. She pored over the various maps, reports, and messages cluttering her desk. Every message told of victories, but many of those victories had exacted a steep price. Alfea's infirmary was always full, but some of the dorms had become empty.

Bloom was convinced there was an overall strategy to the seemingly random attacks. She searched for a pattern in the attacks, trying to find something, anything, that would let her predict where the next attack would come. She scowled as it once again eluded her.

The hinges of her door creaked, and Bloom looked up. Five fairies trooped in.

Artis, Fairy of Time.

Perdilla, Fairy of Thought.

Reyva, Fairy of Reality.

Dhalia, Fairy of Energy.

Amelia, Fairy of Magic.

Bloom had mixed feelings about these five. On the one hand, they were one of her most powerful and most effective teams, and for the most part she liked them. On the other hand, these five girls were the ones responsible for this war. They had freed Eclipsis from Univix, although they hadn't known what they were doing at the time, and all the carnage, all the lives lost, was on their heads.

She brushed the familiar train of thought aside and greeted the girls. "Hello. How did the mission go?"

Dhalia, the leader of the five, spoke. "We destroyed the swarm before it could reach Yerli. The Fire Wasps attempted to start a forest fire as a final act, but we managed to stop them before they could do so."

"Good. You should rest." Bloom glanced at one of the papers on her desk. "You've done well, so enjoy yourselves."

"Thank you." The five girls stepped out.

Bloom returned to her examination of the attacks. Why attack Yerli? It wasn't a major city, or even an important one. It wasn't even in a particularly important realm, just Deylue, a lightly populated world loosely affiliated with Linphea. It made no sense.

Speaking of things which made no sense, why hadn't they attacked Earth yet? It was one of the most heavily populated worlds around, but it was still weak, having only had magic back for fifteen years, and lacking the technology to fight back against monsters.

Bloom didn't like it. She just couldn't shake the sense of that other shoe just waiting to drop.

"So, how was your mission today, girls?" The large apron wearing man asked.

"Fine." Amelia said. "Thanks for asking, Johan."

The five girls were seated around a table at their favorite restaurant in Magix, The Sated Tyger. Dhalia had introduced them to the place a little over six months ago. The excellent food, charming decor, cozy atmosphere, and friendly proprietor had made it into their favorite place to eat, talk, or just hang out.

Johan, the proprietor of the restaurant, had embraced the five fairies. His diverse interests meant he could chat comfortably with anyone, and his natural kindness made him a close friend. He always had something to share, and even if he didn't, he always had excellent advice. Amelia was still turning the first piece of advice he'd given her around in her head.

***"Just remember: Magic isn't the only kind of power. Magic is a tool. Nothing more, nothing less. It can make your life easier, but there's always more than one way to accomplish something. And sometimes a wrench will do a better job with a nail than a hammer will. Sometimes the obvious solution, the predictable solution, is the wrong answer."***

That advice had served her well in her quest to earn her own magic, and she treasured it deeply.

Her reverie was broken when Johan asked what she'd like for lunch. She chuckled at herself. Usually Perdi was the one who got lost in thought! She placed her order.

"So, ladies," Johan inquired. "What's your next mission?"

Artis glanced up. "We don't know. No one does."

"No one has been able to predict Eclipsis's moves." Reyva said. "We're just responding to attacks when we get word of them."

"Her attacks make no sense!" Perdi exclaimed. She too was trying to puzzle out Eclipsis's strategy. "She's been attacking meaningless targets all across the Dimension, launching simultaneous attacks on several major worlds, and completely ignoring our biggest weakness, Earth!"

"She hasn't attacked Earth?" Johan was startled.

"Not so far." Dhalia said. "But we don't know how long that will remain the case."

"I'm actually from Earth." Johan said. "It's good to know my home is safe."

"Yes, but why?" Amelia asked. "It doesn't make any sense."

"I can think of a few reasons." Johan said. "For one, Earth doesn't have many monsters of its own, meaning that any invasion would have to come from another realm. Transporting enough of an army to take Earth would be difficult."

"Okay, that's one reason." Dhalia said. "But transportation issues have never stopped her before."

"Another possible reason is that she knows you expect her to attack Earth, so she's intentionally avoiding it to keep you guessing."

"Maybe. It would explain all the random attacks." Perdi said.

"Or, she doesn't know Earth's weak in the first place."

"What?" Amelia asked, a confused look on her face.

"Think about it. She's been sealed away for ten thousand years. What was Earth like back then? It's possible she believes Earth is the strongest world, not the weakest."

"That would assume she hasn't scouted the place." Reyva said. "And we know she has."

"I don't know then. Although..." He trailed off.

"What?" Amelia asked. "What is it?"

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing."

Artis spoke up. "Girls, it's getting late, we need to head back to Alfea."

"Go and rest, you'll need your strength." Johan said.

The five girls returned to their dorms and the welcoming embrace of their beds. Except one.

Amelia couldn't sleep. She sat on her bed, holding a small box in her hands. Inside sat two earrings. One held a brilliant white stone, the other held a cracked and broken stone as dark as night.

Was it worth it? Amelia wondered. Were her new powers worth freeing Eclipsis? She'd wanted her own powers so badly it had hurt, but was it worth starting a war? She knew the right answer to that question, but a part of her disagreed. She sighed and put the earrings back on her dresser. She returned to her bed and went to sleep.

A/N: To all my old readers, welcome back. To any new readers, I'm glad to see you. This story was not part of the original plan for On Borrowed Wings, but with how well the first story turned out, I knew I had to write a second, and when I came up with the plot for the sequel I knew it would make more sense if I split it into three. So this is now "The Nature of Magic Trilogy".

Now, the story. I should probably explain a few things.
Yes, Dhalia was using heat to attack, because she is now the Fairy of Energy. Not just electrical energy, all energy. This includes motion, electricity, and yes, heat.
Also, Johan is not typical. In fact, he was among the first non-magical immigrants from Earth to Magix, of which there are probably no more than two or three hundred. Note, Specialists are magical beings, what with their telepathic control of dragons and such.

Bestiary Entries:
-Aeropedes are centipedes, but instead of legs they have wings. They're also much larger than a normal centipede, and are typically between four and five feet in length. They attack with their large mandibles, which, depending on the subspecies, can be poisonous.
-Fire Wasps are wasps the size of eagles that shoot fire from their stingers. Enough said.
-Slicer Beetles are huge beetles about three feet in length. Their name comes from the twin razor sharp blades mounted on their heads like horns.
This will be a semi-regular feature for this story, since Eclipsis's forces are monsters and I don't want to reuse things to death. Every time I introduce a new monster I'll include a brief description of it. Unfortunately, there is no art, because I decided not to inflict my...questionable...artistic skills upon you. However, if anyone wants to make some art for the story, please do so. I'd love to see what people think my creations actually look like.

I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter of my new story. As always, reviews are welcome. I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing. If you want to flame, you can do that too. It won't bother me, but it will amuse me. So flame away, because I'll just keep laughing.

One final announcement: As a thank you to my readers for their support of On Borrowed Wings, I will be taking reader questions again. If you have any questions about this story, or On Borrowed Wings, put them in a review and I will do my best to answer them in chapter two. No spoilers though!
Happy Twelfth Night, and I hope to see you all in the future.