Issue 43: Lost Words

Lost Words is the forty-third issue of the Winx Club Comic Series.

Synopsis
An ancient and magical virus that devours all manner of texts—written or electronic—plagues Magix. Everyone bands together to find a cure before they are rendered unable to keep records of history.

Plot
At Cloud Tower, Ediltrude screams at the sight of a mouse eating the pages of her books. She then turns around to find a black liquid dripping from all of the books in the shelf. She opens one of the books, and realizes that the words are melting right off of the pages! In a panic, Ediltrude drops the book as she runs out of the room, screaming for help from Headmistress Griffin.

At Alfea, the Winx cannot believe what Musa is telling them. She claims that Barbatea is worrying over "sick books." Apparently, some mice have eaten the pages of a book that contained a powerful spell that held a powerful dark wizard trapped inside. In order to exact his revenge, the wizard casted a dark spell on the books, infecting them with a virus that would erase all of the words once he was freed. Musa then tells the girls that the libraries at Alfea and Cloud Tower have been quarantined in order to keep the virus from spreading. Stella cheers at the thought of not being made to study anymore, but Bloom claims that they would have to study even more if this keeps up. Without books keeping knowledge of past mistakes and solutions to those mistakes, they would be in a constant state of repeating those mistakes and having to relearn the solutions to those mistakes. If that were to happen, then no one would be able to make progress. Stella realizes this to be true and asks what they should do. Musa then tells the girls that Faragonda wants every fairy to come to the main hall, as she has an announcement to make. As the Winx make their way to the main hall, Musa hopes that Faragonda can come up with a solution. In the main hall, Faragonda is explaining the importance of books and how disastrous the virus really is. Faragonda announces that they will be mobilizing all of the students in order to try and stop the virus, until Barbatea tells her that the virus is spreading very rapidly. Ten percent of the books in the Alfea Libraries have already had all of their contents erased and Barbatea claims that the virus is even worse in Magix, where important documents such as property deeds have already been afflicted. Faragonda advises Barbatea that they must remain calm during the ordeal, and that is when Marzia suggests that they perform a counterspell in hopes that it could destroy the virus before it spreads even further. Faragonda claims that they have tried using a counterspell already and reveals that the dark wizard had over 2,000 years to prepare while imprisoned. Barbatea further adds that the first manuscript that was afflicted by the virus was an ancient manuscript that contained the only way to defeat the wizard. Faragonda announces that, in the meantime, they will try anything they can in order to prevent the virus from spreading. She then splits the students into two groups: one that will salvage as many important texts as possible, led by Wizgiz, and one that will copy the salvaged texts electronically, led by Palladium. She sends the students out to get to work, as this will be a very tedious task. Just before the Winx leave, Faragonda calls them over, claiming that she has a different task in mind for them. Supposedly, as the foot of a mountain closest to Alfea lives a strange old man who owns a vast collection of books. Faragonda wishes for the girls to warn the old man of the virus afflicting books and look for any ancient manuscripts that may hold the counterspell they need. She fears that he may not have a copy and tells the girls to have him give them a formula of the counterspell in case. She then reveals to the girls that Saladin promised to help with the virus, so the Specialists will be assisting the girls on their search for the old collector. Hearing that Brandon may be coming to help them, Stella urges the girls to get ready as quickly as possible and, soon enough, their Specialist shuttle lands in the courtyard. As the girls climb on board the shuttle, Stella hugs Brandon as she believes that everything will work out in the end since their adventure is already starting on a positive note. Once everyone has sat down. Bloom asks Brandon how Sky is doing. Brandon explains that Sky is helping salvage texts in the Magix Archives, but it has not been going so well as half of the texts in the archives have been lost. He then explains that Timmy is working on copying the shuttle's maintenance manuals and tells Tecna that he says hello.

Meanwhile, in Magix, Timmy realizes that the computer did not copy down any of the texts. Codatorta asks if he made any mistakes, to which Timmy insists that he did not make any mistakes and that it is only the words that have been deleted. Timmy then contacts Brandon's shuttle via radio to tell them about the current situation. Brandon then lets the girls know that the virus is preventing them from copying the important texts electronically. Now that there is no other way to save the books, Codatorta claims that the Winx's mission is that last chance. The group then arrives at the collector's house, where Brandon wishes the girls luck as they head out. Little do they know is that they are being watched. Those who are watching the Winx just so happen to be the Trix; spying on them from their dorm room in Cloud Tower! As usual, they cannot stand how affectionate their favorite fairies are towards the Specialists and Stormy claims that she cannot bear to look at Brandon. That is when Darcy starts teasing Stormy on how she would really like to get a good look at Brandon and the two of them start arguing. Icy tells them to stop squawking at each other like old geese and then asks if they even remember why they are here. Darcy claims that they are here because Griffin wants them to save the books, and Icy asks if either of them remember what she said.

The girls flashback to Headmistress Griffin telling them and the other Cloud Tower witches that there will be a prize given to the witch who finds the counterspell first. If any of them find the counterspell before the Alfea fairies, then the prize will be even bigger.

Icy reveals to her sisters that, if they won, they would gain more freedom. Stormy then asks why this has to do with them spying on the Winx, to which Icy reveals that the Winx are the most clever fairies Alfea has to offer and, if something such as an ancient counterspell needs to be found, then the Winx are sure to find it. If they continue spying on them, then they will be able to steal the counterspell just as the Winx find it and take all of the glory. Thanks to the eye spider, the Trix now know the Winx's whereabouts and they set out to track them down.

Back at the collector's house, the Winx have been waiting outside his door for a while and begin to suspect that he may not be home until a small old man opens the door a bit. He asks if the girls have brought him any memories. Bloom explains that Faragonda sent them to his home but the old man just asks if they have brought him any memories again. Bloom says that they do not and asks why they would have brought him any memories, to which the old man invites them inside to look at his collection of memories. Inside, he shows the girls to a massive room, claiming that that is only a fraction of his collection and that the rest of it is located in caves further inside the mountains. The old collector explains that he has catalogued various memories in hopes of it being useful someday. He apologizes for not being hospitable enough and leaves to go get the Winx some tea.

After they have settled down, the old collector claims to have some of the Winx's memories within his collection as well. He takes a small box from his shelf and opens it in front of Bloom, releasing a familiar smell. The smell reminds Bloom of the cookies her mother used to make for her when she was little. The old collector then hands Musa a small purple jar and asks her to smell it. When Musa opens it, she smells the grassy fields by the countryside that she used to visit with her parents when her mother was still alive. Stella introduces herself, Flora, Tecna and Aisha to the old collector and asks if he has any of their memories within his collection as well. The collector does and gives them each a smell that reminds them of when she used her first computer (Tecna), when she planted her first seed (Flora), and when she and Brandon had their first kiss (Stella).

Bloom suddenly remembers that they came to the collector in order to warn him of the virus that is erasing words from all of the books in Magix. The collector begins panicking at the fear of his entire collection being erased and Bloom tries to calm him down. She tells him that Alfea has a book that contained the spell that could counter the black magic behind the virus but it is now eligible. She asks if the collector has a copy, to which he remembers that he may have a memory of the spell within his collection. He goes digging through a chest and finds a small blue box that helps him remember where in his collection the counterspell texts are located. He rushes towards the 23,456th bookcase in the 84,622nd section and finds the book which is still intact. He finds the antidote they are looking for but he explains to the girls that the ingredients are rather difficult to find. The ingredients are the web of a black spider, the venom of a rare lake serpent and a tear of pure joy. The web of a black spider will help make the words last, the lake serpents venom will destroy the virus and the tear of pure joy will soften the words, making bitter memories less painful to bear. Unbeknownst to the collector and the Winx, the Trix have been listening in on their conversation while sitting on the collector's roof. Now that they know the ingredients, all they have to do is wait for the Winx to find all of them so that they can steal each ingredient from under their noses.

Stella asks where they could possibly find all of those ingredients and, even though the collector is not entirely sure himself, he hands the Winx a map of the area to help narrow their search. Bloom thanks the collector for the map and she and the rest of the Winx set off to look for the ingredients. As they are leaving, the collector advises them that the ingredients need to be fresh and the antidote needs to be made within six hours of gathering the ingredients in order for the antidote to work.

With the Winx setting off to gather the ingredients, the Trix are on their tail. Since flying all the way to the collector's house used up most of their energy, they have even more reason to let the Winx do all of the work.

With the map in hand, Bloom has the rest of the Winx follow her towards a path that leads to the Black Spider's Den, according to the map. The girls eventually make it into a valley covered in giant webs and Stella urges Bloom to take a piece of the first web they come across so that they do not have to run into any spiders. However, the webs prove to be too strong to be cut. Bloom suggests that they go into the caves to look for smaller webs that will be easier to cut. As they make their way inside, Musa catches sight of baby black spiders further within the caves. Stella notices that the webs are smaller so they may be able to get a piece, but Tecna raises the point that they need to drive the baby spiders away as they are still dangerous. Musa suggests that she play a tune on her flute in order to drive away the spiders and it works! Now that they are distracted, Stella urges the girls to get a piece of the webs before Musa has to bring them back.

However, from outside the caves, the Trix are lurking. Icy uses a spell on the mother of the baby spiders to enrage her and make her attack the Winx.

Just as Stella is about to take a piece of the smaller webs, the mother spider comes charging in after them. The girls transform as the mother spider begins making a web to trap them in. Aisha suggests that they attack her, but Bloom does not think that it would be right to kill the mother spider since she is just trying to protect her and her young. Aisha agrees but notices that the spider is working too fast and, soon, they will not be able to escape.

As the Winx are busy defending themselves against the angry mother spider, the Trix make off with a piece of the smaller webbings! As the Winx try to figure out a way to escape, Stella realizes that the spiders must hate sunlight if they live in the caves. She then calls forth her Solaria Sceptre and fires a blast of light at the mother spider, scaring her away. Bloom then rips a hole in the webs that the mother spider left and the girls are able to escape. Musa regroups with the girls and advises them to get some web pieces before the babies return. Now that they have the first ingredient, the girls go searching for the rare lake serpent.

Later on, the Winx arrive at a lake that has been marked on the map. The Trix are hiding in the bushes, waiting for the Winx to figure something out. That is when Tecna gets the idea to generate a rubber fish using her technomagic and explains that the fish will absorb the serpent's venom like a sponge once it bites it. Tecna ties the rubber fish to a fishing pole they made and casts it out into the lake. Soon enough, Tecna gets a bite! The serpent emerges from the water as it tries to tug the rubber fish off of the fishing pole. Flora helps Tecna reel the rubber fish in, snatching it from the serpent's mouth.

From another side of the lake, Icy uses a spell to freeze the lake over before the Winx can retrieve the rubber fish. Just as Tecna tries to reel in the piece of ice that holds the rubber fish, Stormy conjures up strong winds to break apart the frozen lake. The winds also snap the fishing line and blow the rubber fish further out into the lake. Stella steps onto the pieces of ice to chase after the rubber fish until the serpent lunges at her. Luckily, she is able to dodge, but the serpent prepares itself for another attack.

As the Winx are kept busy by the serpent, the Trix have caught the rubber fish and drain the venom into a vile. They then run off, feeling triumphant now that they have two out of three of the ingredients. Bloom urges that Stella transform before it is too late, but Stella thinks that transforming will not be necessary. The serpent lunges at her but it crashes into the large piece of ice behind her, getting its teeth caught in the ice. As the serpent retreats back into the lake, Stella notices that its venom became encased in the ice. She breaks the piece of ice off and shows it to the rest of the Winx on the shore.

Later on, the Winx are trying to figure out how to get the last ingredient: the tear of pure joy. With nothing to go on, the girls decide to keep heading in the direction they were going in, hoping that they may come up with a plan. The Trix are also on the same path trying to figure out a way to retrieve the third ingredient. Stormy and Darcy are complaining about how exhausted and hungry they are until Icy yells at them to stop. Icy reminds them that they have very little time to find the third ingredient until Stormy notices a young boy having lunch as he watches a herd of sheep. They approach the boy, where Icy asks what he is doing all by himself. The boy tells them that he is waiting for his family but he is interrupted by Icy snatching away his knapsack full of food. Just as they are about to leave, neither Stormy nor Darcy want to carry the knapsack because it is too heavy, so Icy has the young shepherd boy carry it for them, telling him that they will let him go free after they have completed their mission.

As the Winx continue their trek, Stella catches a glimpse of the Trix on the other side of the valley. Bloom and Stella suspect that the Trix were possibly behind all of the difficulties they had faced until Musa calls attention to the boy that they have with them, noticing that the Trix must have taken him hostage. Stella insists that they have to free him from the Trix's clutches but Bloom is scared that they may hurt the boy. Flora reveals that she has an idea and she uses a spell to conjure up thorny vines that will separate the Trix from the boy. Now that they are unable to follow him, Bloom and Stella shout at the boy to make a run for it. The girls then commend Flora for her quick thinking as they run after the boy. The Winx quickly catch up to the shepherd boy and tell him that they were the ones who set him free from the witches who kept him as a hostage. The boy is amazed by how the brambles sprung from the ground as if they were magical, and Stella explains that they are a group of fairies. The boy then starts to cry over how tired he is and how he just wants to go home to his mommy. The Winx offer to take him back to his home safely as long as he shows them the way there.

A little while later, the Winx come across the boy's home, where a woman waiting in front of the house's fence calls for her son, Jimmy. Jimmy and his mother hold each other close as his mother tells him how scared she was when she thought he would not come home. Jimmy tells his mother that the girls he came home with were the ones who saved him. As Jimmy's mother expresses her joy and relief over her son's return, Bloom offers her a handkerchief to dry her tears. As she dries her face, Jimmy's mother offers to fix up dinner for the Winx as thanks for saving her son, but before she heads inside the house, Bloom asks for the handkerchief back. Now that they have tears of pure joy, all that is left to do is borrow a pot to create the antidote. Luckily, the Winx manage to create the antidote just in time.

Later, a Specialist shuttle arrives just outside of Jimmy's home. The Winx say their goodbyes to Jimmy and his mother, and the shuttle flies towards Alfea once they have all climbed on board. Once they return to Alfea, the girls hand the antidote to Faragonda, who thanks the Winx for their efforts. She also expresses her relief because now that they have the antidote, no more important texts will be lost. The Winx celebrate, as this also counts as their latest victory over the Trix. Stella then claims that it is a shame that they will be forced to study the books that they just saved, instead of having to get a break.

Spells Used

 * "Sceptre of the Sun, come to me!" - Used by Stella to summon up her sceptre.
 * Power of the Sun - Used by Stella to shock the Mother Spider into fleeing.
 * "I will unleash the power of ice!" - Used by Icy to freeze up parts of the lake.
 * "Whirlwinds and currents, come to meeee!" - Used by Stormy to break apart the ice, snap the fishing line and blow the ice with the rubber fish away.
 * "Grass so green, spring up like mad, and block those witches so evil and bad. Make a thorny barrier without delay, so the one who suffers can run away!" - Used by Flora to stop the Trix in their tracks; separating them from the boy they had as a hostage.

Mistakes

 * After page 9, the big pink flower accessory that hangs from the bottom of Flora's top disappears.
 * As the girls go into their Enchantix forms on page 26, there are some minor errors on most of their outfits.
 * Bloom's wings are missing and her hair has not changed, as if she has not completely transformed.
 * Tecna's wings are completely purple and are a different shape.
 * The borders of Flora's wings are purple instead of pink.
 * Stella's gloves are a color closer to her skin tone rather than being pink. This error lasts throughout the issue whenever she goes into her Enchantix.
 * As the girls escape from the webs left by the mother spider on page 28, the bottom pair of Tecna's Enchantix wings are yellow instead of purple.
 * As Bloom collects some pieces of webbing before they leave on page 29, her Enchantix wings are missing.
 * As the Winx hand Faragonda the antidote to the virus on page 44, the pink floral pattern on Flora's leggings are missing.

Debuts

 * The Old Collector
 * Jimmy
 * Jimmy's Mother

Characters

 * The Winx
 * Musa
 * Bloom
 * Stella
 * Flora
 * Tecna
 * Aisha
 * Alfea Staff
 * Faragonda
 * Barbatea
 * Wizgiz
 * Palladium
 * Cloud Tower Staff
 * Griffin
 * Ediltrude
 * Enemies
 * The Trix
 * Icy
 * Darcy
 * Stormy
 * Humans
 * The Old Collector
 * Vanessa (mentioned)
 * Matlin (mentioned)
 * Jimmy
 * Jimmy's Mother