Heart of Meridian: The Water Star Crisis — Fall of Kuruda (1998)
The old tome lay open on the dusty pedestal, its pages illuminated by a faint, ancient luminescence.
"This book relates the story of how the magic universe came to be," Musa read aloud, tracing her fingers across the archaic runes. "In the beginning, when the Great Dragon Fire was born, an opposite force was also created. This opposite force was found in the Water Stars."
"I thought Water Stars didn't exist anymore in this dimension," Stella interrupted, leaning over Musa’s shoulder with a skeptical frown.
"In this dimension, they don't," Bloom, leader of the Winx, explained quietly. "The Dragon Fire and the Water Stars couldn't exist simultaneously because they are naturally opposite. Something had to be done to keep the balance, so the Water Stars were sealed in the Golden Kingdom, past the Red Tower."
While the Winx pored over the ancient balance of light and flame, darkness was coalescing in the shadow of Meridian.
"Ah, Tracker... how the mighty have fallen," Narissa cackled, her voice echoing off the damp stone walls of the cavern. Her yellow eyes gleamed with malice as she leaned close to the disgraced hunter. "Wouldn't you prefer to turn the clock back? Wouldn't you prefer vengeance?"
Across the dimension, the gathering of heroes had begun, drawn together by a sudden fracturing of the cosmic balance. Yet not every realm welcomed the call to arms. High above the smog-choked streets of Meridian, two figures stood on a balcony overlooking a city in ruin.
"Look how far Meridian has fallen these last three years," one sighed, gesturing to the sprawling, decaying skyline below. "The graffiti caused such a stir that you can't even catch a single intruder."
"Enough, G," a harsh voice snapped back. "It's been three years. To come back and find this happening is more than I can stand."
"Diaz..." the Svall Black Wing of Kuruda stepped forward from the shadows, his dark feathers rustling in the chill wind. He turned to the brooding figure beside them—Prince Phobos.
The Black Wing reached into his cloak and pulled out a glowing talisman, holding it out toward the former tyrant. "Prince Phobos... your sister, Will Vandom, wanted me to give you this. Your sisters need you. We all do."
Phobos looked at the talisman, then back out over the city that had once bowed to him. A bitter, cold laugh escaped his throat as he turned his back on the messenger.
"The kingdom threw me out, remember?" Phobos said, his voice dripping with venom. "I am through saving the world."
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