Chapter One

"Power of the flame, leave me. Go and find Baltor's fire!"

As I said the spell aloud, I felt the strangest sensation come over me. It was as if my body was being drained of its magical energy (not a pleasant sensation, I can tell you that – my experience with it freshman year was one time too many for me); yet at the same time I felt like I was floating on a cloud, like my physical form was gone but my magic essence had remained to float around the world forever, like a ghost. Then I realized it must have been the effects of the spell, and gave myself a pat on the back for doing it correctly (well, not really, given my current situation, but you know what I mean, right?)

Unfortunately, I didn't have too much time to revel in my triumph before I had to confront the next hard thing – finding Baltor's magic essence. Praying that the spell would work like Maya had showed me, I let the power of the flame lead me towards Baltor.

Judging from his screams, I could only guess that I'd done the spell correctly. My magic essence penetrated through the skin of the beast, searching for the heart of his power. When I finally found it, I felt myself taking a physical form again – although I knew it was just for show; my true physical form was out in the cave. But it was nice to have a physical form again, instead of just being a magic flame.

"I did it, Baltor. I traveled to the inner sanctum of your Dragon Fire. And now that I'm here, I'm gonna put out your Dragon Fire flame once and for all."

Reaching for my fairy dust vial, I shot waves of Dragon Fire energy mixed with fairy dust from my palms. All I could think about was finally finishing this and going home, to Sky.

What happened next was not what I'd expected. The fire before me fizzled a little, and before I knew it, Baltor appeared before me, back in his original wizard form. (I have to say it was kind of a relief to see his familiar face instead of that hideously ugly beast we'd been fighting.)

"Thank you, Bloom," he drawled. "It was a little hot in there."

"But you–" I started.

"It was bold of you to come back here, that's for sure, but what did you think you were going to achieve?" Fire burned all around him, forming his mark in the flames beneath his feet. Strangely, he didn't seem at all affected by the fire burning all around him, although that was most likely because like me, he was only a spiritual manifestation of his true physical form.

"I guess that's what you're about to find out," I spat, Dragon Fire energy pulsing at my palms.

He seemed to be expecting something like that. So of course, he didn't waste time trying to divert me. "I have a better idea, Bloom – something that will help me achieve my destiny and you finally locate your birth parents." The fire slowly burned out, creating a thick veil of dark smoke that surrounded us.

"I don't believe you know anything about my birth parents!"

"But the ancient witches do. In fact, they hold the key to both our destinies; for you finding Oritel and Miriam, and for me achieving the greatness that I deserve. So this is what I propose to you, Bloom. Turn your rage on the Ancestresses, and join me. Together, we will be strong enough to defeat them and make them give us what we want." Baltor looked almost triumphant here. "You and I are the same, Bloom. We are bookends – matching pieces of the greatest ancient magic ever to exist."

Somehow, part of me wanted to believe him. I wanted a good reason to go after the Ancient Witches. I wanted to meet the parents I had never known. I wanted to know I wasn't alone in this world. But still… "The only thing we have in common is our Dragon Fire, Baltor. And right now mine is going to fight yours until one of them is out!"

I expected Baltor to quickly take me up on my offer of a fight, but instead he gave me a look that seemed to be asking if I was serious. "You're hesitant about that, aren't you?"

My eyes narrowed, trying not to look surprised at his comment. "You wish."

He laughed, as though he had figured out the meaning of life. "Really?" He leaned back against the smoke, and it took a solid form when his essence came in contact with it. "Bloom, let me tell you something. I want to finally finish what I started seventeen years ago. But–" he waved his hand around the space we were in, "as you can see, that's a bit out of the question right now."

"And that's my problem how?"

"Of course not. A powerful being knows when to admit defeat. And I underestimated you – that really sealed my fate."

"Humph." I did my best to hide the smirk forming on my face.

"However," Baltor went on, "you and I both know if you wipe me out of existence, we'll both be unhappy."

"My friends…" I began.

"Your friends make all of the decisions in your life? They and Sky tell you what to do and you just listen?"

"Of course not," I quickly replied, trying not to sound embarrassed.

"Well then, what do they matter? This is your battle, not theirs."

I glared down at him for a second. Then – very hesitantly – I started beating my wings at a slower pace, so I was lowering to the ground. Something told me it was a bad idea, but there was something about the way Baltor was speaking that just enthralled me. I kept going until I reached the top of a smoke pillar. Just like the smoke near Baltor, it solidified when it came in contact with my essence. I perched on top of the pillar like a bird, still looking down at Baltor. "What do you suggest?" I asked cautiously.

"What I said before. If I regain control of my body, we can face them together. I'll get the respect they took from me when they turned me into that beast–"

"You mean he can't stay?" I asked with a fake pout. "What a shame. I thought that look was more you."

"Of course you did," he muttered, though he looked a bit amused to me. "But along with that, you get your parents back." I bit my lip as he went on. "Sparx may be a frozen wasteland, but most of the main city is just under a sheet of ice; the Ancestresses froze it that way in case they ever got back to it. I'll help you navigate through the city: your parents would most likely be frozen within it, or the way to get to them is from an access point there."

I stared at him evenly. "What's the catch?"

"Well," he drawled, "of course, my power isn't as advanced as it was, considering you broke the seal on the Agador Box…"

"You need to steal those spells back." I was hardly surprised.

"Technically it would be we need to steal them back, but yes. And of course, any spell you're interested in would be yours to keep; just a little added bonus. Now, that should only take a few weeks to do, with your magic helping us…"

"And then we would go to Sparx?"

"Exactly. From there we find the ancient witches, and from there Oritel and Miriam." He shot me a grin that I'm sure he thought dazzled me. "Everybody wins."

I looked back at him, silently thinking it over in my head. Finally I spoke. "Let's say I'm considering this. I want a few conditions on my part. One: when you… we take those spells back, it would involve the most minimal amount of pain and suffering possible."

"Done." He raised his right hand, as if to prove he was speaking the truth.

"The Trix are not involved. No freeing them from Light Rock, and no letting them know in any way what this is about. They have a bad habit of getting out of places they're supposedly trapped in."

"I'd noticed. Anything else?"

"One more thing: once my parents are freed and you get your revenge on the Ancestresses, you agree to leave the magical dimension. Go to some far-off universe, live underground, change your name, get a cat, I don't care. Just never come back. Ever. And if I see you again after that, I won't hesitate to rip your essence to shreds."

Baltor grinned at me. "That's a bit dark for you. And wouldn't you miss me?"

"No."

The grin disappeared. Baltor's eyes raked over me, from the heelless sandals on my feet to the fairy dust pendant at my neck, finally looking into my eyes. I held his gaze, trying to prove to him (and myself) that I wasn't afraid.

"Well then Bloom," he said finally, pushing himself off the smoke wall – which immediately dissipated back into just smoke – and stepping forward so he was about four feet from the pillar. "Do we have a deal?" He stretched out his hand in my direction.

Carefully, I stood from the pillar and flew down until my feet touched the ground. After what felt like an eternity (even though it was probably more like a few seconds), I raised my hand and slid it into his palm. His grip was oddly reassuring, as though he was trying to convince me I had made the right choice. But I barely thought about it as I said, "We have a deal."

"Brilliant," Baltor said, releasing my hand and turning to apparently examine the smoke.

"Yeah, maybe." My voice was uncertain. I watched him from behind for a few seconds before finally realizing that I was still holding my hand out, and quickly pulled it back, folding my arms across my chest. "Now, wise guy, how do you plan to fake your own death, considering I can't kill you?"

He laughed. "You leave that to me. With the Dragon Fire connection, you're really the only person who can know if I'm dead. You just have to say that I am."

"Simple enough," I said, more to myself than anything. "But wait, how exactly do I get out of here then? Maya told me once the flame was extinguished, I'd return to my own body, but…"

"How do you get out without doing it?" Baltor filled in, turning back to face me. I nodded in response. "Well, that shouldn't be hard."

"What do I need to do?" I asked, still trying to debate whether this was a good idea or not.

"Oh, you don't need to do anything," Baltor grinned, as though there was some joke I just wasn't getting. "I just need to throw you out."

My eyes widened. "Throw me out?"

"Just think of it as some roller-coaster on Earth," he said, sounding annoyingly pleasant as he came back toward me.

Suddenly nervous, I started backing up until I hit the smoke. It solidified against me, pinning me there. "You know, I hate roller-coasters," I tried with a small grin.

Baltor smirked at me before grabbing my forearms. "In that case Bloom," he said, as blue magic began glowing under his palms, "I would hang on tight."

"To what?" I couldn't help but snap.

That earned me a laugh. "You know, I think we're going to make a good team." With that, Baltor jerked me towards him, and then threw me back into the darkness of the smoke.

"Bloom? Bloom? Come on Bloom, wake up…"

I opened my eyes slowly. The first thing I saw was Sky's relieved face grinning at me. I immediately felt a little better. "Hey. Did I miss much?"

"Bloom, darling!" I found myself suddenly enveloped in Stella's death grip hug. "We thought you were done for!"

"Done for?" I asked when Stella finally released me. "What do you mean?"

"Well," Flora said, "Baltor just suddenly started fading. He was obviously down, but we didn't know if you were being dragged down with him."

"Well, I'm fine. I'm sorry I scared you guys."

"But did it work?" Riven asked me. "Is Baltor gone?"

I closed my eyes, focusing on my own inner flame. Along with mine, I could feel another strong presence, very close. I wanted to open my eyes and look around; I knew Baltor was around somewhere, just watching to make sure I wouldn't give him away. And that was a creepy feeling.

Do your friends make your decisions for you, Bloom? Baltor's voice echoed from the darkness behind my eyes. Or is this your battle to finally win?

"Well, Bloom?" Sky's voice brought me back to reality. "Is he gone?"

I opened my eyes, and put on the best grin I could. "Yep. He's completely gone."

I didn't need to see Baltor to know that he was smirking at me.

Author's Note: Hello and welcome! This fic was co-written by emberfire411, and it's a "What-if" AU: in this case, what if Bloom said yes to Baltor's final offer in the season finale.

So what did you think? As always, reviews will motivate us to get ch. 2 up faster. ;-)

- Authoress and ember