NOTE: This fan fiction is a spin off on the stories of "The other side" and "Other side and back again" If you want to understand them properly, go read the other stories first. It's set one year after the disappearance of the Winx Club, the girls are in the service of Valtor and all of Magix believes they are dead. Enjoy!
Bloom was already half asleep when she arrived home, looking out the window of her new sleek hover car she saw the large mansion made of wood and glass, it towered over everything, giving off a powerful feel of intimidation and coldness, the gardens were all creepy trees and dead grass with an occasional broken Greek god statue. All in all it kept people out. And that was the way the girls like it, although Bloom still had to smile at how every time they moved from one place to another, Valtor always seemed to find them the most cliché, horror movie looking houses to live in.
Exiting her vehicle she trudged up the stone steps with her long sword in hand and a small black bag in the other. As she entered through the large wooden doors of her house she looked around to see if her friends were home as they always were, arguing about clothes or weapons but strangely this time the whole house seemed as silent as the grave. The front room consisted of grey wooden floors and grey walls with faded furniture, it sucked to live in such a dull coloured house but once you have been out all day hunting down horrible people who have done horrible things you would take anything as home as long as it had a comfy bed to sleep in. Not even having the energy to call out a simple "I'm home" Bloom walked slowly down a long passageway to a tall door, from her flawless hearing she could hear barely a thing in the room except for a fire crackling inside but she was not fooled, she knew he was in there. Not even bothering to knock anymore she went inside and found herself in the office of Valtor, dark as always. Her eyes zeroed in on him in an instant, he was sitting in his chair behind the desk, staring hard at a piece of paper. Bloom suspected he had been like this for the last hour but she didn't comment, through her years with the man who had taught her to kill he had never been very...normal.
Walking without sound in her step she approached the desk and silently laid down the black bag, which landed with a strange thump "One delivery for an evil bastard" Bloom mumbled her eyes, even in Valtor's presence, had begun to shut from exhaustion. Valtor didn't even seem to notice her presence which was kind of strange; Bloom woke up a bit to give him a long look to see if he would respond. Jeez, what's with him?
"Hey are you with me?" Bloom asked a little louder. Still no response. Bloom sighed heavily in frustration and in a moment of complete carelessness reached out and took hold of Valtor's arm from across the desk "Valtor" he snapped to attention at once, his piercing eyes found hers and Bloom felt the familiar coldness run through her whenever he look right at her. Okay, starting to regret touching him. Bloom slowly took her hand away and straightened out "I'm back from my mission, you wanted this urgently" She gestured to the black bag on the desk with a strange smell coming from it. She turned to quickly leave the room when Valtor spoke up.
"Stay"
Bloom quickly went back to her place in front of the desk, hands clasped behind her back and expression lazily resting on Valtor as he reached across the desk and picked up the bag, opening it and spilling the contents onto the wooden surface. Out toppled a severed hand that had started to go a yucky greenish colour, a large ring settle on the middle finger. Neither Bloom nor Valtor flinched at the severed limb that sat between them; Valtor simply picked up the hand, snatched off the ring and with impeccable aim threw the whole hand across the room into the fire. As he toyed with the ring in his hands he asked without looking up "Did he give you any trouble?"
"Not much" Bloom answered lazily. Valtor had sent her halfway across Gardenia in the middle of the night to go find a famous crime boss who had been selling illegal stores of magic to other crime people all over Magix, he had told her to get his ring and bring it back to him as soon as possible. So she had gone and got it.
"What about his men?" Valtor asked as he continued to observe the ring.
"I was careful; I didn't run into many of them"
"Did anyone recognise you?" He asked as he always did.
"No" Was always the answer.
"Is he still alive?"
"Barely" Bloom said without lifting her eyes from the spot on the wall she had decided to stare at. In truth she hadn't wanted to kill him, she didn't enjoy killing. So to not get herself into the situation where she would have too she had just threatened to cut off his other hand and feed it to him if he didn't do as she said, it had worked pretty well.
Valtor nodded "You can go"
Bloom turned on her heel and walked out of the room, as she shut the door she saw Valtor slip the ring onto his middle finger. She thought on this as she walked back out into the foyer and up the huge grey stairs. It hadn't escaped their notice that whenever Valtor sent them out to 'deal with people' they were always told to bring him a certain object back that would make him more powerful, the fact that the people they went after were very bad people was just a 'happy coincidence' Bloom stalked through the hallways and found the door that led to her room, inside held the usual stuff. Double bed, two nightstands with lamps, desk with computer, dresser with clothes, private bathroom and a fireplace already lit. First thing she did was walk over to her dresser and set her sword on top of it, she would have to clean it later but right now she didn't have the energy. Grabbing clothes and taking a shower Bloom emerged twenty minutes later much refreshed, she pulled back the covers of her bed and settled in to read a book.
It was in this time that she thought about her friends, where they were, what kind of dangerous mission had Valtor sent them on and would they be coming back? They always did of course but it still nagged at her thoughts. She never thought of her missions, it was best to leave them in the past where they couldn't plague her. She soon gave up reading and settled in to sleep, she closed her eyes and within seconds she was asleep. Hours or maybe minutes passed but Bloom had been taught to sleep a certain way so that whenever someone was near her when she slept she would know. So when she heard the door creak open she was awake in an instant. Hmm Stella's home didn't even hear her come through the foyer. Damn she's getting good at being quiet. Bloom sat up and started to speak "Hey welcome home, how was your missio-" Bloom froze. Standing just inside the door not a few metres from her bed was the man she thought she had left in his study.
Valtor's in my room. My room has Valtor in it. Why is Valtor standing in my room? He never comes to my room, what is this? Bloom thoughts whirled as she stared at the man across from her "Umm...Hi"
Valtor turned and walked toward the fireplace in the room, staring into the flames, after a long time he spoke "I need you to go on another mission"
Bloom felt her stomach drop and her expression go from confusion to 'Are you f #$ing kidding me?!' It was strange that he would ask this of her just after she got back; usually it took him a whole week to find her another job. She flipped the covers off and stood up "Me?"
"All of you"
"What...all?"
"The six of you. This is important and I can't afford any mistakes"
Bloom wrapped her arms around herself and walked a few steps forward "When? The girls aren't even back yet"
"The day after tomorrow, they'll be back by then"
Bloom felt surprise run through her, this was very irregular "Wait Valtor this isn't right" Valtor turned to shoot her a glare that stopped her in her tracks "I mean...can't we have more time to prepare, if this mission is that important we should know all the facts before we go" Valtor turned back to the fire "No, it needs to be the day after tomorrow"
Bloom brows furrowed as she stared at his back, walking forward to his side she looked up at him. She noticed he held the same piece of paper he had been staring at before "What's going on?" She asked quietly, he looked down at her with a strange expression, a different one from his usual 'do as I say' one.
"I need you to steal something" He said mysteriously, Bloom felt a small relief that he didn't want her to kill anyone "But it's hidden. You'll need a key to get it"
Bloom nodded, various plans running through her head "Where's the key?"
"Alfea" he didn't hesitate a beat but that one word sent a title wave of memories bursting through Bloom. She hadn't thought of her old home in a whole year and even now she felt a spark of something cold and sad run through her, she didn't show it in her appearance, she didn't even flinch, she simply said "okay"
Valtor handed her a letter out of his pocket that had pages of instructions written on it, she took it silently and watched him walk out of the room, as he walked out the door he paused and said "Clean that sword before you go back to sleep"
...
Bloom woke up the next morning filled with dread, she knew the girls were home without even listening to hear their talking downstairs, she just knew. Getting up quickly she jogged out of her room and down the stairs into the foyer, by the sounds she heard she guessed they were in the library and someone was in the kitchen, she chose the kitchen first. As she walked into the room filled with cupboards and a huge stove and fridge she spotted Flora standing at the stove cooking what smelled like noodles, she turned and smiled at Bloom "Morning sweetie, how was your trip?"
"Smooth" Bloom answered as she reached the counter and leaned against it "Really? Noodles for breakfast?"
Flora looked at the huge pot that held bowls worth of noodles and smiled "It's either noodles or someone has to take the effort and make a proper breakfast after a night with only a few hours sleep, are you volunteering?"
"No no no" Bloom said quickly
"Good" Flora said as she turned back to her huge pot, big spoon in hand. Bloom bit her lip as she tried to think of how she was going to tell them that they were about to go back to Alfea to steal something tomorrow. She had stayed up most of her night looking over the instructions and planning in her head but either way the girls weren't going to take it well, so instead she asked "And how was your job with Stella?"
"Rough. We had to break into a museum and steal a priceless amulet that holds the power to turn people into stone, Stella had it with her when a guard caught us and she made the mistake of using it on him while he was still holding onto her arm, she was completely stuck to him and more guards were closing in on us" Flora put down her spoon and walked over to the cupboard "Could you get the strainer please?"
Bloom found the sink sized strainer and handed it to her friend "So what happened?"
"We picked him up and took him with us" Bloom laughed at this. A good storytelling of a mission always cheered her up, especially if they involved impossible situations "But we got out of there and completed our job, that's what counts" Flora said as she picked up the huge pot and drained most of the water down the sink. As soon as she finished she handed the pot to Bloom and picked up six bowls and spoons herself and walked out of the room with Bloom behind her. Bloom thought of how different life was for her friends now, a year ago they would have never have made their own breakfast or done any manual labour, these days they lived very...humanly. The two girls entered the huge library and found Techna sitting in a faded pink armchair with her nose planted firmly in a thick volume while layla swung on the moving ladder back and forth across the room while Stella was lying on one of the many rugs with her eyes closed and looking very tired.
"Breakfast!" Flora announced cheerfully as she set the bowls and spoons down on a clear table while Bloom walked over to Stella with the huge pot still in hand "Stella are you okay?"
She was answered with a small grunt. Musa chose this time to walk around the corner and spot the two girls, she smiled and pointed at Bloom "Ah ha! It was Ms Bloom, in the library with the cooking pot!" Bloom laughed at her reference to the board game 'Cluedo' she had recently introduced them too, Musa had loved it immediately while Techna had found it ridiculous. Another way that they lived their lives in the human way just to pass the time between missions. Techna spoke up from where she sat "We are never playing that game again"
"You're just jealous because I won twice in a row and you guessed wrong!" Musa pointed her finger at Techna who now gave her a glare but stood up and went over to collect her breakfast that Bloom had just set down.
Each girl got up the strength to go and collect their bowl of noodles and then sit down to eat in silence, each of them showing signs to too much running around and fighting and the bags under their eyes from lack of sleep. Bloom knew that this was the perfect moment to bring up the subject and tell them.
"Hey guys?" The girls all stopped eating and looked at her, recognising that tone of dread in her voice.
"Bloom?" Stella looked at worriedly at her friend.
"What is it?" Layla asked as she put her breakfast down.
Bloom took a deep breath before speaking "I spoke to Valtor last night and we have a job to do and it's incredibly important. We have to steal something and it's gonna be really hard to get, it'll be the most dangerous mission we've ever gone on"
"Bloom...what's going on?" Techna asked sternly.
Bloom paused for a fraction of a second "We're going home"
...The next day.
The school of Alfea was quiet and cold in the morning. The sky above it was grey and cloudy to match the mood within the building, the students arrived and walked up the steps in clusters and kept their heads down. Each student wore black clothes as they all filed into the front doors; some of the people weren't even students but adults who had come to pay their respects on this sad day. Miss Faragonda stood just in the foyer with Miss Griselda beside her, both ladies grim was they welcomed each person with sad smiles and directed them into the gigantic hall off to the left of the foyer. Today was a special day. Today was the one year anniversary of the disappearance of the Winx Club.
In the huge hall that the reception was to be held was decorated with white flowers everywhere, white banners with gold writing that said 'farewell' and at the front a lovely looking fountain and a huge painting that stood ten feet in the air with the six girls painted into its frame, the same picture that had been plastered all over Magix for the last year with the words 'Have you seen these people?' The rows were filled with students, friends and family. The family members of the girls all sat at the front, lines of people waiting to offer their condolences. There were two people in the front row that stood out a little, Bloom's parents from Earth. They sat looking straight ahead with white faces and puffy eyes, these eyes fixed on the redheaded girl in the frame. Beside them sat the other girl's families, Stella's mother was crying into a handkerchief with her ex-husband the king, in a show of rare affection between the two people, had his arm around her as she cried. Flora's parents held hands and looked up at the painting, their lips moving silently as they prayed in their planets native language. Musa's father sat by himself; looking at him you would think he looked aloof but on closer inspection you could see he held a small strip of blue ribbon that had once been tied in his daughters hair when she was little, he held it gently and eyed it almost sadly. Techna's parents were stone-faced people, they nodded to people who spoke to them and didn't say much. Layla's parents held each other and spoke in soft whispers, daring not look up at the painting which held their lost daughters face.
Anyone that looked on these parents faces were filled with grief for their loss, the room was filled with sniffles and whispers. People whispered to themselves "It's such a shame about those girls" "They just vanished; their parents must be in agony, knowing they can never know what happened" "Did you know the girls boyfriends are here today? They look just as sad as the parents"
The Specialists stood in a hallway just outside of the foyer, each wore a black suit and each was as silent as the other. They didn't cry or speak; they just looked around the corner at the painting that held their love's faces, a familiar stabbing in their hearts as they too knew they would never know what happened. Miss Faragonda had just herded the last of the people in the great hall and was about to join them when she saw another ship pull up rather hastily outside in the parking lot of the school, the back hatch opened and out ran a woman of about thirty years, she looked overly distressed, a lot more than a normal mourner would be.
Sensing something was terribly amiss Miss Faragonda hurried outside with Miss Griselda on her heels; they reached the bottom of the steps as the hysteric woman reached them. The woman had brown hair and light skin, she wore a purple coat over a black pantsuit and she looked perfectly ordinary except for her bright blue eyes that seemed to notice everything without any effort. She met Miss Faragonda at the bottom of the steps, the headmistress had to reach out and steady the woman by holding onto her arms "Madam what is it? Are you alright? Do you need help?" Miss F asked concerned.
The woman spoke quickly "Oh please miss, it's terrible! We've found a body of a girl in the river, she's dead. We didn't know what else to do, so we just brought her here, what should we do?"
Miss Faragonda felt sharp shock go through her at the woman's words; she faltered for a moment before regaining her composure "First we stay calm" The brown haired woman calmed down immediately and took a breath but her eyes were still wide "Now, what's your name?" Miss Faragonda asked sternly as Miss Griselda gestured quickly for the Specialists, who now stood at the top of the steps looking down curiously, to come down and help them.
"Emily Saunders" The woman answered steadily, getting her bearings.
"Emily I need you to tell me everything that happened but first we need to see to the body" The woman nodded as the guys arrived "What's happened?" Sky asked curiously as he glanced at the woman who looked back at him with tears in her eyes "A body! We found a girl's body" The Specialists felt panic run through them, there was only a few girls they could think of that would likely turn up in a river and they didn't even want to imagine that they would turn up today. Nothing could have prepared them for this. The brown haired woman gestured up into the ship.
"It's up here"
Miss Faragonda, Miss Griselda and the Specialists all made their way into the ship warily, this was one thing they had not expected to happen, today of all days. It just seemed so unlikely and sudden. They all walked into the main room of the ship while the woman, Emily, fretted and mumbled "We were just sightseeing at the river when we just saw her floating there, she was so still and white that we knew she was dead"
The body lay on the floor over a white sheet on the ground, a sheet over her as well. Brandon was the first to snap into duty mode and asked "Was there anyone at the river that looked suspicious?"
The woman shook her head "No it was just us"
"Us?" Riven asked, looking at her suspiciously. A door opened at the front of the ship that led to the control room and out walk a girl of about Twenty with medium brown hair and multiple piercings, she was short had on black jeans and a blue shirt, she looked at the group warily. Emily Saunders stepped forward "This is my sister, we're just visiting gardenia. I never thought we would find something so horrible in such a nice place"
Horrible things happen all the time in gardenia, like girls going missing and never coming back. This general thought ran through the group as they said nothing in reply. Brandon reached down and pulled back the sheet that was draped over the girl's body, for one terrible second Brandon felt pure terror run through him as he spotted a long wave of blond hair but it quickly subsided when he got a look at the girls face, which was not the face of his beloved as he had thought. The girl had long blond hair and pale skin as white as bone, black bags under her eyes they were shut and leaves with twigs all littered over her body, her whole frame damp from the rivers water.
Miss Faragonda closed her eyes and whispered "Oh dear lord"
"Is she a student here, do you think?" Timmy asked as she edged closer to get a proper look at her face but still not too close as he was iffy around dead bodies.
"No" Miss Griselda spoke up "I would recognise her. Not all girls get into Alfea, most have to be princesses. This is probably a girl just visiting Gardenia"
"What should we do about the memorial?" Helia asked as he glanced at the school through the window of the ship. All eyes turned to Miss Faragonda who sighed heavily "Let them wait for a moment while we take this poor girl to the infirmary, Miss Griselda will take care of that while I see to Miss Saunders and her sister. You gentlemen will help with the body but for goodness sake, don't let anybody from the memorial see it, we have enough sadness here today without everybody knowing of this tragedy"
And so Miss Faragonda led the sisters to her office while Miss Griselda and the Specialists carefully carried the girl into the school and to the infirmary "I can't believe this happened" Nabu said as the guys carried the body wrapped in the sheet down the halls, all looking in different directions for any people "I mean this kind of thing doesn't happen here, not in Gardenia"
"Statistics show that murder can happen anywhere, even in peaceful places like this" Timmy answered quietly, trying not to glance at the body in his arms for fear of throwing up.
"It's awful. I didn't think we'd have to deal with an actual body until after we'd graduated and even then it would be a rare thing, they usually leave that kind of thing to the police" Brandon answered as he glanced down the hall for people and gestured for the group to go forward.
"I was still shocked though" said Timmy "Did you know that crime has dropped in the last few months for some reason"
"How?" Helia asked curiously, he hadn't spoken much out of respect for the body he was helping carry but he couldn't help but ask.
Timmy shrugged "Don't know, it's a mystery"
Riven spoke up "I heard that all these evil people like crime bosses and dealers have suddenly being going missing and turning up dead. And not just in rivers and stuff but in their beds and homes, like a group of people are just breaking in and killing them for the greater good"
"Yeah but murder is still murder" Sky answered quietly although he kind of felt good about having a group of people making all the bad people go away, risking jail and death to make the world a better place.
...
Miss Faragonda paced the length of her office while the two women sat in the two chairs in front of her desk, both white and silent with shock. Miss F stopped walking as the phone began to ring on her desk, she quickly snatched it up and answered "Yes...good...no we'll leave it until after the memorial, it's time to grieve...yes send the boys back to the hall, they need to be there...you too...we'll call the police later...those girls families have waited a whole year for this, let's let them say goodbye" She hung up the phone and turned to the two women "I'm so sorry, would you like some tea?"
The elder Emily Saunders shook her head "Oh no, please, I'm sure you have somewhere to be"
Miss F nodded, looking defeated "Yes a memorial for a group of missing students, I really should get down there"
"Go, we'll be fine here until it's done. Take your time"
Miss F nodded once more and walked quickly out of the room saying "I'll be back in about half an hour"
As soon as the older woman was gone the two woman sat there waiting until they heard her feet on the stairs before the elder clicked her fingers and sent magic swirling around them in a bug puff of smoke. After a long moment the smoke cleared and in the two seats sat Bloom and Musa.
"Okay, why wasn't I allowed to talk that whole time?" Musa asked looking offended. Bloom turned to her and smiled "Because when you talk you really sound like yourself and we didn't want any suspicion, you would have given us away"
"I would not!"
"You would too!" Bloom answered back as she stood up "Now come on, we have to go get Stella from the infirmary, we only have half an hour before the memorial finishes, let's go!"
The two girls ran quickly through the halls of Alfea, they were very confused since the school looked completely different from what they remember having been remodelled to fit both Alfea and Red Fountain students into it. They lagged a little having just used a charm Valtor had given them for magic, the first bit of magic they had encountered in a year to transform so it made them a bit woozy, once they reached the infirmary and slipped inside quietly and looking around, while listened for anyone who might have been there. Coast clear they ran inside and quickly found the slab which held the dead body of the blond girl. Pulling back the sheet Musa quickly produced a vial of liquid to which she poured down the girls throat, Bloom stood a little back "So she's not really dead right?"
"Nah just an illusion of death, this potion should wake her up" Musa said as she tried to get the girl to swallow.
Bloom shrugged "Hmm, how very Romeo and Juliet"
"What's that?" Mus asked curiously. Bloom just shook her head at her when the girl on the slab suddenly pitched forward and gasped for life, her face quickly changing into what look a lot like Stella, after a few seconds of gasping she turned to her friends and asked "Okay, why did I have to be the dead one?"
"Because you suck at transformation spells" Musa answered with a smile. Stella glared at her and grabbed onto Bloom's offered arm to help her stand "And also we needed to get into Alfea without actually going to the memorial, and we needed to make sure Miss F and the guys went as well"
"So what now?"
"Now we go and find the key" Bloom answered while pulling out her phone.
...
Outside Alfea near the gates sat a shiny black van, in this van sat Techna, surrounded by computers and screens, she typed away furiously. When her phone rang she picking it up and answered "Hello Bloom"
"Hi Techna, is everything okay in the memorial hall?" Bloom asked through the phone.
Techna glance at one of her many screens which displayed all the cameras throughout Alfea "They're all just sitting there, looking sad"
"And Miss F, Miss Griselda and the guys are there?" Techna heard Musa ask on the other end of the phone.
"They just walked in and sat down, I believe the memorial has commenced now, your free to go get the key"
"Great thanks, call Layla for me"
"Sure thing, good luck" Techna replied and pressed 'end' then began dialling again on her phone.
...
Layla trudged miserably through the sewers under Alfea, the tunnels were stone and smeared with green slime and sewer water, it smelled ungodly and Layla was ready to throw up from the smell when her phone rang "Oh my god, get me out of here Techna!" She yelled into her phone.
"I'm sorry layla but this is for the good of the mission" Techna answered on the other end.
Layla groaned and said "What do you want?"
"Bloom just called, they're near the key so be ready in position to cut the power okay?"
"Why can't you cut the power from the van?" Layla whined into her phone she almost slipped on the slimy green stone.
"Because we need you for the escape plan"
"I hate you all" Layla answered and snapped her phone shut.
...
Bloom, Stella and Musa sped along the halls of Alfea until they reached a blank wall; they stopped right in front of it and stared at it "This is it?" Stella asked blankly "This is where the key is?"
"There must be some kind of trick to it" Bloom answered as she reached out and ran her fingers across the stone surface.
"Bloom this was the only thing in the instructions that didn't help us out, Valtor doesn't know how to open the wall to get to the key, he left that to us now we haven't used magic in a long time, what makes you think we can get to it?"
"We'll find a way" Bloom said starting to look stressed.
"How?" Stella asked being panicked herself.
Bloom reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone "Look we'll call Techna and see is she-" Bloom and Stella with their lightening fast reflexes ducked out of the way of the giant water fountain flying toward them, it hit the stone wall with a mighty crash and sent dust flying everywhere. Bloom and Stella coughed and looked at the mess; the wall now had a perfect hole in it and on the other side was a blue room with lasers and glass, the room with the key. Both girls turned to look at Musa.
"What?! You wanted it open, so I opened it! We have been stealing from museums for a whole year and you've learned nothing! Sometimes there is just no magic involved" The girl stalked forward and looked into the hole "Time to cut the power"
Bloom rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone once more and dialled Techna's number "Tell Layla to cut the power"
...
"Layla cut the power" Techna said into her phone.
...
"Layla is cutting the power!" Layla yelled as she swung her heavy axe at the machine that held all of Alfea's power supply. It sparked as the axe connected to it and rattled until it shut off.
...
The hall where the memorial was taking place was silent as Miss Faragonda made her speech, she spoke about the girl's kindness and loyalty to all things good when suddenly all the lights in the room flickered and then died; the mourners mumbled and looked up at the dark lights.
Miss Faragonda glanced curiously at the silent microphone in front of her which had also died; a spike of suspicion went through her as she recalled the dead body of the girl before, thinking it was just too big a coincidence that all this unlikely stuff would happen in one day.
...
"Hurry up you two! People will be getting suspicious soon!" Bloom yelled as she watched her two friends carefully walk into the room and approach a glass box with a small silver key inside. It didn't look like much special but the Stella and Musa still moved with caution "Just because the powers out doesn't mean there's not going to be some kind of alarm!" Stella yelled back at her. Musa spoke up beside her "Yeah, this place does run on that old fashion thing called magic you know, not everything is run on Earthly electricity"
Bloom rolled her eyes at her friends but stayed silent.
"How do you want to do this?" Mus asked Stella quietly as they eyed the glass box and key.
"Don't know, break it?" Stella asked back.
"You sure?"
"What's the worst that could happen?" Stella shrugged and Musa suddenly shot out her hand and punched the glass, as soon as the box shattered around her hand the whole room turned from blue to red and a blaring noise came on around them. Musa turned to look at Stella accusingly, Stella ignored her and reached out to grab the key, both girls quickly turned and bolted out of the room and with Bloom bolted down the halls toward the front doors of the school. It was a long way until they reached the area near the foyer and as soon as they saw the commotion they screeched to a halt and ran into a nearby closet (Who remembers this closet from the other side?) They slammed the door shut and turned to each other "Oh my god! We're totally screwed!" Stella yelled as Musa shushed her. Bloom peeked out of the closet to look into the foyer. The whole room was filled with confused mourners and soldiers who had responded to the alarm, among them were the girl's parents.
"But they're going to recognise us!" Stella yelled and was against shushed by Musa "Shut it, they'll hear"
Bloom closed the door and flipped out her phone "Techna help"
"I'm sorry but the front door is no longer an option, we'll just have to leave the ship behind. I'll find you a new escape route" Techna answered through the phone.
"I have an idea" layla said through the phone.
"layla?" Bloom asked confused.
"Three way call, duh? Any way I'm in the sewers remember, I'm under you, you just have to find a way to get to me" Layla suggested through the phone.
"What do you want us to do, squeeze down a toilet?" Stella asked aggravated.
"Techna please tell me there's a way to the sewers that's clean?" Musa asked as she clasped her hands in front of her, giving the illusion that she was praying.
Techna was silent on the other end for a moment, the sound of typing coming through when she exclaimed happily "Yes there is!"
"Where?" All three girls asked at once.
"There's a fountain at the end of the memorial hall"
The girls fell silent for a long time after that.
Miss Faragonda stood by the fountain of the memorial hall in frustration with the Specialists around her, the alarm for the intruder alert had gone off and protocol was that she not interfere until the authorities had arrived, she could tell the guys around her were just itching to sink their fists into any intruder who would dare interrupt their girlfriends own memorial. She signed sadly as she glanced up at the painting which held the girls smiling faces "I wish they were here" She heard herself whisper. The guys turned and looked at her with sadness, they knew all too well what that felt like, the only thing that was keeping them together today was the distraction of dead bodies and alarms going off.
There was suddenly a commotion at the entrance of the hall and the group turned to see a most odd sight. Three unknown figures dressed all in black with black hoodies covering their faces were racing right down the middle of the memorial hall, guests and students scrambled to get out of their way and when people tried to stop them they would get a boot in the face. As the three girls, judging from the slight figures, came barrelling toward Miss Faragonda who stood by the fountain the Specialists leapt into action and blocked their way. But the girls were quick and incredibly skilled, one bolted right into one of the guys and kept running, one slid right under their feet and the last one leapt right over their heads and splashed into the fountain. Miss F watched this with the most astounded expression, as did the rest of the hall. The fountain made a creaking sound and suddenly all the water and the three girls were being whisked away down a pothole sized pipe.
Bloom felt herself fly metres down a water pipe with clean water and suddenly hit a wave of terrible green water. Rising to the surface quickly she gasped for air and looked around; Stella and Musa were next to her gasping for air. Bloom felt two hands reach down and yank her out of the green sewer water, looking up she knew layla was under the black hoodie as she reached down and scooped up the other two "Come on, they will follow us you know!" Layla shouted as the four girls started to bolt down the sewer lines. After a few minutes they came to a door that had yellow light flooding through it, jumping out the door they looked around to see they were in a green forest just outside the walls of Alfea. The girls followed Layla until they reached a road that stretched along to the gates "What do we do?" Stella asked as she looked around quickly.
Suddenly four cars zoomed around the corner and started to zoom straight for them, it didn't take the girls long to know that these cars weren't friendly. So it was a blessed relief when a shiny black van screeched to a halt in front of them out of nowhere, Techna's voice yelling from within "Get in here now!"
The girl climbed aboard and soon they were flying down the highway with the four Alfea cars behind them and they soon found out two red fountain ships hovering overhead, thank god Techna was a monster when it came to driving.
Stella, Musa, Layla and Bloom were thrown from one side of the van to the other as Techna navigated her way into Gardenia and through its streets "Where are we going again?" layla asked as they turned a sharp corner.
"Gardenia's national defence headquarters" Techna answered from the front seat. At that moment the van came screeching to a halt and the side door opened to reveal Flora dressed in black jeans, black jacket and gloves, she looked at her friends curiously for a moment "You guys look terrible. Oh, and you smell awful!"
Stella held out the silver key to her "Key. You. Steal. Thingy. NOW!"
Flora smiled as she pocketed the key "Yes ma'm"
...
Flora crawled on all fours along the vent above the nation defence headquarters; she had been through a lot to get here. First she had to navigate through all these lasers and doors, run from various guards dogs, disable alarms and now she was about to break into a security safe. Just another day on the job.
... Twenty minutes later. Sorry didn't feel like writing the whole break in, break out thing again!
Bloom looked carefully around the side of the ally. Right now Flora was inside getting the thing they were supposed to steal, she wasn't really sure what it was, Techna was in the middle of hosing off Stella, layla and Musa of all sewer smell and Bloom was on look out having already been hosed down.
She was starting to see a whole lot more police hover cars flying around in the streets while more and more ships few in the sky, it was making her edgy "When is Flora getting back?"
"Don't know, any minute now I guess" Techna said as she strayed Stella right in the face.
The side door to the building suddenly opened and Flora came barrelling out of it yelling "Run!" The six girls all bolted toward the black van when they were suddenly cut off by cars blocking their way and police pointing guns at them, the girls turned and bolted up the ally and when that was cut off they turned and started to climb up the fire escape.
...
Sky and the Specialists were pissed off. Someone had come in and completely ruined their girlfriend's memorials, they were gonna hunt these people down. Right now most of Gardenias police force was scrambling all over the city searching for them. The guys were inside a truck that was speeding down the main street of Gardenia when they heard a voice on the transmitter "Suspects are on the roofs of residential buildings, heading east toward main street"
"Roofs?" Helia asked confused.
"Why, the hell, are they on roofs?" Riven asked more frustrated than confused.
"Who cares let's just catch them!" Brandon said as Timmy sped up on the wheel and picked up the transmitter "Where are the suspects heading exactly, what building?"
The man answered back on the other end "Suspects are heading toward backer street hotel, they're climbing into the building through the windows"
The guys hit their seats hard as Timmy accelerated hard on the pedal and sped toward that very building just three blocks away. As they stopped out front they all flew out as fast as lighting and burst into the building, stormed up the stairs to the top floor through the stair well. It didn't take long for them to spot the six black hooded figures scrambling down the stairs while they scrambled up them. The two groups collided and sent all twelve people falling down a flight of stairs until they stopped enough to throw some punches, the girls were trying their best to escape while the guys tried their best to hold onto them. After ages of fighting the girls managed to get a little bit away with the guys chasing after them, soon they were barrelling out of the building and into the street where more police waited for them, quick and as light as birds the girls jumped and flew into the air three metres above the ground and kicked off the building to grabbed onto a ledge of a bridge just above them. It was a graceful and quick display and soon the girls were running along the bridge toward the train station. Just about every guy there groaned in frustration except for the Specialists who were climbing after them, having had similar training.
The girls ran with all their might through the train station, their lungs were ready to burst and their bodies ached all over "Oh my god, Helia punched me in the nose!" Stella yelled as she ran.
"I'm sure he's sorry!" Flora yelled back at her.
"I just want to go home!" Techna whined as she tried to get a look at what train was leaving immediately.
"Speak for yourself; let's go back and kick their ass!" Musa yelled as she sprinted down a flight of steps that led to the underground train.
"No! I'm not fighting Nabu!" Layla said as she jumped over the ticket collector with the other girls.
Bloom suddenly heard a flurry of activity behind them and pushed herself faster "Their gaining on us, run faster!"
The girls got to the train that was just about to leave, the girls climbed aboard but as Bloom set foot over the threshold someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her back ward, her and her captor falling to the floor. Bloom knew it was Sky, who else would it be? She tried her best to keep her hoodie in place while fighting him but it was a bitch to do. The doors were closing ever slowly and her friends hadn't seemed to notice her absence so in a moment of complete desperation she pulled her hoodie back and turned to face him. Sky's hands suddenly loosened on her as their eyes met "Bloom?" He whispered as she sneaked out of his grasp and made it into the closing door. She couldn't help but turn and look at him, he moved toward the train and put his hand up to the glass door and stared at her with wide eyes. Bloom felt something break within her, all the emotion she had been storing within herself came rushing out again and slowly as went to the door and quietly laid her hand on his through the glass "I'm sorry...I'm so sorry" She said quietly knowing he heard her. The train moved out of sight and soon Bloom was left starting at a dark tunnel out the side of the train, looking over she saw her friends collapsed on the floor, breathing for dear life, not even noticing the whole thing.
The other people on the train edged away of them as Bloom walked over to Flora "Hey, did you get the thing Valtor wanted?"
Flora nodded and held out a package to Bloom, she took it and put it in her pocket and sat down to try and get her bearings before they got home.
...
Sky stood on the platform looing after the train in utter shock.
The guys reached him seconds after the train disappeared, looking to him for an explanation that he couldn't give them "So how are we supposed to find them?" Riven asked and Sky was even too shocked to be annoyed at his tone.
Sky pulled a metallic thing from his pocket and held it out to his friends "Wait, is that...?" Brandon asked, smiling slightly.
Sky nodded and Timmy spoke "A tracking device"
...
The girls were just about dead tired when they walked through the front doors of their home later that night. Each groaning and moaning about being tired that each girl went straight for the stairs except Bloom who trudged off to Valtor's office. She was surprised to find it empty.
Shrugging she walked back out and climbed the stairs to her room. Once in their she went straight to her bed and laid down, holding onto her pillow and squeezing it she felt something jabbing into her front between the pillow and her, not opening her eyes she felt down the front of her jacket to touch a cold metallic thing, her brows furrowed as she touched it. Opening her eyes she looked down at her stomach, a tracking device attached to her shirt.
"Oh F #% me"
...
The hall was silent for a moment before the door to Bloom's room opened with a loud bang and the girl herself came stumbling out of her room and with an enraged look and sword in hand, screaming to herself as she banged on each of her friends doors "Wake up, this isn't over yet!"
The girls each emerged from their rooms and looked about ready to strangle Bloom for interrupting their sleeping time after a long day; Bloom held up the tracker and smiled sympathetically "Sorry"
"Well...they're going to come for us" Techna said as she leaned against the wall and rubbed her eyes, too tired to be stressed.
"What're we gonna do?" Layla asked quietly, Bloom looked down the stairs into the foyer at the front door. The possibility that the guys could come here and that they could see the girls or worse run into Valtor was just too much.
"I have no idea, the fact that Bloom didn't notice the tracking device just pisses me off" Answered Stella as she stood with her back to the stairs, she paused for a moment "And what makes it worse is that I can hear them coming up the front steps" The girls squealed and scrambled for hiding places. Bloom didn't know why they were hiding, maybe because they didn't want to fight them. Bloom also didn't know why she hid in Valtor's office, it always seemed like a very forbidden place, she crouched under the desk held her sword in hand.
Holding her breathe she listened as the front door burst open and multiply footsteps enter the house, yelling as they went. Bloom guessed maybe twenty people were now inside and searching the house, Bloom let herself think for maybe a moment that they wouldn't notice any of them when she glanced down at the tracker, still active, in her hands. She wanted to laugh that she still hadn't crushed it yet, now they would certainly find her. So Bloom wasn't surprised when a hand reached out a yanked her out from under the desk but it did surprise her to see that it was Valtor holding onto her "I go out for just a few minutes and come home to this" He said with humour as he took the tracker from her hands and crushed it within his own and Bloom forgot for just a moment that soldiers were invading her house "Really what am I going to do with you children"
"We're not children, we're just..." Bloom relied, Valtor finished for her "...Sloppy"
"I was gonna say careless under stress but sloppy works too" Bloom shrugged, while Valtor raised an eyebrow "Did you get the package?"
Bloom nodded and before she could do it Valtor reached into her pocket and got it himself, he quickly ripped open the 'confidential' seal and took out a small object, a ring. He can add it to his collection. Bloom thought as she watched him slip it on his right hand "What's it do?"
"Watch" Valtor said as he turned and pointed the ring toward the door, Bloom felt power magic come from the ring as the whole room began to shimmer and stretch, once it got back to normal Bloom felt like she might pass out "Well?"
Valtor turned back to her "What do you hear?"
"Nothing" Bloom answered surprised at her answer, for one sick moment she thought he had banished everyone in the house to another dimension "Oh my god, what did you do?"
"Erased events" Valtor answered as he strode over to his desk "Everything that happened in the last day has been erased from everyone's memory and new boring memories put in place. Nobody will remember ever remember seeing you today" He glanced up and gave one of the coldest looks she had ever seen "He won't remember you letting him see you"
Bloom wanted to say something but she knew that with Valtor you don't make excuses, you just accept the consequences of your actions "I'm sorry, it won't happen again"
"No it won't" Valtor said as he gave her a strange look "I suppose now's not the time, I'll have to let you break in this new lifestyle a little more" Bloom furrowed her eyebrows at this comment "What? Time for what?"
Valtor shook his head and walked around his desk to her "Nothing that need concern you yet" In a rare moment of complete Valtor strangeness, he took her hands in his and smiled "My beautiful assassin"
Bloom was a little concerned about his behaviour "Umm, are you planning another job?"
"Not another job, The Job. The one that will give me complete power over everything, I shall sit atop the throne of Magix and you" He reached out with one hand and cupped the side of her face "You my precious most beautiful Bloom will be my weapon"
Bloom had never been so confused.
"I wish I knew what you were saying" She mumbled as she tried to make sense of his ramblings, Wow, he really has gone off the deep end.
"I know" Valtor smiled as he ran his thumb over her bottom lip "But you will one day...just not today" The area around Bloom started to shimmer as he used his newly acquired ring. Bloom looked blank for a moment and then blinked "W-what were you saying?"
Valtor stepped away from her quickly and asked casually "I asked how your last job was?"
"Yeah umm, yeah I sliced off his hand, gave the ring to you. Just basically just sat around since then, just waiting for my next job" Bloom answered, kind of dazed.
Valtor smiled a little "Goodnight Bloom"
"Night" Bloom answered as she let herself out, as she walked into the foyer she met Stella who was walking down with her, she looked confused also.
"I just woke up in my closet, why was I there?" Stella asked, looking around curiously.
"I have no idea" Bloom said, looking over at the open door, leaves tumbling into the foyer. She walked over and shut the double doors silently, thinking to herself. She felt like she was forgetting something "Hmm, couldn't have been that important"
...
Valtor stood in his office, looking at the door Bloom had just left with. Yes, they need more time. Need to take a few more lives, spill a bit more blood and forget the old life a little bit more. I'll give it a year. He walked back behind his desk and sat down, thinking of the day when he would finally awaken the evil within each of his newly moulded assassins. But for now he waited.
He could wait.
For her...he could wait.