A/N: Yes, I do know I added another story to my 'Need To Be Completed' List. Except this idea has eaten away at me for way too long. So, without further ado, on with the story. Oh, and review. But please, don't flame
Ugh. Third semester underway. I worked my way through two years of college with the girls. We were all getting on pretty well, apart from two of us: Stella and I.
It all went wrong the day I decided to tell them.
"Girls, I need to talk to you all." I said timidly. It was a Saturday afternoon and we were all spending it doing what we most liked to do. Flora was the first person to turn my way.
"Come on." She said to the others. They all sat on the rug on the lounge floor in front of me on the couch.
"What's up, Bloom?" Stella asked.
"Well, Sky and broke up... three months ago." I said. Stella looked astonished.
"God, no." She mused more to herself than the rest of us. There was a sort of awkward silence as the rest processed what I had just said. Stella broke the silence with her next thought. "Who were you seeing these past couple of months then?" She asked accusingly.
"Umm..." I started. Just then, the door opened to reveal Grizelda. I sighed in relief.
"Miss Bloom." She said sternly. "The headmistress requests a meeting with you." She walked out of the room.
"Yes, Miss Grizelda." I stood up and followed her, shrugging to the other girls as I went by. I knocked on Faragonda's door and let myself in when I heard her soft voice answer.
"Come in, dear child." I saw her at the window, half her body turned to me as she acknowledged my presence.
"Miss Grizelda said you wanted a meeting with me." I explained. She nodded, smiling.
"Yes, Bloom. Please, take a seat." I set myself in one of the three chairs opposite her desk while she took a seat in her big, boss chair. "You see, Bloom, you are nearing a very complicated obstacle in your search for your birth parents."
"Is this to do with what Avalon told me? About Lysthenstyne?" She looked taken aback by this.
"Yes. Bloom," she nodded, "Lysthenstyne holds a powerful object called The Ruby Redstone." I listened in more carefully as she explained the situation.
The Ruby Redstone was an ancient ruby, supposedly destroyed by the Company of Light. Except, the previous owner had been clever and cloned the Redstone. He buried the stone in his backyard and the Company of Light had destroyed the clone.
Lysthenstyne was a young sorcerer in his early teens who trained in the previous owner's mansion. One night, in about mid-April, he decided to explore the yard after his trainer went home. He went into the yard and reached the big tree when he saw a faint red glow come from the ground. He knelt there, fingering the soil. He scraped away, creating a small hole. To his surprise, the glow grew bigger. Bigger and brighter. His heart was pounding and his limbs shook. He knew his next move was wrong but curiosity got the better of him. He went inside the mansion and dug around the kitchen for his trainer's drawer keys; she kept them somewhere different every time she used them. Once he found them beneath the fruit bowl, he went into the bedroom, and unlocked the drawer. There, tucked away in its fabric packet, was a sharp pen-knife. Taking it back into the yard, he dug a hole where the glow was. After scraping a hole, there sat a glowing red stone. He picked it up. From then on, he kept it hidden in his bedroom and it was a miracle he was never discovered.
Later in Lysthenstyne's life, after he became mature, he decided to learn more about his stone. He sat in his study long into the night, night after night, looking for information on the stone. He found out that the stone was called the Ruby Redstone. It was a immensely powerful stone. However, its full potential could only be reached with sources of power that were both light and dark. It didn't have to be the same source of power, just light and dark. Since he was a good wizard, Lysthenstyne searched for three years for a dark power, not knowing the danger he was putting himself in. Over those years, the curiosity became greed and Lysthenstyne found himself being bribed to the dark side. Once converted to a completely dark being, Lysthenstyne began to search for a good power. He learned about the Dragon Fire and, to this day, is trying to trace it.
I gasped. My life was in danger. I was about to go through the Darkar situation all over again. I groaned and closed my eyes, begging the Gods, or whoever it was that was out there, for help. I wasn't scared. This guy was probably just some amateur wizard, in which case, he would get his ass kicked in two seconds flat.
"Bloom, you've got no need to be worried. You've got fantastic friends who I know will support you all the way, and you can always rely on Prince Sky." Miss Faragonda told me, smiling softly at the mention of the ugly prince. I decided it was now or never to let it out.
"Actually, Miss F," I started, "Sky and I broke up after the Diaspro thing. But it's OK. I moved on." She raised an eyebrow.
"To...?" She waited for an answer. I sighed again. This was the dreaded part.
"Please, Miss F, he's not evil anymore." I explained hastily. She crossed her arms and frowned. "Fine. It's..." she leaned closer, like she was interested in actualy listening to what I had to say. "Baltor." I whispered.
My headmistress looked troubled. Correction: she was troubled. She started shaking from head to toe. Her eyes looked distant and unfocused. Her glasses slipped but she made no move to push them back up. "Miss Faragonda?" I whispered. "I'm sorry, Miss F. I couldn't help it." She came back to reality and sorted out her appearance.
"It's not that which I'm worried about, dear. Baltor and Lysthenstyne were allies at one point in the destruction of Sparx. How long ago was your encounter?"
"Three months ago." I answer confidently.
"The Eraklyon Ball... you started when his heart was evil."
"He's not anymore, I swear." She smiled softly.
"I know. I trust you, dear. OK. We'll talk about this matter at another time. You may go." She gave me a nod to say I could leave.
"Bye, Miss Faragonda." I left her office and walked back to my room. There, when I was sitting on my bed, I heard a familiar voice niggling in the back of my mind. I laid on my back and focused on it.
I love how you defended me in that.
Thank you. So, where to, bad guy?
Meet me in Griffin's office. I have a fews things I can confide in you on that Lysthenstyne matter. Why do you get yourself into this stuff?
He wanted the Dragon Fire, stupid. He'll be after you too.
I was born from a dark ember of the Dragon Fire, sweetheart. I'm on the safe side.
Whatever. I'll see you soon. I love you.
I love you, too, Bloom.
I felt an emptiness as our Dragon Fire connection cut. I sat up and looked out the window. The moment I set foot on the ground outside, my life would be endangered. I dragged my feet off my bed and into the ground. "Girl, you ain't going nowhere until you tell us about your new boyfriend." I heard a tomboyish voice demand. I jumped and held a hand to my heart.
"Gosh, Layla! You scared me!" I yelped when I turned to see the chocolate-skinned brunette frowning at me. "Layla, please. Not now." I sighed. I got up and left after giving Layla a one-armed hug to show I wasn't mad at her. I ran out of the room and into the front courtyard.
I walked the opposite way from Red Fountain, which I wouldn't have done up until three months ago. As I approached Cloud Tower, a swarm of witches came flying at me. They aimed their drab-clothed bodies at mine, knocking me over. They all flew past apart from a brunette. She winked at me and said, "boss's orders," before flying past and catching up with her friends. I picked myself up and brushed off.
"Need a hand, honey?" I looked up to see Baltor smirking with his arms folded across his chest. I gave him a cocky smirk in return.
'Very funny, big guy." I retorted. I hugged him, breathing in his smell: chilli cinnamon. He transported us to Griffin's office, where he brought his lips to mine and I pressed them together. My arms wound round his neck while his hands found my head and waist. Even though I saw him just yesterday, it felt like an eternity had passed since I touched him and kissed him. The need for oxygen forced our lips apart. I kept my arms around him for a second longer but then reluctantly prised myself away.
"I saw a team of witches fly past and they said you told them to fly at me." I said as he sat in Griffin's chair and put his feet up on the table. I perched on the edge of the table, facing him.
"Ah, them." He cleared his throat and let out a forced laugh. "Yeah, I kinda wanted to pull that joke for a while now." I frowned and crossed my arms.
"That's nice to know." I say dryly. "Anyway, about Lysthenstyne. What do you know?"
"Well, I know he was twenty two during the attack on Sparx. By then, you were born. So now, he'll be about twenty three and a bit. You and I have a good chance of beating him if we work together."
"Wait, what?" I lean forward in order to understand what he said. "I'm lost. You said he was twenty two when I was born. I am now eighteen. Not one and a bit." I raised an eyebrow as he chuckled.
"Bloom, honey, like me, he ages a year in a decade." His eyes gleamed with mischief as he smirked. "And that's due to me giving him a disguised aging potion." He laughed slightly at the memory.
"Ah, OK. I see now." I pulled myself up onto the table. "This will be just totally random. Why am I here with the wizard who destroyed my planet?"
"Because you love me?" He suggested.
"Yeah, but we're meant to be enemies. What brought us together?" He sighed.
"Put it this way: the good Dragon Fire in me overcame the dark Dragon Flame when I set my eyes on you." He explained.
"You have a part of the good Dragon Fire?" I asked incredulously.
"Everyone has a good and dark side to them. You have to choose which side you want to follow. I was forced to choose the dark side because a) I was created from a dark ember and b) I couldn't go against my mothers' wishes."
"About that, if you'd had a choice, would you have chosen the good side?"
"Seeing the consequences, yes, I think I would have." He smiled and i returned it. Admitting that sort of proved he was meant to be on the good side and that he was mine.
"Hey, I need to get back." I jumped down from the table. "The girls will be wondering where I am." He stood up with me and grabbed my wrist.
"Not yet. Please. Just tell them where you are," he started. "Make up an excuse." He added when he saw my face. I shook my head.
"Sorry, love. I owe them an explanation." I wound my arms round his neck.
"Explain later." He sounded agitated.
"I can't. Not when it's about us." He smiled.
"So you're finally telling them, huh?" I smiled back.
"I kinda have to now that I told them about Sky." He nodded. Our lips met in a heated kiss. I didn't want to let go but I pulled my lips away after a minute or so.
"Just stay here." He tried one last time.
"Sorry sweetie. I'll come back later today if I can."
"Fine. I love you, Bloom." He whispered as I embraced him.
"I love you, too."
I used my transportation to get me out of Cloud Tower so that I wouldn't have to walk all the way around the school. I walked back to Alfea and to my room. When I opened the door, the girls were there with their arms folded. Stella had the biggest frown on her face.