"Please, just let me forget," she whispered, leaning back on a tree and sighing.
She was all alone, but she wanted to be right now. All week she had been alone, just to sort her feelings out. Everyone knew she needed to be alone right now, or they would have come to see her in the forest she had been camping in all week.
Other than for her rabbit, there was nothing that she was entertained by at the moment. It was just her, her rabbit, and her thoughts about Josh and what happened.
Suddenly her rabbit started to act up and Bloom got annoyed. "Kiko, stop it! I'm coming, I'm coming!" she yelled as the rabbit raced off and she was forced after it. There in a clearing was a girl with a scepter fighting an ogre. "No way!" she breathed.
As she watched the fight, she felt herself get pulled in. And when she was, she suddenly came out with magic instead of martial arts. She watched in awe, and rushed to the girl when she collapsed.
The next day was ordinary enough. Bloom had taken the girl home to sleep, then went out to run errands for her parents. They were more than happy to watch over the girl, so long as Bloom finally finished thinking and was home.
Until they heard her explanation about the mysterious girl. "Dad, she's a fairy!" Bloom protested.
"You must still be sick. Maybe it's those after-affects Dr. Silverman was telling us about. Bloom, how do you feel? You did spend the last week in the forest. No one can sleep for twenty hours!" her dad said.
"Good morning," the girl muttered, waking up.
"It's nighttime already sweetheart," Bloom's mother said, sitting on the arm of the couch. "How are you feeling?"
"Great now. I'm Stella, by the way," she greeted, smiling. The girl had long blonde hair, and big brown eyes.
"Hi, Stella. I'm Bloom," the girl greeted, smiling and stepping towards her. "Do you know where you are right now, Stella?"
"Earth I think," Stella replied, studying the girl.
She has Winx. No one on Earth has magic. She took out Knut and his minions, Stella thought. The girl in front of her had long, layered red hair and blue eyes.
"You saved me yesterday from the ogre, right?" Stella asked. "Thank you. I owe you my life."
Bloom's dad didn't believe them, but was amazed that as he went to call a doctor the phone turned into a carrot and lettuce. Eventually, after Stella explained about Solaria--her home planet--and the eight realms, her father believed the two. Stella even offered to take Bloom with her to a magic school called Alfea.
"Come on, it'll be great," Stella told Bloom as they waited in her room. Stella had called some of her friends from the all-boys school Red Fountain to come and help convince Bloom to come to Alfea.
Suddenly there was a noise from downstairs and when they rushed down they saw the ogre from earlier, a troll, and some ghouls attacking Bloom's house and parents.
"Bloom, you get the ghouls and I'll get the two creatures," Stella told her.
It was a tough decision. Bloom loved to beat things up--she wasn't trained in martial arts for nothing. But right now, maybe it was better that she leave it up to Stella. After all, she didn't know how to fight two creatures that didn't even exist on Earth.
She ran outside and was just about to attack the ghouls when the ogre fell on top of them. But just as she was complimenting Stella, the girl was thrown out the window and the troll smashed through her back door to finish the two off.
My turn, Bloom thought. "That's my house, you retard! You're going to pay for that!" she yelled, running to face him head on. "No one attacks my family!"
Just as she was about to hit him, the troll moved his arm out and pushed her out of the way. When Bloom got up she growled. The Red Fountain boys showed up the same moment, and saw Bloom get up to face the troll again.
A blonde haired boy stared in wonder. The last time a girl fought a troll, she was put in ICU after being hit once. This girl was still at it. Stella told them the girl was a powerful Winx, but he didn't know she'd be a tough fighter in general.
One of the boys stared in shock. She looks just like Trixxi. But she can't be, Riven thought, watching the girl rush the troll. His half-sister had black hair with amazing red and blue highlights that were natural, but shouldn't be. This can't be her twin, can it?
"Bloom!" they heard a man yell, and all turned to see a middle-aged couple off to a corner staring at the girl. "What have we said about fighting?"
The girl didn't even hesitate her attack on the troll. "That you're totally going to let me study it so I can be like Uncle Scott when I grow up?" she said, smiling as she took a flying leap and punched the troll in the face, sending him sprawling backwards.
Riven chuckled a bit at the parents flustered look. "No, and you know that! Bloom, stop that before you get yourself hurt! Your father and I said you weren't allowed to learn to fight. Scott taught you how to fight?" her mother said before screaming.
Bloom turned to see a ghoul rushing to attack them. "Stella, take Ugly for a second!" she yelled, jumping over the ogre to get to her parents. She swooped low and dragged her leg around, knocking it in the face and sending it backwards. Bloom ran off again. "I promise, I won't get hurt. If I can cream Josh, this thing is a piece of cake!" she yelled.
Her parents sighed. What were they going to do with their daughter?
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Eventually the boys helped Stella and Bloom with the monster and had it all packed away. The two girls were able to talk Bloom's parents into sending her to Alfea, and finally they were on grounds.
Soon they met their roommates--Tecna, Musa and Flora. They went out to get a slice of pizza in Downtown Magix and Bloom was amazed. This was the magical world? It was so cool!
Suddenly Bloom thought of what her best friend Josh said once about magic. Fairy tales are cool and all, but that's not real magic. The real world of magic would amaze you.
How did Josh know about it? He had always been a mystery, no matter how long or how well Bloom knew him. Realizing she was thinking of him in the past tense and why, she grew depressed quickly. She faked smiles and awe for her new friends, but she couldn't truly be happy.
Then when she went to call her mom, she saw the ogre from before. She followed him and came across three witches that immediately took to fighting her. They were using magic, which Bloom was only able to use once, and she was quickly encased in ice. She growled at herself for not being faster.
Stella and the girls found her, and quickly took the witches out. But her cover as a princess was blown. And when they went back to the dorms, the headmistress found out as well, but let her off. And yet, Bloom started to be suspicious of why.
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Things were going fine for Bloom. She and Brandon were connecting, and the boys were all nice to her except for Riven, who Musa had a huge crush on. But sadly, Riven started to like an evil witch named Darcy who was part of an evil group called Trix and were the ones that first attacked Bloom.
But everything was fine--the boys seemed to couple off with all the girls, and Flora and Musa didn't mind much they didn't have someone. Musa was good at hiding it, and Flora didn't actually mind because it gave her more time to work on experiments with her plants.
Well, everything was fine until Bloom found out she was adopted. Found when the flower shop was burning down. She had a barrier up then, and no one knew where she got there. And now she wanted some answers.
Over that time, Brandon and she became more strained, to the point he avoided her and didn't invite her to the exhibition, an event only those invited could attend. To be honest, none of the girls were invited, but it hit Bloom and Stella the hardest.
"Hey guys, who wants to sneak into Cloud Tower?" Bloom asked, the day of the exhibition. "Today would so be the day."
"Sorry, but…Bloom that's nuts!" Stella yelled, reading a magazine on Musa's bed. Musa dropped the flute she was trying to play, and Flora and Tecna turned away from the computer to look at her.
"It's the only place with records about my past!" she protested. "Come on, there are pre-dug tunnels all over Magix connecting all the schools and even to the lake. I'm thinking I can go alone through the tunnels, have someone at the exhibition to watch the teachers, and the rest all here to watch me."
"What?" Tecna asked again. "How would we talk?"
Bloom handed them walkie-talkies she snuck out of her house the last time she was on Earth. "We need a little bit of an upgrade, but we can have Musa talking to me in here and Flora in Red Fountain."
Flora looked up for a second. Bloom handed the walkie-talkies to Tecna, who shrugged and started to update them. "Why am I going to Red Fountain?" she asked, taking the thing from Tecna. "I don't know what I would do."
"Just tell me when the teachers leave, or you can't see them, whatever they're doing. Besides, you and Tecna were going with your parents, weren't you?"
Tecna sighed. "I am. Look, Bloom, I'd love to help but I have to go. My parents made me promise I would, and they'd get suspicious. How about--"
"Are we all serious?" Stella asked. "The last time you went you almost--"
"Stella? I'll be fine!" Bloom yelled. "Please, just let me do this! I need to find out who I am, and if you guys don't help me, I'll do it on my own. But like it or not, I'm doing this today! So you're all either in or out, I don't have the time for this."
The four other girls looked amongst themselves and agreed. "Fine. What's the plan?" Stella asked.
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"Bloom, take this right tunnel," Musa told her, looking at the schematics of the underground tunnels.
"Okay, now what?" she asked.
"You wait for me to tell you when you come up to another fork in the tunnels," Musa replied, as if saying duh.
Tecna laughed and received strange looks from her parents. "Sorry. I have to excuse myself," she said, walking away. She looked across the stadium and right at Flora, nodding. Then she pressed in on her own walkie-talkie. "Man, I feel like a secret agent or something," she whispered. "No one's moved yet. I wish you were all here."
"You and me both," Stella replied, flying above Bloom's exact trail. Soon she would be flying right over Red Fountain and she was nervous. "I'd love to meet Prince Sky's parents. They're the richest royals in the eight realms, now that Sparx is gone. Hey Bloom, what's it like down there?" Stella asked.
"Cold. But with all the gases built up down here I'm afraid to use my fire," she replied. Tecna, how do I use the light you gave me?" she asked. "It's so dark--I'm feeling my way around in most places."
Just as Tecna was about to reply, she found herself down at the Great Hall, where Timmy was talking to Brandon and Sky. "I wouldn't know. Flora gave it to you," she whispered, hiding the walkie-talkie and smiling at the boys as she waved and walked over to them. "Hi!" she greeted.
"Hey, what's up?" Timmy greeted, smiling. "I didn't know you were coming."
From the look on all the boys' faces, they weren't happy to see her either.
"My parents brought me. I've been planning to come with them all year," she replied.
"Are the others here?" Sky asked.
Tecna couldn't tell what Stella saw in the brown-haired boy. "Flora's here with her parents."
"Bloom, just treat the light like a firefly. How do you make them burn their tails?" Flora asked over the walkie-talkie, making Tecna cringe.
Damn, she should have turned it off.
Bloom sighed as she leaned against a wall, pressing the button. "We don't make them burn on Earth. They light up in the dark, and a bunch of little kids try to catch them in jam jars. There's some kind of gas reaction in their tails or something. Just tell me how to use this light. It's like two mega pixels of light right now."
Brandon looked at Tecna, and the girl beamed. At least Bloom learned something from her. "Sorry. We left her in a dark closet. We wanted to see if she could find her way out."
"Think light," Flora said.
"I can't. When I think light, the fire pops up. Do you know how many gases there are in these tunnels? I feel suffocated breathing them all in. If this was a tunnel on Earth, I know I'd be dead from all the pressure and the gas. Isn't there some other way?" Bloom asked. "Why are things so different here than they are on Earth?"
"Well, whenever you want to start moving again, you have three or four more tunnels before we reach Cloud Tower. I suggest you do something to make it more comfortable down there," Musa replied.
Crap. "I have to go!" Tecna said, running away.
"Tecna, wait! What's going on with Bloom?" Brandon yelled.
But before he could catch her, they were all being rushed off to start the exhibition.
As the boys went through the exhibition, the blonde haired boy couldn't help but be nervous for Bloom wherever she was. If only he wasn't protecting what they had by not inviting her to the exhibition. But all the guys agreed to keep the girls away. Too bad it didn't work.
Looking up, he saw Diaspro and cringed. Damn it! It wasn't supposed to be like this! he thought.
Suddenly they saw Stella flying, spinning in circles and executing evasive moves in the air. The Trix appeared after her, and the crowd in the stands gasped at the sight of the princess defending herself against the witches.
"Leave me alone, you witches!" Stella yelled.
"No way, Pixie. Not when you have the Ring of Solaria," Stormy said.
All the Red Fountain boys got off their bikes and stood near each other, wondering what was going on.
"Stella!"
"Stella!"
"Stell!"
"Ste--ah!" another screamed.
They all heard the girls scream her name, and looked around. They couldn't see the girls anywhere, not even in the stands. Then Timmy smiled and took out his version of a walkie-talkie. "Tecna and I are always on the same channel. The thing was designed to work like that," he explained, raising the volume.
"Bloom, Darcy and Stormy ganged up on Stella. Where are you?" Musa asked. "Is everything okay?"
Then a chilling voice came on the walkie-talkie. "I'm sorry, Pixie. Bloom's not available right now," Icy said.
Flora and Tecna stood, standing at different sides of the stadium, and nodded to each other as they ran in synch to the ledge and jumped, activating their Winx in mid-air. They went immediately to help Stella, but now the boys were scared for Bloom. But before they could act on a plan, the ground rattled.
Icy groaned, slamming through the ground and making a gaping hole. When a voice was heard on the walkie-talkie, the boys couldn't help but laugh. "I told you guys I can't use my fire down there. Did anyone else hear that? The bang was deadly. And man, the crater I left," Bloom said, rising out of the debris. "Crap. Someone get the phone. It's ringing! There's a phone ringing people! Someone has to answer it already."
"All right, Pixie. I've had enough games with you!" Icy yelled, coming towards her.
A few moments later, she shook her head and got her bearings. "Go right ahead!" Bloom yelled back, rushing her as well. "You want a piece of me? You got the whole damn thing right back in your face!"
The two met in the middle and Riven heard a gasp above. Looking up, he saw Trixxi gasping, as if she was choking. When their mother and Trixxi's father died, she was sent to live with another royal family, but they were never told who she was.
All they knew was that she was now a princess, and had a powerful Winx she was too lazy to use. They knew she was Riven's sister, but he refused to tell who her father was. All they knew was her mother had been married twice--once to a commoner and once to the king of Sparx.
Only Riven and she knew a deadly truth: when she came too close to her twin, she would get sicker and sicker until she died. Her twin and she were too powerful to be near each too long. And the Dragon Powers wanted to be together, not separated.
Well this helps, he thought, rolling his eyes as he glared at his half-sister's new sister long enough to make her realize Riven wanted Trixxi out of there. Diaspro frowned and grabbed Trixxi's hand, dragging the girl out. We've cut it down to half of Magix--the same half we already knew. Females, with Winx.
As Icy went to attack, Bloom thought ahead and spun, roundhouse kicking her in the jaw, before coming at her with fire. Icy bat the attack away, and hit her with ice. Bloom was ready for it and let out a giant wave of fire, melting the attack into water.
Suddenly, the moment reminded Bloom of Josh, when they would train together for fights and how she would sing when she fought. It always made her feel more powerful, if nothing else. How about now? She hadn't sung in so long she lost count, but it felt like Josh was there with her telling her to.
She thought of a song from Britney Spears, and suddenly she felt the beat surround her. It was always how she felt when she started to sing. She took years of lessons to play the guitar, but she still couldn't release the sound from her head. Her instructors called her stupid, while Bloom knew something was missing--keeping the sound in her.
"I'm Miss 'American Dream' since I was seventeen, don't matter if I step on the scene or sneak away to the Philippines." She went on hitting Icy with her physical skill, before getting to the chorus and belting a fireball to every "You want a piece of me?" she sang.
It was amazing, but she was more powerful when she sang as well. It just wasn't a song that fit with her.
Riven gaped in awe. No! Don't tell me she has two of the powers. Trixxi…and Bloom? Crap, that leaves her in trouble.
"Bloom! What's going on?" Musa yelled through the walkie-talkie. "I'm clueless in my room. Tecna, how can you stand all these computers? I want to be in on this action."
Tecna froze as she let Flora and Stella fight Stormy and Darcy for a moment. "You mean you're not down there helping Bloom? I could have sworn I just heard singing. The Winx level intensified, so it would seem you were. Is everything okay down there?"
Timmy pressed the button, and let his voice be heard. "Tecna, it's Timmy. We want to help."
"Hey!" Bloom whined into the walkie-talkie, holding a barrier between her and Icy's next attack. "Who said I can't sing? That's one of the--"
"Eyes on me!" Icy yelled, rushing her again.
What happened next was all a blur to Bloom, and she fell. She banged her head and was paralyzed for the most part. But she knew what was going on around her, like the boy she was crushing on--Brandon--was holding her as another Winx pushed all the Trix away.
"Sky, are you okay?" Bloom heard the Winx ask. "How's the girl?"
"Her name's Bloom, Trixxi," she heard Brandon say.
What? Why was Brandon answering for Sky? She heard the commotion from the king of Eraklyon, and a girl yelling to Sky to let go of some peasant girl. The blow was taking its toll on Bloom, and she was going unconscious, but not before she put two and two together.
Brandon lied to me. He's the real prince of Eraklyon. Which means Sky was really the squire sent to protect him. Stella is going to be so pissed.