An Unexpected Event

Bloom stared around the tree trunk, eyes wide and heart pounding. This wasn't real. This couldn't possibly be real. There was no way she was seeing a girl in a sparkly orange outfit with a staff and shimmering wings fight monsters.

Monsters aren't real.

But the red, crablike creatures slashing at the girl with vicious claws seemed very, horribly, real.

"Solar wind blast!"

Light flared from the girl's staff, blinding Bloom. What was that? Blinking spots out of her vision, Bloom squinted to see what had happened to the monsters. The small creatures had vanished. Whoa. Did she just destroy them all?

Something growled. Menacing, dangerous, the sound awakened some primal fear inside Bloom's brain that screamed a predator was coming and she needed to run away, but she couldn't move. Her legs were locked in place, her eyes riveted on the scene before her. A hulking creature stepped out of the shadow of the trees, at least eight feet tall. Its body bulged with muscle under knobby, yellow skin, and its beady eyes glared with hatred at the girl who raised her staff in challenge.

"Newsflash, ugly," the girl said, betraying none of the fear that any sane person would be showing in this moment. "The power of Solaria is so going to flatten you."

The creature roared, and Bloom felt the power of the sound vibrate all the way down to her bones. Even if they were in one of the more secluded sections of the park, there was no way people could have failed to miss that sound. It charged at the girl, and Bloom saw her golden brown eyes widen with surprise. She jumped, wings fluttering to take her out of the creature's path, but for all its size, it was still fast. It caught her with a glancing blow that still had enough force to send the girl careening off to the side and into the ground. Bloom winced in sympathy as the girl cried out in pain. She lost her grip on her staff, the weapon landing several feet away.

"You're finished, little fairy," the creature snarled, and Bloom jumped. He can talk! He leaned down and snatched the staff off the ground. "You're scepter is ours."

The girl – fairy? – sat up, clutching her side in obvious pain. "You won't get away with this, ogre!"

The ogre smiled at her, and Bloom cringed at the sight of his yellowed, too sharp teeth. "I already have." He raised one massive fist, the fairy shrank back with fear –

And suddenly Bloom found herself dashing out from behind the tree. "Leave her alone!"

Amazingly, the ogre froze. He turned his head slowly, red eyes focusing on her. Bloom felt the blood draining from her face. What am I doing? I can't fight an ogre! But she hadn't been able to just stand there and watch him kill the fairy girl either. The ogre turned towards her, and three steps closed the distance between them. "You should mind your own business, human," he snarled, reaching for her.

"N-no, stay away!" Bloom screamed, raising her arms in an ineffectual shield. He grabbed her, one of his hands large enough to cover her whole forearm and lifted her off her feet. Nononono! I don't want to die!

Something inside Bloom pulsed, sending shockwaves of heat through her body. It roared in her ears, drowning out the sound of everything else as it suddenly burst out of her, flinging the ogre away. Bloom tumbled to the ground, stunned and trembling.

What just happened?

The ogre groaned, slowly pushing himself up from the tangle of the branches of the tree that Bloom had tossed him through. Raw looking burns covered the ogre's forearms, and he swayed as he got to his feet.

The fairy girl dashed into Bloom's line of sight, snatching up the staff the ogre had apparently dropped when Bloom had done…whatever it was that she had done. Pointing the staff at the ogre, the weapon flared with light so brightly that Bloom had to shield her eyes.

"Sun burst!"

There was a crash, and Bloom opened her eyes to see the ogre was down again, and this time he wasn't moving.

Is he dead?

No, his chest was moving – slowly – but the ogre seemed to be down.

The sudden silence was deafening. The fairy girl turned towards Bloom, one hand gripping the silvery staff, the other holding her side where the ogre had hit her; Bloom could see the fairy girl's skin was already starting to darken into a large bruise. "Wow," the girl said. "You've got some major winx."

"Wh-what? What are you talking about? What's going on?"

The fairy girl walked toward her. Bloom pushed herself to her knees, suddenly realizing that she didn't know anything about this girl, wasn't even sure that the girl was human, and just because the ogre was obviously a monster that didn't mean this girl was automatically good. But the fairy didn't level the staff towards her. Stopping in front of Bloom, she held out a hand to help her up with a smile.

Hesitantly, Bloom raised a hand but paused when she saw how it was trembling.

I can't stop shaking.

The fairy looked down at her, leaning on her staff, her expression sympathetic. "Your first ogre? I mean, meeting an ogre is always pretty horrid, but the first one is the absolute worst."

Bloom stared. How could she act like this was normal? "What – who are you?"

"Princess Stella of Solaria," the fairy answered. "Thanks for your help. You really saved me. What's your name?"

Finally, Bloom reached up and accepted the offered hand, allowing Stella to help pull her up. "Bloom." She didn't let go of Stella's hand. It was ridiculous, because Stella was a complete stranger, but somehow touching another person eased the shaking, helped loosen the grip of terror, reminded her that she was still alive. "Could you please explain what on earth is going on?"

"Sure thing," Stella said. She glanced back at the unconscious ogre. "But, uh, maybe we could do this somewhere more private?"

"Right," Bloom said. "Let's go." She led Stella off through the wooded section of the park toward the spot she'd left her bike. Then she paused, suddenly realizing a problem in their plan to get away clear. "Um, is there any way you can hide your wings?"

"Oh, of course," Stella said. "I forgot that people in this realm don't have any." She closed her eyes, and light shimmered around her, making her figure hazy. When the light faded, Stella's wings, sparkly orange boots, shorts, midriff baring top, and staff had all vanished, to be replaced by an elegant gown of orange and gold. "Better?"

Bloom blinked. Frankly the dress was no less eye catching than Stella's shimmering wings had been, at least when it came to walking down the sidewalk of the small city of Gardenia. But at least without wings Stella looked human. Rich and wildly overdressed, but human. "That works, I guess."

They made it back to where she'd left her bike, and Bloom finally let go of Stella's hand to get it. She briefly considered whether or not they could manage to ride the bike double, but quickly dismissed the idea. In that dress, Stella would have a hard time managing a bike on her own, much less riding double with someone else. "Come on, my house is this way."

As expected, they got a lot of stares, but the blonde fairy didn't seem to notice. But she was, Bloom realized, panting, and sweat trickled down her face. "Are you okay?"

Stella smiled at her, but the expression seemed forced. "Fine, darling, fine. But, um, is your house very far? Because I kind of used a lot of winx in that fight before you helped me, and I might pass out soon."

Bloom's jaw dropped. "Stella! About to pass out is not fine!"

She waved a hand, though whether it was meant to be a dismissive gesture or to fan herself, Bloom wasn't sure. "I just need some rest and I'll be as good as new!"

Bloom picked up her pace. She needed to get Stella out of sight before the fairy passed out. It wouldn't do to have her fainting on the street and for well-meaning pedestrians to call 911 and get her sent to the hospital. Because Bloom was pretty sure doctors would notice that Stella wasn't human, and as all movies showed, human doctors and sentient nonhuman beings were not likely to mix well.

By the time they arrived at Bloom's house Stella's steps had started wavering, and Bloom had to help her in the house. Unsure if Stella could handle the stairs up to Bloom's room, she decided to stash her in the downstairs guest room. It wasn't like her parents went in there when they didn't have guests over anyway.

Stella collapsed on the bed, not even bothering to kick off her heels. "Hey, don't pass out yet!" Bloom said. "You still haven't given me any answers!"

"Sorry, Bloom," Stella mumbled, her eyes closing. "Talk when I wake up."

"She's really out?" Bloom leaned closer, but it seemed Stella really was fast asleep. She sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. "There's a fairy in my house. An actual fairy is in my house." It sounded crazy, hearing herself say it out loud. No way would she have believed it if she hadn't seen Stella in action for herself. But she'd seen Stella fly, if only briefly, and toss around magic like it was nothing. She glanced back at Stella's sleeping form. "Well, not quite nothing."

And I used magic too.

She didn't know what else to call that blast that had tossed the ogre away. But I've never done anything magical before. And not for lack of trying. As a kid Bloom had been obsessed with magic and fairies, playing pretend for hours at a time, and desperately attempting to perform some magical feat with zero success. Then she'd grown up a little, realized magic wasn't real and quit trying. So if she could do magic, why now when she wasn't trying instead of when she'd been a kid and had tried?

She brushed her fingers over the arm the ogre had gripped. She could still feel the pressure from when he'd yanked her up in the air. She'd been so sure she was about to die.

Maybe that's it. Maybe I was never scared enough to do magic before.

Well, whatever had initially triggered her magic, Bloom couldn't feel anything now. She just felt normal, like herself, with no hint that she might be anything other than your average fifteen year old girl. Hopefully I'll be able to get some answers about what happened when Stella wakes up.

Bloom stood and left the guest room, shutting the door behind her. It was just in time too, as she heard the front door open and her mother call out, "Bloom, I'm home!"

Bloom pasted a smile on her face and dashed to the living room to meet her mother. "Hey, Mom, how was the shop?"

Vanessa smiled back as she kicked off her shoes by the door. "Really good. It actually stayed pretty busy today, which was a nice surprise. Middle of the week is usually a little slow."

"That's great!" Bloom said. "Since you were so busy, how about I help with dinner?"

Vanessa paused. "Well, that's a pleasant surprise. You don't normally offer to help with cooking."

That was because Bloom didn't particularly like cooking. But she was willing to put up with any unpleasant chore if it meant she could keep an eye on her mother and make sure she didn't go in the guest room and find Stella passed out on the bed.

Maybe I should just tell her and Dad about Stella and what happened in the park earlier? She wondered as she followed Vanessa into the kitchen.

Right, like they'd believe her. Bloom almost couldn't believe it and she'd been there. But I've got proof. Stella is here, and she can do magic. That should convince them. Though, I guess she won't be able to convince them until she wakes up. I wonder how long fairies have to sleep after they use a lot of magic.

"Bloom!"

Bloom jumped at the sound of her mother's voice. "What?"

Vanessa put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "I called your name several times, you know. Where's your mind wandered off to?"

"Just, um, thinking about school starting next week," Bloom said. She fidgeted, guilt immediately eating at her. She didn't normally lie to her parents, and this, well, this was kind of big.

"Nervous about high school? Don't be." Vanessa squeezed her arm in a reassuring gesture. "You'll be fine, Bloom. Now, why don't you get started on a salad? Mike's coming home from the fire house tonight, and we want a good dinner waiting for him. You know he only eats frozen meals when he's there."

"Sure thing," Bloom said. Between cooking and listening to her mom's stories about her day at the flower shop, Bloom was far too occupied to continue thinking about Stella, fairies, or maybe having some kind of magic. It seemed like no time at all before she heard the front door open again.

"Hello in the house!"

"Dad!"

Bloom didn't have to fake excitement as she flew out of the kitchen and threw her arms around her father. He'd been on shift at the fire station for the past two days, so Mike coming home was always exciting. He hugged her back, ruffling her hair. "Hey, how's my favorite girl doing?"

"Great," Bloom said. She let go of him and stepped back so that Vanessa could have her turn hugging him as well.

"Welcome home, sweetie," Vanessa said. "Dinner is ready."

"Smells wonderful," Mike said. He gave Vanessa a quick kiss before following them to the kitchen table. Bloom had already set it with plates, so all that was left to get the dishes of food set out as well.

"How was work?" Vanessa asked once they were all settled at the table.

"Thankfully quiet," Mike said.

Bloom couldn't concentrate on her dad's stories about the past few days at the fire house. From her chair she could see the closed door of the guest room, and all she could think about was Stella hidden away inside. I should tell them about her. It would probably be better to tell them now instead of waiting for them to find out when Stella woke up, or finding out by walking in the guest room and being surprised by Stella's presence.

"There's a girl sleeping in the guest room."

Her parents froze, Mike with a forkful of food halfway to his mouth. "What?"

Bloom squirmed. Maybe she shouldn't have blurted it out quite like that. "It's not as weird as it sounds, I swear!" No, it's actually kind of weirder.

"Who is in the guest room?" Vanessa asked.

"And why?" Mike asked, setting his fork back down on his plate.

"Her name is Stella," Bloom said. "I met her earlier today in the park." She bit her lip, hesitating, because this was the part her parents weren't likely to believe. "She was fighting an ogre."

They just stared at her for a moment. Finally, her dad asked, "Is that some sort of new slang?"

"No, Dad," Bloom said. "It's not slang. She was fighting an ogre, a massive, angry, monster!"

As she spoke, Bloom could picture it all over again, the way the ogre had loomed over her, the feel of his calloused hand as he lifted her off her feet like she weighed nothing, the smell of his fetid breath in her face, the sheer terror and helplessness knowing that the ogre could kill her with no effort whatsoever and she couldn't do anything to stop him.

Her breath hitched in her throat, vision blurring with tears. "I was so sure it was going to kill me." She covered her face with her hands and sobbed as the pent up stress and tension Bloom hadn't even realized was there from the fight finally released. She felt her parents' arms wrap around her, strong and warm and safe, and she leaned into them, taking comfort from their touch.

It was a few minutes before she was able to compose herself and stop crying. As her sobs settled down into sniffles, Mike said, "Come on, let's go have a seat on the couch."

Bloom let her parents lead her into the living room and settle her on the couch in between them, with Mike's arm around her shoulder and Vanessa holding on to her hand. "Now," Mike said, "tell us exactly what happened."

Haltingly, and knowing she probably sounded crazy, Bloom told them about what she had seen in the park, how she had jumped into the fight, and her unintended use of magic against the ogre. Her parents didn't interrupt, but as her story came to a close, Bloom saw them exchange a pointed, concerned look with each other.

"I swear, I'm telling the truth!"

Vanessa squeezed her hand. "Bloom, sweetie, we can certainly tell you believe that this happened."

"Because it did!"

"Bloom," Mike said, using the same gentle tone of voice he'd always used when she was little and had woken up from a nightmare and needed her father's comfort. "You know there's no such thing as magic."

Bloom shook her head. "I know what I saw. I know what I did, even if I don't know how I did it!"

Her parents exchanged another look, and Bloom knew it was hopeless. They didn't believe her. "I wouldn't lie to you about this!"

"No one is saying that you're lying," Vanessa said.

"I'm not crazy either!"

"We're not saying that!" Mike quickly interjected.

"Then what are you saying?"

"We're saying we don't know what to believe!" Mike shook his head before fixing her with a serious look. "Bloom, I'm sorry, but what you're describing is an impossibility."

Bloom bit her lip, struggling to keep new tears from falling. She shouldn't have said anything. She should have known they'd never believe her, not without tangible proof of what had happened. Wait, Stella! Stella knows how to use her magic! Bloom might not be able to back up her words with action, but Stella could!

"Then why don't you wake up Stella?" Bloom said. "Ask her what happened!"

"You know, I think that's a good idea," Vanessa said. She let go of Bloom's hand and stood up from the couch before making her way over to the guest room.

Bloom and Mike sat in silence while they waited for her return. Mike's arm was still around Bloom's shoulders, and even though she was frustrated with him, Bloom didn't try to pull away. She still felt like she needed a hug.

A few minutes later Vanessa came out of the guest room alone. She softly shut the door before coming back and reclaiming her seat beside Bloom. "She's completely out, I couldn't get her to wake up." Reaching up, Vanessa brushed her fingers through Bloom's hair. "Maybe we should put this conversation on hold until morning?"

Since they weren't likely to resolve anything until Stella woke up anyway, Bloom didn't have an issue with that. "Okay."

"Well, in that case," Mike said, "I think we should go ahead and finish dinner."

Bloom had lost much of her appetite, but went with them back to the table. The rest of dinner was quiet, and when Bloom had eaten all she could stomach, she asked to be excused.

"An early night is probably a good idea," Vanessa said.

Mumbling her thanks, Bloom went up the stairs two at a time and locked herself in her room. With a groan, she flopped down on her bed. She didn't want to think about the fact that her parents were surely discussing her downstairs, probably wondering what could have happened to make her suddenly become delusional. Hugging her pillow, Bloom rolled over so she was staring at the ceiling. At least this day can't get any worse.

"What do you mean, she got away?"

Knut winced at the sound of Icy's cold, brittle voice. He'd known his employers wouldn't be happy at his news, but there was no help for it.

"It wasn't my fault," he said, trying to keep his voice low. Sound in alleys carried sometimes, and the last thing Knut needed right now was to be found by humans. "I almost had the scepter, but there was an earth-girl – "

"An earth-girl?" Stormy interrupted, her voice scratchy and sneering. "You were defeated by some earth-girl?"

"She had magic! Really powerful magic!" He had the burns on his arms to prove it; not bad burns, so far as burns went. Ogres were fairly resistant to fire, but that meant her magic had been all the more powerful in order to actually burn him at all.

"Forget about it," Darcy cut in. "It doesn't matter why you failed. Is Stella still on Earth?"

"I think so," Knut said. "I hurt her during the fight, so she couldn't have gotten far."

"Good. We can recreate the charm to track down the power of Solaria. Then you can retrieve the scepter while she's still weak."

The hazy, floating image of Icy's pale blue eyes narrowed. "And this time, Knut, you'd better not fail us. Stay hidden until we contact you."

The image of her eyes vanished as they abruptly ended the spell that allowed him to talk to them dimensions away. Knut grumbled to himself. The kind of people that hired him typically weren't nice, but these three witches had a level of arrogance that grated on him, particularly since they were still students themselves. If they weren't paying so well, there was no way he'd put up with it.

The sooner this job is over, the better.

AN: This story is me having fun. Winx Club was one of my favorite shows as a kid, and there are still things I love about it (a show that emphasizes female friendships? That allows female characters to be traditionally girly and still kick butt? Yes, please!). But it does have some issues. A number of them are inherent to most kids shows - oblivious adults, lapses in logic, few lasting consequences. Some of them bother me on a personal level, like the way Diaspro was handled, or the conflicting continuities, or the way the Trix go from trying to rule Magix to playing second fiddle to almost every other big bad that comes along.

So here's what you can expect from this story. Adults that aren't totally oblivious, consequences for character actions, villains that actually think their plans through, and a little less cartoonishness. Never fear, I don't plan for this to be overly dark. It's Winx Club, after all. But things aren't going to be that easy either (and hey, that's what makes stories fun!).