There are things in this world that we cannot truly explain. Sometimes the darkness will join the light, but mostly we see that those who have basked in purity often join the darkness. Perhaps this is a sign of growing up or perhaps it is a rebellion. I feel that this is just the way that the universe works. As we all know the Great Dragon created the universe and therefore man-kind, it was once a part of evil and then it changed to good, seeing that neither side was truly beautiful it became what mortal man calls neutrality. I believe that the other half of me followed our creator's path. Dark Bloom was part of the shadows for such a long time and yer in the end she became good. She destroyed the entity that was Darkar and returned to me. Would you believe me if I told you I could still hear her thoughts sometimes. If I close my eyes at night I will sometimes find myself back in that land of darkness, sometimes I'm in that cell again with the memory of Baltor, other times I could see the kingdom my sister has created. It is a beautiful kingdom made up of stone castles with vibrant green vines growing forever up on the sides of the towers. A small village lives on the outskirts of that castle, most of the citizens are people from the shadow realm, but my sister appreciates them all the same.
Classes at Alfea have picked up quite a lot this year and I often find myself stumbling to get things finished on time. Wizgiz's classes are the hardest since I'm still not used to transformation magic he always calls on me in class too especially when I'm about to nod off so in the end I am gifted with tons of extra essays to write for not paying attention. The Winx have been avoiding me as of late it appears as if they don't trust me but I have no clue why I mean my sister wasn't all that bad she was just feeling vengeful no reason to freak. Mrs. Faragonda requires that I see her every other night so that she can check on my 'condition' or whatever that means. Sky and I have officially split since last week. It appears as if I have lost everything since that faithful day and now I am just alone.
Sometimes I think about running back into my own head to live with my sister. One day I was going to revert into my empty dorm room and sulk into the shadowed corner, then I'd close my eyes and escape. If someone ever found my earthen body they would be too late to awaken me; I would sleep forever to be lost in a kingdom of shadows. That's how I would escape this never ending madness.
As I lay in bed waiting for the sun to rise and signal the dawn of a new day I think up all the maddening things that exist and then I allow myself time to feel sad as I remember that today is the day that Alfea loses her best headmistress within one-hundred years. Today was Mrs. Faragonda's last day. My alarm clock blares out an annoying tune that rings in my ears only to meet my fist as it slams down on the snooze button. I groan when my feet hit the freezing hard wood floor. Outside the comfort of my blankets I find the bite of winter start up on my skin. Outside my window I can clearly see the earth has begun to sleep as the trees turned hues of autumn golds,reds, and light greens.
I wandered toward my wardrobe and began my normal routine of wearing my blue shirt and jeans, I wore this most of the time as I had multiples of everything. Then I would walk towards my bathroom and brush out my heightened hair so that it would lay flat against my head. My breathe was blown in a huff from between my lips when my eyes gaze at my still shattered mirror. The distorted mirror did little to help my fight with taming the beast I called my hair but I did the best I could.
Eventually when everything is said and done I find myself looking on the borderline of presentable. I am off to search for my bag that is filled with several notebooks all written in with my scrambled handwriting, colored pencils litter the floor the moment I pick it up and I soon realize that I had picked up the bag in a way that all the contents could spill outward. My knees give a loud pop as I bend down to gather the pencils and notebooks. A picture falls from one and glides gently through the air until it hits the ground silently. My mind becomes a mass of thoughts all trying to be heard; I am arguing with myself on whether I will pick it up or leave it until I return. The watch on my hand has already told me that I am almost half an hour late to my class with Wizgiz and he won't be too forgiving if I am late.
Against my better judgement I am picking up the photo but once I see the smiling faces on the surface I am frozen and in shock, unable to move. There smiling up at me are my friends-old friends- we were at a festival in Magix that day. It had played a major role in mine and Sky's relationship because right in the background was the Ferris Wheel we rode together at the top when the man stopped the wheel Sky had given me his heart and I gave him mine. The Winx had told me the next day that we were the kind of couple that could never be destroyed, oh how wrong they were.
Soon the picture was beginning to get swamped by large water droplets coming from the corners of my eyes until they got too heavy and gravity pulled them away from me just like everything else in my life. It started out as a quiet sniffle but as the time droned on I found myself letting out larger gasps until finally I was just laying crumpled in the floor practically drowning in the sorrows. My eyes stung from the tears, the floor where I lay was almost entirely soaked, and yet I still had no strength to move. So I lay there on the floor for what must be hours until I can feel the numbness that had settled in my limbs leave and refill my blood with warmth. I shakily stand up failing a few times until the jelly that is my legs has stabilized.
I manage somehow to stumble from my room and clutch to walls in the hallway lioke my life depends on it and I guess it sort of does. Naturally no student or teacher can be seen in the long stretch of hallway since the second class period has started up. At Alfea the amount of people who 'sluff' class is actually quite low since Griselda could sniff them out in Magix quite easily and then when they arrived back-well no one really knew what happened to them-they were never the same as when they had left the school grounds. The floorboards, to my relief, squeaked softly when my weight shifted onto them. 'Maybe Wizgiz would be more generous if I actually showed up on time today?' I think in my head as I stumble to the end of the hall.
"Good morning Bloom. I do hope you got a good night full of rest." Spoke a voice that was well rehearsed at speaking in large places the voice drifted in throughout the hall in a loud echo that rang in one of my ears and out the other. My feet came to a stop my body became like cement in its unmoving ways. Ever so slightly I turned and faced the one woman who had tried to help me and I in turn tried to destroy her. There must have been a scowl on my face because when she looked at me she appeared a little scared.
Plastering a sweet smile on my face I replied, "hello, Mrs. Faragonda. It really is a shame that you have to leave Alfea. You will be missed by all, that much I can promise you." I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around her hugging my mentor of whom my feelings were still mixed. After a hundred and one years as Headmistress, Mrs. Faragonda decided that it was time to step down as the head of Alfea and gifted the position to the new teacher, Mr. Layton. There was going to be a party held in her honor later that day. I still don't know how I feel not having that woman within my sight but I would allow myself to get acquainted with this man.
"It truly is, isn't it. I really am going to miss this place." She sighed looking around at the walls with fondness. Alfea had always been her home ever since she had turned the age of sweet sixteen. She remembered that day fondly. She had all her things that she needed packed up and she left the small dusty town that sat in the middle of nowhere. It was a dead-end place that was going nowhere fast and the only people that ever left were the ones who ended up in body bags. Her kind eyes fell unto me and I matched her stare with one of my own until she looked away from me
A long time ago Mrs. Faragonda told me of a memory that had come into her head and refused to leave. she remembered a time when Griselda was very afraid of the then Deputy Headmistress but, over time the two became the best of friends over the four years and when she graduated she was offered the job as Deputy Headmistress and Griselda gladly took it with a genuine smile on her face. Nowadays Griselda's the one scaring the students. When I heard that story I couldn't help but giggle at the thought of having Griselda as a rule breaker.
The sad part was that even though Faragonda loved her job and she would miss this place,and all the friends she has made along the way. She would miss the way that it smelled, the scent of flowers hanging delicately around almost every corner. But, Faragonda was getting to be too old to handle all of the students problems and trouble making witches. She found that everyday got harder and harder to handle and she would often find herself on the verge of passing out before she ever got to her own bedchambers. Over the past four months she found that the whole Bloom and her 'sister', Dark Bloom, situation was too much for her to handle and that she just couldn't deal like she used to. So yes, the old headmistress was leaving today and hopefully not having to return. Bloom had told her that within the therapy session she had for the past three months that her 'sister' sometimes contacted her as well as her real sister Daphne, through her dreams. I had told Mrs. Faragonda that these dreams were no big deal and that most of the time nothing happened. I never really did tell her that I can see my sister anytime I wanted no matter what.
The bell rang cutting off our staring-contest and signalling the beginning of third period, how awful was this next class going to be? Both me and my now ex-teacher were lost from one another as the halls filled with freshman eager for the new school year. Some even went as far to run to class in fear of being late and arriving as the first ones there. I joined a group of seniors and began to walk slowly and shuffle to class just barely arriving when the second bell rang telling those in the halls to get to class. It's not like I cared or anything but I might as well get to one class on time. My feet slide slightly on the harder wood of the floor. Odd smells come from the vials lined in neat rows on the walls. On the board there is writing that I don't recognize; 'probably some kind of spell we'll end up having to do.' You see this class wasn't exactly my favorite class mostly because third period was Professor Palladium's "potions" class, or just plain mix and match the right colors. I wandered (stumbled) to my lab table and took a seat on the second row beside my so called best friends, Stella, Layla, Musa, Flora, and Tecna. They all smiled at her and she willed herself to smile back at them.
Palladium had not quite arrived yet and by the looks of his cluttered desk he was probably out in the halls looking for a lost lesson plan or something. When he did arrive, class was still pretty boring. Most of that class I spent staring off into space or out the window. My friends just stared at me like they knew that something was off, the only problem with that was that nothing was wrong except for what they took me for. "And so for our next potion we're going to use the word lyric written on the board. Now it's very important that you pronounce all the sounds correctly and in the right order. Now to reverse the spell you're going to want to say the lyric backwards. Every one ready? Go!" Palladium droned on.
Eventually I closed my eyes and willed myself into the dreamscape. Before me was that beautiful stone castle surrounded by new life as bushes swamped the sides and vines ate at all the stones; trees so big and colorful were beginning to sprout around the valley that had once been maimed with dirt. It was so hard to believe that this was the same castle that Baltor and I had gone to a little while ago. I march forward towards the black iron clad fence that surrounds the castle small little jingles of laughter can be heard and I stop to watch three small children run up the hill I'm on. A ghost of a smile is traced on my features soon I am giggling with them.
The doors to the castle are rustic looking made of sturdy wood with a triple iron clad knocker to rest on both doors. Slim fingers trace the entrancing designs on both following the swirling patterns and encasing the rose they led to. The doors are geared open when my ring finger meets the center of the rose. Once again my breath is stolen from me by Aphrodite. The walls are a deep royal purple, the paintings on the walls are renewed with a fresh coat of paint only to be accented by gold trimmings circling about the edges. Fine woven rugs lay about the floor with no clear pattern. "Why hello there Ms.-" A man with a black butler sized uniform asks from behind me. His voice makes me almost jump from my skin. Somehow in my absent mind wandering I have stumbled from the entry way and into the delicately carved kitchen.
"My name is Bloom." I reply softly now admiring the chefs and maids as they work furiously to get about the castle and cook amazingly scented food.
"Well, Ms. Bloom, we've been waiting for you for a very long time. Our new queen has requested your presence in the throne room." He bowed so very low I was afraid if he lost his balance he would eat the floor. I was then led through many long and twisting hallways until at last we came before a single set of double doors almost identical to the ones at the front of the castle. The man didn't even knock to give fair warning to those inside before he walked in. "Your majesty she has arrived no worse for wear than when she left."
"Thank you Max, that will be all you may leave us now." Spoke an all too familiar voice. At once that man vanished and from the shadows came my sister with a delicate silver crown adorning her pulled up hair. Both of our eyes met icy blue on icy blue. We had smiles on our faces I couldn't even wipe mine off. Her arms snaked around me and we just stood there in the middle of an empty throne room hugging one another. We spent what must have been hours talking and catching up with one another one instance she told me that her true name had been Blair when she was still alive with Mike and Vanessa and she wanted to start going by that now. At one point during a rather daring conversation on how men did things versus how women did, Max had come in with tea or maybe it was something a little stronger since after that my body felt so light and airy not to mention that I couldn't stop giggling like a ninny.
I didn't want this fun to stop but I knew I had to go. Time didn't work the same in the dreamscape where mere hours were only seconds when compared to the real world but I still had to leave this wonderful world behind. The beauty still took my breathe away as Blair personally led me out of her castle. She carried most of my weight since whatever that tea had in it made my legs wobble dangerously. Let's just say that I may have fallen on my face more times than I would have liked.
We hugged at the doors of the castle and I left to go stumble up the hill and walk towards the horizon. The sun was just barely setting, rays of the last sunlight filtered onto my skin. I closed my eyes and opened them expecting to be back in potions class only I found myself in a darkened cell almost identical to the one I'd shared with Baltor only this one had more security measures on the doors, the walls were padded, and there were small brownish reddish streaks lining the soft carpet. Chains raddled viciously from one of the darkened corners my body jerked around in response only to have my face meet 'him' I don't know what he was doing here but he should be dead. I felt first the Fear, then the pain, then it became just a dull throb. I couldn't breathe my lungs just wouldn't expand to give me the glorious gift of air my body so very needed. The cell was turned into an ashen grey and the soft floor below my feat cracked and crumbled leaving me in a new place I was standing on the blank parts of my mind with him still restricted by heavy chains and stone blocks.
I could see the castle of my birth parents and it was destroyed- turned to ash-in a great fiery blaze. Images begin to shift around me erasing and redrawing the lines of a city almost like an artist who didn't know what they wanted to draw. The image became a distorted distopian city with broken buildings and flames, lots of flames, people ran for their lives terror written well upon their faces. Children ran screaming for their mothers while the men stood tall with armor. There were many familiar faces in the crowd. Most of them were teenagers from Alfea and even a few junior witches trying to defend themselves. 'Why aren't they using magic?' I thought in my mind. It was odd, they can't defend themselves without magic, like they never learned how. Laughter rang from around the city as buildings were crushed and glass was sprayed everywhere. The Trix flew up in the sky observing the chaos from afar. They were supposed to still be trapped in Omega. How did they escape? The image of the dream was altered and a person appeared. Daphne's elegant features drew out beside me her face drawn together in worry the golden hues of her dress seemed to darken.
"You must forgive Bloom. That is the key my beloved sister. Even the evil in this world cannot take away your feelings. Just forgive and all will be erased." Daphne whispered into my ear before she too began to fade away along with the dream space and consciousness was soon pulling me from the destroyed town of Magix and back to the real world like a safety line pulling those lost at sea back onto safety. My eyes snapped open. It seems like such a long time since I'd first closed my eyes like an eternity in a wonderful land that I didn't know if it was real or not. The room is filled with chattering voices of my fellow students. It was like she had never been asleep at all.
When the bell rang I quickly left the class and hurried on to the library. I had free time for my fourth period I thought it better that I just go and research that potion for potions class. It was my last period of the day and I was thankful for it. The rest of the day went like many days of the school years do, all the classes were just a haze of assignments and work, work, work. When it was finally over I was very thankful that it was done. When I'd woken from the dreamscape I came to find out that Stella had begun to try to get that right shade of pink like she had so many times before and just like all those other times it blew up the lab agian. Thankfully Palladium didn't notice until the bell rang and even then he didn't know who did it he told us that he did have an inkling.
They all were given a half hour before the party to get ready and I was taking full advantage of that fact. My feet walked briskly towards my empty dorm room and with a loud whoosh of air made I swept my way to my closet. I reached out to pull the knob when I saw something moving out the corner of my eye. Turning a full three-sixty around the room and thankfully not spotting anything out of the ordinary I humphed to myself in thought and then went back to getting dressed. However, I felt like something was watching me out of the shadows whatever it was it didn't seem friendly. Later on I just couldn't get the image of the large shadow that moved swiftly across the room. It had frightened me to know that the one person who shouldn't be alive was.
The alarm I placed earlier on my phone rang out into the silence of the room telling me I had five minutes to party time. Swiping one finger across the phone screen was enough to turn off the alarm I began to make my way to the party in a sleeve-less knee length light blue dress that became complete with an up-do hairstyle and clear silver high-heels. I made her way to the quad and came face to face with the fifty-five specialists that came to say their goodbyes to Mrs. Faragonda and to welcome our new headmaster Mr. Layton. Every specialist looked very formal in their new uniforms, though the color scheme was still there it was a little darker on this suit and the capes were a little shorter for those that got a suit that was too lose so that when they partied then they wouldn't trip. Music boomed through out the open air. Musa was probably up near the speakers jamming out to the beat of this song. It was in some kind of language that she really couldn't understand but, it sounded beautiful.
The party was a really good one. The music touched the hearts and souls of all around it and the teen spirit had everyone pumped with so much energy that they could groove out for an entire week. In fact it was going on so well that no one noticed that something lurked within the trees and they were too late when a freshman screamed as a large and rather ugly looking monster appeared from the shadows followed by at least five more. The senior and junior fairies moved into transforming stances and the teachers readied up their magic when the monsters let out loud roars that shook the ground and made many specialists collapse on the ground.
I quickly moved to throw a fireball at the monster but, no magic seemed to appear looking around I realized that I wasn't the only one that was powerless. What are we going to do?
Chapter has been modified as of 11-25-2015 so that 2,000 more words have been written in and the chapter has changed slightly, though the normal plot line has remained the same. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'm very sorry for the long hiatus I've been on. Please leave a review and tell me what you think should happen next or just write your thoughts on the chapter.