Disclaimer:

Title: The Secret Princess

Summary Plot: What if Bloom had known all along about the magical world, about the Dragon Fire, who she was and also, what she had lost? Now, thanks to her sister, with a suitcase in her hand, in front of Alfea's gate, she is ready to face her heritage and reclaim what she had once lost.

"Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes... but no plans." - Sir Francis Bakon

Chapter 2:

The preparations were... frankly said a mess.

There were so many things to be done, considered and handled. The most important thing was the question how to get Bloom in the school itself. After all, she could not introduce herself in the registration form as Princess Bloom of Domino or in any other way that made people realize who she truly was. So it meant that they needed to come up with a story that:

a) would explain why she would come from Earth

b) at the same time explain why she possessed magical powers

c) the situation with her magical parents.

d) why she was in Alfea

Daphne had a field day over all of this and additionally she wanted to come up with ways to manage Bloom's financial situation. As humble as Daphne was for most princesses, it was beyond her mind to let her sister, a Princess of Domino and heiress apparent to the throne actually be poor. Especially considering that Domino was the richest planet of the magical dimension. But there was nothing she could do much about this, since she was tied to Lake Roccaluce and then also had to explain for what purpose her money withdrawal would be.

It was almost funny to see her sister go mad over such things. But she guessed that she could not blame her, after all it was a lot of work and they had no help either, not that she could blame Vanessa or Mike. They did their best, they supported her and did everything they could possibly do, like going shopping with her and what not.

But after everything, it was worth the effort.

So here she was.

Bloom starred at the great gates of the school. The walls around the castle were colored in a light pink, the roof was in a blue and it would have been probably too cliche and cheesy for most people, but she could not help but admire the architecture. She fell in love with the magnificent building, in which she was supposed to spend the next - hopefully - three years of her life, learning how to control and further her magic.

So this is Alfea.

Bloom smiled and took her luggage, ready to enter the gates and walk into ... this. She had imagined herself to be more nervous, more anxious, considering it was an environment she had never been into, yet it was so easy. She did not find it difficult, even though she knew that the moment she stepped onto the school ground, she would take a step into the magical world, full of wonder and... magic.

It sounded silly, she knew.

But still, she felt herself getting excited over the prospect. Maybe part of the reason was that she knew that she had finally found the one place she belonged to. She was born in this world of magic, she was born for it.

"Come on, Kiko, are you ready?" Bloom asked her little pet. As a response, he jumped on her luggage. She giggled and walked into the school.

As Bloom walked to the campus she noted that all of the fairies were already gathered around the campus. There was even a line of people formed, at its head was an older woman with short brown hair and a grim face hidden behind her glasses. She looked rather strict, especially at the moment when she picked her glasses and looked through her list diligently, with a nervous young freshman in front of her.

Poor girl, Bloom thought.

"Quite scary, huh." Bloom turned her head around, seeing a young girl next to her. She wore flashy clothes, blond hair, pretty face and even with one look Bloom could tell that she possessed a shining personality. Whether this was a good or bad thing had yet to be revealed. She did look like one of those typical popular High School cheerleader girls.

"Yeah," Bloom agreed.

"Don't worry, she is just the assistant of the headmistress, Griselda."

"You know her?" Bloom asked.

"More than I would like to know," she shuddered, but then smiled at Bloom. "Hi, I am Stella, Princess of Solaria."

"I'm Bloom. Nice to meet you." So this was the princess of Solaria, Bloom figured. Daphne had not told her much about the royalty on Magix, frankly, this had never risen to discussion. There had been more important, more interesting things they shared during their rare talks. So, she failed to ever inquire about that aspect, although maybe she should have, considering that she was one herself.

Stella began to involve her in a conversation and it did not take long for Bloom to figure out what Stella's world revolved around. But it did not bother her, Stella was pretty friendly and talkative. She seemed really nice.

"So, where do you come from?" Stella asked her, as they stood in the line. Bloom took a deep breath.

"I am from Earth."

"Earth?" Stella asked incredulously.

"Yes, I grew up with adoptive parents."

"But your parents are from Magix?"

"Yeah."

Stella would have probably asked more questions, but it was now her turn in the queue.

"Good morning, Miss Griselda," Stella greeted her.

"Well, if it isn't the Stella, Princess of Solaria. I didn't think I'd see you here. After what had happened last year, I am surprised you chose to grace us with your presence once again."

"I don't give up that easily, you know," Stella responded in a rather cheeky tone.

"And who is that young girl next to you?"

"My name is Bloom," she explained. She really hoped that she wouldn't-

"And where are you from?"

"Earth?" Okay, in her mind and according to the plan, she should have sounded more self-confident, but Daphne could not blame her, especially if she knew Griselda.

"Earth?!" Griselda gasped in surprise, her eyes skipping over her papers and indeed, to her surprise there was such a name on the list.

"I am pretty sure that it is on the list," Bloom laughed nervously. Of course, Daphne made sure that it her name was on the list and although none of them felt good at faking her name, Daphne assured her -or more herself - that it had just been right and proper of her, since it was her right as a Princess of Domino, but in the end, it did not ease their conscience.

"Yes, indeed, there it is. You may pass." Griselda said, trying to regain her cool. Bloom smiled and went past her. She sighed, knowing she passed the first hurdle, although if each of the anticipated obstacle was as nerve-wracking as this, then perhaps she would die of a heart-attack earlier than her graduation.

"Wow, so you come from Earth?" Stella asked amazed.

"Yes, I was raised there, so I don't know much about Magix," Bloom explained, hoping that Stella would catch the bait and instead of bombarding her with questions, she would instead try to explain the workings of this world. However, for the time of the being, she was saved from her worries, as Griselda began to deliver her speech. Bloom sneaked a small peak and she saw that all of the girls were all lined up.

"This school will be your home for the next three years. BUT," She shouted that word with such strong voice that Bloom thought she may fall from the shock. "This home can cease to be your's at any moment. The rules of this institution is based on discipline. Disregard these rules and I will personally you to the front gate. This is not a magician's school, you are not here to learn hocus-pokus, consequently, you may not use your powers in -"

Oh my, this is going to be a long day, Bloom thought.

"In fact, the only place you may display your power is in your class room under your teacher's supervision. IS THAT CLEAR, PRINCESS STELLA!" Bloom turned around to look at the blonde girl next to her, surprised at Griselda's accusing tone, as well as when she pointed her finger at Stella. "Thanks to you and your antics, the potion laboratory will not be until NEXT MONTH the earliest!"

"You blew the room?" Bloom asked in astonishment.

"So what? My father paid for all the damages," Stella responded.

She almost forgot, Stella was the Princess of Solaria, which means that such things would not mean much for her. Bloom could not help but wonder whether she would have ended up just like Stella, if she had been raised as a princess as well. She was ripped from her thoughts, as the headmistress arrived.

"Sorry, I'm late. I hope you'll excuse me."

"Oh there is no need for such stances. I hope Griselda did not frighten you too much," she joked. Griselda looked as though she wanted to protest, but she did not. "Welcome to Alfea, the best fairy school in whole Magix, by the way, it is also the only one."

Now that was a nice speech, Bloom thought.

The headmistress seemed nice. Although there was something... she could not figure it out exactly what it was, but she felt ... something. Something was not right, there was something, she just needed to figure out what.

In that moment, she realized that whilst she and Daphne planned everything through and through, they forgot one thing!

She did not know the principal's name!

The students followed the headmistress, slowly walking into the school building. As she stepped into it, Bloom was amazed by the sight that was offered to her. The inner building was even more architectonic beautifully than it was from the outside. If she would have had the time, she would draw the whole building, from every angle and corner, just to capture the beauty.

Despite her amazement, she was still listening to the principal, even if just half-hearted. Even Stella said something, but Bloom did not actually pay attention to her. However, there was one particular mention from the headmistress that made Bloom turn all the attention back to her.

"But please be careful. There are dangers lurking everywhere. Stay away from the witches of Cloud Tower." Bloom froze at the mention of witches. She read about Cloud Tower, it was practically the opposite of Alfea, with Alfea being the school for fairies, Cloud Tower was destined to raise and educate all young girls to become witches.

Bloom shuddered at the thought. She had not met any witches before, she only knew them through Daphne's description and that was far from flattering, well at least in her opinion. Generally, it could be said that Bloom did not respond well to them, considering her history.

Bloom thought about how to she still had to find a way to acquire the name of the principal, in a very low-key manner.

"So that was the headmistress huh..." she began.

"You'll like headmistress Faragonda. She is always saying the same things, but she very nice," Stella explained.

So, it's Miss Faragonda. It seemed as though Daphne's lessons on proper talking and how to carry conversations - as princess ought to - have been worth the while, as boring as they were and surely, Daphne would not approve of her way of using her lessons and Bloom herself

A thunder struck her.

This name... it sounded familiar. Was this the reason for her weird feeling?

The next time, she should remember to ask Daphne.

"Oh hey look, we are in the same apartment." With enthusiasm Stella opened the door. Apparently she did not have to share the room with anyone. Bloom guessed it was because she was a princess. She shrugged her shoulders and walked into the one, she was sorted into. She wondered with what kind of person she had to share it with.

As she walked into her room, the first thing she noticed was the mess that surrounded those four walls, there were especially a lot of plants. Carefully, she tried to find her way through the chaos, although it did not do her much good, because despite how careful she tried to be, she still managed to step onto something.

"Ow!" Surprised, she took a step back. She must have stepped over something whilst doing so, because the next thing she knew was how she lost her balance and soon after the feeling of her bottom meeting the harsh ground.

The plant kept screeching in pain. Out of panic, she tried to apologize to the plant.

"I'm sorry."

"No, excuse me. I just got here, and... well, I let all of my things all over the floor," a brunette stepped onto the scene. She had a tan skin that matched well with her long honey brown hair. "This is a speaking plant, one of my creations. My name is Flora." she continued to explain and caressed the plant under what Bloom supposed was its chin. Her voice was very friendly, very chirpy, but also very timid. When she accidently smash the plant to the ground, it became apparent that she had a bit of a clumsy personality, too.

"Hi, my name is Bloom."

"Oh, so you are the one from Earth. Very interesting." Bloom turned around and saw a pink-haired girl, whose clothes reminded Bloom a little bit of a futuristic scenario movie. "Everyone's already talking about it. My name is Tecna."

Well, apparently rumor spreads faster on fairy mouths than wildfire.

"I am Stella." Tecna eyed her suspiciously.

"Hey, I have already heard about you." Slowly, they were beginning to form a small circle.

"Yeah, me too." Curiously Bloom peaked behind the groom. They were already three, with herself they were four and since there were only three bedrooms, with Stella impounding one, she guessed that this must be the last girl she had to share the apartment with. "By the way, before you blow up the room, give us time to duck and cover, okay?"

This statement earned a giggle from all of the girls, maybe except for Stella, who preferred to pout over that question. Apparently, this tomboyish looking girl's name was Musa.

Maybe it is not going to be so bad. Those girls seemed pretty nice, despite their differences and hell, there were many of them. But at the same time, it would sure keep things lively around here. Not that Bloom is complaining about this, her life and its complicated predicament was lively enough for her.

"Miss Faragonda?" Griselda fidgeted with her glasses, she was unsure whether this was actually news for the headmistress. She was nervous, since she did not want to bother her with things she already knew and also, it would make it appear as though she was doubting the principal, however, this ordeal was too strange for her not to speak of it.

"What is it, Griselda?" Miss Faragonda asked.

"I am not sure whether you were already aware of this and I am sorry to bother you, but there is this girl, Bloom, I think..."

"What is it with her?" the headmistress asked, her interest peaked, as this was a new name for her, not that she knew all names from the girl, just a few, but still.

"I am not sure whether you were aware, but she is from Earth."

"From Earth?!" Miss Faragonda asked.

"Yes!" Miss Griselda confirmed, apparently, Faragonda was just as surprised as she was over the news. "I was surprised to find her on the list, but she was and..." she trailed off, waiting for an answer from the older woman.

"This is weird, I thought there weren't any fairies left on Earth," Miss Faragonda mused.

"Me either, I have heard that they disappeared centuries ago," Miss Griselda added.

"Yet, she was on the list, which means that someone must have helped her with the registration form, I myself cannot remember coming across this case," she turned towards her companion. "Griselda?"

"Yes madam?"

"I would like to talk to Bloom myself, please bring her to my office tomorrow," she ordered. Griselda nodded.

Magix was rather impressive. At the first glance, it was nothing unusual, except maybe for the vehicles that flew instead of rode down the street, but Bloom soon learned that it maybe have been the fact that everyone was used to it that made it seem so normal.

She was sitting in a cafe with her new friends, getting to know each other, like Flora and Stella had proposed. But instead of participating in their small talks and conversations, Bloom opted to observe the surrounding and the people around her. Sure, she had not come for the magic or because it was fun; she came here for her sister. She had a mission. But still, that does not mean that she is not allowed to learn new things, get to know people and their culture and there was a lot to learn about this magical culture.

"Bloom? Where are you?" Stella waved a hand in front of the red-haired girl.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just-"

"dreaming?" Flora asked, her eyes shining with understanding.

"Yeah, I guess."

"So, Bloom, how do you like Magix?" Musa asked.

"Well, it's... I didn't expect that," Bloom admitted, her eyes switching back to the people around her.

"Talking about Magix, what is your story? Why are you from Earth?" Tecna began to question her.

"It's actually a long story," Bloom began. She took a deep breath, remembering the many lines she had repeated over and over again in her head. "My parents are from Magix, but they disappeared 15 years ago. For some reason, my adoptive parents had found me in a fire and since then, they raised me up until now that I am old enough to go to Alfea."

It was not Musa's turn to ask her.

"But how come that you know that you are a fairy? No one had showed it to you or even told you that, right?"

"Well, that's not true. I had a sister, she was much older than me. She was a fairy. She knew a lot about our parents and she never hid the fact that... well that I am magical," Bloom admitted, knowing this was actually the truth.

"It is nice to have a sister to share your secrets with," Flora agreed and Bloom could not shake the feeling that she knew it from experience.

"Flora, do you have a sister, too?"

"Yes, her name is Miele. She is very young, so she is staying in Linphea, my home planet. It would be a long time until she attends Alfea," she was practically gushing when she was talking about her sister, something which warmed up her heart. Bloom wondered whether Daphne had been just like Flora, when it came to her little sister.

Whilst Bloom and Flora seemed to get along great, especially when it came to this topic, two of the group seemed to feel rather uncomfortable. They looked down on either their hands or their drink, as they lost themselves in their thoughts. Of course, this did not get unnoticed for long. Bloom and Flora shared a glance, wondering whether they had said something wrong.

"Well girls, it's getting late."

"Tecna is right, maybe we should head back, it's getting late and I am sure, Miss Griselda would mind-" Flora began.

"More like she would behead us!" Stella mumbled, sighing, before standing up.

"Then, before it comes down to this, let's go to the bus," Musa proposed. They all agreed and left their places.

The bus was not arriving any minute and so they just walked slowly back to where they came from. This gave Bloom the chance to admire her surrounding.

"This place is really amazing. At first glance, one would not even notice, but the ornaments and decorations are really great," Bloom admitted.

The other girls just smiled at Bloom's enthusiasm. Frankly, they were already used to this place.

Bloom was still looking around the place, when one certain image came into her view.

"What is this place?" Bloom asked.

"What?" Tecna asked and stopped walking, the other girls followed her example. They followed Bloom's gaze, wondering what she was looking at. "This is an entrance. The place used to be an ancient temple, but nowadays, people don't have use for it anymore," Tecna explained, reading from her mini-computer.

She was entranced by the middle figure, who was centered by four other beings at each side. All of them looked alike, more or less human-like figure, their hands opened up and reached out for the sky. But the one in the middle was different.

She was special. Her form was much more detailed, more human-like and much more vivid. She was adorned with two veils flowing from her hand and she wore a mask, one that was just too familiar for Bloom.

It was Daphne.

"And who is this person?" It was unreal, as she pointed at the figure on the middle. This was her sister, displayed on a board, her image carved on a temple and looking down on her. She knew that this was her sister, but she wondered, and even if it was risky of her, she wondered whether people knew that this was her sister Daphne. Not the sister part, of course, that was to remain a secret, but she wondered whether people knew her.

"I don't know, but it looks cool," Stella replied with a shrug and Bloom winced at the indifferent tone she used.

"Stella," Flora scolded, "pay more respect. This used to be a temple. Those beings are sacred, they are Nymphs." At least Flora seemed to know a little bit, even if she did not get everything right. She looked around, Stella who tried to look as if she could care less for Flora's words, Tecna, who was looking through the digital codes that appeared in front of her face and Musa, who did not offer a better solace for her.

"Flora is right. I think that those nine persons are the Nymph's of Magix."

Maybe it would have been better if she had not asked, but at least she knew that those four girls barely knew anything about the Nymphs of Magix, of Daphne and probably, they barely knew anything about what happened 15 years ago, about Domino's downfall, Domino's princess of Domino, Bloom.

A/N: I know it was mentioned in the first chapter that Bloom should have been already sent to school last year, but because I imagined that she could have been enrolled earlier, since there are people who are younger or older than the actual age group due to their birth. Anyway, in this story, since Daphne had trained with her before, Bloom's power manifested themselves at an earlier stage and I have read somewhere that it is possible that they go to Alfea with the age of 16 because that's when their powers manifest.

I am not sure whether it is apparent, but one of the changes in this AU is that Bloom never got to know Stella first, so Stella is not the person, who introduces her to the magical world. I always believed that the foundation of their friendship was mostly based on that. Sure there were other characteristic points for their friendship, like the fact that sometimes Stella can be too overbearing and Bloom being the one, who can tolerate and understand her and being the dreamy girl, of course she bonds with the first fairy she met, having depended on her and grateful for everything.

However, in this story, Bloom is a little different. She is not the kind of girl anymore, who dreams of the glittery world of magic and fabulous creatures. She is a girl on a mission and she barely cares for anything in this story, aside from her sister, the only true relationship she has ever known and has ever been consistent in her life, except for her adoptive parents. She knows enough about the magical dimension, thanks to her sister, thus she is not easily impressionable.

I am not sure whether it was that obvious or whether it caused any misunderstanding, but during the last part, when Bloom asked the girls about Daphne, they did not know that it was actually her. I have watched season 1 and I have noticed that when Bloom first wanted to learn more about Daphne, and Tecna showed her a hologram of her, no one knew who she exactly was. Despite the fact that it was actually just 16 years ago (really not a long time in history, especially when it came to important things like that). Anyway, for some reasons the girls are oblivious to these things and I thought it might be nice to continue this, I think it can get very interesting.

What is going to be changed, and perhaps be read from the small part with Griselda, is Bloom's relationship with Miss Faragonda, which is going to be explained in the next chapter. Anyway, let's just say that it will take a very different turn from the original story.

I hope you enjoyed the last chapter.