Warning: If you thought Bloom's situation was terrible. Flora's (in my opinion) is way worse.
The characters in this chapter are very OOC, but that should be expected considering how drastically their lives have changed since Baltor came to power right?
Thanks everybody for all the reviews. I hope you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter Four
Flora rolled over in bed and gasped as her body seemed to scream in protest. Everything hurt. Sitting up in the bed she pushed back the covers and limped her way across the room to the full length mirror that hung on the wall. She looked at the shadow of a bruise underneath her right eye and frown. There were other bruises and scratches that covered her body.
Looking over at the clock she saw that it was already noon. She had overslept. She only had two hours before he would be home. She moved as fast as her strained ankle would allow and hobbled her way into the bedrooms connecting master bath to hop into the shower. She winced as the water from the shower head came beating down on her body and ran the towel over her sore limbs. She didn't have time to be gentle with her bruises she had very little time.
In less than ten minutes she was showered and clothed in chic designer clothes. He expected her to be dressed only in her best. Sitting down at the vanity Flora began applying heavy amounts of cover up to her face, trying her best to cover all the bruises. He hated seeing them on her, not because seeing them made him feel remorse, no you'd have to be human to feel guilt. He only wanted her to cover the bruises up because they detracted from her beauty. Looking over at the clock on the wall she saw she had just enough time to throw together a nice light lunch.
Cáel kept her cooped in a nice estate. Cáel liked to have only the finest of things; that was of course why he took Flora. The estate was beautiful. It was nicely furnished and the vista was gorgeous. Cáel could have hired a full staff to keep up the home, but he considers himself to be old fashioned. In his eyes it was the woman's job to keep the home. So Flora cooked, clean, and made sure that all of Cáel's needs were met.
And if she didn't…
Well that was how she got all these bruises in the first place. She hadn't had dinner on the table soon enough and when he'd asked her what was taking her so long, she gotten short with him. He'd roughed her up a bit, to show her who was in charge. If only she had full access to her powers. She looked down at the silver link bracelet on her wrist. To everyone else it looked like a simple bracelet. A gift from Cáel to his girl, but it was the very thing that kept her imprisoned. The trinket kept her powers in check and she couldn't get it off. Sure she could escape powers or no powers, but if she did she knew Helia would pay for it.
Helia.
She'd lost count of how many times she found herself thinking about what had become of him. She knew he was being held prisoner along with Tecna and Timmy and she hoped he was being treated well. She hoped he wasn't blaming himself and beating himself up over this entire situation. She didn't blame him. It wasn't his fault. He'd done everything he could.
Flora hadn't even realized she was crying until she felt a single tear rolled down her cheek and fall to the counter where she was preparing the tuna salad for Cáel. "Come on Flora you don't have time for this." She said to herself as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Cáel would be home soon and he'd be expecting his lunch to already be laid out for him.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself Flora went back to putting together the tuna salad. She quickly put together a vegetable platter and mixed together a pitcher of lemonade. Laying it out on the table, she knew it wasn't anything fancy, but it was something. She heard the door click shut just as she placed the fine china on the table. Seconds later an unhappy looking Cáel entered the room.
He was tall, probably about six feet, five inches. He had a wide set jaw, pale pasty skin, jet black hair, and his features seemed to be permanently set in a frown. Everything about him looked dangerous, the dark look in his amber colored eyes, right down to his gait. He didn't greet Flora upon entering the room or even cast a look in her direction. He seated himself at the table and began to dig into the meal Flora had set out for him. She was just about to dismiss herself from his presence when he snapped his fingers and pointed for her to sit in the chair to the right of him.
Flora quickly took her seat next him, trying her best to hide her annoyance. He'd snapped at her as if she were some sort of pet, but then again his eyes that was exactly what she was. Something that he'd acquired solely for his entertainment and to take care of him.
"What are you frowning about?" He asked in his deep rough voice.
Flora quickly rectified her facial expression. "Nothing," She said plastering what felt like the fakest smile on her face.
He only grunted in response. He quickly polished off his meal and was now wiping his hands on a napkin. "You're coming with me back to the palace."
"I am?" Cáel rarely allowed Flora to leave the estate. She only left if she was in his company, and that was whenever Baltor had a fancy dinner.
"King Baltor says that the Queens spirits could use some uplifting and he thought the company of an old friend would do her some good."
Flora still wasn't used to referring to Baltor as king, but that's what he was after all. He had married Bloom, and that made him king.
"Oh?" Flora hadn't seen Bloom in weeks. The last time she saw her was at their one year anniversary get together, not that either of them saw it as something worth celebrating.
"Don't think about trying anything." He said waving a threatening finger. She got this speech every time he took her out of the house.
"I wouldn't think of it." She said keeping her eyes low to the ground. Of course she'd thought of it. It had crossed her mind at least a million times. She thought of hundreds of ways to escape, but then she always remembered Helia. Cáel wouldn't show him any mercy. He'd kill him and Flora didn't want that.
"Now go fix your face. You could've done a better job covering up those bruises."
Flora quickly got up from the table and left the room. She supposed she should be glad that she'd at least get to spend some time with Bloom
Sky sat in front of the old worn television set in an old run down motel in the slums of Magix. Unlike all the rest of Magix, this small pocket of the city hadn't undergone the massive rebuilding after the treacherous quakes Baltor had sent to destroy all of Magix. For the most part the area was desolate. All the people had moved away to other parts of Magix, more protected areas. The realm of Magix was one of the few kingdoms that hadn't given their allegiance to Baltor, and any kingdom that did not ally themselves with Baltor was at risk. Baltor could attack at any time.
Looking at the news Sky saw that an attack had been made on Eraklyon. Seeing how badly ravaged the royal city was Sky should have been upset and maybe even angry. Knowing that there had been some that had died should have saddened him, and hearing that Baltor had actually gotten into the vault and stolen some of the ancient spells should have sent him into a fury.
But it didn't. He felt nothing at all. Sometime in the past year he'd lost the ability to feel any type of emotion, other than grief. He only stayed cooped up in the old run down motel room wallowing in self pity.
At first when Bloom had been taken, he'd had every intention to get her back. That was back when he still had some fight in him. He still had hope then. Now he saw that he was foolish to have hoped. Finding out about Bloom and Baltor's marriage was what broke him, but not at first. He didn't go down without a fight. When he first left Eraklyon, he'd planned to get Bloom back, whether he had the support of his kingdom or not. And it seemed to him he didn't.
He was expected to stand by his kingdom. He was supposed to fight so that his people were safe. But what about Bloom? As her lover was he not supposed make sure that she was safe? Was it not his duty to save her from Baltor? But Sky didn't expect his parents to understand or the other nobles of the royal, not even his father's council of advisors, but he had expected Brandon to understand. But apparently not even he understood.
Eleven Months Ago…
It had been a month since the battle against Baltor. They had lost. Sky thought gloomily to himself. He paced the expanse of his spacious room on Eraklyon. He was back at home now, in the palace. But he didn't feel at home anymore. With Bloom gone everything felt wrong.
That was why he needed to get her back. He looked down at the picture frame he had been holding in his hand. It was a picture of him and Bloom. He smiled thinking back on the day when they took the picture. It was during the short summer break they had after the defeat of Darkar. He'd taken her on a picnic at the beach. He still could remember the smell of her perfume that day. He missed that about her, there were so many things he missed about her. He was pulled out of his bout of nostalgia when he heard his door creak open.
"You wanted to see me?" Brandon stood in the doorway. He was dressed in his knights uniform, the seal of Eraklyon gleaming on the pin on his chest. "Are you going somewhere?" He saw that Sky's school trunk was half way packed.
"I've waited long enough." He said setting the picture frame down on his night stand. "It's been a month. I have to go get Bloom back."
"Trying to get her back now won't be easy. Baltor's guard is way to strong." Brandon said thinking of all the escaped Omega Dimension convicts. "It's a suicide mission."
"Not if it's more than one of us."
Brandon sighed to himself. He knew Sky wasn't going to like what he was about to hear. "Even if it was two of us, you know it still won't be that easy. Besides I can't leave. The rest of the King's guard needs me."
Sky frowned. He needed to get Bloom back and he needed for his friend to be there to help him. "They have hundreds of others."He reminded him.
"I can't just leave. I have a duty to my kingdom"
"We made a pact as brothers." Sky reminded him of the promise they had made to each other at the age of ten.
"I swore on the Eraklyon seal that I would do everything to protect this kingdom." Brandon countered. "I can't turn my back on my kingdom. Don't make me have to choose." His eyes were pleading.
"It sounds to me as if you made your decision."Sky said turning his back to Brandon. He began to throw things inside his suitcase.
"Don't leave. Give us more time. We have to make sure that Eraklyon is safe for the people and then we can go and get Bloom. Riven's starting up a rebellion in Magix maybe after they've had some training…"
"Bloom doesn't have that kind of time." Sky said letting his temper get the better of him. "I thought you understood that."
"Of course I understand but…"
"If it were Stella you wouldn't think twice. You would have gone after her, and I waited long enough. I'm going to get her, with your help or not." Sky said closing his suitcase with a click.
Brandon didn't know what to was mad that Sky had even brought Stella into this. It had nothing to do with her. Right now it was about stopping Baltor and Eraklyon couldn't do it without their prince. "So you're just going to leave."
Sky just nodded his head. "Don't try to stop me."
A loud knock on the door jolted Sky back to reality. Who could be knocking at the door anyway? No one knew he was here and it would be hard for anyone to recognize him anyway. His golden blond hair was much longer now came to his shoulders, and his normally cleanly shaven face now had a scruffy un-kept beard. Not even his blue eyes could give him away. They were now lifeless and dull. Finding out about Bloom's marriage to Baltor had broken something in him.
Baltor and Bloom's marriage was kept under wraps for awhile. Only until Baltor was ready for the rest of the magical world to know, then the news began to spread like a wild fire. It meant that Baltor was the rightful ruler of Sparks, which was bad news for everyone else. And to Sky getting Bloom back became a lost cause.
He heard the knock at the door again and got up from where he sat. Again he began to wonder who could be at the door and what they could want.
"Open up the door Sky we know you're in there," said a familiar voice.
For a moment he considered walking away and pretending he didn't hear her banging on the door, but it was useless. They knew he was in there.
He pulled open the door to see Stella and Brandon. Stella, who didn't wait to be invited in, immediately stepped over the threshold. Her hazel eyes studied Sky from head to toe and then frowned and said, "You look terrible."
"What are you doing here? How did you even find me?"
"We had Lockette's help." Brandon said as he walked through the door. The pink haired pixie fluttered in behind him. Brandon had always thought Lockette could only find portals and passageways, but apparently Lockette could find people too, but only if they meant a great deal to their bonded fairy. Brandon thought the stop at Pixie Village would be a waste of their time, but Lockette had proved herself useful.
"Baltor and his guard made an attack on Eraklyon." Stella said digging right into the nitty gritty. They didn't have time to waste. "It's been a year. Riven started a rebellion here in Magix. He thinks their ready. Now all we need is you."
"Sounds like you need a hero." Sky said plopping down in the old beat up armchair. "Too bad for you I put down my sword months ago."
"Come on bro," Brandon said throwing his hands up in frustration. "This is Bloom we're talking about."
"Please don't say her name." He tried to think of her as little as possible. It made it easier that way.
Lockette, who had kept as quiet as possible, finally spoke up. "Sky she needs you." The pixie said flying to his side. "And by the looks of it you need her too."
Sky sat there for a moment, letting what Lockette said sink in. Maybe he'd moped around here feeling sorry for himself for much too long. Maybe he needed to pick his sword back up and join the rebellion. He gave Brandon a look before getting up from his seat. "I'll go get my sword."
I hope you all enjoyed it. Review and let me know what you think.
~Aquaria~
