Chapter four
"Careful, watch your step." Was all he said. Its wasn't a threat, or at least she didn't think it was. His voice carried no sign of hostility. He seemed rather cheery, in a sadistic way.
What a surprise. By the time Bloom found her way back to her room, she only had twenty minutes left to get in her attire for the evening and meet up with the others. Her plan of getting some time for herself clearly wasn't meant to be, and since Stella was going to bust her ass if she didn't look her very best, she got to work.
Out at the courtyard she could see the specialists ship approach from the distance. The welcoming horns were playing, and guests were starting to poor into the castle. She had barely managed to get her dress and makeup on before sprinting out too meet them. 'Not a good idea in high heels.' Nearly falling and breaking her ankle, she reached the ship as her friends disembarked. Flora, Brandon, Riven, Musa and Tecna all got off the ship. She didn't see Sky with them.
"Hey guys." She greeted them, trying not to look too disappointed. Part of her wanted to go inside to look for him even though she knew it was pointless.
"Hey Bloom." Flora looked a little upset too, not much, but enough for Bloom to notice. That's when she noticed neither Helia, Aisha or Timmy was there either.
"Where is everyone else? Are they ok?" Bloom asked, concern in her voice.
"We took separate ships. Sky and Timmy is riding with Helia, and their ship broke down, so they had to make an emergency landing somewhere on their way here." Flora explained.
"I spoke with Timmy, there seemed to be a slight rift in the engine from the previous mission we went on." Tecna said. "They must have forgotten to do the protocol system scan afterwards. Which is why it went by unnoticed, but now that they know what's wrong, the ship should be up and running in no time."
Bloom couldn't help but feel a little guilty. The 'previous mission' Tecna spoke off, was saving her ass from Shadowhaunt. "What about Aisha, have you heard anything?"
"No, we still can't reach her." The magenta haired fairy sighed.
"Let's not stand here and mope around. We have a party to crash." Riven smirked at the red head. "and don't worry Bloom, I'll keep you company." He winked putting an arm around her shoulders.
"EXCUSE YOU!" Musa barked, stomping past them making no effort to hide how angry she was with Riven for flirting with Bloom. Bloom was convinced he did it to annoy Sky, but Sky wasn't even there at the moment. Riven let go of Bloom's shoulder running after his girlfriend.
"She's not angry with you." Brandon reassured her with a small smile. "I think." He added rubbing his head in confusion. "Stella's not with you?"
"You'll see her soon." She smiled back, hiding how upset she really was.
They all walked in together, before splitting up. Bloom was tempted to stay behind with Riven and Musa, but Musa seemed to be pissed by Riven's previous comment. Flora and Tecna started dancing together, with Flora leading, which only left Brandon and her.
"Welcome my friends, thank you all for coming today." The king spoke. Everyone turned their attention towards him. "Now it is with great happiness and joy that I give you the bell of the ball. My princess and yours, Stella."
Brandon was gaping, when he laid his eyes on Stella making her entrance, unfortunately there was no one there too close his mouth for him. Stella laid her hand in king Radius's, a big smile on her face.
"My friends. I've got another announcement. This day is not only joyous because of Stella's princess ball, but also because this kingdom will soon have a queen again." The king continued. Stella, not expecting this, looked at her father with shock. "In one months' time, Countess Cassandra and I will be married." The crowds started cheering, as the countess made her way up to stand with the king and his daughter. If Bloom didn't know Stella very well, she wouldn't have noticed the horror in her eyes. The princess left her father's side as fast as she could without it looking suspicious.
"Are you kidding me?! Cassandra and that horrible wannabe Chimera are going to be my new family." You could see tears swelling in her eyes, all though she was trying really hard do hide it. "My life is ruined."
"At least it can't get any. . ." Brandon didn't get a chance to finish, since Bloom hit him on the shoulder.
"Don't jinx it." She hissed to him.
"Don't what now?" He looked completely lost. Stella ignored their bickering and walked past them. Bloom nudged Brandon's side, telling him to go after her and he did. She took this as her cue to find some place less crowded.
She made her way to the back of the ball room. It was all a bit much for her. The crowds made her feel more like an outsider than she already was.
She took a silver glass of something she assumed was champagne from one of the waitresses handing out drinks. One drink became two, and two became three. She found her way out to the balcony. The Solarian summer breeze and beautiful view muffling the noise of people, and finally she was alone. She was left with her own thoughts. It didn't bother her much
She was about to go get herself a fourth drink when she bumped into someone. 'This day keeps getting better, doesn't it?' She was going to apologize, but the person she bumped into was faster.
"Now doesn't this seem familiar. You sure you should be drinking any alcohol with that balance of yours?" He teased her. "Don't want you falling for any more strangers in the stairs now, do we?" 'Speak of the devil.' She was surprised to see the same man that was with Cassandra and Chimera standing there, she looked around to see if they were close by. Besides a couple or two, they were the only ones there. When she looked back, he had a foolish grin planted on his face.
"Shouldn't you be inside with the other royalty talking about politics or something?" she asked, not very amused by his poor attempt at flirting.
"Shouldn't you be inside with your friends talking about boys?"
"Touché" She sighed, although he didn't seem to notice. Realizing this evening was going to be a lot longer than she anticipated, not a help that her solitude was gone, she definitely needed that fourth drink.
She brought her glass up to her lips to salvage the last drops of alcohol, when it was snatched out of her hand to keep her from drinking anymore, only for him to discover it was already empty.
"I don't need a baby sitter." She said. Walking past him, she made her way inside again, and he followed suit.
"Good, cause I'm not here to play hero." The way he said it made her stop and look back at him. He had a playful grin on his face. 'Not here to play, right.' She rolled her eyes.
"Then let me drink." She challenged him, but he wasn't looking at her anymore. his gaze kept shifting. Observing the ballroom and its guests. "Who are you hiding from?" She asked. He looked at her with wary eyes as if he was debating if he should tell her or not, but he seemed to get a better idea.
"Who are you hiding from?" He shot back.
"I'm not hiding, I'm just naturally invisible." She snorted, which made him laugh.
"I wouldn't say that. I've seen quite a few men with their eyes on you."
"You included, I take it?" He didn't answer, his attention was back at the crowds. "If you are just going to keep avoiding my questions. I'm gonna get that drink now." Somehow disappointed that he didn't pay attention to her, she sighed. "I'm gonna go look for my friends."
"What about we dance instead?" Before she could protest he grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the dance floor. He placed one of her hands on his shoulder and took the other in his hand, placing a hand of his own on at the small of her back.
'The wind picked up, which was strange since they were inside, sending chills down her spine.
"BLOOM!" An ear piercing scream sounded through the room. She recognized the voice in an instant. Gasps filled the ballroom. Her dance partner had disappeared.
"Stella?" She called back. Turning towards the source. She was meat with Stellas golden-brown eyes, but the creature holding those eyes was unfamiliar and green with froglike features. She was wearing Stella's dress, only it was torn and the once loosely fit fabric was stretched to the breaking point around her mutated body. Somehow this creature was indeed her friend, Stella.
"Guards!" Radius called, pointing at the mutated princess. "Seize that awful creature!" The crowds were panicking.
"No daddy it's me, Stella." The princess pleaded, but it was already too late. People were running franticly for the exit. "Bloom help me." Stella started crying. It was impossible for Bloom to reach her friend. Like a cat swimming upstream, she was fighting to get through to Stella. This was when Bloom noticed that the king was standing with the countess, who had a morbid smile on her face. When Cassandra noticed her staring, her grin twisted into annoyance.
"That girl is her accomplice." The countess was pointing straight for the red head. "Take her too, they know where the real princess is." As the people heard this they started running from her too, which she really didn't mind since it cleared the path for her
"Don't listen to the countess she's lying" the red head yelled. The guards split up. They had already surrounded Stella, and were now starting to surround Bloom too, ready to attack. She could see the rest of the Winx on the other side.
"That's not our princess, our princess would never look this hideous." Chimera spat.
"But it's me. I'm Stella" The princess tried again. Radius didn't budge. "Daddy you have to believe me." Trying to get closer to the king Stella was thrown back by one of the guards, shoved down on the floor. Stella screamed as the guards stabbed her with their spears.
"NOOO" The red head motioned for the Winx to get ready. Determination and anger displayed on their faces. There was a bright light as they all transformed. They flew up and over the guard landing besides Stella. Using their magic, they managed to push back the guards. She knelt down beside her best friend, taking her hand. "Stella stay strong." Tears escaped her, as her eyes traveled down Stella's body. Her ripped dress was soaked, and the blood was forming a puddle on the floor. The nature fairy popped up on the other side of Stella.
"We need to keep pressure on the wounds." Flora instructed. Bloom put on a brave face and nodded. She tried to cover the biggest one on her stomach, leaning down on the gaping wound to put pressure on it. All it did was making her hands bloody as well.
"Tecna we need a shield." The red head shouted.
"I'm on it." The fairy of technology called back. "Fire wall."
"We can't stay here." Musa shot in. Landing next to Bloom, she put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"We can't move her." Bloom was nearly panicking, as the light from Stella's eyes faded. "Hang in there Stella. It's going to be ok." She soothed.
"You're trapped." The countess taunted. "There is no way you are going to be ok. Guards seize them all. We only need one of them alive." On cue the guards stepped up their game, sending various sun attacks at the shield surrounding them.
"I can't hold them back much longer. Bloom, any ideas?" Tecna was struggling to keep on her feet. About to give away to the guard's forces, Musa stepped in lending Tecna a hand.
"Can't you heal her?" The bluenette asked.
"I'll try." The read head, already with her hands on the wound, focused her energy into healing. She took a shaky breath to try and steady her breathing. Not even noticing she was trembling before Flora put her hand on top of hers.
"Together." The brunette assured her, and together they did it. The wounds started to close up, but not nearly fast enough. Too much blood had left her body. The feeling of being alone was creeping up on her. She put two fingers at her friends' neck checking for a pulse, there was none. That's when the barrier around them broke, and the guards came charging towards them.'
Suddenly he was there, stroking her chin. Wiping away her tear. "Calm down"
"She's dead" She could barely breath at this moment. She realized it was because she had been screaming.
"Who's dead?"
A.N. Thank you for all the reviews. I love that some of you ask me about the story, and even though I don't reply, I do very much appreciate it. It makes my day. I won't give you a direct answer, because the answers will come in later chapters. And also it would be no fun giving up the answers like that. :P
One of you (You know who you are.) commented on how I only have a few grammar mistakes. Firstly, thank you for telling me I was really worried I was making a lot of errors. Secondly this made me really happy since English is a foreign language for me and grammar has never been my strongest side.