Disclaimer: I own nothing from Winx Club, only my characters and story line.
Chapter 3: Sneaking Out
A thud could be heard through the tower room, followed by a grumpy huff. Artemis had fallen to the floor in defeat after she failed yet again to heal something inanimate.
"It seems like I'm never going to heal anything that isn't alive, so maybe I should give up." Artemis grumbled crossing her arms over her chest.
Bloom sighed as she watched her student brood silently over her failure. "Well it's best not to give up, you'll learn it one day," she said encouragingly. "It's so stuffy up here how do you stand this every day?"
"I can't, but I'm not allowed to leave," Artemis said sourly. "It's a rule made up by the royal vizier, that I never leave this tower."
"Well that's awful, because now you'll never get to see the outside world." Bloom said. "And I'm sorry that my fairy dust had no affect on you,"
"It's been three weeks since you tried, and I have nothing against you, I had a feeling it wouldn't work."
"I'm still sorry though," Bloom said as Artemis rose off the floor, her winx form fading. She then joined Bloom on the couch.
"I so wish I could get out of here, if only for one day," Artemis sighed, leaning her head against the back of the couch. "It sucks royally being stuck here every single day."
"I hear you," Bloom said, when suddenly a recent conversation with her fiance came to her mind. "Hey I've got an idea!"
"What?" Artemis asked sitting up straight, excitement in her eyes.
"I remember the chant to the teleport spell," Bloom said. "And if I just change the last word to where I want to go..."
"Where do you want to go?" Artemis asked intrigued.
"Eraklyon," Bloom said.
"Your fiance's home planet?" Artemis asked, excitement prominent on her face.
Bloom nodded and rose off the couch, motioning for Artemis to follow her.
"We're gonna break the rules a bit," Bloom said slyly.
"I can't believe we're actually going through with this," Artemis said shocked, as she waited at the bottom step of her tower, while Bloom made sure the coast was clear. The door opened back up, and Bloom's head poked in, a smile on her face.
"It's clear," she said excitedly. "Let's go!" Artemis giggled at how childish this seemed, but followed her tutor out of the tower, for the first time in her whole life.
"Wow, I've never been outside before," Artemis said, closing her eyes and letting the sun warm her face. "It's nice."
"Isn't it?" Bloom said, as they walked away from the tower. After about five minutes of walking, Bloom stopped. "This is where Melody met me when I arrived."
"Ok," Artemis said, crossing her arms over her chest, as she watched Bloom do a complicated chant, and suddenly they were enveloped into darkness, only for a second and then there was light again. Bloom opened her eyes, and a smile lit up her face.
"We're here!" She squealed lightly. "Come on let's go find Sky,"
"Ok." Artemis said, as Bloom tugged her along by the wrist. "And you're supposed to be older than me?" Artemis laughed.
"I'm excited I haven't seen Sky in a couple weeks," Bloom said dreamily.
"You there! Stop!" Both girls froze for a moment, before Bloom loosened up.
"Oh hey there Aros," Bloom said casually as the guard who stopped them came up in front of them. "How are you?"
"Oh princess Bloom, I didn't realize it was you," Aros, the guard bowed to her. "Would you like me to summon prince Sky for you?"
"Yes that would be lovely, thank you Aros," Bloom said smiling. "Tell him, we'll be in the garden waiting."
"As you wish," Aros said bowing, then hurried away.
"Impressive," Artemis said as Bloom led her to a beautiful garden, filled with all kinds of beautiful flowers and plants. "This place is lovely." she said as she bent to smell a flower. "I've never seen a flower in person."
"Smell good don't they?" Bloom asked smiling, glad that Artemis seemed to be having a good time.
"Yes, quite." Artemis said. She jumped when she heard Bloom gasp, but relaxed when she looked up to see prince Sky with his arms around Bloom's waist.
"Sky you jerk, you scared me nearly to death," Bloom said sternly, turning in his arms to give him a quick peck on the lips.
"Sorry, sometimes it's so fun to scare you though," Sky laughed. "Oh hello there," he said noticing Artemis for the first time.
"Hi," Artemis said friendly. Sky stuck out his hand for her to shake, but she shook her head. "That's not a good idea for me or you," she said her eyes darkening a bit.
"What, how is that?" Sky asked confused.
"Well you see I'm kinda curse, so no one can touch me or they'll die," Artemis said, her arms securely crossed her chest.
"Oh," Sky said retracting his hand, a little embarrassed.
"Don't be embarrassed, no one knows about it….or me," Artemis replied sourly. "Sorry I'm being awful, I don't mean to be."
"It's ok," Sky said waving it off.
"Hey Sky! Where'd you go?" A voice called from the distance. And a boy about Artemis' age entered the garden. "Oh there you are….hey Bloom," he said with a wink at his brother's fiancé. Artemis felt blood rush to her cheeks when she noticed how handsome the boy was. The boy turned and his face went almost as red as hers upon seeing her. "Hello there," he put his hand out to her much like Sky had, but she shook her head.
"Not a good idea," Sky said pulling his brother's hand down.
"What do you mean not a good idea?"
"Stephen, she's already explained it to me," Sky said, looking at Artemis for approval. She nodded her head, not trusting her voice at the moment. "She's under a curse, where whomever she touches, dies."
"Oh," Stephen said downcast. "That's a shame."
"Why is th-that a shame?" Artemis stuttered, silently cursing herself for not being able to talk clearly with this handsome young man.
"Well just cause you're so pretty," Stephen said shyly, looking down at his feet.
"Oh," Artemis said, flushing again.
"So…Sky how have things been going for you?" Bloom asked, trying to break the awkward tension that was now so thick you could cut it with a knife.
"Not bad, although this guy can't make up his mind about who he wants," Sky said nudging Stephen in the shoulder, causing him to blush again. "Although I think he may have just made his choice," Sky shrugged looking away from Stephen.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Stephen asked, pushing his brother's shoulder.
"You know, you said she was pretty," Sky teased. "You should tell mother you've found one, like I did," Sky said his eyes meeting Blooms, with so much love that neither Artemis nor Stephen felt they could look any longer. So both walked away a bit.
"So you have a curse on you?" Stephen asked casually.
"Yeah," Artemis said sullenly. "Since I was a baby, that's why one eye is black, and I have this crescent on my forehead."
"Oh that's gotta be torture, not being able to touch anyone," Stephen said. "Especially since you were little, never being able to hug your mother or father,"
Artemis felt her chest tighten at the mention of her parents. "My parents are dead," she said, her voice void of emotion. "Since I was born,"
"Oh I'm sorry I didn't know," Stephen said, noticing a stray tear that slipped down her cheek. She brushed impatiently at it, and turned away from him.
"I killed my mother the night I was born," Artemis said sadly.
"Artemis, I've actually been wondering about that," Bloom said suddenly appearing next to the two teens. "Who told you, you killed your mother, surely Melody didn't,"
"No, she didn't." Artemis replied. "It was the one and only time I actually met Samil, he told me,"
"What an awful thing for him to do," Bloom said scowling. "I have half a mind to demand why he would do that!" She said indignantly.
"Bloom don't be getting yourself in to any unnecessary trouble," Sky said placing a hand on her shoulder.
Bloom sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I know," she then looked at Artemis. "I'm sorry about all this stuff you're going through, wish I could help somehow."
"Sir, the princess has snuck out," Aza'zel said bowing before Samil.
"How did this happen?!" Samil roared outraged. "You were supposed to have guards around the tower at all times!"
"I did," Aza'zel said firmly. "But you know how lazy the guards can be, he was punished thoroughly."
"Good, but now we have to deal with the princess, and her powerful tutor," Samil hissed. "There's no way we can win against the dragon fire right now, I'm not powerful enough,"
"Do you need another sacrifice in order to power up?" Aza'zel asked.
"I think two sacrifices are in order," Samil said smirking evilly. "The guard and his precious little family."
"Of course my lord," Aza'zel said returning into the darkness.
"Well we should really be getting back," Bloom said giving Sky a hug, and a peck.
"Wish you could stay longer, but I know you have to go," Sky said. "It was nice meeting you Artemis."
"Yeah really great, we should definitely hang out again soon." Stephen said blushing, which made Artemis blush.
"Yeah nice meeting you two as well," Artemis replied, as she and Bloom left the garden back to where they started at.
Bloom chanted the spell again, and the were back on Nyx's moon. "Well we're back,"
"Yippee," Artemis replied sarcastically. "Well let's get back to the prison,"
"It's not a prison," Bloom said. "At least not anymore,"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you're never going to advance your powers sitting in that tower," Bloom replied walking ahead of Artemis. "We need to get you out into the world,"
"Really?" Artemis asked excited, as they walked up the many stairs to her tower room.
"Yes," Bloom said. "I will speak to Melody about this,"
"Oh that's awesome! I'd hug you, if it didn't kill you," Artemis said smiling hugely.
"That's fine," Bloom laughed.