"They took the Dragon Fire," Bloom told everyone when they finally came back home.
After they tried every brick, they found the door and ran in to spot Ren passed out on the floor. Nick grabbed her and slammed her against the wall to wake her up. Once she was conscious, they harassed her about Bloom, and Ren told them how her friend Darcy had come to her earlier asking for Bloom, to get Bloom isolated and weak. Once the magic people found out the names--Darcy, Icy and Stormy--they sprinted back to the house, finding Bloom passed out on the couch and her adoptive parents tending to her.
Vanessa cried and told them it wasn't their fault, that they had all been fooled, but it didn't make anyone feel better that they had failed. Especially Sky. He felt humiliated that he couldn't protect her. If he couldn't save the one girl he loved, how was he supposed to be trusted with a whole kingdom?
And then Bloom woke up, crying about her magic being gone.
"Bloom, we'll get it back," Flore soothed, rubbing her arm.
She shook her head. "No, we need it now. Apparently they can call some evil army now with my power. The army of decay, I think. If only I hadn't fallen for it. I always fall for Ren's stupid schemes. I should just kill myself and let her have my life."
The girls gasped and tried batting down the idea while Sky glared and tightened his fists. He looked up and saw Riven looking at him, and suddenly he knew what he should do. He made a motion for Riven to meet him on the front porch, then slipped away without notice.
"What do you want?" Riven asked.
"I'm the reason Bloom got caught--if I hadn't let her back into the club to fight," he started, flustered. Then he sighed. "She won't want to see me when she remembers it's my fault and she hates me. And it was your girlfriend that set all this up."
"Your point?" Riven asked, getting mad.
"She'll hate us forever. I like your sister, dude, and you want her to like you. We need to go back to Magix and get her powers back. And hopefully, it'll make her forgive me and accept that you're not the bad guy--that you're her brother."
Riven thought about it for a moment, then shrugged, smirking. "Fine. I was ready to end my relationship anyways. Let's hurry up, so when they come back to school we'll be able to surprise everyone."
Sky smiled and went to high-five Riven when Riven stopped him, telling Sky he wasn't gay and no straight man would ever high-five. When he saw Sky's crestfallen expression, he sighed and put a fist out, letting Sky have his moment.
"So, what do we do now?" Brandon asked, looking around. "Timmy? Where are the rest of the guys? Riven? Sky? I mean, really? Now, you both decide to duke it out to the death when Bloom needs us?"
Bloom laughed a little and Stella sighed as she leaned into Brandon's arm. "I think we should go back to school and tell Miss Faragonda what happened," Stella suggested, kissing Brandon on his neck. "Let this all sink in so we can figure out what to do next."
"You mean, what we as a group should do, or you as a couple should do?" Musa asked, wryly.
Stella started throwing pillows at Musa and the girl shrieked and laughed as she ignored them, getting a call from the magical world that she had to answer.
"I agree with Stella," Flore said after a moment of silence. "The teachers would be the most knowledgeable about a situation like this."
"Do you really think so?" Tecna asked, scrunching her nose. "They didn't know about Bloom's power at first, and they didn't seem to recognize that the Dragon Fire came with more powers. Maybe they aren't as well trained as we think they are." From her Winx form, Tecna brought up a codex of old documents from the magical universe and pulled out the files marked for Sparx.
"What are you doing?" Flora asked, Timmy kicking in.
"The legend of two princesses," he replied. "The one that says the Dragon left more than one power behind, and isn't actually dead. Just resting under Sparx."
"Great place to sleep," Bloom muttered sarcastically. "Not like he's missing anything, what with the permanent winter the Coven put on my kingdom because they wanted his fire. Fucking dick of a dragon. Didn't he know it was a bad idea to give a baby super-powers? That should be a crime, or something."
Tecna sighed, showing her the digitized version of the document. "Your father was sort of in charge of all records, documents, treaties--anything and everything having to do with the magical universe and the kingdoms and rulers, your dad controlled it. The most important and secret stuff would go into a vault where only the royalty of Sparx could access it. That's where the real document is, in the vault."
The one Daphne showed me in my dreams," Bloom whispered, her eyes transfixed on the document.
Tecna nodded. "That's exactly the room. Anyways, the legend is that the Dargon would rest under Sparx until the new rulers were born, and present them with his powers over the years. As the two grew stronger, he'd grow weaker. When one sister finally overtook the other--most commonly believed, the older would live--then the Dragon would finally die, letting his soul and the other sister's soul into the princess, the new leader and ruler."
"Only problem," Bloom started. "I don't have a sister. There is no second princess--hell, we don't even know if I am the princess of--" She looked at the girls annoyed expressions and sighed. "So maybe we know, but my powers didn't come slowly. I think your legend's a little off."
"Very possibly," Tecna replied, shutting the codex. "It was written over four centuries ago and there had to be two princesses in Sparx since then, but I don't think that's the case."
Stella gasped. "You're talking about the adopted sister…Diaspro's new sister. You think she's the other half of all the magic?"
"It's very possible," Tecna replied when Musa came back from her call.
"Hey, that was my godsister. I guess Miss Faragonda contacted her because Sky and Riven went back to the magic world without telling anyone, and since she's next of kin or something for Riven she had to know…" Musa shrugged as the idea trailed off. "Anyways, Miss F wants us back home too so she can talk to Bloom about tonight."
Bloom sighed. "So she needs to know how unsalvageable this whole situation is because I'm fucking retarded."
"I don't think that's quite it, but let's run with it anyways," Musa replied, shaking her head and looking at Brandon and Stella. "Can you two get a room? I mean, we all get it--whoo hoo, he saved your life! Doesn't mean we have to see your gratitude."
Stella blushed and slinked off Brandon's lap and back onto the couch, making Bloom roll her eyes and Timmy shift uncomfortably on the chaise in the corner.
They all silently got up and packed, Timmy getting Riven and Sky's stuff as well, as they waited for Stella to transport them home. But something hit Bloom, just as Stella cut the portal back to Magix. She waited until the portal was sealed again, then asked, "Does this mean Stella's ring is safe now?"
Miss Faragonda met them out in the fields and ushered them in, guarding them from unknown dangers that she must have sensed. Bloom asked the question again to Miss Faragonda, who told her to wait until they were in her office, and then repeated it to Saladin and Griffin.
"It means they don't actually need the ring, though they can be even more powerful if they get it," Ms. Griffin explained, crossing to the window. "If the girls really do have the Dragon Fire, then I should go back to Cloud Tower and stop them. It'd be the first place they'd all go."
Miss Faragonda nodded and Bloom watched as Ms. Griffin disappeared into thin air.
Saladin next sighed and looked at Bloom. "I'm assuming that Riven's off stopping his girlfriend, but do you have any idea why Sky would tag along with him?"
She shrugged. "Probably got scared and ran home. That's what I would do if my house wasn't covered in snow." She sighed and looked out the window. "You know, I thought I knew. Thought I knew who I was, what I wanted in life, who I liked…but I guess I know now that I know nothing, huh?"
Saladin shook his head. "Sky didn't want to trick you--he didn't want too trick anybody. I asked him to trade places with his squire, learn how to be normal for awhile. You're lucky you met him now. Last year, he was so high-strung and obnoxious. This year he finally understands what it's like to be a commoner."
Miss Faragonda looked out the window too and pursed her lips. "Bloom, if I'm not mistaken…There may be a last-ditch way for you to get back your Dragon Fire."
She shot up in her chair. "Please, Miss F. I'd do anything not to feel this helpless. What is it? Invade Cloud Tower and kick ass?"
"No. Saladin, would you mind fetching the girls?" He nodded and left, as Miss Faragonda turned to Bloom. "The last chance we have is for you to go to Sparx. Inside the secret room would be the information on how to destroy the Trix's army, and how to regain your powers. I'll send you and the girls, and try to hold off the Trix."
"Intergalactic space travel?" Bloom asked. "There are no portals to Sparx, are there?"
"Through the simulation room. The Trix were able to bring you to Sparx the last time through the room. We can do it again if we tweak the machine a little."
Bloom nodded and waited for Saladin to come back with her friends. Once they were all packed into the office, Miss Faragonda went over the plan again and escorted them in as Tecna helped the professor alter the system.
"All right. Now remember, this will actually transfer you to Sparx, not just simulate the terrain," the professor told them, getting ready to launch them through the solar system. "Any injuries you get there are real and will hurt."
They nodded when they suddenly felt the tugging of the wormhole. Bloom had read about it before, seen the sci-fi renditions a hundred times. She just breathed deeply and closed her eyes, shocked when she felt herself crash into the snow after three or four seconds.
"Bloom, hey," Stella greeted, in her Winx. "You passed out back there, when we landed. You feelin' okay now?"
"Huh?" she asked, confused.
Tecna sighed, also in her Winx. "Earth-people don't know how wormholes work, it'd only make sense you wouldn't understand, either. Did you take a deep breath?" She watched Bloom nod. "You breathed in…nothing. Your lungs needed oxygen, so your body immediately stalled out. Next time, try holding your breath."
Bloom groaned. "Great. What else did I screw up while I was out?"
Musa stepped in, deactivating her Winx. "Bloom, you missed it! There was this huge snow monster and we trashed it. Except now we have ice-crabs following us, so we better go, go, go!"
Bloom got up and started sprinted, just as Musa reactivated her Winx and flew away. Bloom looked ahead, seeing Flora already at the castle and making a barrier with her plants. She quickly scaled the wall and ran inside, followed by Musa and Stella.
"Where's my bedroom do you think?" Bloom asked.
"Down this hall," Musa replied, taking a sharp turn and shrugging when Bloom asked how she knew. "My mom was Oritel's sister or something. I spent all my summers here and everything. I was…three or four when this place was attacked."
"So, you know who my sister is?" Bloom asked, stopping at her room. It had a sign on the door, Bloom and Trixxi's Room. Bloom's Door. "You know Trixxi?"
"Yeah. She's my godsister. And Riven's half-sister."
"Half-sister?" Bloom gasped. "Me and that idiot are related? Which one of my parents was dumb enough to have him?"
Stella laughed. "Your mom. It was always known that there was no prince to take over Sparx, so it had to have been your mom." Then she turned to Musa as Bloom tried to figure out the wall. "Isn't she Diaspro's adopted sister now?"
She nodded. "Riven's dad is Diaspro's uncle on her mom's side, I guess. He asked them to raise Trixxi as a princess, because he couldn't see her as anything less." Musa smiled softly. "For a long time, no one knew if she was Oritel's or Revin's daughter."
Bloom stopped for a minute. "Revin and Riven? Really?" Musa shrugged and Bloom focused on the wall again. "I don't know how to open it. There aren't any keyholes to pry open or anything. Maybe we have the wrong room."
Musa sighed and started to fly out to another room, noticing a book. "What's that?" she asked, picking it up and watching elegant script appear. "Guys. Look at this. I think I found the book!"
Bloom and Stella huddled over it to read the script. To the princesses of Planet Melody and Solaria, enjoy the Book of Royal Marriages. At present, you may not see your matches.
Bloom laughed as Stella gaped and Musa called it bogus. "Hey, maybe once you come of age, then," she teased. "At least it recognized you two."
Suddenly there was a noise and the book flipped open, and Bloom started to read the pages it filled out at lightning speed.
Welcome, Princess Bloom after your long journey afar. This book is the record-holder of the any secrets of treaties, negotiations, and power-moves of every principality in the universe. It contains the arranged marriages of all princes and princesses in the universe until the day you left on your journey. Any questions you may have, only need be spoken above the book to be answered. The first order of your business would be--
Bloom stopped reading, unable to keep up with the words. "Guys, I think we found what we came here for."
Suddenly Flora and Tecna flew in, warning them that the ice-crabs had broken through and they now had to run and hide. Bloom looked around and picked up a few mismatched objects to remember her sister by as she sprinted out and into the foyer.
"Holy shit, we're trapped," Musa announced, running into several walls of ice.
Bloom rolled her eyes and looked around for something to defend herself with. When she couldn't find anything, she looked at the trinkets in her hands. Then she noticed one of them was a thin metal bar, like the ones the boys used that turned into swords.
The crabs grew closer and Bloom tucked all the trinkets away into her jacket, then turned the sword on, instantly blasting half the crabs away because she didn't set it right. Once she was able to control it and set the power to that of a sword, more had descended on the group and it was an all-out brawl.
But before Bloom could hit more than twenty, the boys burst in, slaying the rest of them. Bloom gaped as she watched Sky take down the majority of them, huffing that he wrecked her mood. She liked certain numbers, like eighteen and twenty-one, to end anything and everything with. When she ended with twenty, she wasn't happy.
"Bloom, are you okay?" Sky asked once all the crabs were defeated for the moment.
Then she spotted one last one by her ankle, a baby crab that probably didn't know left from right yet. She smiled gleefully as she killed twenty-one, which made her feel better. "Fine, thank you. Thanks for rescuing us," she told him as he looked at her funny. "What? I have a number-related OCD. Everything has to be important ages."
He rolled his eyes as Timmy yelled that there were more coming again and they had to go to higher ground, or abandon the mission. Sky looked at Bloom, waiting to know if they had to stay.
"Let's get the fuck outta here," she replied, running towards the boys' ship.
On the plane, Brandon and Stella sat together, whispering quietly and every so often giggling; Flora and Musa sat and played cards, bored out of their minds. Timmy and tecna flew the ship and Sky sat next to Blom, apologizing for the first five minutes, then talking to her about the book and her new life now that she knew she was a princess.
"It feels like a huge-ass responsibility," she told him, holding out the book. "And what's worse, I think the book hates me."
Sky laughed, thinking it was a joke. "Why? What's wrong?"
"It started to write something down for me, but I'm an idiot and I couldn't read as fast as it wrote, and now the pages are gone and it won't rewrite them, even when I ask it to. Just like it wrote. As over the book and it'll answer."
"Are you asking or demanding?" Brandon asked, interrupting them and halting his conversation with Stella. "That's how my father's magic book works--why I'm Sky's squire and not some no-name loser. My family's in charge of holding all of Eraklyon's secrets and everything. Ever since Sparx fell. It helps if you ask."
She looked at him funny, then shrugged and gave it a try. "Will you please show me what you showed me earlier?" she asked. Suddenly the pages flipped open and Bloom smiled at Brandon as she told him, "I flippin' love ya right now!"
He shrugged and looked back at Stella, then to Bloom. "Can you ask for the marriage directory?" he asked. "Humor me. I just want to know if it works."
"Can I please look at the marriage directory?" she asked.
Suddenly everything disappeared and a single sentence appeared. You may, Princess, but your friends may not.
Brandon sighed as Bloom read it off and Sky looked at him, confused. "It's just like the book for Eraklyon. You have to ask, then demand. So, now that you have your answer, you have to say something like, 'as the keeper of this book I command you to show my friends.' Right?"
Bloom looked at him funny and was about to listen to him when the message disappeared, and a new one appeared. Never listen to him. Prince Sky knows nothing.
He glared at the book and Bloom laughed. "Can you please show me and my friends the list of royal marriages in the universe, including theirs?" The book's pages flew open, words scribbling furiously across page after page. Bloom laughed, the started to sift through the pages. "Can I see them alphabetized by the girls' name?"
The pages flew out and Flora came over to take a look first. She was the first last name on the list, and she looked puzzled when she read it off. "Prince Helia of the…isn't that Saladin's nephew or something? I think his sister married the king of Sunulit."
Stella shrugged and read aloud that Tecna was arranged to marry Timmy. "No big surprise there," she muttered, looking for her own and not finding it. "Hey! What gives?"
Musa snickered and took the book. "Let's see about me, then."
"No, I think we should find out what happened to Stella's marriage," Bloom said, taking the book back and purposely ignoring Brandon's hurt expression. "Come on, Brandon. You know she's a princess, and that she must have one."
"Not necessarily," Tecna told her. "Ask the book for a list of un-promised princesses. Stella was born in a funny age where it was mostly princesses. They had this old rule back then that a princess could not be arranged to a prince younger than her.
Bloom did as Tecna instructed and sure enough a list of names appeared. "Let's…yep. Stella's name is right here…" She trailed off, gasping at the name underneath it. "Right above Diaspro's. How does that work?"
Sky gaped. Suddenly he grabbed the book and looked at it, dumbfounded. "I always knew Diaspro was older than me, but really? I wasn't aware of the rule. My parents said I had been engaged since I was three."
"Maybe they got you engaged after the fall of Sparx," Bloom replied, a little angry.
"No. My grandfather used to tell me we needed a new arranged marriage. That I lost my fiancée when Sparx fell and they needed a--that would make sense, now that I think about it. The whole, needing a new fiancée-thing and Diaspro being older."
"Well then, do you think we can see a record of who you were supposed to marry?" Musa asked, starting to sleep in the corner now that she lost interest in the toy.
"Can I see who Prince Sky of Eraklyon is engaged to?" she asked, nervous.
The book wrote a reply. You may not, though Prince Sky of Eraklyon may look. He will not be allowed to say her name until she comes of age.
Bloom read it to him and laughed. "What do you think 'of age' even is? Eighteen?"
Sky shrugged and took the book away, following its directions to pass to private area. After a minute, the ship heard him yell "I knew it! She didn't die at Sparx!" and come back with a huge smile. "I'm not marrying Diaspro. Beat that!"
Everyone rolled their eyes and Bloom smiled. "So how is the book going to keep you from saying the girl's name?" she asked, amused.
He frowned. "Some kind of spell. It said, I can talk to her but not about marriage and engagement and all that. It says she'll have no idea until she's old enough and gets the throne. But I'm working on getting around it."
Stella snorted. "Why don't we just get this all over with. Bloom and Sky have to be engaged, because what other princess was assumed to be dead when Sparx fell?"
"My sister," Bloom replied, deadpan. "If I knew more about the realms, I could probably give you more names. I do know that a lot of people died that day. And it'll take a long time to rebuild my kingdom."
He rest of the ride was silent, except for Bloom making whispered questions to the book about silly things and herself. She learned how the magic worked and more about her short life as a princess.
After they landed on the campus, Bloom was ushered away. She discreetly handed the book off to Sky as she was led to Miss Faragonda's office, where Saladin was waiting and Griffin was on a crystal globe communicator.
"Red Fountain has already fought these monsters. We did not do well," Saladin told Bloom. "Though I was shocked at some of my Specialists. They showed great character today. Like Sky, who had the chance to escape with Diaspro and chose to keep fighting; my nephew Helia choosing to fight instead of strategize; Hotch, one of my seniors, defending the boy he always harasses."
Bloom smiled as Saladin went on, shocked to know Sky refused to leave. He and the boys even begged to take the ship out to Sparx and help them instead of fly to Alfea and wait for the next attack.
"Bloom, did you get the Dragon Flame back?" Miss Faragonda asked.
"No. We couldn't get into the room in should be kept in--the secret room. We think we might need my twin to do it."
Miss Faragonda nodded and told her the bad news. "We need the Dragon Fire so you can fight the Trix on even ground. I need you and your friends to make a trip to Cloud Tower and steal it back. Ms. Griffin will assist as she can. Right now the witches and Riven are all locked in the dungeons."
Bloom started to agree, then stopped. "Riven? Riven's locked in a dungeon? I thought he went back to Red Fountain with Sky."
Saladin shook his head. "No…Well, yes. They came to me asking what would be the best strategy to get the Dragon Flame back, and Riven thought he would be able to get it back if he pretended he was seeing Darcy and wanted some of the power. Sky was to stay at Red Fountain until you arrived, then protect you as you snuck in through the secret tunnels under the schools."
Bloom sighed and shook her head. "Did you guys know me and Riven are half-siblings? My half-brother's an idiot."
Saladin laughed while Miss Faragonda pursed her lips. He scolded her, told her to lighten up, if they were about to fight for their lives, they better enjoy their last minutes.
"Maybe I should go get ready," Bloom said, excusing herself to change into cooler clothes and leave them be. "After all, I'm dressed for the arctic and those tunnels are as hot as the desert."
"Yes, that's fine," Miss Faragonda replied. "We have much to discuss without you."
When she arrived back in her dorm, she found everyone waiting around anxiously--except Stella and Brandon, who were perhaps making everyone anxious because they were busy sucking face. She threw a pillow at them and told them, "Either get a room, or hurry up and get ready. We're infiltrating Cloud Tower."
They stopped immediately and the girls rushed to their rooms to change. Once they came out, Bloom told them as much as she knew.
"I'm supposed to go through the tunnels with Sky, I guess," she started, looking at Sky for confirmation. "And I guess you guys run a distraction? I don't know. Miss F was uptight and when I left her and Saladin were fighting." She gulped dramatically. "I think we have to go back and strategize."
When they arrived, Bloom knocked on the door and started to let herself in, only to get scared and slam the door shut again. When her friends asked what was wrong, her eyes bugged out and she shook her head.
"Nothing. Everything's fine."
"What did you see?" Stella asked, opening the door for herself and revealing Saladin and Miss Faragonda fixing their clothes and letting the in. "Gross, Miss F! Bloom's, like, sixteen here! You just corrupted a minor!" Stella complained.
Bloom rolled her eyes and listened to the plan. She and Sky went through the tunnels with Stella and Brandon, while Flora and Musa flew around as distractions. Timmy and Tecna would follow ground-level through the front doors, acting as decoys if the Trix realized they were being distracted.
"Who thought of this thing?" Stella asked, unimpressed. "Why don't we just go bring the house down?"
"Because they have prisoners," Miss Faragonda told them.
"My nephew put it together when Sky and Riven arrived," Saladin added. "And as Bloom said, her half-brother is an idiot. He was captured, and I doubt she'll want to lose him now that she's just found him."
Stella looked at Bloom, who nodded in determination. Musa gaped,then started laughing. "How many times did we tell him not to date Darcy? That she was evil and she was using him? And look what happens when he doesn't listen--he's gets enslaved by his girlfriend. Can I laugh hysterically?"
"Go ahead. You already are," Bloom muttered as the started to leave. Then she stopped in the door and turned back to Musa. "Oh, yeah! I forgot to tell you something, but I'm going to wait until we all get back safely to tell you what's up between you and Riven."
Musa gaped, silent, the screamed as she ran out the door before yelling, "No! Not my nightmare come true! Why?" and acting dramatic, making the girls laugh. "All right, let's get the idiot out of jail and never mention what you want to tell me in any way, shape, or form again. Okay?" she asked.
Bloom rolled her eyes and Sky asked what she was talking about as they went through the corridors to the tunnels. So she told him, the book said Musa and Riven would get married, and Sky laughed along with her.
"I couldn't think of a better couple."
"I could. Any couple that doesn't act like two year olds. 'I don't like you!' 'I don't like you more.' It gets old fast," Bloom told him, doing her best baby-impression. "Besides, for the first year they'll be too stubborn to even admit they're married and have to start working on giving me nieces and nephews."
Brandon laughed, agreeing with her, and they all slipped away into the tunnels; Brandon in back with his sword out, Stella in front with her staff lighting the way, and Sky and Bloom in the middle feeling helpless.
"Don't ever mention garbage again," Riven muttered as he picked pieces f food out of his hair after they escaped the tower through a garbage chute. "I swear--"
"It's bad to swear," Bloom told him, trying to be annoying.
"You're a little brat today, aren't you?" he asked, annoyed.
"Hey, at least I'm not the idiot that went against everyone's advice and dated a witch and got thrown in the dungeons and had to be saved by his little half-sister, huh?" Bloom replied, rolling her eyes at him. "Timmy and Tecna have bikes. They drove out here. I want you to grab one of them and haul Flora and Musa outta here. Stella and Brandon should already be on their way to the bikes hidden in the forest."
Riven looked confused. "So not only am I being saved by the whole Pixie Recon. Team--"
"Riven," Bloom warned.
"But you guys planted all these bikes around Cloud Tower before you came and saved me? How much time did you kill, knowing I was in here, and who was the shit that made this plan that you kill time coming to save me?"
Bloom started to answer, when she froze and mouthed everything he said. She looked confused and shook it off, pushing him. "I don't get a word you just said. Helia made the plan, but the bikes have been hidden around Cloud Tower since the day you decided to date Darcy."
"Why?" he asked, annoyed.
"Because we figured when the drugs wore off and you realized you're dating Darcy the slutbag, you'd want an easy way to escape," Bloom replied, equally annoyed. "Now will you go and protect your future-wife and her friend?"
Riven was dumbstruck for a second, before they heard a screeching noise and he sprinted out of the compost pile.
"Now what do we do?" Sky asked Bloom.
"We go to the lake."
