Today was truly an exhausting day, Nathalie thought as she got ready for bed that night in her dorm suite.
Today, Flora and her friends found out the truth about the sweet nature fairy being the reincarnation of the angel of darkness, and the prophecy that came along with her birth and the destiny set to take place on her eighteenth birthday. Flora was proven to be more and more like Rosalina everyday when Nathalie remembered her as the sweet, gentle person she used to be before her heart became dark, but the question roaming around Nathalie's head was will the dark side of Libitina begin to show as the girl's birthday is getting more and more closer? When it all comes down to it, will Flora actually fulfill the prophecy and allow the dark witch to rule once again? Nathalie knew it might be possible if that damn Alaric keeps showing up and getting closer to the girl. She knows Flora isn't that weak and naïve to start falling for his charm games, but the girl did show a change of heart for the demon-like man when she told them in Faragonda's office the time the two spent together in the forest. Flora knew far better than to start trusting Alaric, but all that could possible change with their newfound understanding unfolding between them.
He knows this, and will try to get closer and closer till she is able to do whatever he needs from her. This also includes releasing Libitna buried deep inside her and letting the witch take full control and destroying the entire universe.
"There's no way, in the name of all things good and pure in this world, will I allow that to happen." Nathalie murmured to herself. Alaric, you fucking the son of the bitch devil, took my sister and her friends away from me. You are the reason their poor souls will never rest in peace, she thought as she looked at herself in the bathroom mirror.
She was no longer afraid of him like she was a long time ago. She was no longer the sad, scared little girl who ran away from danger while her sister and friends were brave enough to stay behind and fight. She had time to grown up and improve her skills with her magic, becoming one with the source of her powers and growing stronger over the past years. She was more than ever ready to face him again. She couldn't save Chelsea and the gang from their horrible fate, but will do everything in her power to stop history from repeating itself. She will finally put an end to that miserable excuse of a magical being one and for all, and will find some way to free those poor souls from their prison inside the raven's power.
Nathalie left the bathroom, dressed in her nightgown and bed robe, feeling refreshed after her nice, hot shower. But her mood immediately soured when she was she had an uninvited guest sitting on her nice couch, smirking at her scowling face. "What the hell are you doing here?"
There was a sinister gleam in Alaric's eyes as he smiled that cruel smirk at her. He snapped his fingers, and a tray of bottled scotch and a glass tumble appeared on the coffee table. He poured himself a glass and rested his feet on her table as he drank down the whole cup in a gulp, knowing how much this way annoying Nathalie and loved pushing her buttons. "Evening there, Nathalie," Taking another shot of the scotch, he said "My, this school has good taste in liquor. I wondered though if any of the students sneak down to the kitchen for a quick sip."
"What the hell are you doing here?" She repeated more loudly. "How did you even get here? The place is covered with a protective barrier."
"You know, you and the teachers should really think about putting up that barrier on time. You just never know who can easily sneak in when the barrier isn't up."
Fed up with him and the disgusting sight of him, Nathalie snapped her fingers and the tray with his liquor and cup vanished from sight, ignoring the annoyed glare Alaric gave her, and shooed his feet off her table. She was so fed up with him, and he was sitting on her favorite couch, a gift from one of many great-great-great-great-great-great-great- grandchildren, which she would now have to burn as soon as she gets him out of here. "Aren't you a bit old to be sneaking into a girl's room in hopes to see her coming out from the shower? Is that why you are here, Alaric? Were you hoping to see me butt-naked?" She asked with a straight face, but inside she was laughing her head off when she saw the smug smirk on his face turn into a cringe frown, watching him shudder.
Trying to move pass that crude comment and erasing the disturbing image the silly woman planted into his head, Alaric rose from the couch, with his hands stuffed inside the pockets of his blazer, and said "A, if I wanted to spy on a girl, you and I both know whom I would be after than," Seeing Nathalie's face darken with a scowl, he smirked and continued "B, I only came to know for myself if you and the headmistress already inform the girl about the destiny set to happen on her eighteenth birthday."
"You stay as far away from that girl as possible." Nathalie warned with a sunburst blasting from the palm of her left hand, aiming straight at Alaric. But the man was too quick and easily dodged it, so the burst ended up hitting her bookshelf stored with irreplaceable books. She used a water spell to wash out the fire, but saw it was half of the books were already charred.
"Clumsy, clumsy," She growled at his damn smirking face as she turned around to face him. "Silly girl, I can see things still haven't changed that much. You always were awkward with your magic, having no idea how to properly use them."
"GO TO HELL!" She yelled.
"I'm already there," He answered. "Besides I'm not in the mood to fight right now, so I suggest you act like a good little brat and listen closely."
Alaric thrust out an arm toward Nathalie. She was beyond his reach, but a strong force hit her like an invisible brick wall crashing against her back and chest. It curled around her, wrapping her in a very fierce and tight embrace that pinned her arms to her sides. She couldn't move; she could barely breathe.
She felt herself being lifted from the ground.
"Damn," she managed to gasp. "You bastard!"
Alaric snorted as he shook his head. "Again, really with the bastard? These names I did find amusing at first, but quickly got on my nerves later over the years since I kept hearing them over and over again like an annoying pop song you can never get out from your head."
"I'll scream!" She threatened.
"Yeah, no you won't. Because not only will my grip tighten around you, but I already spelled this room to be soundproof, so screaming is really not going to help you out," He said, but then all dark hilarious was instantly wiped off his face, only making him look extremely sober. "Just call me the messenger from now on, because I have a message for you and I expect you to pass it on. You and those pathetic fairies and hero wanna-bees actually believe you can stop the glorious prophecy from being fulfilled. That I just find to be so funny, because you actually believe you can stop it from happening."
Nathalie was struggling to free herself from Alaric's grip. "Flora may be Libitina's reincarnation, but that doesn't mean she is anything like that bitch or would do anything to help evil take over."
"Yet," He smiled coldly, with a dark twinkle in his eyes. "Sooner or later, Flora is going to realize she can't hide from who she is and what she is meant to do. She was born to spread mayhem and evil, to allow the part that is Libitina to be released and freed from the place where she is trapped deep inside the girl, and fulfill the dark prophecy. Those fairies may have beaten evil before, but that was only because those villains were idiots who underestimated them, which is something a true villain knows never to do. And in case, they or you haven't figured it out already, I'm going to be very hard to beat. So please tell this to the pixies and my dear: the hour is near, the prophecy will be fulfilled, and the dark queen will rise again. This will come to pass; I will very much make sure of it."
His face then darkened as a scowl was imprinted on it, and he tightened the grip he had on Nathalie, making the poor woman suffocate from the fiercely tight embrace. "I've also been hearing how you have been treating the poor girl since you came to this school. If anyone is a bitch around here, it's most definitely you."
Despite the fact she was practically losing oxygen, Nathalie mustered all she had to give Alaric the darkest scowl she could. She realized now how wrong and foolish it was for her to be taking out something tragic that happened centuries ago on a poor girl who was unfortunately a huge part of the event but didn't know anything about it. Flora proven herself to be a very kind, forgiving girl, and for that Nathalie really was grateful, but she still could never forget what happened. "I realize now how wrong I was," she defended herself. "It was silly of me to blame Flora because she has no memory of what took place. She was only a poor child born into this horrible nightmare. But you cannot expect me to let all be forgiven and forgotten. If it wasn't for the spell Libitina cast on herself, I would have the great pleasure hoping the bitch is damned for all eternity in suffering hell."
"Regardless though, if you as so much bad-mouth my queen again or make the poor girl feel a slight bit bad, I will make you regret the very day you met me." He promised with deadly coldness icing his voice.
I already do, jackass, she thought.
With another flick of his hand, Nathalie was hurled against the wall, sent flying against her bookcase. She struggled to move pass her pain, remembering to cast some healing spells when she's done, and looked up to give Alaric a piece of her mind. But when she looked up, she saw he already vanished.
She slowly got up from the ground and looked around her suite, seeing the damages she was going to have to repeat later. "Damn him." She muttered to herself.
More than several days have passed since the truth has been revealed. The girls were able to make Flora feel better by not talking that much about Libitina or the prophecy, which she very much appreciated. Classes went on though, unfortunately for them, and they were learning brand new spells, studying tactics in training classes with the strict and tough Griselda, who never heard of the words 'going easy' or 'break' in her entire life and didn't play around when she taught the girls new ways to find weaknesses in their opponents, and unfortunately had to study and take lots of quizzes and tests.
Red Fountain was training the guys ten times harder with constant quizzes and tests, and nonstop training hours the students had to do in battle classes. Since the girls and guys had too much going on at school, there hasn't been that much dating going. Any contact going on between boyfriend and girlfriend was through phone calls or IMs.
"They have us working so hard, it's really taking a toll on us, snookums," Stella told Brandon over the phone as she and the girls were lounging in their living room, exhausted from the long lessons in the classes. She took a look at her recently new manicure and saw the pretty in pink nail polish was badly ragged and chipping off, looking weeks old instead of a new few days. "My manicure is suffering the most. My poor nails look hideous now."
"I'm sure everything is going to be okay, honey-bear," Brandon smiled, even though he knew she couldn't see it, after punching Riven hard for saying Stella was acting like her usual spoiled princess self.
"I hope so," Stella took a look at Flora, who was busy making tea for the girls. She lowered her voice, saying, "The girls and I are really about Flora. It's like she's barely present in reality anymore, and Bloom even told us sometimes at night, she's talking in her sleep and stirring. She doesn't even want to talk about her birthday anymore."
"Well finding out you're a reincarnation to a dark, evil witch is no picnic at the park, Stella," Brandon said. "Her birthday has a lot to do with an evil prophecy she was apparently born to do, which is why she doesn't want to talk about it."
Stella stole another glance at her friend. Flora was smiling her ever present warm smile and humming a happy tune as she poured hot, steaming tea into tiny tea cups. If she was really scared about the whole thing like Brandon thinks she is, then she's doing a marvelous job of hiding it.
"Well…on the plus side, she's the first witch I ever met with good fashion sense. A bit too much black maybe, but still very chic and stylish." Stella said, trying to look on the positive sides.
She got interrupted when a pillow was flanged extra hard at the back of her head, nearly throwing her off balance and making her drop her phone. She rubbed her head as she looked over her shoulder, to meet the glaring eyes of her friends.
"Stella." They hissed in unison.
"What did I say?" She demanded in a hiss while her boyfriend was chuckling. "Mind telling me what was so bad that I said?"
"Somehow, honey-bear, I doubt the fact she had good fashion sense in her past life is enough to make her feel better." He said.
"Oh, come on! Have you seen what the witches have been wearing lately? Don't even get me started on Icy, Darcy, and Stormy's outfits. Way ridiculous and horrible eye shadow."
Another pillow was thrown at her head again, only this time it was hard enough to knock her off balance and hit the floor while her phone was knocked from her hand. She turned to her friends and saw how each of them was their hardiest to control their laughter, but some were failing with that attempt.
"Stella? Stel? Are you there?" Brandon asked.
Stella crawled over to her phone, throwing her friends a death glare. "I'm here, snookums. Let's just say something throw me off balance." And was thrown hard at me head, she thought.
"I'm sorry, Stel, but I have to go to my next class. I'll call you soon, okay." He hanged up before she could say her usual 'I love you', ending to their phone conversation.
"Alright, which one of you is the person who threw those pillows?" she demanded.
"Guilty as charged, Stella." Bloom said, rising her hand. She squealed loud as Stella threw a pillow right at her face, knocking her off balance and causing her to fall off the couch. With some help from Layla, she was able to get back on her feet and sat back on the couch.
Flora joined into the action going on, walking into the living room and carrying a tray of her famous rose tea and some of her delicious baked goods. "Time for tea, sweeties."
"If anything can cure us after a stressful day of school, then it's your world-famous tea, Flo." Musa said, reaching for a cup and washing it down a gulp of the hot tea with a bite of Flora's famous chocolate cupcakes.
"Is there a chance you can share the recipe with your best friends?" Bloom asked, who wanted to get her hands on the rose tea recipe the first day she tried it.
"Sorry, but can't do that," Flora said, shaking her head with a smile. "That tea recipe has been passed down from every woman is my family for generations, learning it from an elder sister, mother, or aunt. I can't wait till I teach it to Rose."
"How is your little sister?" Layla asked.
"She's well. Trying to more brave." Flora chuckled as she recalled how her younger sister used to be easily frightened. But Rose proven she can step out from her comfort spot and step into the plate, showing her bravery when she saved Flora from a powerful convergence blast from the witches, taking the blast for her sister.
"Speaking of family," Tecna said. "Did you tell your parents about…well, you know?"
Flora nodded, her happy smile and mood vanishing into grimace. "I called my mom last night, and she told me the whole truth, including something that happened when I was born."
"What did she say?" Bloom said, placing her hand on her friend's shoulder. Flora smiled both sadly and gratefully at her.
The girls all quieted down, and after seeing their encouraging faces and comforting smiles, Flora started to explain. "It's turns out, girls; this isn't the first time the sinister marks appeared on my skin."
The girls traded looks of curiosity with each other before turning back to Flora, who continued to talk.
"I've always known what day my birthday was," Flora let out a breath of laughter. "But then again, every person knows that. I just never knew what time I was birth, which I found out was the stroke of midnight. When I was born, my mom said everything seemed fine. I was healthy, and after the nurses rinsed me off, she wanted to see her brand new baby. I was wrapped in a pink blanket, but I wasn't moving or making a single sound at all. Not even crying or shedding a tear. The doctor said I wasn't breathing, and my mom begged them to help me. But the minute she was close to giving me away to them, the birthing room and the whole hospital was immediately swallowed up in flames. Flames as dark as midnight black."
"The whole place was covered in black flames?" Bloom asked.
"That's what my mom said," Flora answered. "The whole place was engulfed by flames, everyone in every room of the hospital was hurled against the wall and knocked out, and the young children were untouched but all fall into a deep, seemingly eternal sleep. Despite the fact the hospital was on fire and the blaze wasn't burning anything up, the smoke was so thick with sickening stank, someone would almost die from inhaling too much of it. My mom was the only one conscious and held onto me tightly, trying to think of a way to protect us from the fire. She placed me on her lap and tried using her magic to put out the flames. On the nearby flames jumped onto my mother's lap and encircled around me. They didn't burn her, but they did form an invisible barrier, which prevented her from touching me. One black flame from the fire circle snaked around my tiny body until it finally reached my forehead and blazed the sinister 'S' on there. When the mark was set, I finally opened my eyes and they were the brightest yet darkest shade of red my mom swore she has ever seen before. The brighter my red eyes glow, the more intensity and stronger the fire would grow. She says she took one look at the beautiful infant resting on her lap and knew right then and there who I was. She knew I was the reincarnation of Libitina."
"Was the fire put out?" Layla questioned.
"My mom banged against the barrier imprisoning me in, blasted it with her own powers, and even screamed at me to break from the trance I was under, even though I was far too young to know what she was saying. I slowly closed my eyes again, and, after what felt like to be a long and restless century, I opened them again. My blooded eyes slowly changed to emerald green, and when I looked up at mom's puzzled face, a smile was slowly spreading across my face and I was reaching for her. The fire slowly died down until it was completely gone, leaving behind a faint trace of smoke, people were regaining conscious and didn't seem to remember what had happened, and I was finally freed from the black circle. My mom wasted no time reaching for me and holding me in her arms, gently cradling me and saying she would do whatever it takes to protect me from the horrible destiny that waits. When I was old enough, my mom sent me to Magix to keep me safe, because she already knew Alaric was the book's guardian and would come looking for me in Linpea."
Bloom gave her a comforting hug while looking at the other girls, unsure what to say or to do that would make her feel better.
"It's not so bad, Flora," Stella said, and immediately five pairs of eyes were turned to her. "Okay, yes, finding out you're a reincarnation of a dark, evil witch may seem…very bad, but on the plus side, you're the first witch I ever met with good fashion taste."
"Stella!" The girls exclaimed, frustrated, while Flora shook her head at the very predictable comment coming from the fashionista fairy.
"Stella, will it honestly kill you not to think about clothes for five minutes? Five damn minutes!" Musa frowned.
"A fashionista never stops thinking about fashion even for a second, much less five minutes. And I'm just trying to be helpful and look at the positive side of all these." Stella frowned back at her.
"Are you honestly saying if you found out you were the reincarnation of a dark witch and meant to fulfill a destiny that came along with your birth, then thinking about her fashion sense would make you feel better?" the music fairy challenged.
"I'm just saying it's going to clear things up for me on how she dressed, and it's the only positive thing I can think of. Cause look at the tacky outfits the witches wear today. I will admit Libitina used a bit too much eye shadow, but the smoky eye look really did give her an edge and nevertheless it was a sweet outfit." Stella replied with an innocent shrug, hoping her friends could just see things her point of view on this.
"That may be true, Stella, but it still doesn't make me better. Nothing will ever make this horrible truth go away," Flora hung her head in defeat, sighing. "But I guess I will have to accept it. I'm the reincarnation of the dark angel, Libitina, and it's my destiny to release her and let her take full control on my eighteenth birthday. It's my destiny and there's nothing I can do to stop it from happening."
"Don't talk like that, Flora!" Musa pleaded. "You've always been the positive one who always looked on the bright side whenever things were looking way bad for us to fix, and there's no way I'm going to let you change and become little miss negative."
"Musa's right," Layla added. "We'll find some way to fight to destiny and there is no way we're going to let our best friend fulfill the prophecy."
Flora smiled at them, but it was a weak and sad, small smile. "I appreciate you girls trying to cheer me up, but this is one problem I'm not sure we can fix. Everyday more of Rosalina's memories are rushing into my head, and I can still feel her spirit buried deep inside me, wanting to break out. It's so hard to believe someone was so much like me betrayed every single person who ever cared about her, not even having any regrets about it."
"She's nothing like you, Flora." Bloom objected.
Flora shook her miserably as she got up from the couch and walked over to the window, looking outside and seeing the beautiful later afternoon day, and then staring at her reflection in the mirror. She was a bit scared of looking at it, because she was terrified of seeing Libitina staring back at her with an evil smile on her face. "I'm Libitina's reincarnation. Her spirit is my soul, and the part that is her is buried deep inside me. I could feel her trying to break out and she has even been contacting me in my dreams, saying the same thing over and over. 'The hour is near and the prophecy will be fulfilled.'"
"But there is no way that's going to happen," Flora turned around to look into the determined blazing eyes of her red-headed friend. "You may be her reincarnation, but you're absolutely nothing like her."
"She was a traitor, Flora, who knew exactly how powerful and dangerous the power was and what would happen if she possessed it, but didn't care at all. She was so obsessed with having power, it drove her mad and made her do such unthinkable things, such as destroying many realms, brining darkness to the entire magical universe, betraying her friends and then getting them out of the way when they rebelled against her." Tecna reminded her, getting up from her seat and walking over to Flora to give her a big hug. When she pulled away from the friendly embrace, she smiled at Flora. "You are a true friend, Flora. You are always there for us whenever we need you, always look on the positive side of things when things start to look hopeless, and always pull through. Also, logic dictates whenever a soul is reborn again, there's a great change in their personality and they are not always fifty-percent the same person as they once were. "
"But is that not the only thing that's bugging me," Tecna walked Flora back to the couch, and she was surrounded once again by the warm aura and faces of her friends. "Alaric is another problem getting to me."
The girls listened closely as Flora went over what happened between her and Helia as he sneaked back into the school to see her again late at night, telling them how Helia admitted he was jealous of Alaric because she didn't push him away when he came to her and he was mainly the cause that drove Julio and Rosalina apart, but also added in the end how he told her he actually loved her. As usual, her friends tried to give her words of comfort and their own opinions on the things, but also were excited when Flora told them Helia said he actually loved her.
"Helia honestly has nothing to worry about." Stella dismissed the case with a wave of her hand.
"He's just scared about history repeating itself again. When you think about, guys, it's like we're actors and actresses set to play in a historical event that took place over eight hundred years ago," Musa told them. "We're all playing the roles of our descendants while Flora, Helia, and Alaric are all taking on the main roles."
"What do you think about Alaric, Flora?" Bloom asked.
"I don't….know exactly. He may be handsome, but looks alone aren't what's going to make me fall for him," Flora confessed. "When I first met Alaric, I thought he was nothing more but a stalker who wanted to scare me, so I put my distance and tried not to think about him. When I saw him again, he was just like he was the first time we met: creepy and wicked. But between some moments back at Red Fountain and what happened in the forest, he started to show some warmth, opposed from the cold way he usually acted, and was there for me when I needed to cry. He held me tightly while I cried on his shoulder and got his suit stained with my tears, and didn't say or do anything except stroke my hair and rub my back. He acted gently with me when he told me the truth and Libitina's last battle with her friends. Before he left, he held me in his arms and when I looked up at him, there was something new in his eyes. Something that I haven't seen before, but was very similar to the way Helia looks at me."
"Is that why…you almost…well, you know?" Bloom couldn't find herself to finish, but the thought of Flora actually falling for that creep and letting him kiss her was too unbelievable, the young fairy felt like gagging.
"Almost, because when I looked at his black eyes, it made me forget almost everything. But then I remembered about Helia, and couldn't do that to him. I would never hurt him like that." Flora answered.
"Good for you, Flora," Stella nodded proudly with a smile on her face. "Only totally selfish, vain girls who cheat on her boyfriend and let another guy kiss her when she's already dating someone else."
"But you can't help, but wondered if Rosalina had feelings for Alaric?" Musa said.
And also if history really will repeat itself again? That question made the girls stop for a minute and think about that. While the others were still looking on the positive side, Flora was still having some trouble looking at it.
Later that night, she was tossing and turning in her bed, finding herself to be lost in another nightmare.
"Tik-tok, tik-tok, tik-tok," was being said in a rhythm like a nursery rhyme being said by what sounded to be a very young child no older than at least four years old, sounding awfully young and innocent but also incredibly chilling and frightening by the way the child was saying it over and over, echoing throughout the dark obviation that was dark as pitch-black.
"You cannot hide from what you were meant to do." The voice said, now older and frighteningly with a harsher edge.
There was a blinding white light overheard in the sky, nearly blinding her vision, and a wave of the most negative dark and cold energy washed over her, hitting her much harder and stronger than a burst of powerful lightening and caused her to almost faint.
When Flora finally opened her eyes again when she was sure the bright light passed over, she saw she was transformed into Enchantix form and flowing above her home, Linpea. But now she wished she never unveiled her eyes, astonished by what she was seeing.
The beautiful nature plant featured with high, wide mountains, tall tress that could reach the heaven skies, flowers blossoming every second and in different vivid colors, and peaceful rivers and lakes clear as crystal and gave such a soothing aura was no more. It was reduced to a dank, horrible wasteland. Spirals of dark, extremely thick smoke curled up in the sky. Bare bones and dying, dried up and cracked plants remained left in the flower beds, as if it was caught by a horrific disease. The forests were ablaze with deadly flames, leaping from one charred tree to the other and the flames were spreading extremely quickly, making a sickening sound that sounded like dark laughter hollowing in triumph as it burnt everything up in sight. The mountains and waterfalls, which always brought a sense of peace and calmness whenever one looks at their amazing view, were now ugly and fierce volcanoes sprouting red lava and belching flames into the dour, smoke-wrenched sky. The waters were either dried-up or pooled with the crimson blood of the dead things drowning in its' depths.
Flora looked away and buried her face in her hands, feeling hot tears running down her cheeks. She wished she never opened her eyes, she wished she didn't have to see this horror.
This was her realm, her home. Her beautiful home which was now nothing but horrible wasteland. She wandered what kind of monster would do something like this.
"What's the matter?" Alaric said, appearing out of nowhere and hovering in the sky, his arms crossed against his chest and his cruel smirk spreading across his face. "I must say, Linpea looks so extraordinary with its' new makeover. Very ideal, wouldn't you agree?"
A flare of white-rage spread throughout Flora's body, filling her mind and heart with so much anger at the destruction of her home. She closed her eyes and stood still for a moment, feeling her power flowing uncontrollably throughout her body, feeling the pure energy of her nature powers and the dark current channeling from the raven power. When she opened her eyes again, she stared at Alaric with a flash flowing through her eyes and fired a powerful burst of green and black flaming energy at him, which knocked the villain right out from the sky and sent him craning to the ground.
Alaric was caught off guard by the sudden move and Flora took that opportunity to fire attack him again, hurling him against the ruins of a tree. He slowly got back on his feet, groaning in pain as he moved, but still looked up at her with that cold smile on his face. "Looks like I was right. The raven's power burns brightly within you, and, judging by the way it knocked me right out from the sky, it's reached the end of its' peak and is even more powerful and stronger than ever. The fuel from your anger is just what it needs to make it even stronger."
She was too anger to spread, so she let the energy blasts surging from her hands do all the talking for her. One after another, blast of a combined dark and bright, enraged energy escaped from her palms and were all aimed at Alaric, who was either dodging them or getting hit by them. The anger she felt from the destruction of her home and outraged by the painful sight of beautiful nature now lifeless and dank fueled even more energy to the dark magic bursting within her.
Flora finally lowered her hands, the blazing rage in her eyes slowly dissolved to exhaustion after she spent a good amount of time blindly blasting away. She flew down just a bit to see how Alaric was doing after taking all those powerful blasts. But when the smoke finally cleared from the place she last saw him, he was gone.
"Impossible." She muttered.
"Looking for me." She turned around to see he was standing right behind her. Before she could do or say anything to him, he already had hold of her and once again she felt that painfully burning sensation surging through her body, blazing onto her wrists.
When she was finally released from his grip, Flora flew as far away from him and looked down at her wrists. The glow of the vivid, sinister marks were bright scarlet and seemed to be mocking her each time they glow brightly with a faint pulse she could feel beating in them. She covered her wrists to hide them from sight, and scowled at Alaric's smirking face, which showed amusement in his expression and his coal eyes hollowing in cold laughter.
"What have you done to my home?" she demanded.
He arched an eyebrow at her, with the smirk still un-wiped from his face and the laughter never decreasing from his eyes. "As much as I would love to take credit for this magnificent work, I didn't do anything. It shocks me very much you don't recognize your own handy work or remember the fun you had destroying your own realm."
Libitina did this? She actually did this to her home, to the forest? Tightness was starting to form in her throat, making it impossible for her to even speak. Each time she opened her mouth to say something, no sound would come out so she would have to cover it with her hands and close it again. But it really didn't matter she said anything since words couldn't even describe the unbelievable, indescribable destruction she was witnessing. She wondered how Libitina, who use to love nature since it meant the world to her, go on with herself knowing she was the one causing all this. Knowing she was responsible for all this chaos. That was beyond the young fairy's thinking.
"Just imagine how wonderful this place will look again when you regain your throne. It's going to look ten times more speculator than this," Alaric said, with his hands behind his back, his smile both smug and relaxed. He started taking steps toward her, as if he was walking on solid ground. "I have a message for you and it will be delivered, whether you like it or not."
Flora fired her best attacks and spells, pouring nearly all her power into those attacks, but they all seem to bounce off him. She tried wrapping him with vines, but he soon easily break free from the trap; controlled branches to slap him, but he used his powers to fire and destroy them; flung painful and poisonous thrones of punishment his way, but they deflected off him, as if he was protected by an invisible barrier.
"Skies will burn, flesh will become stone, chaos and mayhem will strike, the suns will set down on each planet. Never to rise again." Alaric declared, saying those words in a strange rhythm like he was reciting a dark poem.
She could only do what the she hasn't tried yet, and that was getting out of here. She hated to leave her home like this, but there wasn't anything she could do right now to heal the forest.
Flora fluttered her Enchantix wings once before she zoomed through the sky. She was mustering all the strength and speed she had to go far, fluttering them as hard as she could to make them fly faster. Despite all her best efforts, she could feel his presence following right behind her and easily catching up with her. She had to dodge multiple energy blasts firing at her, turned back a few times to hit him with some attacks on her own, and continued to fly faster.
"You wear the marks on your body, the shadow appeared when the marks were revealed and you were accepted into the circle, and the great power still pulses within you," Alaric summoned his most powerful spell to make two enormous hands made of black fire reach out toward Flora and tried to grabbed her. Flora hit them with vines and blossom blasts, but nothing seemed to be working. She saw her magic wasn't having any effect on them. "You're making this far more difficult than it needs to be."
"Leave me alone!" She yelled desperately.
"Time is not going to wait forever, my dear," She didn't need to turn around to know a dark, cold grin spread across his face, and was well aware of the wicked laughter heard in his tone. "You can't hide from who you are and what you are meant to do."
"Transportus back to Magix." She said, waving her magic-glowing left hand in front of her. There wasn't anything she could do here to ease the pain of her home and she doubted she could keep running from Alaric forever, so going back to Magix, possibly finding her friends, and getting some backup seemed like a good plan.
The gesture she did with her hand and the spell she chanted created a portal that sliced through the sky, standing right in front of her. Flora flew right through the portal and closed it quickly after she went through, sighing in relief as she watched the passageway close before he could get through. But when she turned around, she was astonished to see Magix was recued to a horrible wasteland, like her home was. Consumed by black and red flames growing fiercer and stronger each second, buildings reduced to scraps of badly burnt ruins where raven birds were posted on it and standing eerily still, shadow beings lurking on the streets and paying little attention to her.
She slowly landed on her feet, transforming herself back, and looking around at the horrific sight, becoming more sickened by each thing she was seeing. The realm of Magix was struck with such dark, intense magic and the dark queen left it lifeless. The first (and also last time) she was here, screams of the innocent being tormented and cold laughter of the wicked filled the air with such frightening sound. But now there wasn't a sound being heard for miles; everything was so hauntingly quiet. Even the shadow beings were quiet as they crawled among the streets; the flames cast a silent hush as they grew fiercer. "Magnificent, isn't it?" said a voice. Flora looked up at the sky, where the voice seemed to be coming from, and gasped at once by what she saw. The grand throne was lowering down to the ground, and the dark queen slowly rose from her throne and took small steps toward Flora. She looked exactly like she did in the portrait: dressed in a tight-fitting cat suit and black stiletto-heeled ankle boots, her caramel hair flowing by the gentle breeze, the innocence swept away in dark beauty on her beautiful face, her ruby eyes both breathtaking and frightening as they glow brightly in dark triumph, and a delicate yet cold smile spread across her face. Her tiara shimmered the dark light, and she was holding her trusty staff in her right hand.
"Hello Flora." she said.
Flora kept quiet from the moment the young woman stepped off her throne, and took a few more seconds to take a really good look at her, staring at her wide-eyed. "Rosalina." she said the name in one breath when she gained some control of her voice.
The look-alike queen let out a breath of coldly amused laughter and said "I haven't been called that name in over eight hundred years. I am now called Libitina." She fixed her lips together in a tight, form line and had her eyes narrowed into slits as she took a long amount of time, which felt like a long century to Flora, examining from her head to toe slowly and repeatedly. She burned every identical feature into memory, which was everything, and checked for any flaws, which she didn't find. When she looked up at Flora again, she looked to be satisfied and her lips curved up into a twisted, sinister smile. "I must admit it took far too long for my soul to be reborn again, but now I can see it was totally worth it. You turned out to be even more remarkable than I hope you would be, and we look so much alike we can easily pass as twin sisters. And isn't it so ironic my spirit was born into the body of a nature fairy, a power I use to have?"
Flora didn't make a respond to that question, instead she was starting at Libitina dumbfounded and speechless. She couldn't pull her eyes away from the dark angel's face, which was her very own face. Her face twisted up in a completely dark image she never once believed she would see on her face. Until now.
"What's the matter, sweetie? Cat got your tongue?" Libitina taunted when Flora didn't make a reply.
"You're me," Flora began.
"And I am you," Libitina finished. She then used her free hand to reach out toward Flora and Flora found herself reaching out for that hand. Black energy from the dark force Libitna was channeling and the green magic Flora was channeling from the good-hearten lightness in her heart collided and formed a barrier wall that prevent the girls' hands to touch each other. Libitina at first frowned at this, but slowly the frown turned into an eerie smile as she pulled her hand away. "How very odd. I am you and you are me, but it appears we cannot touch."
Flora was able to finally free herself from the hold those blooded eyes had on her, and she looked around at what remained left in the destroyed realm. It looked just as bad as Linpea did. Flashes of the sickening sight of her home raced through her mind and remembering the terrible aftermath made tears of rage flow down her cheeks. She wanted Libitina pay dearly for all the horrible destruction she has done. "How could you!"
"How could I what?" Libitina said in a tone that sounded like a little girl questioning what she done wrong when she already knew the answer to that question.
"How could you destroy your own home? How could betray your friends? How could you kill them? How can you possibly live with yourself knowing you're the cause of destruction and suffering of many people?" Flora was becoming more and more outraged as she listed them out.
"You're getting angry, aren't you?" Libitina smiled coldly, amused laughter heard well in her tone. "You do realize Flora that anger is what allowed me to escape from that imprisonment in your mind and take control of you before?"
The rage and utter hatred she felt toward the she-devil standing in front of her cooled down when those words slipped off her tongue. Flora didn't know if Libitina was honestly telling the truth or just playing with her head. "What are you talking about?" she asked.
"You mean you don't know?" That didn't seem like a question, more like a statement. "When you and your friends went to Magix and then got attacked by shadow beings, you began to feel angry. You felt angry towards the monsters for ruining your fun and bringing harm to your friends, and at yourself for nearly letting them beat you. Did you feel a jolt going through you when you felt that rage?"
Flora wasn't sure what to say. She thought back to that day and did remember feeling that strange jolt traveling through her body. A powerful jolt more powerful than anything she ever felt before and also incredibly dark and cold traveling through her body and was like a wave washing over her. As the wave washed her, she was consumed by the strange jolt and let it take hold of her.
Flora placed her balled-up hand against her chest and bit her lip so hard she could almost taste blood. As she looked up at her look-alike, she saw her smirk turning into a knowing smile her left eyebrow arched up, and the ice-coldness in her eyes turn a little less harsh...and showed specks of softness. Looking into those almost soft eyes, Flora let some confusion lifting off her shoulders and said "It...was washing all over me like a wave. I usually don't get that mad and I have better control over it..."
"But when you saw your friends being harmed, anger was blazing madly within you," A twinkle gleamed in Libitina's brilliant crimson eyes with knowing wisdom, but also held darkness. "The anger was so raw and blazing mad, it had a complete hold of you. Anger is a very raw emotion, which you try not to show, and is filled with so much hatred and darkness and takes massive amounts energy to muster up such a strong emotion. This is why it gives the raven strength while it feeds upon the emotion. It is what gave me enough power to take control for the moment. I have to tell you how much I enjoyed being back in action. Even if it was for a brief moment, I still very much enjoyed it."
"A brief moment?" Flora repeated, a flicker of confusion crossing her face. "What do you mean?"
"You gained conscious," answered the dark angel. "After a jumble of my old memories were spinning around in your head and you blacked out, I was sent back to the cold depths of your mind," As she said this, a scowl darkened her face, and Flora didn't interrupt her while the queen was lost in her train of thought. Moments later, she gained control of her herself and she was wearing her signature cold, sinister smile as she looked at Flora with those deadly eyes. "But no matter, because soon I will be released again-permanently this time-and I will not only be the angel of darkness, I will be the queen of all evil and hell. I shall become a dark queen again, rule each world with an iron fist, and become so strong and powerful no one will dare think of challenging me. That is unless they wish be to brutally tormented, suffering an incredibly slow and painful death, and have their souls suck out from their bodies."
"You're just as crazy as Alaric if you think I would ever let that happen!" Flora exclaimed, hoping her voice sounded firm instead of croaked. But she saw the insult didn't wipe away the cold smile on Libitna's face. "I will never let that happen."
Libitina didn't utter a single word and only bored those deadly eyes into Flora, who was soon shaking a bit. Looking into those eyes, Flora was placed in some kind of trance and it was Libitina could sense all the fear she was trying not to show. Seeing that fear caused the smile on her face to widen into a full ear-to ear, creepy grin, and she laughed. A cold, malicious and brittle laugh that was the most frightening sound Flora has ever heard before. "I find it so amusing you actually believe you can stop all this from happening," she said. , eyes howling so much laughter. "Silly, naive girl. Do you really believe you can stop this from happening? You think you can escape the glorious destiny that awaits you on the night of your birth?"
"It may be my destiny, but I'll find some way to stop it!" Flora vowed determined.
Libitina's eyes were howling in such laughter. "You can fill your head with all the child-like nonsense you want, but let me be the first to tell you this as loudly and clearly as I can. Your school can put up hundreds of different protection spells and place elite guards at every inch of the campus. Your friends can play body guard and watch you 24/7. But none of that even matters, because the destiny will happen one way or another. No matter what you hope, no matter where you go, no matter how you squirm, there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it."
Her eyes were huge and an unusual breath-taking shade of red, which reminded Flora of a demon. Libitna looked over at Flora, with that sinister smile on her face, and her face twisted into darkness and shadows. The features that had delicately enticing and feminine were no sharp and hard, morphing right before Flora's eyes. Her flawless tan skin seemed to tightening around her bones, accentuating every vein until you can see the blood pumping through them. She looked like a monster, a pure frightening monster.
A sharp wind began to whip around Flora, causing the young fairy to flinch as if she received the hardest slap. The wind was getting stronger each second; gathering up more air that was so strong it knocked Flora off her feet. She held her skirt down with one hand while she used the other to shield herself.
She opened her eyes just a bit to see Libitina coldly smiling at her. Her evil twin lifted up her staff high in the air, the raven crescent glowing radiantly black and red, and opened her mouth to release a loud shrieking sound that sounded high pitch as a screech but also low, giving a sense of a beautiful, haunting song that reminded Flora too much of the song the raven sung.
The eerie sound immediately caught the attention of the black ravens resting on the building, which all turned to stare at Flora with those crimson, soulless eyes piercing right through her. Every place she turned, there was always a pair of blooded eyes staring right back at her showing nothing but chilling depths of cold, deep hollowness. Then quickly one by one, without warning, they were lit up in flames. They opened their mouths to add a chorus to the frightening sounds Libitina was making as they fluttered their fiery wings and encircled around Flora, moving so swiftly they were becoming one with the tornado and created one of black flames.
"You cannot hide from who you are and what you are meant to do," Libitina announced, and her voice was clear through the powerful wind. "The prophecy will be fulfilled, and the dark queen will rise again. You were born to fulfill the vow I swore on my deathbed, to help me get my revenge on those who dared challenge me and regain my throne. You were born for that purpose and that purpose alone."
"No!" Flora screamed in her dream, saying it out loud in her dream as she jolted up straight and was finally awakened from that horrible dream. So many questions, thoughts, and emotions were spiraling inside her, and she was unsure whether to cry or sigh in relief it was over for now.
Instead she did neither and focused on getting her heavy breathing back to normal, taking gulps of deep breaths before slowly letting them out, and tried to get her heartbeat at a normal pace. Beads of anxious sweat were forming on her forehead and her eyes stung with tears close to falling, but she didn't have time to start crying now.
Splashing cold water on her face seemed to be the only thing that would calm her down after having such a disturbing dream, and a nice cup of dream tea would help give her a peaceful sleep when she goes back to sleep.
Flora stretched out her groggy arms and legs then went to the bathroom. She used the bowl Stella uses for her latest spa treatments, washed it off before filling with ice cold water. She gathered her hair into a ponytail, took in a deep breath, and dipped her face into the water. When a few seconds went by, she slowly pulled her head out and splashed handfuls of water onto her already wet face, splashing more water into her face to help stop the spinning in her head.
There, now she was starting to feel better. She wiped her wet face with a towel and slowly smiled at her mirror's reflection when she felt relief. But Flora sucked in her breath when she noticed the reflection. Ice-coldness chilled her warm eyes, and the reflection blinked only once before her green eyes brightened to ruby red, and a cold smile spread across her face.
"You cannot hide from what you are born to do," Libitina said. "The near is near and the prophecy will be fulfilled. The dark queen will rise once again."
"NO!" Flora screamed, turning her head away. Hesitantly, she slowly turned her head back to the mirror and sighed in relief when she saw her normal reflection looking relieved.
After quickly leaving the bathroom and drinking two cups of dream tea, Flora went back to bed and thankfully fell back into a deep, dreamless sleep. But before she was swept away in the sea of unconsciousness, she couldn't shake the feeling that something buried deep inside with an ice-cold hollow shelf of a black heart was laughing.
