Summary: Everyone knows the story of how Bloom was brought to Alfea by Stella and eventually led the Winx Club into many battles against the Trix and their allies, saving the Magical Universe. In another world, what if Stella had not been accepted back into Alfea? What if, instead of going to another fairy school, she decided to go to Cloud Tower to prove that good witches existed? What happens when she meets Bloom?

Warning the characters may be a bit OC but all ships will happen. Another thing is that this is going to be based off of the Nick specials since I never watched the other versions. I don't own Winx Club.


The Battle for Magix


Chapter 9


Ice covered one wall of Bloom's living room, shards tearing at the pictures and pulling screws from the wall so that the shelves were vertical, everything on them discarded in a heap on the floor. Picture frames were shattered, small pieces of glass embedded in the carpet. Stella carefully maneuvered around the shards, feeling one crunch underneath the heel of the boot on her right foot. Goosebumps traveled over her skin, and she shivered, teeth chattering together as she surveyed the now-melting ice shards.

Tilting her head to one side, she lifted a finger to poke the ice, checking to see that it was in fact real-ice and not a figment of her imagination. Instantly, she pulled her finger back, tucking it into the waistband of her pants to warm up the frozen finger.

Stella sighed, glancing down at Bloom, who lay in an unconscious heap of old clothes on the floor, her arms shielding her face and a lone trail of crimson liquid on one shoulder, staining one of the sleeves of a horrendous (pixie) crop top she was wearing. "Is she ok?" Musa finally piped up, rocking back on her heels, hands shoved in the pockets of an old, boot-cut pair of jeans she was wearing.

"She'll be fine, she just needs a bit of warming up." Tecna said, after scanning Bloom with one of her technical gadgets. Stella rolled her eyes at the pointed look Tecna gave her, crouching down so that her knees brushed the floor and holding her hands out to steady herself. She fished through her memory, trying to remember a healing incantation or rune that might help, before finally settling on tracing a rune on Bloom's skin, chanting a few words underneath her breath as she did so and picturing the effect of the rune.

It was elementary, a simple spell that anyone could cast, witch or fairy, but it was helpful that most of Stella's energy came from light, a source of heat in the universe. Other pieces of magic might be helpful, but the extent would be just less.

"Bloom. Bloom, can you hear me?" Flora placed two hands on either side of Bloom's face. Bloom's eyelashes fluttered against her pale cheeks, melted droplets of ice trailing down her face and a red splotch bright against her neck where it faded into her shirt. Stella worried at her lip, backing away slightly and meeting eyes with Bloom's adopted mom and dad, they were holding each other, like they were the glue that could keep the other together.

"You know, this might be a good time to slap her." Musa said, raising her hands in surrender at the exasperated look Flora sent to her. "What?" Her tone became innocent, "It might wake her up."

Stella bit back a smile, before turning her attention to the ice covering the wall, the melted ice causing a pool to form at the wall, destroying parts of the carpet. Holding her hands out, she closed her eyes and concentrated on her own solar energy, she pressed both hands against the wall, feeling the cold seep into her bones. When she opened her eyes again, most of the ice had been melted, but was still pooling on the carpet and surrounding them all in a puddle. "Tecna, can you do something about this?" Stella gestured to the water-damage, semi-exhausted from all the spells and work she had done already.

If she had the chance, she probably would have crashed, but she had to remain firm and able to stand on her own two feet, even though she wanted nothing more than to curl up into a tiny, little ball.

Tecna nodded her head, holding her hands out a net cast out from her fingertips and gathered all the water together, unsaturating the carpet and repairing it. Slowly, she lowered her hands, the net of water still maintaining itself in mid air and grabbed her phone before pressing the net into the phone and making it nothing more than an image. "Wow, that's really cool. Do you think you could do that to the Trix?" Musa rest an arm on Tecna's shoulder, peering at the picture.

Tecna shook her head, a smile on her lips. "I haven't mastered that yet and besides, it requires little to no fighting back. I doubt the Trix could sit still enough to be trapped in a picture on my phone." She looked proud of her picture but also determined to overachieve, to get better so that she could do that one day.

Bloom moved slightly at the mention of the Trix, her eyes fluttering open before she shot upright, a flash of pain and exhaustion marring her face-now flushed with feverish color. "The Trix." She gasped, and Flora quickly wrapped her arms around Bloom, who began to struggle and fight against the binds. "Oh no, they're back." Bloom's eyes were wild, her eyes cloudy and flickering everywhere as she kicked out against Flora.

"Healing nature." Flora muttered soothingly, glowing green and encasing Bloom in the glow as well. When the spell faded, Bloom stopped struggling, blinking so that her vision could adjust to the lighting. Her gaze was clear, and her eyes were steady, but tears trickled down her face and she fell back, curling in on herself. "Sweetie, it's ok. It's ok. You're safe. You're safe, we've got you." Flora said, rocking Bloom back and forth.

Stella inched closer, carefully maneuvering around the shards of broken glass, so that she could put a hand on Bloom's shoulder. Bloom's gaze snapped to her, her cyan blue eyes sad and miserable and drained, like a little bit of light and energy had been drained out of her. Stella felt fear grip her heart in a vice, puzzle pieces clinking together in her head as her stomach dropped and a sob worked its way up her throat.

She had seen people have their magic bound by teachers, so that they couldn't do anything, but she had never seen anything quite like this. Where the magical part of a magical was just gone, winked out of existence like it was never there, leaving behind hollow memories.

"By the dragon." Tecna breathed, arriving to the same conclusion that Stella arrived to, but she was much more calmer, much more put together. "Bloom, we need you to tell us everything that happened tonight. I know it's going to be painful, but you have to, ok?" Tecna's eyes searched Bloom's face, her skin looking paler than usual, and her lips parted.

Bloom stuttered for a moment, and her adoptive father walked over and wrapped his arms around her, not even sparing them all a glance. "It was the Trix. They followed me home, they attacked me." Bloom rubbed her neck, her eyes unfocused as she pieced together her memories. "T-They were so strong. They took my magic." Tears welled in her eyes and a sob tore out of Bloom's throat, ugly and raw and tortured.

Stella covered her mouth, not surprised, not even remotely shocked, but just so upset and devasted that something like this could just happen. That people could just take other's magic, which was like being tortured, like having a layer of skin peeled away, making someone vulnerable. "Oh no. I'm so sorry Bloom." Flora backed away slightly, allowing Bloom's father to take over comforting her.

"Dragon how could someone just do this. Something so fucked up. Dragon, this is so fucked up." Musa clenched her fists at her sides, gritting her teeth together. "We have to get them back, we have to stop them. We have to do something, we can't just let them get away with this." Musa began to pace, looking more and more like a caged animal. Stella slid her gaze to the musical pixie, before looking down at Bloom, who was staring at Musa unblinkingly, frozen.

"And we will." Tecna said, "We will get them back, I promise."

Bloom shook her head, "But we can't win. The trix, they-they told me something before they took my magic." She glanced down at her hand, curling it into a fist. "Well Icy told me, they're descendants of the Ancestral Witches, the ones who destroyed Domino." A medallion appeared in Bloom's hands, to the surprise of her adoptive parents. It took a minute for Stella to place the coat of arms on the front, but when she did, her heart froze in her chest as the ramifications of what the Trix had done slammed into her. "A-And I'm the lost princess of Domino. Daphne's my sister and my magic was the dragon flame."

Stella felt like she was going to throw up, her hands went to her stomach and she kneeled over, feeling sick and bone tired. The dragon flame stemmed from the great dragon, the very creator of the Magical Universe. "I thought the dragon flame was a myth." Musa looked astounded. "But y-y-you were the holder. By the Dragon, Bloom, you're a princess. Holy shit. Holy shit. Holy shit." Musa began to mutter under her breath, not completely understanding what it all meant.

Bloom gave a dry, self-deprecating laugh. "I guess so, it doesn't matter anymore, does it? The Trix are going to use my power to destroy everything. We might as well give up, there's no way we're going to win." Bloom said bitterly, inching away from her dad, who hesitantly let her go, her birthright clenched tightly in one hand.

"Don't say that Bloom." Flora frowned.

Bloom waved her hands around herself wildly, causing everyone to back away. "Look around you, this is what they did without the most powerful thing in the universe. They're going to bring hell to the Magic Dimension like that." She snapped her fingers. "There's no point in even trying, we're just going to lose anyways." Bloom sighed, sliding down the wall, her arms wrapped around her knees.

"Seriously? You're just going to say to hell with us Magicals because you're not one anymore. Seriously." Stella fumed, suddenly so angry with Bloom for just giving up, "Do you even care about any of us, because this isn't just you, we're talking about Bloom, this is all of us and you don't even want to help. You don't even want to try to get your magic back. You're just going to sit here, knowing that you could do something, anything, to fight for us, but you won't because you got your ass kicked."

Bloom stood up, her eyes flashing, but not in the magical way, in an almost normal, mundane way. "Do you think I enjoyed feeling like a layer of my skin was peeled away from me, like something I didn't even know I needed is gone. I don't. I'd give anything to have it back, but there's no way to because I lost. I lost and there's no way to win anymore. There's no point in even hoping to win."

Stella crossed her arms over her chest, knowing that Bloom's friends weren't incredibly happy with her for getting angry at Bloom, who just lost a part of herself, but she couldn't just sit idly by and watch her best friend circle the drain. "You know, when I went to Alfea. Miss. Faragonda taught us something. Do you want to know what she taught us?" Stella didn't wait for an answer. "She taught us that the good guys don't always win, they lose battles and they suffer, but the good guys always get back up to fight again, for the chance to save everyone."

Bloom went silent, her lips pursed together and her eyes suddenly tired and exhausted. She shuttered, closing her eyes tightly. "I just, I can't believe this all happened. I can't believe the Trix did this, that they're just going to win because I was so stupid."

"Bloom-" Stella softened, uncrossing her arms and crouching down in front of Bloom, who had slid down the wall once again, the fight lost in her and the fire that always burned so brightly doused. "this isn't your fault, this happened because of the Trix and we can't let them get away with it. We lost this battle, but we have to get back up because we might win the next one."

"You're right." A ghost of a smile formed on Bloom's lip and a determined glint burned in tired blue eyes. "We need to go to Alfea to warn Miss. Faragonda."


Shadows danced across Bloom's ceiling, the moonlight cascading through the window causing tall and big shadows to chase each other around Bloom's room, swallowing each other whole. Stella stared, unblinkingly at the ceiling, trying to will away the bad feeling circling her gut, but it remained, sticking to her like a second skin and no matter how hard she willed it away, it wouldn't leave. It would never leave.

Stella sat up, unzipping her sleeping bag and crawling past the sleeping bodies of the girls and towards the hallway, pulling her phone along with her. She closed the door quietly and crept down the hallway to the bathroom, using her phone light to guide her, before slowly inching the bathroom door closed and flicking on the light switch. Her eyes stung as she adjusted to the mediocre lighting of the bathroom and her reflection stared back at her, an exhausted and barely put together version of herself in her reflection.

Turning her phone on, she scrolled through her messages, going to the group chat with Lucy, Raven, Morgan, Regina, and Cerise. It was probably late there too, possibly a few hours ahead of the time on Earth, but Stella couldn't bring herself to care. She needed to warn her friends that the Trix had something powerful that they might unleash soon. Stella debated telling them that it was the dragon flame that the Trix had acquired, knowing that it was the right thing to do according to their right to know the truth but also knowing that ignorance was bliss.

Well, if she was going to shatter that bliss, she might as well go all the way.


To: Lucy, Raven, Morgan, Regina, and Cerise


From: Stella


The Trix have gotten ahold of the dragon flame somehow, they're going to attack very soon. Just be careful and try to protect yourselves at any cost because the Trix are going to strike very soon.


It was by no means the best put-together message ever, but, it would have to do. It would send them the message that they were in danger and that the Trix were going to be the attackers. For a second, Stella bit her lip, knowing that Lucy had somewhat admired the Trix for a little bit of time and she wondered whether the girls would believe her.

Sighing to herself, she glanced up at her reflection, tired and exhausted but unable to sleep.

Stella glanced back down at her phone, exiting the chat and going to her numbers, she hadn't seen her parents in so long, in such a long, long time and the prospect of the Trix winning was terrifying because she had no idea if they'd ever want to be a proper family again, she had no way of knowing whether that slim possibility was slipping through her fingers. It made her heart ache, because she didn't hate her parents, they were her parents and she would always love them, no matter what was said and done.

Forcing herself to calm down, she made a new group chat, trying to ease her shaking fingers into command before staring at the text message she was about to send. It would raise a lot of questions on the multiple receiver's end, but she couldn't not get her chance to say goodbye if everything went to shit. Stella straightened her posture, even though no one could see her, and pressed the send button.


To: King Radius and Queen Luna


From: Stella


Mom, dad. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, but I do want you to know that I love both of you and maybe in another life we could have been an amazing family.


There was a certain chill lingering in the air as the portal sealed shut behind them, a breeze pushing Stella's hair in one direction, strands tickling her face and sweeping across her vision. Spring, on most planets, was when the climate started to change from cold to warm, but now it seemed that the weather had went from cold to warm and back to cold. Stella pushed her hair out of her face, glancing uncertainty at the pale pink walls and ocean blue shingles on the roofs of Alfea in the distance.

Shivering, she rubbed her hands up and down her arms, feeling the goosebumps underneath her fingers. "It's so cold." Musa frowned, looking up at the sky, using her hand to shield her eyes from the piercing, bright sun. The sky was still bright blue with fluffy white clouds, contrary to the chilly breeze. "Weird."

Tecna was already on her laptop, fingers racing across the keypad. The green screen hovered, small circles in the middle indicating that it was loading. She frowned at the blank screen, pressing a button on it before the three small dots popped up again before disappearing. "Is it supposed to be doing that?" Flora pointed at the screen, her eyebrows furrowed together as Tecna tapped the same button again and the screen mirrored the same thing it did earlier.

"No." Tecna frowned, slamming her laptop closed carefully. "Whatever it is, it's messing with the technology on Magix. Probably the Trix making sure that we're trapped." Tecna guessed, shrinking her laptop and placing it in her pocket.

Bloom clasped her hands together, her eyes unusually dull without the sparkle of magic she normally had. "We should hurry to Alfea then, update Miss. Faragonda on everything, unless the Trix have already attacked." She rubbed her temple in between her pointer finger and thumb, slouching forward. Stella had never seen Bloom so downtrodden, like a beaten dog that was just trying to look for an escape, it was horrible. Bloom ran a hand through her red, messy hair.

Worry nicked at Stella's heart as they trekked towards the school, had the down magical communication lines meant that her messages hadn't been sent and that they were too late to move. The gate opened as they approached it and Stella stilled herself, feeling her heart race unsteadily in her chest. She hadn't been at Alfea since they had gotten in trouble for the stupid fight a few months ago, when the Trix revealed their intentions with Bloom.

In union, they all released sighs of relief, the courtyard wasn't overly full or anything, but clusters of students dotted the courtyard, hanging near the benches. Unaware and naïve of their fate. Stella kept her head held high as they walked through the courtyard, aware of the stares and gossip shadowing her, students pointing her out to their friends. There she was, the only recent magical that had been expelled from not one, but two high-class magical schools.

If she had been one of them, she probably would be pointing to and had joined in on the gossip chain.

But she wasn't. She had experienced plenty of things in the past year that made her all-the-more different than them. Stella walked in step with Bloom, who had shied in on herself at the looks and mutters that lingered on her, trying to seem confident, plastering a smirk on her face and meeting eyes with everyone who dared to look in her direction. (It was a lot of people)

Griselda was waiting by the entrance, her hands folded over her chest and her eyes severe and narrowed. She towered over them, looking every bit the head of discipline and assistant principal that she was. "Well, do you have an explanation for disappearing off of school property overnight?" Her gaze flittered over all of them, darkening at Stella's presence, but she only kept a confident façade. Griselda's gaze finally landed on Bloom and shock flew over her face, "Oh my."

As a well-trained fairy, Griselda could probably tell the level of magic the came off each magical in waves. The minute her gaze landed on Bloom, a horrified and shocked look, along with a knowing glint that Stella stored to the back of her memory for the moment, came across her face.

"Bloom, what happened to you magic?" Griselda frowned, reaching a hand out with a surprising amount of tenderness to hold Bloom's face in her hands. She tilted Bloom's face from side to side, her gaze scanning.

Tears slid down Bloom's face, tracing her cheek. "T-T-The Trix stole my powers. I-they-ugh." Bloom fumbled for words, a sob ripping out of her throat as Griselda glanced around the courtyard quickly, her gaze sharp, calm and collected rather than the emotions that had been displayed earlier. Griselda gently grabbed Bloom's arm and led her into the school, holding the door open until Musa grabbed a hold of it and held it open for the rest of them.

"Do you think we're going to be in trouble?" Musa whispered, keeping to the back of the group and eyeing Griselda and Bloom in front of them.

Tecna shook her head. "Logically, no, they won't. They have bigger problems than worrying about punishing us." She crossed her arms and tilted her head away from the group, but Stella caught a faint glimpse of the dejection and worry on her face.

Musa and Flora shared a glance, before they both looked away, lost in their own thoughts. Stella glanced down at her nails, the peeling nail polish and the chips on some of her nails, her hands didn't look perfect, not perfectly styled and flawless, but with small red slashes and peeling skin. A year ago, she would have freaked out at the mess, sobbed over how un-fashionable it was and ordered a professional mani-pedi and a spa day. Now, she regarded her nails with disinterest, they were the least of her problems.

She sighed, feeling nostalgic as she glanced at the familiar hallways, same paintings lining each corridor and same colors. It was all the same as it had been a year ago, earthly and magical. After getting in the elevator and going to the second floor, all in silence, she finally recognized the grand doors of the headmistress's office. A different design than any of the doors in the rest of the school engraved in the green-stained glass.

Griselda used the hand that wasn't leading Bloom to knock on the door, a reverberating knock that echoed down the hallway. "Come in." A muffled voice said through the door and Griselda pushed the door open to reveal the familiar office and woman sitting behind the desk. Miss. Faragonda had her hands clasped in front of her and a warm smile on her face, a smile that faltered as she took in the group that trailed behind the assistant principal. "How can I help you girls, today?"

Bloom sniffed, glancing at Griselda momentarily, who gestured for her to sit down before disappearing through a door in the office, returning seconds later with a steaming cup of tea. "Here, drink while it's hot, it'll do you good." Griselda placed the cup in Bloom's hands, who accepted it shakily and took a small sip from it, the tea laced with calming and soothing potions.

Stella closed the door silently behind them, figuring it would probably be best to have some semblance of privacy for this discussion. Bloom flashed her a grateful look, before turning her tired eyes to Faragonda. "All right, then. Would you like to tell me what happened, Bloom?" Faragonda leaned forward, concern flashing in her eyes.

Bloom glanced into the tea cup, the steam blowing against her face before she set it down on the desk on top of a place holder. Her gaze remained downwards as she shakily inhaled and exhaled for a moment. "I decided to leave Alfea." She finally admitted, and Stella inhaled shakily, she knew Bloom had taken off, but she hadn't known that Bloom planned on dropping out.

Faragonda looked flabbergasted, her eyes wide behind her spectacles as she pushed them up her nose, trying to regain her calmness. "Oh, Bloom." She shared a glance with Griselda, who nodded, showing that she had an inkling of Bloom's departure.

"I-I-" Bloom fumbled for words, her gaze finally lifting from the ground, meeting Faragonda's gaze, comprehension dawning on Faragonda's features as she met Bloom's eyes. Bloom swallowed heavily, blinking back tears. "I was at home in Gardenia when the Trix attacked me."

Griselda made a sound deep in her throat, before her gaze shifted to the window, somber and solemn.

Bloom squeezed her eyes shut, clenching her hand into a fist as Stella stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her the strength to continue. Faragonda met her gaze, looking partially shocked that she was there, but not fully surprised. "They used a powerful spell with these gem things, I think." Bloom tapped her chin, opening her eyes, before shaking her head to clear it. "Anyways they used the gem and they took my powers, they took the Dragon Flame!" Bloom glanced back at Tecna for confirmation, who nodded solemnly.

Miss. Faragonda stood up from her chair, her hands at her sides as she paced to the window looking out at the courtyard, her reflection staring back at her worried and somber. "Bloom, this is very grave news. The Dragon Flame is one of the great powers of the Magic Dimension." She looked like she wanted to say more but kept it to herself. "And those gems, they once belonged to the Ancestral Witches and if the Trix are able to use them, then they are descendants of the Ancestral Witches."

Griselda looked at the headmistress, worried. "As in the witches who destroyed Domino." She said and Faragonda nodded, spinning back around to face the group. "The Trix must be trying to finish their ancestors' work, this is not good."

Faragonda's lips pursed together and remained in a thin, pink slash across her face. "I know. This does not bode well with the rest of Magix, even the witches will not be safe. We must warn Griffon." She sat back down at her desk and opened her communicator, but the thing only made a squealing, siren-like sound before remaining blank.

Tecna stepped forward, "I think our technology is jammed. I haven't been able to calculate anything all morning, other than prior knowledge, especially with this odd late-spring chill in the air." She said, pulling her laptop out, but the gadget wouldn't even enlarge itself anymore, surrounded by static. "I think the chill is a gift from Icy and the lack of electricity for our technology is from Stormy."

"They're trapping us here." Faragonda realized, "they're making sure we can't reach each other and are completely cornered before they attack. We won't be able to call for back-up or anything from the Magix Council if they don't know anything is wrong." She dropped her head in her hands.

Stella furrowed her eyebrows. "What if we personally send a message, try to evacuate the city or something. We can't just sit idly by while the Trix shut down our ability to talk to each other." She said, "We could send someone to Red Fountain and Cloud Tower to alert them or get them to group together here, it might be safer to have us all here." Of course, there was the matter of a volunteer to go to Red Fountain since Stella already planned on going to Cloud Tower to check up on the girls, she hadn't heard anything back from them regarding last night's message and she had a feeling her warning had done nothing to help them.

"It might work." Griselda's gaze was directed at Faragonda. "And I already have a feeling you plan on going to Cloud Tower, Miss Stella."

Stella nodded in response, flashing a thankful smile to Griselda, because the woman had backed her idea, before her gaze settled on Faragonda. "I suppose it's all we have. We'll need someone to go to Magix as well to alert the council so that they can evacuate accordingly." Faragonda lifted her head from her hands, a frown suddenly forming on her face. "Bloom, we might need you to go to Magix so that the council will actually believe that there is a threat."

Bloom nodded, "I kind of figured that someone would need proof." She frowned, casting her gaze to Stella. "I really wanted to check in on Cloud Tower though."

"That's probably not a good idea." Stella immediately shook her head, shutting down the idea quickly. "No offense to you Bloom, but the witches aren't really happy with you so you walking in vulnerable, without your magic, would basically be a really good chance for them to seriously injure you."

"Stella's right, Bloom." Flora placed a hand on Bloom's shoulder. "I would come with you Stella, but I think I know a way to free Mirta from the pumpkin curse."

"Then you should stay here Flo." Musa said, "I'll go check in at Red Fountain and Tecna should probably take Bloom to the Magix Council." Faragonda quickly shook her head, standing up. "What? I thought that we were going to go with Stel's plan to personally go to Red Fountain, Cloud Tower, and Magix." Musa blinked in surprise.

"We are." Faragonda confirmed, a light smile on her lips. "And Stella will be going to Cloud Tower with an upperclassman or a teacher. But, we need you girls to stay here because you are all very vulnerable due to your interaction with the Trix and we can't risk your safety in case they plan on attacking you before you even reach Red Fountain or Magix." Faragonda said, shutting down the idea of Musa and Tecna leaving Alfea.

Tecna raised a hand, "But that's so contradictory, Miss Faragonda. Stella has faced them many times to, so wouldn't she be in more danger if she went?"

Faragonda nodded, "Yes, she would, but Miss Stella is not my student. I can't completely forbid her from checking up on her classmates, not that it would matter, because she would just go no matter what I say." A small smile traced her lips and Stella ducked her head in embarrassment, resisting the urge to correct the headmistress. She wasn't a student at Cloud Tower anymore, she had been expelled just days ago, but she knew it was probably best not to correct someone who had the magical power to stop her. "She'll be going with someone, if that is any consolation girls and Bloom will be going with a big group of people."

"It's still not fair." Musa crossed her arms, pouting slightly, she turned to look at Flora, "I guess, we'll be your encouragement for freeing Mirta." She slung an arm over Flora's shoulder, who just smiled and patted her hand.

Faragonda nodded in Griselda's direction, "Griselda, take Flora, Musa, and Tecna back to their room and put a few protective spells around the dorms. I'll need to a few upperclassmen to come here." Griselda nodded back and led the girls out of the room, the 'good lucks' echoing after them before the door sealed them away from view. "Now, girls, would you like to sit down? We might be waiting a while." Stella nodded, trying to make herself comfortable in the big chair, it was a rather comfy chair, but she couldn't settle the anxiety rising in her stomach.

She knew that hope was becoming less and less lucky, but she really hoped that Cloud Tower would be in one piece when she arrived.


The girls that had come to the office had been accompanied by Palladium and Wizgiz, who both looked incredibly and uncharacteristically somber. There were seven girls in total, two of which were sophomores and Stella had seen around school when they were in the same grade. Apple, a girl with golden blonde hair, pale skin, and bright blue eyes decked out in varying shades of red along with an image of her namesake. Next to her was Briar, a girl with brown hair, tan skin, and amethyst colored eyes along with pink highlights to match her clothing. Stella also recognized a few juniors/seniors thrown into the mix, girls that had been working to achieve their Enchantix.

There was a girl with black, wavy hair who had pale skin and hazel eyes that were more green than anything, she was usually referred to as Snow, even though her name was Mary Margaret and her and Apple were cousins. A girl next to her had blue hair and was wearing a blue ensemble, referring to her nickname 'Blue' even though no one really knew her real name. The other three girls she couldn't recognize, but they all looked older and clearly had more experience with magic.

The smile that had been on Briar's face slipped away, "Wow." She tilted her head to one side. "I mean I heard that someone had had their powers taken away, I just didn't really believe it." Briar said to Bloom, while Stella tossed her a glare.

"Briar." Apple muttered, elbowing the girl sharply. "Hello Stella, it's nice to see you again." She said sweetly, "I'm also really sorry to hear about what happened, Bloom, how are you feeling?" Stella could tell that Bloom wasn't really ok with the chirpy, sweet attitude that Apple carried with her, but it wasn't an act. Apple really was a sweet person like that, to the point of being annoying.

Stella forced a smile, "We're doing ok, Apple." She said, casting Bloom a pointed glance. "We'd be a lot better if the Trix weren't total bitches, but that can't really be helped."

Apple nodded in understanding, even though she opened her mouth to probably scold Stella for the use of language. "I'll go with Stella to Cloud Tower." Snow spoke up, her own voice almost as soft as her cousin's, but she had more of a bite to her. "A friend of mine is there, and I really need to check up on her." Faragonda nodded in understanding while Snow turned to the rest of the group.

Wizgiz stepped forward. "I'll be joining the group headed to Cloud Tower." He smiled impishly. "You might need my help getting into the building and Griffon always did like me more than potion dude over there." The metamorphosis teacher jabbed a finger in Palladium's direction, impish smile still in place.

Palladium scoffed, "Yeah, right. You're the ones who always catch her students pranking our school."

"Exactly." Wizgiz winked. "I give her students to punish."

Palladium just shook his head in response with an exasperated look on his face.

Faragonda smiled at the two, before her expression slid into a somber look. "So, Rachel, Jenna, Sharon, Blue, Briar, and Apple will be going with Bloom and Palladium to Magix, before Jenna and Sharon check on Red Fountain and update them on the situation with the Trix." The group mentioned nodded their heads in affirmation and Faragonda directed her gaze in Stella's direction. "Meanwhile, Stella, Snow, and Wizgiz will be headed to Cloud Tower to check on the witches and update them."

"Sounds like a plan." Briar said with an easy smile.

Faragonda nodded her head, "Remember everyone, be careful. The Trix are still out there and with our technology down we won't be able to reach each other and call for help, especially considering the power they have acquired." Bloom rubbed the back of her neck slightly at the mention of the Dragon Flame. "I expect you all to be back within 90 minutes, if not, I will be sending a search beam up in the sky and you must respond accordingly."

It was crazy, Stella couldn't believe the weight that settled firmly on her shoulders at those words or the implications if any of them were attacked mid-mission.


"So, who do you know in Cloud Tower?" Stella asked Snow as they got off the bus, which had dropped them off a decent distance from the school in case the school had been taken. She had learned a little bit about Snow through some of the small talk through the five-minute ride to the school, like her favorite color and whether she was graduating this year as a junior or not (depending on whether she had acquired her Enchantix). But they had steered clear of talk of Cloud Tower until now.

Snow sighed, "You might not know her." She said, toying with her lip in between her teeth. "Her name's Regina and she is a junior like me, we used to be really good friends and we're slowly rebuilding that bridge."

Stella perked up, "I know a girl named Regina, she has really dark hair and eyes and when she uses her magic, her eyes usually turn red, right?" She asked, and Snow nodded, looking partially shocked. "Wow, small world, right?"

"Yeah." Snow laughed, before quieting down as the school came into view. Thunder rumbled in the unusually dark sky above them and Stella frowned, the sky was usually a medium-purple color, but now it was dark and ominous.

She had a feeling that her fear of the school being conquered had been proven, because this would never happen if it wasn't for the fact that the Trix had a hand in it. Wizgiz frowned up at the school, backing away slightly. "We better get back to Alfea, immediately, tell them that Cloud Tower has already been taken." Wizgiz sighed, turning back to tack the trail that they had traveled to the school.

"But we can't just leave them there. They're our friends, what if the Trix are hurting them, we can't just-just." Stella fumbled for words on the last bit, clenching her hand into a fist and staring at the towering castle in front of them.

Snow put a hand on her shoulder. "I know. I want nothing more than to go get them, but we can't. The Trix will know we're here and we won't be able to help Alfea defend itself if we're trapped here." She glanced up at the tower as well. "I promise that we'll try to come back for them, but we can't right now. We have to report back to Alfea."

Stella deflated, chancing one last glance at the school, she couldn't believe that it was just taken over, that the Trix had won that battle. She knew she said that the good guys don't always win, but she always thought that they wouldn't lose this badly, with two losses in a row. Their chances of winning had just drastically shot down and she really hoped that Red Fountain hadn't fallen as well.

She sighed, turning her back on the school and following Wizgiz as he led the way back to the bus they had taken. The driver gave them a knowing look before speeding them away. Stella's gaze remained on the school for as long as she could, until it disappeared from view, before she turned back to the seat in front of her, a tear trailing down her cheek as she curled in on herself, mourning the loss of her home for the past year even more.

Something nipped at her memory, something she had seen before Cloud Tower disappeared from view, but maybe it was a figment of her imagination. Maybe she hadn't seen anything and was just imagining the worst, but she could have sworn she saw crimson movement forming on the walls, gathering and swelling together.

"I think I'm losing it." Snow said, rubbing her head.

Stella glanced at her, "You saw it too, right?"

Snow nodded as they both turned to Wizgiz, who looked slightly pale. "This is worse than we thought, the Trix have raised the Army of Decay." He rubbed his temple. Stella had no idea what he was talking about, she had never even heard of this 'Army of Decay,' but whatever it was, it sounded really bad, like dangerously bad. "The Army of Decay is basically all of the evil in the world gathering together to form bug-like creatures that can only be killed by very powerful spells."

Snow covered her mouth with her hand, horror written across her face. "By the Dragon, what are we going to do?"

Stella mentally laughed bitterly, wasn't that the question of the year.


"What do you think Saladin wants to have a meeting about?" Sky finally broke the silence as they walked to the stadium. It had taken only a few spells from some fairies to restore it to it's normal glory, but Codatorta still had been greatly displeased, making them run through military-style training multiple times, including laps around Magix. Brandon resolutely stared ahead of him, not bothering to look at his best friend.

He didn't really want to talk to Sky right now, between everything. He thought Bloom had had an inkling that Sky was in an arranged marriage, that Sky had at least sat her down to talk about, but he didn't. Now, Stella wasn't responding to him, she hadn't been in the days since the tournament. He knew Sky had fucked up, in the worst possible way, but did that mean he was also in the wrong?

Brandon could guess so, he could also guess that Stella had gotten tired of his non-stop messages and blocked him this morning because his messages weren't sending.

It was weird though, why would she wait days to block him? Something didn't quite add up.

"It probably has something to do with the technology shut-down today." Timmy finally said, his voice breaking through the spiral of Brandon's thoughts. He slid his gaze to Timmy, pausing momentarily. Timmy caught his gaze and glanced down at his handheld which was on a blank screen, "I haven't been able to access the World-wide web since this morning, and any messages I've tried to send to anyone have all failed." Timmy explained, pointing at his handheld, "My handheld won't even shrink anymore."

"That's so weird." Sky commented as they entered the arena. Most of the seats had been filled and Brandon took the first empty seat he could find, even though it meant that both of his roommates were sitting next to him. "Brandon, are you at least going to acknowledge that we said something?"

Brandon shrugged, not sparing Sky a glance, he wanted to be angry, he wanted to steam about everything for a while. Was that suddenly not ok? "Are you ordering me to respond, your highness?" Brandon gritted his teeth together, feeling temporarily glad that Sky flinched at the tone, it didn't make him feel better as he had hoped it would. If anything, he felt a bit worse. He knew how much Sky hated being addressed like royalty by people he considered to be his friends.

Sky sighed, "Of course not, you know I would never do that."

"I also thought you would never try to two-time someone, but you surprise me, every day." Brandon snarked back, sliding a sharp glare to his friend.

Sky raised both eyebrows, "Is this about Stella not responding to you? Look man, I was going to tell Bloom and I'm in the process of breaking off my arranged marriage with Diaspro." Sky ran a hand through his long hair, "You would know that if you answered me half the time, rather than running out of every room I enter."

Brandon crossed his arms over his chest. "Congratulations on breaking off your arranged marriage. But, do you think that Bloom is just going to forgive you? You lied-well not entirely-but you didn't tell her the truth." He pointed out, turning his head slightly to face his best friend. "And you know that me and Stella were leading up to something more than friends, but now, she won't respond to me at all. I mean, I guess the technology shut-off might excuse my messages not getting through, but you know I really liked her and now that's over because she won't freaking talk to me."

He really wanted to punch something, which honestly surprised him. Brandon had never been quick to get angry, that was more Riven's forte, but now he was angry.

Dragon, he was turning into Riven.

Brandon could excuse him partially for his actions, he had been under a spell by Darcy, one of the Trix sisters so he could guess that there was some excuse for it all, but it didn't make the sting lessen at all. Add to that, the fact that they couldn't go to anyone who could help, because they didn't really have any proof other than the whole he said-she said situation. It was all a tangled mess.

A hush settled over the arena as Saladin lifted his staff and lowered it on the floor multiple times to get their attention. "Red Fountain students, we are under threatening by the Trix. We have received word and proof that they have taken the Dragon Flame from one of Alfea's fairies and speculation that they have raised the Army of Decay and taken Cloud Tower." Saladin informed them solemnly.

A familiar yellow ogre stepped out behind him, knocking his fists together nervously. "Knut? What the hell is he doing here?" Brandon hissed under his breath, moving to grab his sword.

Saladin raised his hands, quieting the sudden murmur through the crowd. "Silence!" Codatorta snapped, stepping forward and glaring sharply at the students in front of him. Everything went silent and Brandon rested his hand over the hilt of his sword, every muscle tightening for battle.

They were talking about the Trix threatening the universe, a weight dropped in his stomach suddenly. Darcy. Riven. Shit. Brandon whipped his head around, looking for their grumpy roommate, but he was suspiciously absent from the meeting. Shit, shit, shit. This is bad. Brandon shared a glance with his friends, their expressions reading the same worry and nerves that had firmly settled in his stomach.

An earthquake suddenly shook the school and Brandon firmly planted his feet so he wouldn't fall over like the freshmen.

"Young men, soon we will be under attack by the Trix and their evil army. The time has come to do battle." Saladin raised his voice, as multiple members of the staff ran out with trunks filled with weapons. Brandon unsheathed his sword, activating it with a simple jerk of his arm and hand. Codatorta raised his arms, like a wizard about to cast a great spell, a wicked glint in his smile.

"Are you ready?" Codatorta yelled, grinning up at the sky, that was steadily becoming darker and darker.

A cheer echoed throughout the stadium. Brandon raised his sword to the Sky, feeling the thrum and adrenaline of battle run through his veins. "Yeah!" He joined in the yelling, running over the seats in front of him so that he could be on the ground rather than in the bleachers. He could hear the thumps of his friends' footsteps following him, joining him in the excitement and thrill.

"We must fight with everything that is in us." Saladin raised his staff to the sky and they waited. It took less than a minute for the attack to start. A flash of lightning lit up the sky, rain falling from the sky and soaking Brandon instantly, his hair dripped water droplets onto his face and the rumble of thunder was enough to make some freshmen jump. The Earth rumbled with the sky, burble of crimson stuff gathering together to form big monsters and Brandon found himself staring into the eyes of something that stunk and smelled like decaying flesh.

Its eyes burned back as it stared back at him, orange hellfire burning in the holes. Brandon backed away in horror, his mouth dropping open and he could practically feel the horror spreading around the crowd of students as the cheers died down.

This wasn't a video game where they had multiple lives to take out the bad guy. This wasn't where the good guys always won. This was war, ugly and terrible and deadly.

The thing lurched forward, unsteady on its bug-like legs and Brandon ducked as its 'hand' swung out at him, catching the edges of his cape. He tucked himself into a barrel roll and rolled underneath the thing as it leapt above, using his hand to steady himself and holding his sword out. Brandon launched himself forward, swiping at the monster and watching it screech and become a glob of crimson stuff.

He couldn't even identify what the hell the crimson stuff was, it kind of looked like a million bugs swarming together but the stench of it disproved that theory.

His sigh of relief was cut off as the thing reformed, bigger than before as another thing merged with it and Brandon backed away. In the corner of his eye, he noted Timmy firing his blaster at one, but it eventually became bigger like Brandon's had. He tried to keep his eye on Timmy, ready to run over there and try and help, despite the monsters separating them. Brandon pushed his hair out of his face, ducking down as the monster swiped at him.

He was taken off guard when the thing had enough of not being able to catch his prey and delivered a strong kick to Brandon's ribs. Brandon yelped as he was flung back several feet into another kid in his class, who tried to help him up but the red clumps of something swept over them like a wave, ready to drown them. Brandon held his sword out, knowing that it was futile to even try to fight the swarm, but he wasn't just going to die without fighting.

Death. Death was staring him into the face and he had so many things he wanted to say, but he might never be able to.

He wanted to say goodbye to his mom and dad.

He wanted to tell them how much he loved them.

He wanted to ruffle his little brother's hair, watching as Simon whined and shoved him away.

He wanted to say something to Stella, see her honey-colored eyes against the sunlight again.

He wanted to laugh with everyone he cared about.

He wanted so much, but to know that in a few, short seconds it would all be gone, hurt. It hurt because there were so many things be stripped away from him. So many chances now gone and lost.

Suddenly a wave of blue energy shot out and shut down the attack, partially. The clump was still there but it had shrunk down into the ground. Brandon took the second between its setback and reformation to run over to Saladin, feeling his classmate trail after him. He wanted to feel relieved, but he couldn't, because they were still under attack and students were still being demolished by the monsters that were unaffected by Saladin's spell.

"No." Saladin muttered, leaning against his staff to support himself and Brandon cut down the monster that took his distraction as a minute to attack. It didn't do much, other than give them a chance to get away. "Men, we must retreat. Prepare the ships for a retreat." Saladin yelled, using his staff so that his voice echoed around the arena.

Some students rushed to the ships, docking them and preparing them for take-off. Brandon glanced forlornly at the arena, watching the destruction take place. Cackling filled the sky and he found himself look upwards. The Trix were floating up there, surrounded by lightning and dark clouds, the rain unaffecting their features. Faces twisting into cruel smirks and their eyes malicious and haunting even from afar.

Brandon shivered, despite himself. Icy, the eldest floated ahead of her sisters, raising her hands to the sky before pointing at Saladin. "Newsflash old man! Red Fountain is history." She grinned, as an ice dragon shot out of her fingers and Brandon shielded his eyes against the brightness. Something creaked and cracked and splintered and he found himself turning, unwilling to see the destruction of his home, to see the ice dragon covered most of the school, the main tower breaking and falling off he school.

Saladin collapsed to his knees, horror written across his face as the laughter of the Trix echoed around the arena. Brandon helped him to hist feet, rushing them towards the exit. "Strategic withdraw. Everyone to their battleships!" Codatorta yelled, gathering Saladin and rushing him to the nearest exiting battleship. Brandon surged forward with the crowd, entering his battle ship.

He sank onto one of the benches in the back, unable to watch his home and school crumble away.


"Come on in, young men. We'll help you get settled." Miss. Faragonda welcomed them in as Codatorta opened the doors, helping Saladin in. Stella watched them walk in, searching their faces. They all looked tired and drawn and utterly beaten, her heart sank to her stomach as she stood on her tip toes, trying to spot Brandon. Or Timmy. Or Sky. Or even Riven would be good to spot right now.

Her gaze finally landed on them, far in the back. Stella inched towards them, she wanted to know what happened, but she needed to check on them. Make sure that they were ok, or something, anything. Stella waved them over and they walked over without complaint. "What are you doing here?" Sky lifted his eyes to hers, his eyes tinted red and Stella felt a wave of empathy wash over her.

"It's a long story." Stella summarized, "Come on guys. I'll take you to where I'm staying, it's not a lot but it was an open dorm." She tried to smile, but it came off as more of a grimace.

Timmy sighed, "That sounds great, Stel." He didn't bother forcing a smile, and Stella quickly turned and led them away, flashing a nod in Griselda's direction, who nodded back, accepting that she wanted to take the guys with her. "I'm so sorry to hear about Cloud Tower." Timmy finally broke the silence that settled, and Stella sighed, blinking back tears. She hadn't fully been able to accept that her school was gone, even if she had been expelled, it had been her home for so long and for it to just be taken so quickly made her heart ache.

"Don't worry, we'll get both schools back." They shared identical looks of something Stella couldn't decipher, and a lead weight dropped in her stomach. "No. Don't tell me. Oh Dragon. Oh Dragon. Oh Dragon." She brought a fist to her mouth and bit on it to stop herself from having a panic attack. When did all the losing stop? When did good finally triumph over evil? When would the Trix stop winning? "I'm so sorry. Dragon, I'm so sorry."

"It's ok, Stella, it's not your fault." Brandon said, his eyes sad as he hesitantly met her gaze. Her heart lurched in her chest, dragon, she had almost forgotten about everything with him. But now, she remembered, and it was back and dragon, he almost died.

Stella felt tears well up in her eyes. "It is though, if I had just talked to Bloom. Stopped her from going back to Gardenia, none of this would be happening."

Sky furrowed his eyebrows, holding up a hand. "What are you talking about? What about Bloom?" He asked, and Stella pushed open the door to the dorm room she had preoccupied, unable to look him in the eye. "Stella, what the hell are you talking about? Tell us!" He raised his voice slightly and Brandon put a hand on his shoulder.

"Bloom's the lost princess of Domino, she had the Dragon Flame. The Trix stole it from her and now they have it and now they're going to destroy Magix with the Dragon Flame." Stella sank down on the couch and Sky gaped at her in shock. Brandon and Timmy stood in the doorway, sharing identical looks of comprehension. "I know the good guys don't always win, but when are we going to start winning? We lost the Dragon Flame. We lost Cloud Tower. We lost Red Fountain. When do we start winning? When is all of this going to stop?" Stella curled in on herself.

"Stella-"

"You know what the worst part of this all is? It's my fault! If I hadn't chosen to land on Earth, then I would never have brought Bloom to Magix. The Trix would have never found her or the dragon. They wouldn't have stolen it, and everything would be fine." Stella didn't bother brushing away her tears. "I was being selfish. I saw a good friend in Bloom and I was selfish because why else would she be on non-magical Earth? Why did I have to bring her here? Why didn't I just let Knut win in that damn portal?"

Brandon put his hands on her shoulders and shook her, "Stella, stop! Stop it, ok? Just, stop." Stella glanced up at him, and he wiped her tears away. "I know this entire situation sucks, but this is not your fault. This is not on you. This is all on the Trix, because they're the evil people who are wreaking havoc across Magix, not you." Stella hiccupped, resting her head on Sky's shoulder, he was behind her and rubbing soothing circles on her back, trying to calm her down.

Dragon, she missed having these guys as her friends. They had been her only friends in freshmen year, which had been lonely and quiet with none of the people in her dorm liking her. But, she had them. They had her back and she had theirs and they had been really good friends, she missed that friendship and that ease and the comfort.

She even missed Riven, who was an absolute ass, but she missed him too.

"If we live through this, can we please have a movie night?"

Brandon laughed and nodded, "Of course, sunshine. We'll have a million movie nights to look forward to." He kissed her forehead and brought her closer to him.

"Can't we just have one right now? Forget everything that's going on and have a movie night." Sky asked, "I'm sure you have some movies here, right?" He began shuffling through the movie case, before picking one out at random and pushing it into the T.V. DMP (Digital Movie Port). The movie itself was on a small rectangular device and made a clicking sound as it entered the T.V.

Brandon playfully glared at him. "I thought we agreed to never watch this moving again."

"I don't recall any agreement." Sky tapped his chin mockingly, and Brandon rolled his eyes at him. "Do you, Timmy?"

Timmy shook his head, "Don't drag me into this."

Yep, Stella mentally decided, as they settled on the couch to forget the battles and loses, she definitely missed these guys, even though Riven still wasn't there, they would drag him into a movie night when this was over.

She wasn't going to think about if they lost.


This is by far one of the longest chapters I've ever written for this story. And the story isn't even over. I still haven't decided if I'm going to include the mess with Dorkar (Darkar) or not. I'm not entirely sure, it kind of depends on how it ends. I've kind of decided to have two alternate endings, and don't worry about the end game with Brandon and Stella, they are still going to have a bit of a messy happy ending. Anyways, I don't want to spoil too much about the next chapter, so I'll just leave you at the fluff scene of Stella hanging with the guys and having a movie night. Honestly, that came out of nowhere, but I kind of figured that they would be good friends before this eventful year and that's how Stella/Specialist movie night came to be.