Stella and Aisha still had a hold of her, which was good, because there was no telling what she would've done to Diaspro if they hadn't. It was quite stupid of them to be so close to her when there was actual fire in her hands and she was so angry, but she didn't bother telling them to move.
They were standing between her and doing something she'd regret (especially if something went wrong and she hit Sky in the process).
"How could you possibly think that you've won this, Diaspro?"
Her voice was deadly calm, and even as she spoke, she felt her magic re-centering inside her. She'd felt that before - when Stella had been knocked to the ground by one of the Trix, when Daphne and her parents were attacked - but never like it was then.
Like the fire inside her was just reshaping into something more concentrated. Which was good, because she had to keep it together.
Diaspro shifted her skirts (and the Specialists behind her moved as a unit, a sharp hiss slicing through the tension-filled air as their swords appeared - they thought she was preparing for an attack) with a smirk. The movement revealed a ring the size of a nickel on her finger. It sparkled in the light, but not in the right way - it was gaudy, and it seemed all wrong for her.
It was also Sky's mother's ring, which Bloom had noticed her wearing virtually every time she'd been near the woman. It must've been some love spell if she'd managed to get his mother's ring out of him.
But also - if Sky's parents had asked after her when they talked to Codatorta, that meant that they had to have been surprised, didn't it? Why would they have allowed Sky to give Diaspro his mother's ring after everything that had happened? They certainly wouldn't have, not unless Sky had been very, very convincing.
So. That's how powerful those spells were.
"He proposed to me a few days ago," Diaspro explained. Her voice was sugary sweet, but all Bloom heard was nails raking down a chalkboard. "We're going to be married in a few days."
Sky didn't budge. His hands kept running up and down Diaspro's arms, but where his left hand went all the way to her shoulder, his right hand only went to her elbow - he was injured.
The fire inside her seemed to roar then, to wrap snake-ish tendrils around her heart and each of her ribs for the way that her chest burned. It hurt to know that she could've stopped this, could've saved him so much suffering if she'd done something sooner, but Stella's words from before ran through her mind: It's going to be bad, you know that, but you've got to keep it together. You can do it.
Yeah, Bloom, she reminded herself, you can do this.
It wasn't going to get anywhere if she kept going in circles with Diaspro. She only wanted to make Bloom angry, to get under her skin, and they did not have that kind of time. Brandon needed to see a doctor, and there was no doubt in her mind that Sky needed medical treatment of some sort.
And, according to something Professor Flitwick had told them during one of their Charms lectures, the longer control spells were on someone, the harder they became to break. Past a certain point, it became nearly impossible. I just hope it isn't too late.
She had to change her approach. Bloom decided to see if she could get through to Sky directly. "Sky," she said, voice cracking around his name, "you know that this isn't right."
Diaspro shook her head and stepped to her feet. Every motion she made was smooth, regal in nature. None of the sharp lines or improper-ness that Bloom knew that she bore, not having grown up in the environment that Diaspro had - a real princess, one that had grown up to take a crown and power for herself.
Apparently, she thought snarkily, when she can't power for herself, she likes to destroy peoples' lives in order to get it the hard way.
The platinum blonde stepped towards her. Took a sip from a wine glass that was suddenly in her hand. Behind her, Sky straightened up and stared straight ahead, not moving but for the rise and fall of his chest. Diaspro didn't notice as she taunted, "Your precious prince made a deal with me, Bloom."
A deal? What is that supposed to mean?
Quietly, behind her, satisfied that there were no other people in the room, waiting to jump out at them, Techna and Timmy slipped into the hall to guard the door. It was just as well - Bloom didn't really want them to see what she was going to do to Diaspro. Techna would call it "highly illogical", even when she meant well.
She took another sip of whatever she was drinking. When she returned her arm to it's earlier position, putting the glass in front of her chest, rolling the stem between her fingers, Bloom noticed that her cheeks were slightly flushed. "I suggest that you take your leave before I change my mind about keeping my end of it."
What had she given him in exchange for this? Sky never would've made a deal with Diaspro. To him, that would've been surrendering his life and his kingdom - he never would've done that to his people. What would ever have been enough to sway him so much was obviously beyond Bloom's reach. She had absolutely no idea.
"Oh, you don't know?" The Princess of Gems giggled (her laugh was absolutely sickening, but there wasn't another word for it). She took another drink, gingerly brushed a few rings of platinum curls from the side of her face. "He was very worried that I wouldn't be able to help myself when it came to going after you, you know, and he said that he would give me everything I wanted if only I left his precious fairy alone." The emphasis she put on each word gave Bloom the impression that she meant it the way one might spat words, but she was far too proper to do that.
The world seemed to fall out from underneath her as the girl's words sunk in. Sky had bargained away the rest of his life, his kingdom, to protect her should she come looking for answers. She knew that he only did it because he loved her, and her heart felt like it was breaking in half all over again, but at the same time, the words 'God, he's such an idiot, why would he do that?' kept playing through her head.
Maybe he'd known that she would arrive, looking for him, and he wanted to make sure that she had time to remove Diaspro's spells.
"But, of course," she half-purred, "there was nothing stopping me from getting everything I wanted anyways. It's just that the love spell would've taken so much longer if I hadn't agreed to it. These sorts of things don't go on so easily when people are so angry, and I'm really not so much of a patient person."
It was a trap, and she knew it, but the part of her brain that was telling her to stop, wait, hang on- was drowned out by the part that wanted to beat the Princess of Gems to a pulp.
This time, Stella and Aisha weren't prepared for her lunging forward (likely because they were so shocked by her words themselves), and Riven, who reached for her from behind, missed her shoulder by centimeters as she reached for the platinum blonde.
Diaspro didn't even step out of the way. All she did was gasp in a ridiculously undignifying manner - for someone so capable of hurting others, maybe she was bad at defending herself - and shriek, "Sky! You have to protect me!"
Bloom wasn't prepared for what happened next: the prince was on his feet and throwing himself between herself and the girl she'd been seconds from throwing to the ground, and then Aisha and Musa were on Diaspro. Riven was holding Brandon back-while Bloom could shield herself with her magic, Brandon had no such way to protect himself, and he was already weak with the injuries he had.
Sky didn't seem to notice Stella and Aisha dueling with Diaspro behind him - his focus was centered on Bloom, and she was suddenly self-conscious of her bright red (and very messy) hair and the bags under her eyes. Normally, these things would've softened his blue-eyed gaze and the hard set of his mouth.
But his expression didn't change.
"Sky," she whispered, meeting his steeled gaze, "I know that you're in there somewhere."
He stepped towards her, shoulders pushed back and stance evened out. She knew what was coming next, but she forged ahead anyway.
"Sky, you're never going to do anything that makes me love you any less than I do, okay? I know I'm late, but I'm here now, and I'm here because I-"
She had enough sense to spread her wings as far as they could go before he slammed her into the wall to the right. She'd known it was coming, but she hadn't been expecting the impact, and the air was knocked out of her.
She didn't even remember seeing him reach forward, he'd been so fast - it hadn't been him, then, because that sort of speed was only attainable through magic. So it was still Diaspro guiding his actions, even occupied with the other princesses on their team as she was.
If Sky hadn't been holding her wrists against the wall, she would've slid down to the ground, it had hurt so badly. "I don't know you," he said through gritted teeth.
"Yes, you do," she coughed, trying to catch her breath. She shook her head to get her hair out of her face. Inhaled shallowly. "I'm here, Sky, and I'm not going anywhere. You know who I am."
He shook his head angrily. Tightened his grip on her arms. "I don't know you."
God, hearing him say that felt like something was wrapping around her heart and squeezing. The conviction in his voice was like an added slap to the face. But what was she supposed to do?
"My name is Bloom, Sky, and I love you." She closed her eyes around the tears that had begun to blur her vision, but it didn't work. One tear rolled down her cheek, and then another. "I am here because I love you."
Confusion danced in his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed. Bloom realized that she was getting through to him just as Diaspro yelled, "If you say one more word to him, you stupid fairy, I'll make sure you never make it off this planet!"
Sky whirled around to face Diaspro. "Don't you dare call her that."
His voice was startlingly calm, but when Bloom stepped around him to get a look at his face, his eyes were clear.
She'd broken the love spell.
Diaspro was so caught off guard by the same realization that Stella planted a kick to the small of her back, and the Princess of Gems fell to the ground in a heap. "Take the spell off of him, you stupid princess."
"And why would I do that?" she hissed in return. She put one foot out in front of her, went to take another step to her feet. "I'm going to be queen."
"Oh, no you're not," Brandon ground out, moving to kneel in front of Diaspro (and to generally be in between her and Sky). "I'm going to make sure of that."
Sky collapsed a moment later. Bloom barely managed to get a hold of the front of his shirt before he fell to the ground, and between her and Riven, they managed to get him sat down on the couch behind them.
He was breathing heavily, paler than he'd been a moment before. The room was dead silent for all of two and a half minutes before he spoke, and when he did, his voice was shaky and barely a whisper. "What - what happened?"
Bloom could've started crying again - that was her Sky, trying to keep the tremble out of his voice, trying to sit up straight on his own, rather than lean on one of the people next to him.
She stepped in front of him and knelt to meet his eyes. "It's okay now, you don't have to worry about it. We've got it all taken care of."
"Bloom? You're - you're here." He glanced around the room and then frantically grabbed for her arms. "Bloom, Bloom, I'm so sorry, I - "
The red-haired fairy climbed to her feet and, after carefully removing his hands from her arms, pull him into a gentle embrace. "You've got nothing to be sorry for, alright?" She whispered into his ear, and he froze for a second, but then nodded into her shoulder.
Sky didn't say anything else, just relaxed into her arms, and Bloom glanced at Riven inquiringly. "What just happened?" she mouthed at him.
"It appears that when Sky and Diaspro made their agreement, because so much magic was in the air at the time, it became enforced by magic. When she threatened you, it broke the rest of the spell, and..." Riven trailed off but gestured to Sky by way of explanation.
Musa and Stella dragged the platinum blonde off of the ground and all but hauled her into the hallway. When she planted her feet and tried to fight of Stella's iron-grip, Stella rolled her eyes and elbowed her hard in the face.
Blood immediately spurted from the princess's face, but Stella was unfazed. "If you ever do something to hurt the people I love ever again, I will not stop at breaking your nose, you sorry excuse for a princess."
She turned and continued dragging Diaspro towards the door as if nothing had happened.
When Bloom asked Stella about this turn of events a few weeks later, wondering what her best friend meant, Stella would pair a caustic eye-roll with a dark smirk, and reply, "Princesses are made, not born. And it takes a whole lot more than the ability to smile and wave to be a real princess. It means caring for your people, and defending those who need it. It isn't always about crashing through every wall standing between you and what you want - sometimes it means sacrifice, too, and accepting defeat."