See chapter 1 for disclaimers.

CH. 10 Day of the Rose

The only good thing about being grounded was that it gave them ample time to study for the midterms coming up. The restriction was lifted just in time for a Magix holiday called The Day of the Rose. Having been unaware it was coming, she missed the chance to go home for a visit, but there was plenty to do in the city with Stella, who had not gone home. It seemed her parents were in the middle of a nasty divorce and she didn't want to get caught in the middle.

Musa hadn't gone home either, but she chose to stay on campus. Her mother, Bloom learned, had died years ago and the Day of the Rose was always bittersweet for the music loving fairy. So Bloom and Stella headed out alone to the street fair being held that day.

They met Brandon, Riven, and Sky as the boys prepared for the levibike race. Riven's confidence, as Bloom had come to expect, crossed the line into arrogance.

"I'm not here to compete. I'm here to win. These guys don't have a chance."

"Big talk," Sky mocked. He glanced at Bloom. "Riven doesn't think we're gonna be any competition for him."

"Please," Riven snorted. "Last time, Sky fell off his bike in the first lap."

"That sounds dangerous," Stella fretted, turning to Sky.

"Nah, levibikes are totally safe."

"We wear state-of-the-art padding," Brandon assured the two girls. "See?" He pointed to the course where a levibike had just crashed. The rider got up, apparently none the worse for wear, and made his way off the course with his damaged bike.

"You have to dance with me tonight," Stella informed Sky, "so don't break any limbs."

"I'll be cheering for you, Brandon," Bloom told her boyfriend.

"So whose cheering for you, Riven?" Sky teased. "Stella's cheering for me, Bloom's cheering for Brandon. Where's your cheerleader?"

"I don't need one, dude. Unlike you," he answered shortly.

"Take it easy, Riven," Brandon tried to calm him down.

"If I actually wanted one of these Alfea pixies, I could have my pick of the whole litter, and both of you know it." He gave an unpleasant smile. "In fact, there's a certain someone whose been giving me the eye." He turned to Bloom. "Isn't that right, Bloom?"

"You're an idiot, Riven," Bloom sighed, "and delusional to boot." The others laughed.

"You're cute when you play hard to get," he grinned stepping forward and touching her chin lightly. Brandon immediately stiffened and prepared to move in, but Bloom just smiled.

"Riven, aren't you going to find it hard to steer your bike," her tone grew chilly, "with only one arm?" Riven pulled his hand away quickly as Bloom's skin began to heat up. "I know what I like, and I don't go for the whole jerk thing. You are an arrogant, conceited, waste of oxygen." With a wave of her finger, she summoned pot of water. "Maybe you should just cool off." The pot upended itself over Riven's head.

"You're going to pay for that," he fumed, storming off, despite the others attempts to calm him.

"What is that guy's problem?" Stella asked of no one in particular.

"Give him some time," Sky advised. "He'll calm down… eventually."

As there was little they could do about Riven's temper, Bloom agreed and followed the others. She still felt bad about what she had said to Riven. Went too far, way too far. Yeah, he was being a jerk, but I could have just teased him without humiliating him. She resolved to find him and make amends, when the race was over.

While the others were headed for the race track and the best seats they could find, Bloom found herself distracted by a group of street performers. One of whom bore an uncanny resemblance to the person she'd been seeing in her dreams. The dance was mesmerizing and the dancer's resemblance to her nocturnal visitor uncanny. Bloom tore her eyes away to look around at the crowd. Clearly the dancer was portraying someone, and she had to know who. Her eyes fell on the façade of the building they were standing before. City hall. Up on the façade of the building were nine carved figures. She instantly recognized the one in the middle.

She was distracted from her contemplation by a hand on her shoulder. "Hi, Bloom."

She turned to find Timmy smiling at her. "Hi, Timmy," she offered, refocusing on her friend.

"Everyone's looking for you, Bloom. You just wandered off."

"Sorry," Bloom shrugged. "I got distracted."

"Yeah, I heard about your fight with Stiven."

"Who?"

"Oh, um, I mean Riven. Sorry." He seemed rather distracted himself, and Bloom shrugged it off. "You know how proud he is," Timmy pressed on.

"Yeah. I guess I overreacted."

"Maybe a bit," he smiled. "Maybe you can make it up to him." He pulled out a small package. "I got this for myself, but you could give it to Riven. It's a state-of-the-art levibike helmet. It's specially designed to interface with the bike, makes you feel like it's part of you."

"You got it for yourself…"

"It's okay. More important to help two of my friends patch things up. Just tell him you got it in a little gadget shop in town."

"Well…okay. Thanks, Timmy."

"No problem. Enjoy the race."

"You're not going?"

"I'll be along. I have something to do first. See you around." He headed off and Bloom headed for the track, running into Stella on the way.

They rushed to the track to watch the race. Bloom scanned the crowd and spotted Riven after a moment. Knowing he wouldn't respond well, she braced for his reaction and approached him. "Riven?"

He barely glanced at her, his tone as cold and angry when he spoke. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to apologize. I overreacted badly." She held out the helmet. "I got you this. It's a helmet, latest model I'm told-"

"Fine." He cut her off and grabbed it out of her hands. "I've got a race to win."

Bloom turned and left. For Riven, that was almost polite. She rejoined Stella to watch the race, finding a good vantage point. Bloom didn't mention Timmy to Stella, only saying that she had tried to make peace with Riven. As they waited for the race to begin, Sky joined them, saying glumly that he had had trouble with his bike.

"Hey, Bloom," he glanced over, giving Stella a one-armed hug. "You try to make up with Riven?"

"For all the good it did," Bloom shrugged. "He wasn't very receptive, but he did accept the present I gave him."

"That helmet he's wearing? Looks cool. Where'd you get that?"

"You'd have to ask Timmy." Bloom shrugged. "He's the one who gave it to me and suggest I give it to Riven."

Sky frowned in confusion. "Timmy? He went home for the Day of the Rose. He's not even in Magix right now."

"Are you sure?" Bloom frowned in confusion. Sky nodded. "Then who was I talking to?" One possibility occurred to her almost immediately and she looked around. They would want a good vantage point to observe their handiwork, she guessed. An obvious answer occurred to her and she looked up. "There."

Sky and Stella followed her pointing finger and saw four figures on a roof high over the race course. Three were slender while the fourth was large and bulky. Clearly, Knut.

"What do we do?" Sky asked, looking toward the racetrack where the racers were already speeding around the track.

"Stella, can you get to Riven and warn him? I'm going after the witches." With that, she transformed and took to the air, rising rapidly toward the figures on the roof. Hopefully, whatever they had planned could be curtailed before anyone got hurt. And if that meant hurting the Trix, she decided that she was fine with that.

She rose above the roof of the building and looked down at the four people there. "Stormy, Darcy, Icy, and…Timmy. You've put on a few pounds."

"Hey!" Knut protested, as Icy snorted.

"So, you figured it out," Icy smirked. "Won't help. All I have to do is snap my fingers and Riven's marvelous new helmet becomes a blindfold he can't remove. Should be an epic crash. Guess who he'll blame?"

Bloom, thinking quickly, recalled something she'd come across online. While it wasn't a philosophy she agreed with or even understood, she thought the witches might buy it. "Are you familiar with the phrase 'escalation of force?'"

"Huh?" Icy asked, pausing with fingers poised.

"It's a simple concept. Works something like this: You punch me? I stab you. You stab me? I set your sisters on fire." Darcy and Stormy cringed visibly. "You threaten one of my friends? I mangle your faces till you're as ugly outside as in. You actually kill one of my friends? I wipe your home town off the map. See? Simple."

Icy lowered her hand, her expression unreadable, but she sounded intrigued. "I'm almost impressed. Where'd a pixie come by such a witchtastic way of thinking?"

"A place darker than you've ever been," Bloom answered the witch honestly, her tone cold, her expression deadly serious. "Call it a day ladies, and I'll call this a warning." To add emphasis to her words, she drew Brandon's gift and activated it. With a few muttered words, the blade seemed to catch fire.

"You think you could take all three of us?" Darcy asked, full of bluster. She was not as sure of herself as she wanted Bloom to believe, and it must have showed, judging by the dismissive glance Bloom sent her way. She also saw Knut out of the corner of her eye. The fearsome ogre was shaking like a leaf.

"I'm sure I could finish at least one of you before the others managed to take me down," Bloom answered. "So," she asked sweetly, "which of you will selflessly sacrifice yourself for the others?"

The three traded uncomfortable looks. Then Icy's confidence, which had wavered for a moment, returned, and she laughed. "You've got guts, pixie. I'll give you that." She offered a mock bow. "I'll give you the day. Consider it a reward for a very entertaining performance." She took a step back. "Ladies?' The other two nodded and all three vanished along with Knut.

Bloom continued to float in the air, holding the position she had taken in order to force the witches to look up to her. Then, when she felt certain they had actually gone, she settled to the roof and let out a long breath. "Wow," she muttered. "Can't believe that worked."

She took a moment to put Tyger back in her cage; then, Bloom flew back down and rejoined Stella at the finish line where Riven was receiving the first place trophy. She looked at her friend questioningly.

"Nothing happened," Stella shrugged, "which is good, because I couldn't catch him."

"No one could," Riven boasted. "Why were you on the track, anyway?"

"The witches were here," Bloom explained. "They were going to do something to that helmet. Icy said something about turning it into a blindfold. I was able to convince them not to."

"How'd you do that?" Brandon asked.

Bloom frowned and gave herself a hug as if chilled. "You…don't want to know."