Riven didn't waste any time delivering on his threats to transfer for the very next day Timmy, Riven, Brandon, and Sky were all pulled from their first period class in order to resolve the issue. Catching a glimpse of the scowl on Riven's face as they trooped out of the classroom, Brandon could only be grateful that he shared a room with Sky in their dorm, rather than Riven, like Timmy had to.
They got to Codatorta's office, lined up like the good soldiers they were training to be and tried not to laugh at the sight before them. Codatorta was a battle master, a big beefy man who looked like he could bench press a bus if he wanted, so to see him squeezed behind a desk in the office he rarely used was almost too much for the guys to take. It was only the knowledge that they would be stuck cleaning out the stables for eternity that stopped them from showing their amusement.
"I assume you all know why you're here?" Codatorta said gruffly.
Just like that the amusement faded from the four of them. They glanced between each other before returning their gazes fto the front again. They'd all assumed they were finding out which squad Riven would be swapping into and who would be replacing him.
Codatorta heaved a heavy sigh that seemed to rattle the window panes and leant back in his chair. The chair protested with a groan. "Talk to me, boys. I thought you were finally working together?"
There were all silent, staring pointedly at the wall above Codatorta's head.
"Irreconcilable differences," Riven said stiffly, at last.
Codatorta did not look amused by the response and didn't speak straight away. When he did though, he surprised all four of them. "Request denied."
They all gaped in shock but only Riven was brave - or stupid - enough to argue.
"Wh-what? But I-"
For such a big man, Codatorta moved fast and in a flash he was out from behind his desk and leaning over Riven, who to his credit, didn't flinch away from the beefy face suddenly nose to nose with him.
"Did I stutter, cadet?" Codatorta growled and wisely this time Riven kept his mouth shut.
Codatorta stayed in his face for a long moment, almost daring Riven to object again before he straightened and began pacing before them. "I don't know why you don't want to be a squad anymore. I don't really care why you don't want to be a squad anymore. But I will not disrupt everyone else in the year just because you four can't get it together. You'll work it out, or you'll fail the year. Understood?"
They were silent, figuring it was another rhetorical question.
Then, "Understood?!"
"Yes, Sir," they replied in unison and Codatorta nodded in satisfaction.
"Now get out of my office. You're due in defensive techniques 101 in five minutes."
They shuffled out of his office not talking to each other and headed for the classroom. They had no choice now but to muddle through and hope to the gods that they didn't fail the year.
As the days crawled by and exams inched closer, Bloom wished she could attribute the sudden increase in frequency and intensity of her dreams to the stress of constant study. But these weren't her usual stress dreams; dreams where she would sit down in the exam and realise she didn't know a single word or dreams where she got her paper back with a big fat 0 scribbled at the top in vicious red ink. No, Bloom was still being haunted by the phantom woman whose face hovered just out of reach and slipped through her hands like water when she tried to think about it too hard. The woman who called out for her to remember and start her journey.
The dream always started the exact same way; her alone, at the bottom of a great cavern, with slimy walls and damp air. Then a voice would whisper to her.
"Bloom," it called. "Bloom."
Despite the frequency of her dreams, Bloom never quite recognised it at first. Then a burst of light lit up behind her and she turned to see a familiar figure standing before her.
"The time has come." The woman smiled gently as she spoke. "You must begin your journey."
Bloom took a hesitant step towards her. "What journey? I don't understand."
The woman's - and Bloom just wished she knew her name - smile widened and she reached out a hand to Bloom. "Don't worry, I will guide you. I'll always be with you."
Although it didn't make sense, Bloom found herself trusting the woman. She took another step towards her. "I still don't know where I'm supposed to go."
"Come find me!" the woman said, sounding urgent all of a sudden. "You need to come find me."
"But I don't know you," Bloom frowned.
A hint of something crossed across the woman's brilliant face. Disappointment or pain, Bloom wasn't sure but it disappeared as quickly as it came and the gentle smile returned. "Of course you know me, angel. You simply need to remember."
"Remember what?!"
The woman glanced over her shoulder once and seemed to slump. Then she straightened and took several quick steps towards Bloom. She took Bloom's face between her hands before the teenager could think to pull away. "You simply need to remember me, angel," she said softly, and pressed a kiss to Bloom's forehead.
Bloom could feel no pressure on her face, not where the woman's hands held her cheeks nor where her lips pressed against her skin but warmth spread from those spots until her entire body felt like it had just slipped into a warm bath.
"Remember me," the woman whispered again. "Then come find me." She stepped away and Bloom saw that her smile had grown sad. "And be very brave."
And then, with a name dancing on the tip of Bloom's tongue the woman disappeared and everything faded to black.
Flora was very worried about her room-mate. The entire dorm was aware that Bloom was having increasingly intense dreams each night, having woken them up on more than one occasion with her sleep-talking but something about tonight felt different.
Flora wasn't sure at first what had woken her up; she wasn't thirsty, she didn't need to go to the bathroom, and for once the room was quiet and Bloom wasn't talking. Then she heard it: the quiet rustle of bedsheets from the other side of the room.
Since she'd been a child the lesson to always follow her instincts had been hammered into her by her parents. So Flora followed the bad feeling in her stomach, slipped from her bed, padded across the pitch black room and squinted through the gloom to check on her friend. When her eyes finally adjusted and she found the outline of her friend, and saw Bloom tossing and turning violently in bed, quiet noises of protest slipping from her mouth.
Flora reached out a hand to touch her shoulder and wake her from her nightmare but Bloom refused to wake. Even when Flora shook her vigorously and called her name as loudly as she dared, Bloom remained stubbornly asleep. There was no other choice, she'd have to wake one of the others.
Flora paused at the doorway of their room, biting her lip and thinking hard. Tecna was the one she really wanted to talk to, Tecna who knew everything about everything, and would have a logical explanation for Bloom's actions. But that would mean sneaking past Musa, a notoriously light sleeper who was also terrifyingly volatile when woken a second before her alarm. She probably wouldn't appreciate being woken at 3a.m. Flora grimaced and headed to Stella's door instead.
Thankfully she only had to knock once before she heard Stella's grumble as the blonde woke up and the almost silent sound of her feet on the carpet. While she waited for the door to open, Flora hugged her arms around herself, hoping to ward off the chill of the night. The door opened a crack and Stella blinked out at her, yawning so wide her jaw cracked.
"Flora?" Stella whined, rubbing at her eyes while they adjusted. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"It's Bloom, I think- I think something's wrong."
The words took a moment to register in Stella's sleep addled brain but when they did she slowly straightened and the exhaustion seemed to leech from her. Squaring her shoulders, Stella followed Flora from her room and across the dorm. When they got to Bloom and Flora's room, Bloom was no longer just tossing and turning about but was now glowing as well. Even in a school of magic the glow that covered every inch of Bloom's body was odd.
"Ok," Flora said, voice wavering as she tried to control her nerves. "That wasn't happening before. It's like her Winx is activating."
The pair stood at the foot of Bloom's bed, nervous but not urgent as it seemed Bloom wasn't in any immediate danger.
"In her sleep?" Stella asked dubiously, still eyeing her friend. "I didn't think that was possible."
Before Flora could try and answer Bloom abruptly changed outfits. Gone where her pajama pants and sleep shirt and in their place were the skirt and midriff of her fairy form. A familiar set of glistening wings protruded from her shoulder blades.
Flora and Stella's eyes widened. Bloom mumbled something under her breath but didn't wake up.
"Did you see that outfit change?" Stella hissed. "I wish I could do that in my sleep."
"More than clothes are changing here," Flora said with a frown, watching as Bloom changed back into her pyjamas. "I've heard of this, it means her powers are evolving."
"Wow," Stella said, for lack of any other response. "Do you think we should wake her?"
Flora frowned thoughtfully and considered her friend. Bloom had settled down again, the glow had faded from sight, she was no longer tossing and turning and her breathing had evened out.
"No," she finally decided. "Let her sleep. We'll talk about it in the morning."
The dorm was quiet the next morning, a Saturday which allowed them all to sleep in. Bloom, Flora, and Musa all took advantage of the weekend to sleep in until the sun was well and truly up, Stella disappeared without an explanation early in the morning, and Tecna spent the morning working on her homework. Finally though, as it was nearing lunchtime, they all dragged themselves out of the dorm to take a walk, Stella appearing and looking grumpy about it as they were walking down to the quad and discussing the events of last night.
Tecna confirmed Flora's suspicion that Bloom's powers were most likely evolving but they still had no clue why they were evolving all of a sudden or how the dreams factored in.
"They were just dreams," Bloom said, with an accompanied shrug.
Tecna merely raised an eyebrow and looked at her expectantly.
Bloom sighed and tried to remember. "Well, it was the same voice that lead us out of the fire at Cloud Tower."
"Uh huh, what else," Tecna said and Bloom over to find her actually taking notes.
"This is so boring," Stella groused, but they ignored her.
"What did she look like," Tecna said instead, trying to prompt Bloom.
"Well, she was tall," Bloom said, thinking of how the woman had had to duck to kiss her forehead. "And really beautiful." Bloom bit her lip and tried to think of specifics, but she couldn't even picture the colour of the long flowing hair that had seemed to wrap around Bloom like an embrace. "The specifics are kind of fuzzy," she admitted grudgingly.
Tecna pulled a round gadget from her pocket and held it up. "Just keep talking. This is a psychic beetle and it'll pick up whatever you can't remember." The lid of the gadget flipped open to reveal a life-like looking ladybug sitting inside. There was a tell-tale whir that betrayed it however when the beetle's wings began to flutter and it lifted in the air to fly to Bloom.
"Oh, okay," Bloom said, trying not to be distracted by the beetle. "Well, I know that she long flowing hair, maybe blonde," Bloom said. "And I think we were underwater. Or at the very least near water." The details dried up fast after that but it seemed like it was enough because the beetle fluttered back to it's bay.
"This beetle is the latest version and it's data will help me to create a digi-sketch," Tecna said.
"DJ Sketch?" Musa said pulling a face. "Isn't he that guy who spins top 40 tunes?"
"No," Bloom laughed, recognising the term from Earth. "A digi-sketch is like a digital rendering of a description, right, Tecna?"
Tecna hummed distractedly. "Yes, but a the psychic beetle will give us more detail as it has direct access to information from your subconscious."
While Bloom tried not to shudder at the thought of the beetle digging around in her brain, Stella stalked off ahead. She'd been the only one, not contributing or at least interested in the discussion about Bloom's dreams. She hadn't been saying much at all, Bloom realised.
"I'll just upload the data, let the beetle do it's work and...," Tecna, muttered to herself tapping button on the gadget. "Voila!" she said with a flourish and a holograph emerged from the gadget, projecting the face that had been haunting Bloom's dreams. As soon as she saw it, the details of the dream came rushing back, the urgency in her voice, the kiss to her forehead, and oddly an echo of a singing voice although Bloom couldn't remember the woman singing to her in the dream.
"That's definitely her," Bloom murmured, reaching out to touch the holograph but it shivered and flickered when her fingers broke the surface. Disappointed, Bloom pulled her hand back.
"There's something else," Tecna said, an odd note in her voice. "I've processed all the data and there's a strong possibility that the dream was a psycho-magic message."
They were all silent as they processed Tecna's words.
"What?" Bloom said, hating the hysterical note she could hear in her voice. "You think this woman was trying to communicate with me?"
Tecna shrugged. "There's a possibility."
Bloom repressed the urge to laugh in disbelief and kneaded her temple with her fingers, feeling an oncoming headache.
"I feel like I've seen her before," Bloom said, thinking back. "Other than my dream, that is," she continued quickly, when Stella opened her mouth to retort. "Tecna can you find out who she is?"
Tecna nodded and whipped out her hand-held computer. "Just give me a moment."
While Tecna searched for the mystery woman, Bloom closed her eyes and cast her mind back over every encounter she'd had with her. There had been countless dreams over the weeks, the hallucination in Magix City, and somewhere else that was itching at the back of Bloom's brain. Also, tugging at her concentration was the thought that she somehow knew the woman's name. The name felt as though it was resting on her tongue and just waiting for her to open her mouth and say it.
Distantly she heard Tecna say, "And her name is…"
"Daphne," Bloom said quietly, just because it felt right.
"Daphne," Tecna finished lamely.
There was a long, uncomfortable silence and when Bloom opened her eyes it was to find her friends staring at her with emotions that ranged from curiosity to caution. Even Stella looked interested now.
"How did you know her name," Flora asked, fear making her voice waver slightly.
"I- I don't know," Bloom admitted. "I- maybe she told me?" She said, though she knew the woman - Daphne - never had.
"Right," Tecna said, still staring at Bloom as though she'd just done a magic trick. She cleared her throat and glanced down at the computer screen. "Well, it makes sense that you remember her face, Bloom."
"It does?" Bloom asked hopefully.
"Yeah, her likeness is featured on the Town Hall facade."
"Why would she be on the Town Hall facade?" Musa asked suspiciously.
"Because she's a Nymph of the Magical Dimension," Tecna said, already frowning and reading further on her computer.
"What does that mean?" Bloom asked, looking around at the others for help but they looked just as perplexed as she did. "What does a Nymph of the Magic Dimension do? And how do you become one?"
"I'm not sure," Tecna said. "It's very vague and I've never heard the reference before. Oh!"
"What now," Bloom said tiredly. As she'd tried to piece the puzzle together her headache had only grown and was making her eyes water slightly with the pain.
Tecna looked up at them all, an odd expression on her face. "Daphne was also the name of one of the princesses of Sparx before it was destroyed. She was killed in the attack."
"Could these two Daphne's be the same person?" Musa demanded but Tecna could only shrug.
"One of the princesses?" Bloom heard herself ask over the buzzing pain of her headache. She didn't know why that was what she latched to but it felt important for reasons she couldn't identify.
Tecna checked her computer again. "There was another, Princess Daphne's younger sister."
"What was her name?"
Her curiosity surprised all of them, including herself but Bloom needed to know. Ignoring the looks she was receiving, Bloom looked to Tecna imploringly.
"She wasn't named; she wasn't even a month old, which is when babies are- were named on Sparx."
"And what happened to her?"
"I don't-"
"Just tell me," Bloom said, clutching at her head with both hands now. Flora reached for her wrist and tugged her hand away, sapping away her pain with a spell. Bloom could have kissed her.
Tecna's eyes scanned her computer screen and her face fell. Bloom's own stomach dropped and she knew without Tecna having to tell her. "She's presumed dead." At the other's confusion she continued. "She was never found alive, and her body was never found, and no witnesses survived to testify what happened to her. Now, what is this all about, Bloom?"
Bloom gave an incredulous laugh and tipped back her head to look up at the sky, anything to avoid looking at the worried faces of her friends. "Don't you think it's all a bit odd? First, there's this Nymph Daphne who keeps appearing in my dreams," Bloom said ticking it off on a finger. "Then we think it's possible she might also be Daphne, Princess of Sparx, the place where the Dragon Fire is from, this mysterious power that the witches are after. And she might be communicating with me, one of the girls the Trix have be harassing. And on a completely unrelated matter her younger sister, who the Dragon Fire would have passed onto could still be alive and Daphne keeps telling me I need to go on a journey. I just don't understand how it all fits together."
"Bloom," Tecna said sharply yet not unkindly. "Are you actually saying that you think the lost Princess of Sparx could be alive and be in possession of the Dragon Fire and that Daphne wants you to find her?"
Bloom shrugged and another incredulous giggle escaped her. "I'm saying I don't know, I just don't understand how it's all connect-"
"Ok, enough!" Stella suddenly snapped. Bloom was surprised when she turned to friend to find her amber eyes dark with anger. "It's just a silly little dream that you're all blowing out of proportion."
Wrung out by all her revelations, Bloom snapped. "What is with you today?!"
"Maybe because I'm tired of you always stealing the stage. It's always 'me, me, me' with you! 'Look at me'," Stella mimicked, in a poor imitation of Bloom. "'I'm the cute little girl from Earth, look at me I have powers, look at me I have no clue how to control them'!"
Musa, Flora, and Tecna stared open mouth between the two as Bloom shrunk back, hurt by Stella's words.
"That's not funny," she said quietly. Bloom didn't admit it out loud, even to her friends but she was constantly aware of how behind she was compared to the other girls. It wasn't even only the spells but also the culture she didn't understand and to have some of her deepest insecurities laid out so blatantly by Stella hurt her in ways she couldn't describe.
Stella ignored Bloom's response. "Everyone has weird dreams," Stella continued flippantly. "Who cares?"
Bloom sucked in a shaking breath and tried to remain calm. "This could be important, Stella."
But Stella just rolled her eyes with an annoyingly smug smile. "Yes, important to you, you, you."
"Stella!" Tecna said, sounding equal parts astonished by her friend's behaviour and admonishing. "What in the world is your problem?"
"Nothing," Stella sang, her flippancy grating even further on Bloom's nerves. "I am simply 'telling it how it is' as Musa would say."
"Hey," Musa protested weakly "Don't drag me into this."
Stella ignored her. "I'm just 'keeping it real'."
Bloom rolled her eyes. "Fine, whatever. I really don't need this. I don't know what's wrong with you but I'm going to go do some research while you throw your little princess tantrum, Stella. Come find me when you want to apologise and be productive."
"Fine, go," Stella said snidely.
"Have fun with her," Bloom added in an undertone to the other three as she walked away.
Flora patted her hand as she passed. "I'll come find you later, okay?"
Bloom smiled and hurried away before Stella could start up again. Once she'd disappeared into the castle again, Tecna, Musa, and Flora each turned judgemental eyes on Stella who blinked back innocently.
"What?" she asked, frowning with confusion. "What did I say?"
They didn't bother to answer and just turned to leave.
The Alfea Library was bigger than any library Bloom had ever seen. It took up a great big section of the school, contained more books than a single person could ever hope to read in a lifetime, and was maintained by one plump fairy, with pink hair, and a smile that could turn into a snarl within a heartbeat of someone even thinking about damaging one of her precious books. Miss Barbatea scared the hell out of Bloom, and she made sure to keep Kiko hidden well in her jumper pocket as she walked into the library. She didn't know if animals were forbidden in the library but she didn't like to take the chance.
Still getting the hang of the organisational system, Bloom wandered through the stacks, reading the golden plaques fixed on the end of each which informed her of the rows contents.
"Trolls, ghosts, leprechauns," she mumbled under her breath, wondering if there was a section for nymphs.
Miss Barbatea sat at a large desk in the centre of the library and inspected her aimless form over the top of her spectacles. "Still getting the hang of the Dewey Magical System?" she asked as Bloom wandered past.
Bloom stopped and approached her desk, craning her neck to look up at the librarian. "Yeah, I need information about a nymph but I'm not sure where to start looking. I only have her name."
"The research lectern might be a good place to start," Barbatea advised, nodding at something over Bloom's shoulder.
She turned to see that past the common area with it's desks and armchairs was a small semi-circle shaped area with a dais and a solid gold lectern atop it.
"Just use the name as a keyword and the library will search for you. You'll get the books with the most mentions and they'll be stacked in order of relevance. The more specific your keyword is, the more useful the search will be."
She thanked the librarian and walked over to it, ascending the steps and standing before the lectern. It was even more elaborate up close, Bloom saw, the ornate gold detailing forming a butterfly whose wings would hold the pages of a book.
Bloom just stood and thought for a moment, chewing her lip as she considered what key-word to use. The obvious choice was to just use the name Daphne, but there could be hundreds of magical beings with the name, and not knowing what a Nymph of the Magical Dimension was there could even be many nymphs with the name Daphne and Bloom didn't feel much sifting through all those books. She wondered how she could narrow down her search and it hit her. A book about the history of Magix City Town Hall would have to have something on the nymphs depicted on their facade.
"Magix City Town hall," Bloom said clearly. She waited patiently, but even after a minute there was no sign of anything happening. She straightened, cleared her throat and said a little louder - although still mindful of Barbara's preference for a quiet library - "Magix City Town Hall." Still nothing happened and she frowned, wondering what she could be doing wrong. Then she caught sight of her hands and laughed at her own daftness. "Magix City Town Hall," she said for a third - and hopefully final time - and summoned magic to her hand as she pressed it down on the centre of the lectern.
The effect was instantaneous and a dozen books floated off their shelves from all over the library and sailed neatly towards her, the first settling atop the lectern, the rest stacking themselves neatly by her side, the stack reaching nearly to her hip. She frowned at the abundance of information but figured she'd at least look at the first book. Which she realised was actually a magazine.
"Magix Monthly," she read, before flicking it open. "This month's events at Town Hall: sorcerer soccer. Wrong book," she decided, flipping it closed again, figuring that the magazine wouldn't have anything about Town Hall's history. "Not that goblin goalies don't sound interesting," she chuckled.
Bloom frowned slightly down at the large stack of book, sure that the information she needed would be in there somewhere. What had Barbatea said: The more specific your keyword is, the more useful the search will be. Bloom cleared her throat again.
"Magix City Town Hall facade." Her fingers were illuminated with magic as she activated the lectern.
At once the magazine flew away with many of the books from the stack beside her, leaving only two books, one of which flew up to the lectern and flipped open to the right page, helpfully highlighting the relevant parts of the page in shimmering yellow.
"Wow," Bloom breathed, eyes drinking in the hungrily as she began to read:
The facade of of Magix City Town Hall features the nine nymphs of the Magical Dimension who have ruled over the dimension consecutively since the disappearance of the Great Dragon. Each former fairies, members of the Sparx royal family, and holders of the Dragon Flame (one of the most influential forces in the magical history), these nymphs are considered to not only be some of the most powerful beings in the Magical Dimension but also the most deserving to dictate the destiny of the dimension. Due to their non-corporeal form their role in the Magical Dimension is consultative rather than authoritative.
Bloom realised with an uncomfortable jolt that the air around her had become unnaturally silent and she was unable to hear the quiet chatter of the other students or even the occasional sound of paper on wood as a book slid from it's place on the shelves. She looked up slowly, something telling her to limit sudden movements, to find countless books hovering in a circle around her on the dais. Then as if responding to a silent command they slowly started to drift around, slowly at first and then faster until they were moving so fast she could no longer see anything outside the dome of books trapping her in place. The whole thing had taken less than a minute.
"Okay," Bloom said slowly, looking around through her hair which was being whipped about by the wind created by the moving books. "Miss Barbatea!" she called, trying to stay calm. It had to be a glitch in the system, or someone's idea of a stupid prank, and logically Bloom knew that but she couldn't deny the way her heart was beating hard in her chest or the way her breath was coming faster and faster.
Over the rustle of the books moving she could hear noises of distress coming from the other students and a loud clanging that she couldn't place. At least, she thought in relief even as the books started to press closer, they knew something was happening.
Miss Barbatea had her hands full outside the cyclone of books, however. Some of the students had noticed the odd behaviour of the books at the research lectern and had notified her but as soon as she'd gone to help, she'd noticed another disruption at the other end of the library: the normally impenetrable gates of the restricted vaults were shaking as books pressed against them and the lock was twitching as though it wanted to open.
"The restricted vault!" she gasped, looking between the books that were slowly pressing in on the trapped Bloom and the dangerous books that looked like they were going to be set free any minute.
Her eyes fell on a nearby group of seniors. "Girls, try and stop those books," she said, pointing to the cyclone at the research lectern. They leapt into action without a word, this was what they'd trained for after all. Barbatea's eyes then found one of her assistant's who was standing with her hand over her mouth, the trolley of books she was shelving forgotten beside her. "Serilda," she barked, no time for gentleness. "Go to Miss Faragonda's office and tell her there's an emergency in the library."
"Yes, Miss," the girl said timidly.
But she didn't drag her eyes away from the cyclone of books where Bloom's voice was getting more and more worried.
"Now, Miss Martinez!"
"Yes, of course." And she ran off.
Barbatea glanced back only once to ensure that the seniors were indeed holding their own against the books, for the time being anyway before hurrying to the restricted vault. In all her time at Alfea - which was longer than she cared to admit - Barbatea had never seen a disturbance like this in the restricted vault and without more time to identify what was going on she couldn't do more than a quick locking spell that would hopefully hold the gates until everything calmed down. Only once the spell was complete and the lock no longer looked like it would burst open at any second did she allow herself to run back to the research lectern where Faragonda had arrived and was taking control of the situation.
"Restotuo-ordo," Faragonda said sternly and at once the books stopped revealing a crouching Bloom who'd thrown her arms over the head. The books quivered for a moment in mid air before dropping, raining down on them.
Bloom slowly looked up while Barbatea shepherded everyone out of the library, sending the exhausted seniors to the nurse's office for a replenishment potion and the others back to their dorms, leaving only Barbatea, a shaking Bloom, and Faragonda.
"Something very powerful seems to have disturbed the order here," Faragonda said, looking around at the mess of books.
Bloom made a small, distressed noise and stood in one fluid movement and flung her gasping self at Faragonda who caught her in surprise and patted her back gently.
"It's okay, Bloom," she said gently, still surveying the rebellious books. "It's all over now, dear."
Barbatea scooped a nearby book off the ground and frowned at its cover. "She couldn't have possibly asked for these books," Barbatea said to Faragonda quietly. "They're on some of our most obscure topics and besides only available to seniors; the library shouldn't have given her access."
"I don't believe she did," Faragonda responded, voice equally quiet. "The books chose her." She pulled back from Bloom to inspect her tear streaked face. "Go back to your dear and get some rest. And please don't mention this to anyone."
"Thank you," Bloom sniffed, before hurrying out of the library.
Barbatea waited for the door to shut behind Bloom before speaking again. "Miss Faragonda there's something else, the restricted vault was about to open."
The alarm in Faragonda's face was an echo of the fear on Barbatea's.
"Miss Barbatea, what could have done that?"
"I'm not sure Headmistress. I've never seen anything like it."
The pair waded through the books on the ground to the dais where the books Bloom had been reading were still sitting, open to the same page.
"The nymphs of the Magical Dimension?" Faragonda asked, fingers running over the text.
The odd note in her voice had Barbatea turning to her in surprise. "Is there something wrong with that, Miss?"
"No," Faragonda said, although she sounded unsure. Then her eyes fell on a book laying on the step of the dais and she gasped. She hurried over and picked it up. "The Last Witch Coven?" she said sounding worried. "This book is not part of our collection."
"No, it is not."
"Close the library," Faragonda said at once and Barbatea gasped, the books she'd begun to collect tumbling from her grasp. She nodded once however, not daring to argue. Especially after Faragonda's next words. "There are dark forces at work here," she said with another long look around the cavernous library.
After the big argument with Bloom in the quad that morning the rest of the girls had retreated back to the dorm, Tecna, Musa, and Flora wanting to study for the upcoming exams while Stella had nothing better to do than laze around all day.
"Hey, Flora," Stella drawled from Musa's bed. Beside her, Flora hummed absently as she read through her textbook. "Do you know what would look really cute on you? A fashion sense, my dear," she said, a dry laugh accompanying the barbed comment. All three others looked around and frowned.
"That's not very nice," Flora said, sounding torn between hurt and annoyed.
"No need for the 'tude. It's just constructive criticism," Stella sighed.
Flora put her book to the side and crossed her arms defensively. "Are you kidding me? You're the one with the attitude problem today."
"Yeah," Musa piped up from her desk. "You're out of control."
In general, the group didn't like to get involved in fights when it was between just two or three of them but it seemed like Stella was going after everyone.
"Don't diss me just because you got dissed, girl," Stella shot back, smiling sweetly.
Musa turned back around and busied herself with her notes. "No I didn't," she said, more to her desk than the others in the room.
Stella laughed, a mean, unpleasant noise that set the hairs on the back of Musa's neck on end. "You got so dissed by Riven. It's actually quite tragic."
Musa scoffed. "Please, like I care what he does anyway. And another thing: what's tragic is you thinking you can come into my crib and act like you're all that."
But it was like the words just rolled off Stella's back because she laughed again and rolled her eyes. "At least you're not totally hopeless like Tecna. She chooses her clothes for their fireproof qualities. But Timmy still crushes on her," Stella added as an afterthought.
Tecna, who'd been studying quietly on the other side of the room, looked up at the sudden attention on her. Then Stella's words registered and she blushed a dark pink.
"Hey! First of all, Timmy is not crushing on me, we're just friends. And second, I like my clothes."
Again it was like the words had no effect on Stella and she turned back to Musa. "If you would just get rid of those pigtails, acquire some better denim, and don't forget make-up. Do that and you might just get Riven to call you."
Musa tried not to show how Stella's words were affecting her but it was like she was a mind reader and could tell exactly what Musa was thinking. Musa had seen the way Sky looked at Stella, and Brandon at Bloom, and even Timmy at Tecna, yet it was like no matter what she did, Riven remained oblivious. Stella smirked even as Musa buried her nose determinedly in a nearby book. She had no idea what it was about but it was better than looking at Stella's smug face.
"Of course," Stella's voice was silky as she spoke right into Musa's ear. "He might be with Darcy."
"That is enough!" Flora said, standing suddenly and sending her own book to the ground with a thump. "You leave her alone. In fact leave us all alone!"
Stella waved a dismissive hand. "It's not like she doesn't know they're together."
Musa jumped from her chair, sending it spinning away on its wheels and stepped right up into Stella's face. "Shut it," she barked, forcing back tears. "Before I make you shut it! Got it?"
Stella gasped and stumbled back a few steps.
"I'm just saying, darling," she said weakly, still wearing that infuriating smile that Musa wanted to slap off. "If you'd seen the way Riven was drooling over Darcy, you would not like him so much.
Instead of hitting Stella like she so wanted to, Musa stormed from the room before her emotions betrayed her and the tears she could feel building behind her eyes made an appearance.
Stella didn't watch her go, but turned her attention to her nails, only looking up when the room went quiet. "What?" she asked, shrugging when Tecna glared at her.
Tecna left without a word, storming out after Musa, calling her name, leaving Flora looking madder than Stella had ever seen her. Usually sweet Flora, was almost spitting with rage, eyes narrowed to slits and lips pressed together so tightly they'd almost disappeared.
"I don't know what's up with you, Stella," she said, voice dangerously low. "I don't know if something's happened to put you in this mood, or if this is how you really are. Either way you'd better stay far away from Musa until you're ready to apologise."
Flora stomped from the room without another word and followed after Tecna, leaving Stella to stare at the space her friends had just vacated.
Bloom was slowly meandering across the quad in the direction of the entrance hall, not really looking forward to be back in Stella's moody company but looking forward to collapsing on her bed for a couple of hours before dinner. Kiko was riding on her shoulder, listening intently as she slowly worked through what she had learned about Daphne so far.
"So, now we know Daphne the nymph of the Magical Dimension and Crown Princess Daphne of Sparx are- er were the same person. We know she's pretty powerful and that she used to have the Dragon Flame. But we don't where the power went after she died; if her sister was alive it would have gone to her. But what if the other princess did actually die? Did the power just disappear? Or is it somewhere else? And was Daphne really trying to talk to me? And why me? And what was she trying to say?" Bloom wanted to groan at the confusion of it all. They'd found out a lot but there was still so much she didn't know.
Her phone chimed in her pocket, and Bloom pulled it out already smiling in anticipation. Brandon's name flashed back at her along with his message.
Brandon: Books attacked you? That's one I haven't heard before.
Bloom knew she had been told not to tell anybody but there had been so many people there that it was going to get around sooner or later. And what was the harm in telling Brandon? Besides talking to a friend had helped calm her down after the encounter. Smiling, she began to type back:
Bloom: All part of going to a school of magic. Although I must say that was strange even for Alfea.
Glancing up at the sound of footsteps crunching on the gravel, Bloom spotted a familiar face heading towards her, though she didn't notice the tear-streaked cheeks at first.
"Hey, what's up, Musa? The weirdest thing just happened to me," she continued before Musa could answer even if she wanted to. "I was in the library and trying to use the research lectern thing and then out of nowhere- hey what's wrong?"
She'd finally noticed that her friend looked upset and was barely listening to her, in fact Musa was walking right past without even looking at Bloom.
"Musa!" she called after her friend but Musa didn't so much as glance back. "Are you okay?!"
She was about to go after her when her phone chimed again in her hand and she glanced down at the screen automatically. Unfortunately that meant she didn't see Stella barrelling towards her until they were colliding painfully and she stumbled to the ground. Bloom was barely down a second before Stella was reaching down and yanking her upright again holding onto Bloom's hands even after she was upright.
"I'm so sorry," Stella said. "Are you alright?"
Bloom narrowed her gaze on her friend, remembering all too well how Stella had been acting earlier. "I'm fine," she finally said.
"I didn't even see you there, I was looking for Musa."
"Oh, I just saw her," Bloom said, then remembered how upset Musa had been. "Tell me you didn't upset her." When Stella just shifted nervously, Bloom frowned. "What is up with you today?"
"I figured it out," Stella said unhappily. "A senior cast a mood swing spell on me."
"And let me guess, that makes you way rude? You'd better go after her."
Stella took off without another word, running in the same direction Musa had gone while Bloom followed slower, still feeling the sting of her fall. She finally caught up with Stella who was watching a bus drive away with a frown.
"She got on the bus and there won't be another for at least another half hour. Maybe more."
Bloom was still mad at Stella for everything she'd said across the day but she could see how bad her friend felt and it wasn't really her fault so she slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders - hard to do since Stella was inches taller than she was - and lead her back to the castle.
"What did you say to Musa anyway?"
"I can't remember but I'm sure it was awful judging by Tecna and Flora's reaction."
"I'm sure it was."
"I have to warn you the spell could come back," Stella was warning her as they approached the doors to the castle just as Tecna and Flora emerged from inside.
"We tried looking for Musa but we couldn't find her anywhere," Flora said.
"What spell?" Tecna asked as the same time.
Bloom glanced at her blonde friend. "Stella thinks a senior put a spell on her, some-"
"Mood-swing spell?" Tecna asked, mouth dropping open. "Oh wow, you've had a textbook-perfect case of it, I should have realised. I wonder who it was, maybe they have some tips-"
"Not the point," Stella snapped. She grimaced and rubbed at her temple. "Sorry."
But Flora was regarded her friend curiously. "Were you giving the seniors fashion advice again?"
Stella chuckled ruefully. "Yeah, how did you know?"
Flora smiled and laughed. "Just a wild guess."
"So how are we going to find Musa?" Bloom asked. "The next bus won't be here for ages and she looked really upset."
They were silent as they thought.
"Well," Stella finally said, shifting on her feet. "We could always ask the guys to give us a lift."
The bus pulled to a halt in the heart of Magix City and Musa got off. She was still fuming as she stalked away, unable to believe that Stella could think she could still be interested in Riven, even after hearing how he'd treated her friends on the Day of the Rose.
She turned down a side street blindly, not caring where she was going, kicking a stray can and beatboxing under her breath. Musa didn't seem to notice the looks she was getting from passers-by and wandered along. She wasn't sure where she was heading but as long as it was away from Stella, she didn't really care.
It was many minutes before she glanced up and realised she'd walked all the way downtown and was surrounded by browsing witches. Musa wrinkled her nose and was just about to turn on her heel and head back when she caught sight of two familiar faces inside a nearby cafe. Cursing her weakness, Musa stepped quickly out of the view but didn't leave, choosing instead to listen at the open window where she could hear their every word, even over the din of the other patrons. Thankful for her jacket, Musa tugged the hood over her face and glanced surreptitiously at other witches walking the streets before focussing in on the conversation between Darcy and Riven.
"Riven," Darcy was purring. "Babe, I can call you babe, right?"
Musa grimaced and fought not to hurl at the saccharine sweetness in Darcy's voice.
"I mean you are the hottest guy at Red Fountain."
"Oh?" Musa heard Riven respond and she could just about picture the arrogant smirk on his face. She rolled her eyes. "Tell me more."
"You're sizzling, Riven. You've got the brains that the rest at Red Fountain doesn't and the muscles to back it up. Talent like yours shouldn't be wasted. And with someone like me, it won't."
"Go on."
Musa gaped. She couldn't believe that Riven was buying into all of Darcy's bullshit.
"Well, there's no formal arrangement, sweetie. We just need to know that we can count on you, so say you'll be mine, and then just like that, you will belong to me."
Musa didn't like the sound of that, but thankfully neither did Riven if his tone was anything to go by. "Hold up."
But Darcy didn't seem too perturbed by his resistance.
"Look at me. Riven, look at me!"
There was something in her voice that had Musa's stomach twisting uncomfortably so she risked exposure and peeked around the window frame and into the cafe. Sure enough she caught Darcy's eyes flashing purple for a second as she cast a spell on Riven. Musa gritted her teeth to keep back a scream and any hope she had for someone else to intervene was dashed when she saw others around them smirking and even laughing at the display.
Riven's voice was monotone when he spoke. "I belong to you, Darcy."
Musa didn't know what she would have done then. She'd like to think she would have stormed in there, regardless of the witches and help someone she'd thought of as a friend. But she could never know because Icy and Stormy had appeared behind her, and cornered her.
"No wonder it reeks," Icy said coldly and Musa froze, staring at the window aghast. "One of the loser's is here."
Musa wheeled around slowly.
"Awww," Stormy crooned reaching forward and pushing Musa's hood off her head. In her shock and dismay Musa let her. "It's the one with the pigtails." She reached out to flick one of Musa's pigtails but the fairy had finally regained her wits and reared back before she had the chance.
"Back off, perm-head," Musa shot back, looking at Stormy's own hair with distaste. She went to stalk away without another word but Icy moved fast, blocking her way.
"Not so fast," Icy said cruelly. "Where do you think you're going?"
Musa didn't let Icy phase her and stepped around her. "Back to civilisation," she spat, eyes intent on the distance. But Icy was there again, stopping her.
"I thought we were going to chat and discuss why you're in our territory and spying on our friend."
Musa gave a harsh bark of laughter, only partly faked. "Don't make me laugh. I go wherever I want, whenever I want. And I'm certainly not wasting my time spying on Darcy."
This time it was Stormy who was in her face when she tried to leave and Musa snarled in frustration. She restrained the rest of her reaction, which was to zap them with a spell, knowing that that she was outnumbered.
"You don't come onto Cloud Tower turf and get to leave again. Besides we know spying when we see it."
Icy nodded, mean smile widening. "That's right. I bet you were watching, Riven. A little pixie told me you've got a crush on him."
Musa forced more laughter, but it sounded fake to even her own ears. "You don't want to get into it with me, witch!"
Icy's eyes narrowed at the threat. "You're not in the Harmonic Realm now, little Princess, and your daddy and his palace guards aren't here to protect you." Musa flinched, almost imperceptibly at the mention of her royal status but judging by the return of Icy's cruel smirk, Musa knew she'd noticed it.
"Don't," she tried to say but her voice was no more than a whisper.
"Although," Icy drawled on as though Musa hadn't spoken at all. "You're not actually a Princess are you? Because your daddy renounced his claim to the throne. So really, you're nothing. At least according to Riven."
Musa knew logically that Icy was only saying these things to get to her and that Riven had probably never said anything of the sort but it was working and Musa could feel tears burning behind her eyes.
Icy leaned forward, murmuring right into Musa's ear now, "Absolutely nothing."
Musa struck out.
"Complexion smear, wart adhere!" Musa gasped at the sight of the wart that appeared on Icy's cheek. Not only was it humongous it was horribly gory as well.
Icy was livid and her eyes flashed with barely controlled rage. Musa gulped and took a step back.
"How dare you?" Icy hissed tightly.
Stormy leaned closer to get a glimpse of the wart. "That has to be the single most disgusting wart ever," she said sounding half disgusted and half reverent.
Icy shoved her away with a growl and fixed her glare back on Musa.
"I warned you," Musa gasped. "I told you to leave me alone."
"Goodbye wart, gross and gory, return my beauty to its former glory," Icy gritted out and the wart vanished with a faint pop.
Every instinct in Musa's body was telling her to run but she knew she wouldn't get more than two steps before Icy attacked so she stayed where she was and stood her ground.
"What should I do with this low-life pixie? Show her some respect?"
"Teach her a lesson," Stormy agreed with a cackle.
"Yeah, yeah, you're good at trash talking. Why don't you shut up and show me what you got?"
Icy wasn't fazed and her eyes glittered dangerously, like razor sharp shards of ice. "I plan to, little pixie. The entire Cloud Tower senior class is here and I'm going to make an example of you so every Alfea loser knows exactly what happens to a pixie who disrespects me."
Musa glanced around and gulped. Unbeknownst to her, the teenaged witches from inside the cafe had quietly assembled outside, caging her in. Only Riven and Darcy were missing. Still Musa didn't let her fear show.
"What's wrong, Icy? Need back up to fight me?"
Icy smirked but for once didn't rise to the bait. She merely raised her hands where blue light was beginning to form at her palms. Musa eyed the crowd and found a small gap in the witches, perfect for her to slip through. Now, it was time to run.
Stella's insults had returned in full assault by the time the guys were due to arrive and they were waiting on the quad.
"Flora," she sniffed, looking over her friend. "Do you own anything more 21st century?"
Flora narrowed her eyes but didn't snap back, knowing it wasn't really her friend talking. Instead she just sighed longsufferingly and watched the distant woods passively.
"Listen, when the guys get here," Stella continued. "Play it cool, like the only reason we called them because we needed a ride."
"That is why we called them," Tecna said sounding bored and not even bothering to look up from her phone.
"Right," Stella said, eyes raking over Tecna's usual tracksuit set. She opened her mouth, no doubt to unleash another biting comment but the arrival of the Red Fountain aircraft interrupted her. The ramp lowered and the girls all turned to greet the guys.
"I'd ask if there were any damsels in distress in need of a ride," Sky said, stepping onto the quad. He took in the unimpressed faces of his female friends and grinned. "But you girls don't need our help."
"Too right," Stella said proudly, but she was smiling at the brunette.
Tecna caught the smile and rolled her eyes. "Stella, please remember our goal here is to find Musa and not socialise."
"Hey Tecna," Timmy said, joining his friend and Tecna blushed a brilliant scarlet much to the amusement of her friends.
"Uh, hi Timmy," she mumbled, suddenly finding her phone much more interesting.
Brandon was the last to join them but he did so with a slight smile, blonde hair shining in the sun and tied back in it's usual small ponytail at the base of his neck. "Hey there," he said, eyes on Bloom alone. "What's up?"
Bloom suddenly found her mouth dry and her palms slick with sweat. She wiped them off on her jeans and tried to force her brain to function.
"Uh, um," she said, lost for a moment in Brandon's dark eyes. Musa, she thought. Something about Musa. "Musa headed to Magix City and we need a ride so we can find her."
"We think she's downtown somewhere," Flora added.
Sky's face clouded over. "The Cloud Tower witches hang out downtown on Saturday afternoons."
"Yeah," Timmy added. "They hold their dark arts and crafts meetings at the Hex Cafe."
The girls paled.
"Damn," Bloom cursed. "How quick can you get us there."
"Depends on the traffic," Brandon said checking the time on his phone. "But not too long hopefully. Hop in. You can fill us in on the rest on the way."
They all hurried back onto the ship and within moments they were strapped in and lifting off.
Meanwhile back in Magix City Musa was hurtling down the streets of the city, a large group of witches right on her heels and gaining fast. Unfortunately for her, the residents of Magix had long since gotten used to seeing minor skirmishes between students of Alfea and Cloud Tower and would rarely got involved unless it turned dangerous.
"Get lost," she tried yelling over her shoulder, weaving through the residents of the city.
A roar of cackling answered Musa and she gritted her teeth and ran faster.
"I heard that she likes to dance," one witch said snidely and Musa resisted the urge to turn around and tell her she much preferred to sing, choosing instead to conserve air. "So let's make her dance."
Musa's heart sunk as she realised the implications of the words and a quick fleeting glance over her shoulder told her all she needed to know. The first energy ball missed her as she began to zig zag but another clipped her shoulder tearing at her skin and she felt another make contact with her ankle, singing her jeans and making the skin underneath sting. Her muscles burned and protested as she forced them harder and ran erratically to avoid any more hits.
She dashed around another corner and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw it was much more crowded than the last. It would force her to move slower but it also meant the witches could no longer use their magic and risk hitting a citizen, not if they didn't want retaliation.
Musa was still jogging on and looking over her shoulder when she ran into a warm, solid chest. Strong arms steadied her before releasing her like they been burned by her touch. She blinked blearily up through her fringe to meet Riven's cold violet eyes. Musa whipped around to see the witches advancing like wolves and spun back to Riven.
"You have to help me," she pleaded.
"I'm with Darcy now," Riven said simply, voice cold.
If Musa wasn't so flustered by the approaching witches she might have noticed the blank look in Riven's eyes or the odd note in his voice, or even remembered that Riven was most likely deep under Darcy's spell. But as it was all she could see was his betrayal and her hand came up hard and fast to crack across his face. Riven sucked in a shocked gasp but Musa didn't hang around to hear what he had to say and took off again.
"You're a real bastard, you know," she spat over her shoulder as she went.
The crowd thinned the further she pressed on before disappearing completely leaving Musa alone as she sprinted along the streets of Magix. She skidded around another corner and realised too late that it was a dead end. She could hear the witches approaching and knew she wouldn't have time to run. Before she could try an invisibility spell however the witches arrived at the mouth of the street, slowing when they saw they had the fairy trapped. Stormy, Icy and Darcy pushed their way to the front of the group while Musa considered her options.
As if reading her mind, Icy smirked and said, "Too late, no spell can help you now."
"Yeah," Darcy continued. "I heard you were spying on me and my guy? Time for you to learn some manners, little pixie. It's not nice to eavesdrop!"
Before any of the witches could attack however something disturbed the air in the street, stirring up the leaves and dirt on the ground and whipping it around. Shielding her face from the grit Musa glanced up to see a familiar Red Fountain craft hovering above them. It began to lower into the street between Musa and the witches, forcing the witches to scatter and reassemble elsewhere to avoid being squished. The Trix snarled as the lowering ramp revealed a familiar group of fairies and heroes.
"Need some backup?" Bloom's voice called and Musa could have wept in relief.
"A little," she called back weakly and hurried to join them, stomach loosening as she realised she was no longer alone. They were still outnumbered horrendously but at least she wasn't alone.
Icy sneered but didn't comment. She didn't need to as Riven appeared with the witches pushing his way through to stand with the Trix.
"Brandon," he snarled, eyes glaring daggers at his squadmates.
Brandon lifted an eyebrow but didn't display Riven's level of anger. "You're hanging with this crowd now?" he simply asked.
"Yeah," Riven snapped. "This crowd had my back like you never did." Riven pulled his phanto-blade hilt from his belt and clicked the blade out.
Brandon scoffed and pulled his own blade out. Sky and Timmy followed suit. "If that's how you want to play it." Despite his cool demeanour it was Brandon who ran at Riven first, not willing to let Riven have the first move.
"Bring it," Riven shot back, running to meet him.
The sword fight was terrible and beautiful to watch. They moved with the grace of dancers, parrying and blocking each other's strikes before countering with their own moves. Their blades met with faint zaps as the charged material reacted with each other, glowing and reflecting the fury in their master's eyes.
The others didn't get the chance to watch their fight for long because the witches burst into action, all running at the fairies and specialists except for the Trix who just smirked and watched.
The girls steeled themselves for the oncoming barrage but the witches didn't get very far before Sky leapt into action, bringing his powerful broadsword down and slamming it into the cement to form a phanto-shield that spanned the width of the street. Sky chuckled at the looks of disbelief on their faces and rejoined his friends.
No one was laughing for long though as the street suddenly dropped in temperature and ice began to form on the shop fronts. The specialists were protected by their uniforms but the girls rubbed at the exposed skin. The source was of course Icy who was furious with the poor effort put in by the other senior witches.
"That was pathetic," she hissed, dangerous blue magic appearing at her palms.
"Icy!?" one of the witches whined, hugging her arms around her.
"It's cold," another said looking to Stormy and Darcy for help.
But Stormy was similarly furious. "I'm with you, Icy! Electric Rage!" She thrust her hands upwards and two lightning strikes shot from her palms and into the air, forming a darkly dangerous cloud above them all.
"Uh, girls," Bloom said, eyeing the cloud warily. "Do you think it's maybe time…"
"Yeah, I'd say so," Stella said, eyes also on the sky.
They didn't waste any time transforming, their street clothes disappearing only to be replaced with their fairy forms, glittering mini-skirts and tops and their wings on their backs. By then Sky's phanto-shield had faded and there was nothing to protect them as the Trix advanced, looking murderous.
"I find this whole ordeal quite shocking," Stormy growled and in the blink of an eye had shot a lightning bolt straight at Tecna, blasting her back onto the ground where she lay unconscious. The girls gasped at the speed with which Stormy had struck, reminding them all over again how much of a disadvantage they were at, being only freshmen.
Timmy was by her side in an instant, leaning over her and checking her pulse. "She'll be okay," he called and the girls breathed out in relief.
They left him to take care of her and focussed on the witches. Off to the side Brandon and Riven were still battling, a whirl of blue and purple blades which clashed unnervingly. Flora and Bloom shot into the sky to battle Stormy, leaving Musa and Stella to take on Icy and Darcy.
Icy struck next, sending a wall of ice shards at Stella, forcing her to fly into the air to avoid them. She swerved left and then right before ducking behind a nearby car for cover.
Icy's smirk was cold and cruel. "Incendium," she said with a twitch of her fingers and the car burst into flames.
"No," Stella shrieked and Musa and Sky were forced to watch on in horror at the car disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
Musa darted forward to help her friend but Darcy teleported in front of her, blocking her way. Musa growled in frustration but didn't have a chance to try and get around her before she was forced to dodge bursts of magic. The first two missed but finally the third hit and threw her to the ground painfully.
While Musa was still recovering and Sky was busy holding back witches with his blade Darcy smirked and made clones of herself until Musa was surrounded by Darcy replicas. All eight of them raised their hands, preparing to attack but a well aimed throw of Sky's boomerang had them disappearing and the real Darcy crumpling to the floor.
But saving Musa had cost him dearly and the other senior witches blasted him with his magic sending him skidding across the cement until he lay next to Musa. She grimaced.
"Thanks for the save."
"Don't mention it," he grunted, pulling himself up. "You get Stella, I'll handle these witches." He ran back into the fray while Musa darted across the street.
Up in the air Bloom, Flora, and Stormy circled each other striking and dodging.
"Voltage slap!" Stormy cried, sending a sharp lightning bolt at Bloom who leapt to the side. Unbeknownst to her, Flora had been hovering behind her and was shot out of the sky. She fell with a cry and landed on the road with a horrible sounding thud.
"Flora!" Bloom called, feeling sick.
"I'm good," Flora called back softly, but Bloom didn't like how weak her voice sounded or the sound she'd made when she'd landed. But she couldn't check on her friend yet, not with Stormy still in the sky with her.
Bloom focussed her energy and threw a fireball at Stormy, grunting when the witch flew out of the way. Stormy sent back her own attack and sounded similarly aggravated when it also missed Bloom. This time when Bloom shot her fireball it made contact, singing Stormy's skirt.
"Argh," Stormy grunted, running her fingers over the fabric. "That was my favourite skirt," she snarled, fixing her angry gaze back on the red headed fairy, who knew she was in trouble by the flat line of Stormy's lips and the way something dark flickered in her eyes. True enough, the cloud that had been hanging ominously over their heads suddenly grew and a wind picked up making it hard for Bloom to stay in the air.
Down on the ground, Timmy had managed to drag Tecna's still unconscious body out of the middle of the fight and into the shadows of the ship's ramp. She was lightly stirring as the battle raged on around her and Timmy glanced between her prone body the battle.
"Hey Tec," he said, shaking her shoulder gently. "You're going to be all right."
A low voice spoke, "Sorry, but I don't think she is."
Timmy's head snapped up and he stared up at the cold, unforgiving face of Icy. His hand darted towards his belt where his gun was but Icy was faster, ice shooting from her fingertips and freezing his feet, slowly creeping up his body. He yelled out at the shock and pain of it, hoping anyone heard and would come to his aid.
Musa who'd found Stella trapped between the smouldering car and the wall heard his yell along with Stella. They glanced at each other, Stella leaning heavily on her friend and they both nodded. Stella was hurt but she didn't have the luxury of sitting out, not if her friends needed her. Squaring her shoulders and setting her jaw, she shot into the air despite how much it hurt and exhausted her.
Musa was about to follow her when Darcy appeared, knocking her backwards. She'd recovered from Sky's attack apparently and was even more pissed off than usual. Before Musa could attack first Darcy was clicking her fingers and the cars around them suddenly animated, lights turning on and rising into the air.
"This is a fun game," she growled as the cars rose into the air and began to circle Musa. "I call it crash-test fairy."
Realising what Darcy meant Musa's stomach dropped and she knew she had to get out of there before Darcy got bored with playing with her and attacked. The cars began to circle faster and faster and Musa watched waiting for the right time. She tried to slip through a gap between two cars but they were moving too fast and she collided with one painfully and was thrown backwards. She tried again, failed, but this time she hit much harder and was knocked unconscious.
"I win," Darcy cackled, bringing her the cars together to hover over Musa's splayed figure threateningly.
No one had noticed her dilemma; Brandon still had his hands full with Riven, Sky was surrounded by witches, Flora was lying dazed on the ground while Bloom battled Stormy above her and Tecna was slowly being frozen along with Timmy while Stella flew to their rescue.
"Hang in there, Tecna," Timmy murmured to a groaning Tecna before turning to Icy. "Back off already."
"Please," Icy scoffed and rolled her eyes. She doubled the intensity of the attack and the speed at which the ice was covering Timmy and Tecna. But then Stella was flying into the attack and creating a shield to divert the ice shards. Icy narrowed her eyes as her attack was thwarted and redoubled her efforts.
Bloom however above had finally notice Musa and Darcy who was beginning to bring the cars down and shot forward to help. It didn't matter to her that that meant walking away from the fight with Stormy. She'd take the blow to her ego if it meant helping her friend.
Unfortunately it looked like Stormy wasn't about to let her walk away. She zoomed in front of Bloom, stopping her from getting to her friend who was getting closer to being squished with every passing moment.
"Move!" Bloom growled. But it didn't seem to matter which was she turned or twisted, Stormy was always there to stop her and the more worried Bloom got, the more frustrated she got, and the more frustrated she got, the sloppier her flying became.
Bloom had thought she'd felt rage before. But up there in the sky with Stormy blocking her from helping her friend Bloom felt it. It was this coursing fury that started in the trembling of her hands and writhed through her until it felt like her whole being was being lit up with the fire of her anger. She didn't notice the way the skin glowed, or the way everyone had stopped to look at her, or even when Stormy shouted something about crystals. All she could focus on was the complete and utter fury that was coursing through her until it burst from her consuming the entire city for a moment.
In the street the witches screamed and shied away from the pure magic that coursed down on them and even Bloom's friends had to turn away from it, painful to look at.
"What is that?" Brandon yelled over the roaring of Bloom's magic.
The Trix were thrown from the sky by the force of the power and landed with painful grunts in the middle of the street. They picked themselves up quickly and along with the other witches and Riven they quickly fled, fear reflecting in their eyes.
"I've never seen a power like that before," Sky said, shielding his eyes as the light slowly dimmed. "What do you reckon it is?"
"No clue," Brandon murmured back, eyes intent on Bloom's form still up in the sky.
Now that the witches had gone the rage slowly left Bloom and the light coming from within her died along with it. She drifted down to the ground but the moment her feet touched the ground all energy left her and it was a fight just to stay conscious. Bloom collapsed to first her knees then her side, noticing absently that all along the alleyway windows were being opened and angry faces were appearing to yell at them.
Hands, warm, strong, and big were on her in the next minute, turning her over, shaking her shoulder, then lifting her up and cradling her against a broad chest but she was too weak to answer their call. She felt too safe in those hands to fight the bliss of sleep.
The girls and the specialists left the alley as soon as they were allowed. Bloom's display had caught more than a few residents attention and the Magix City police had been called. After telling their story with the aid of a little truth-telling potion they'd been allowed to go back to school, promising they'd try to stay out of trouble and away from the witches of Cloud Tower.
The injuries, thankfully were minimal. Cuts, scrapes, and bruises were plentiful but anything more serious was limited; Stella had sustained burns from the car to her shoulders where her top had exposed her skin but they were healing nicely thanks to some balm the guys had on the ship. Flora and Tecna had both sustained concussions when they'd fallen but Brandon had checked them over and thought they should be all right. For Bloom it was just exhaustion, plain and simple. She'd slept right through the police's thorough interrogation and half the flight back to Alfea and even when she woke up she was still drained.
Brandon left her lying on the bed in the small infirmary of the ship, promising to whip her up something that would have her in fighting shape in no time. He returned with a glass of a earthy smelling potion and offered it to her.
"It's hero's brew," he explained when she sniffed it experimentally. "We take it when we need to regain our strength quickly.
Bloom took a sip, then quickly drank the rest already feeling the potion taking the edge of her exhaustion. She sat up slowly with Brandon's help and stretched out all her limbs, groaning quietly at all the aches and pains she felt.
When she glance up it was to see Brandon looking at her strangely. He opened his mouth, as if to say something before abruptly closing it again and looking away.
"What is it?" she asked curiously.
But he simply shook his head with a smile. "Nothing. Now how do you feel?" he asked before Bloom could press any further.
"A lot better," she told him, no longer suffering from the weary exhaustion and the aches on her body slowly subsiding.
"You'll be back to yourself by the time we get back to Alfea," Brandon mused. "Do you want to stay here or… ?"
"Nah, I'll come out with you."
With Brandon's arm secure around her waist the pair walked slowly back into the main room, Bloom sinking into the nearest chair and closing her eyes, tired from the short trip.
Stella eyed Brandon who hovered over her, making sure she was all right.
"Awww," she crooned sarcastically. "Such loving care."
Flora nudged her friend. "Come on, Stella."
"Let me guess," Sky grinned, glancing away from the monitors he was manning for a second. "That's the spell you mentioned."
"Yep," Musa said, watching Stella warily.
Stella had apologised for all the things she'd said once they'd been back in the air and heading for Alfea but things were still a bit raw between the five friends. Some of the things Stella had said while tactless hadn't necessarily been untrue and they were still accepting that some things were out in the air between them.
"What happened to you back there, Bloom," Timmy asked, changing the subject. He was flying the aircraft but with the autopilot system he could relax a little.
Bloom shrugged, struggling to remember the details. "I just remember getting really mad and then just letting all this energy out."
Tecna was typing furiously at her hand-held computer. "Well, I've done some preliminary research," she said, surprising no one. "And I have to say the power Bloom exhibited today was much higher than a normal fairy of her age."
Bloom blinked blearily. "What does that mean."
"I'll have to do some more research, it could be several things, an evolution of your powers, something about the origin of your powers, I don't know."
"Whatever it was, I reckon she deserves a big, loud shout out 'cause that was pretty awesome," Musa said.
Stella rolled her eyes. "I'm shouting out to her to put on lipstick, get rid of the jeans, and put on a skirt instead."
Musa sighed and tipped her head back against the seat. "Does anyone happen to know how long these mood swing spells can last?"
"Musa," Stella cut in, eyeing her outfit with distaste. "That one-shoulder look is so last year."
Musa's lips flattened into a line. "Yo girl, mood swing spell or not, you're wearing my patience real thin, so you better just chill. And if she doesn't," Musa continued pointedly when it looked like Stella would argue. "I suggest we all slap her with a good, strong oppositus spell."
"Oh yeah," Stella said jumping to her feet and planting her hands on her hips. "Just try it, I dare you."
Musa regarded her friend tiredly. "I'd rather not but if you keep pushing…"
"Look," Stella sniffed. "I happen to be a Princess and I'm sorry but I expect to be treated as one. I can't be treated like an average non-Princess," she continued glancing at her non-royal friends. Then her eyes fell on Bloom. "Or an Earth girl."
Bloom groaned. "Don't start with me again."
"Earth is like so ewww-"
Behind Stella, Flora smiled suddenly and raised her hands. "Verbosis-oppositus."
The spell took effect immediately and the bad mood drained away instantly. "Errr- amazing and beautiful and it's great and so are you!" she finished. While the others laughed at her abrupt change in tune Stella continued looking at her other friends. "And Tecna you're just so awesome! Flora, you're the best and Musa, I love you!"
At Cloud Tower the senior witches were arriving back feeling sore but not defeated.
"I almost broke a nail out there," Stormy was whining, looking at her flawless nails.
"I can't believe we got beaten by a freshman," Darcy continued. "I hope it doesn't ruin our rep."
"It doesn't matter," Icy declared. "Not even one bit because I think I just figured out who has the Dragon Power."
The other two turned to her with wide eyes, sucking in shocked gasps. The question went unspoken between them. And Icy answered only with a smile.
"No," Darcy said, realising what Icy meant. "Not her!"
"Yes," Icy said triumphantly. "And now that we know exactly where the Dragon Power is, it'll be like taking candy from a fairy."
Faragonda watched the girls arrive back at Alfea from her office window which overlooked the main quad. A knock sounded at the door pulling her from her reverie and she returned to her desk, calling for the person on the other side of the door to come in.
"Miss Faragonda?" Barbatea asked cautiously as she stepped inside the office, closing the door behind her. She sunk into one of the seats before the large desk, looking exhausted. "I've checked all the enchantments in the library and everything looks to be in order."
"Very well," Faragonda said. "You may reopen the library."
"Thank you headmistress." Barbatea made to rise but Faragonda held out a hand, asking her to wait.
"Did you find anymore books about the last witch coven?"
Barbatea nodded. "Several that should not have been part of our collection. I was wondering if you'd like me to get rid of them."
Faragonda frowned before deciding it was too dangerous. Books like that were usually one of a kind and while they were dangerous to have around, it would be worse if they fell into the wrong hands.
"Move them to the highest security section of the restricted vault and check the enchantments every few days. I don't want that information falling into the wrong hands. One other thing: if Bloom ever tries to find out more about Daphne, the last Princess of Sparx or her time as a Nymph of the Magical Dimension I want to be alerted immediately."
Barbatea nodded at the odd request and stood hesitantly when it was clear she was dismissed. "Miss Faragonda… is there anything the staff should be worried about?"
Faragonda swallowed thickly but forced a smile. "Just being cautious, Miss Barbatea."
Hey guys :) I'm curious about you guys, what's your favorite season? Personally I love season 1 and 2. Anyway I hope you guys liked the chapter, let me know what you thought.