Chapter 11
"Bloom, on your left!"
Quickly ducking, I barely dodged the spiked club that whizzed over my head. Frantically, I leapt into the air, hovering a few feet over the monstrous-looking criminal, and hit him with a Dragon Blast. He was immediately knocked unconscious.
I hadn't had a moment's peace since I left Cloud Tower a week ago. I'd spent a few more days there than I'd planned to since the little incident with Baltor losing control, but there was no way I could go back to Alfea looking like I had without everyone wondering what had happened. So, following a couple more healing spells plus a few days of recuperating and I was good as new.
It didn't take a few hours of me being back at Alfea for a series of bad things to happen.
To send a message to Faragonda, who he somehow had a past with, Baltor sent his army of zombie witches to attack Alfea. We were totally unprepared for it, and the magic barrier that Faragonda had put up around the school to protect us was blown to pieces. And, since it was torn to pieces, it gave the Trix the perfect opportunity to try and steal the magic scrolls stored in the Secret Vault. A huge battle ensued between us and them, and eventually they decided that if they weren't going to have the scrolls, no one should, and then Darcy set the entire library on fire. Nothing we did was putting the fire out, and just as we were about to leave we noticed a girl from Musa's realm caught in the blaze known as Princess Galatea. Musa refused to leave without her, when suddenly she underwent the same transformation as Layla, as well. In a flash, she was wearing a two-piece red, blue, and gold top and skirt with transparent gold gloves, and massive wings. Her pigtails remained the same, except for a small tiara appearing in her blue hair. The fire was put out instantly.
I'd asked Flora about what had happened with Musa, but she quickly changed the subject.
After that, we had to sneak into Cloud Tower with Mirta to find the Vault Monsters that roamed the halls for info on Ms. Faragonda's whereabouts, who went missing when she fought Baltor one-on-one. Turned out, he fused her life force with a tree's, and if we didn't save her in time, she would be stuck like that for all of eternity. (Baltor told me later that night that since I told him he wasn't allowed to do what he actually wanted with his revenge, he still wanted to 'put her in the ground.') The only cure for it was on Linphea, using water from a tree called the Black Willow that could reverse any spell or curse. It was a tree whose sister was burned and destroyed so it somehow moved to a cave on top of a mountain and it cried so much it created a waterfall where the water flows backwards. I didn't question it; I just went along with it.
We made it to Linphea the day after where we met Flora's adorable little sister Rose, and set forth on our very long journey to find the Black Willow. It also didn't help that the Trix followed us there to try and kill us to 'prove they were Baltor's main witch' or some weird reason like that. Another battle occurred with them after we found the Black Willow where multiple horrible things happened –Darcy poisoned the tree and killed it, the Trix tried to drown Rose, and Flora nearly drowned trying to save Rose. Everything worked itself out in the end, though, because what happened to Musa in the library happened to Flora. She ended up losing her old Winx transformation and gaining another similar to the one Layla, Musa, and Stella had. It was a small pink halter dress that looked like it was constructed of flower petals, with multi-colored gems decorating the bust and a pair of pink transparent elbow-length gloves, and large pink and green wings. Her hair reached the floor, similar to the other girls', and there was a small tiara pinned in it.
Still, no one would tell me just what the transformation was.
Once we got back to Alfea and saved Ms. F, I thought I was finally home free. Nothing else bad could possibly happen, right?
Wrong.
The situation on Tides had steadily grown out of control, and it was finally at its peak. Baltor hadn't been keeping tabs on what was happening with the Omega Portal; he wasn't concerned about what happened to the realm since he had taken all of the magic he thought was useful. However, since there was nothing to contain it, it now was bringing both Tides and Omega closer together –as in, the planets were literally going to collide. And unless the Omega Portal was contained, both Omega and Tides would be obliterated along with all of their inhabitants.
We rushed to Tides to find that the criminals who had been able to break free of their ice prisons on Omega had gone through the portal and were now terrorizing the planet. Most of them were on the path that led to the portal, meaning we would have to fight our way through to reach it. We could've flown, but the weapons the criminals had were extensive and some could bring us down if we tried to fly over them.
Stella and Tecna had flown off earlier per King Teredor's orders to collect a priest by the name of Taboc. He said that Taboc had been one of the creators of the Omega Portal; therefore, he was essential to its closure.
That was an hour ago. And there was still no word from them.
"Have you seen any sign of Stella and Tecna?" Flora asked as if she'd heard my thoughts.
I shook my head. "Have you?"
She shook her head.
Quickly evaluating how big of a crap storm we were in, I tried not to focus on the lack of news. "Alright, we need to keep them away from the city until they get here." I said, acting confident. "Flora, you and Musa take the right flank. Layla and I will take the left."
Nodding, we all broke apart. Swerving to the left, I flew up into the air and released two streams of fire at a group of escapees.
"So, I heard your dad mention something about coming out with the Tides army?" I inquired to Layla, throwing up a shield to block one of the convict's weapons.
"Yeah," she confirmed, blasting the guy away from me. "He said he was going to rally a few of the fleets and meet up with us."
My breaths were starting to become heavy and staggered. "Do you have any idea how much longer that could take?"
"It all depends on which two fleets he picks."
"Oh, well, no rush or anything."
Layla leapt up further in the air, barely missing contact with a scythe. "He's on his way!"
"If he doesn't hurry we're going to be on our way to being dead!" Musa interjected.
"She's right," Flora regretfully added. "We're outnumbered. If we don't do something quick then we're going to be in some serious trouble."
"Well, what are we going to do?" Layla asked.
I shook my head, continuing to block multiple enemies. "I have no idea."
We were running out of energy. Soon, we'd barely have any power left to fight. The other girls seemed to be doing a bit better than I was, due to their new transformation or whatever the hell it was; but, either way we weren't going to last much longer. Flora was right about being outnumbered. There was no way we could fight all of these guys and actually win. We were going to pass out from lack of energy or lose concentration and be severely struck. Neither were pleasant options.
"Bloom, monster at six o'clock!"
Spinning around, I felt a sudden sense of dread. The beastly looking monster was too close to me for me to react quickly enough. With his proximity, in half a second, I was bound to be a goner.
"Sunshine Lasso!"
To my surprise, a golden rope wrapped around the monster's neck and tugged it back. The force on the monster was too much for it, bringing it to the ground with a small jerk. I couldn't help but smile in relief at the familiar voice.
"Stella!"
The pigtailed blonde was hovering in the air, flaunting her new stylish transformation. She'd earned hers at the Millennium party trying to save her father from being killed by a dragon. (I'm still a little fuzzy on just what all happened at that party, but I'm kind of glad I missed it.)
"Don't worry everyone!" she exclaimed, happily. "I'm here now!"
"Someone please remind me why we were so worried that she was gone?" Musa said, annoyed.
"Where's Tecna?" Flora asked Stella.
"She took a different route with Taboc to the portal. They're waiting for us; we need to go."
"We can't just leave!" Layla protested. "We're still being swarmed by monsters and criminals. We'll never be able to fight our way through!"
"Oh my God!" I shouted, losing my patience. "Why don't we just combine our powers and freaking teleport onto the damn portal?"
A loud boom resounded around us, making the ground shake. Pivoting towards the noise, our jaws dropped. Thousands of armor-clad soldiers were charging the recently released criminals, battling them off. King Teredor was at the front, creating enough of a distraction for us to have a straight shot for the portal.
"Or we could just fly!" I added, shrugging. "That's cool, too, now that that's an option again."
"We don't have time to debate this!" Stella told Layla. "We need to take this chance and run!"
Layla was reluctant, glancing towards her father. She was torn between staying and joining him.
Flora reached over to her, catching the Morphix fairy's attention. "He'll be fine. He can take care of himself. We need to go."
There was a pause, but Layla eventually nodded.
Not hesitating, we immediately took off.
The portal was much larger up close than I'd thought it would be. I'd only caught glimpses of it while fighting the monsters, but my scaling was way off. There was no visible top to the spiraling tower of magic, looking as if it merged with the sky. Emanating from it was two light sources, one for each realm it was connected to –blue for Omega and red for Tides. It was giving off a powerful wind, nearly knocking all of us over the edge. It was seething with pent up energy, and if we didn't stop it soon, we'd all be dead within the hour.
Seeing two forms standing on the platform, we all landed relatively close to them. I recognized Tecna, but I didn't recognize the dark-skinned, elderly, grey-haired man with her. From appearance, I assumed he was the priest Layla had referred to before, wearing a long white robe with a long red and yellow cape.
"Guys, this is Taboc," Layla introduced. "I would go more into details but from what I'm guessing, we don't have a lot of time to be formal."
Taboc shook his head. "The Omega Portal is very close to reaching full capacity. Soon, it will obliterate everything in its path. Tides and Omega will be no more."
Worry spread through my head, making me wonder just how long we had left.
"You put a stop button on this thing, right?" I asked Taboc. "You know, in case something like this happened?"
He nodded.
"Here's a better question," Musa quipped. "Why make it in the first place? What was the purpose of this?"
Taboc solemnly shook his head, dark eyes filled with regret. "Many years ago, the triad of wizards I was in was enlisted by the Magix Council to create a prison that could hold the most dangerous of criminals. The only way that anyone could leave would be through this portal, but it was inescapable. No one could open it. And now, the portal that was supposed to keep us safe will soon destroy us all."
"Wow," Musa muttered. "That was really dumb."
"This scroll holds a spell powerful enough to shut the Omega Portal," Taboc explained, pulling a roll of paper out of his robe. "It's the only secure way to save Tides."
It was like the Portal sensed the scroll's presence. The wind picked up, blasting us nearly over the edge. The scroll was torn from Taboc's hands, fluttering around the tornado of energy, and then vanished inside it. Once it had disappeared, the wind died down to its original speed.
All of us were knocked into silence, watching our last bit of hope disappear into the funnel.
"I don't think it's very happy with you," Musa commented to Taboc.
"Without that scroll, I cannot close the portal," Taboc said, defeated.
"How are we supposed to close it then?" Layla asked, dumbstruck.
"We will have to go to drastic measures. If you are going to save Tides, someone will have to close it from the inside."
We all looked at each other. All of us knew what he was implying, and from the looks in our eyes, we were all a bit hesitant.
"What will happen to the person who does it?" Musa inquired, voice shaking slightly.
"I do not know. It will depend on their will and their strength."
How helpful.
"We can't just let this Portal destroy Tides," Stella said, worriedly. "We're going to have to risk it."
Musa nodded. "But then there's the question of who's willing to go in?"
We were all silent again.
All of us had our reasons for not wanting to go in. It seemed a bit selfish for all of us to not want to be the martyr, but who could blame us? Going in there was a dance with death. Dying was never in the job description.
I couldn't let Tides turn into Sparx. I couldn't let what happened to me happen to Layla. If the Omega Portal got any more out of hand, people were going to start getting hurt. The impact of Omega colliding with Tides would potentially be too much. Both would be completely destroyed. And while I wasn't very fond of the convicts lingering in the icy hellhole, there were only innocents on Tides.
I'd go in and close it.
What about Baltor?
That thought made me stop from volunteering.
I was finally beginning to heal. I was finally beginning to feel again, and I had Baltor to thank for that. What kind of repayment would this be? Leaping in there would be me saying I didn't care about anything he'd done for me, and that I didn't care about him.
But I did.
I could easily imagine him standing in front of me, yelling at me for being an idiot and telling me to get the hell off of Tides. I'd been around him long enough to know that he never hesitated to call me out on my mistakes, just like I never hesitated to do so with him.
The longer I thought about him, the more sure I was that I needed to be the one to jump into that portal. Knowing that Tides was going to be destroyed because of Baltor's destruction made my heart twist in guilt. I couldn't not feel responsible. I was shamelessly flirting with the enemy that didn't have a care in the world that he was destroying two realms.
I hated the thought of possibly leaving everything behind, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try to do something.
"I'll close it."
The girls all stared at me with wide eyes.
"It makes the most sense." I explained, trying to not let them see how tight I was clenching my fist.
"Bloom, no." Layla protested, moving in front of me to stop me from entering the portal. "I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself for Tides. This is my realm; I need to do this."
"Layla, I really hate to make myself sound almighty and powerful, but I have the Dragon Fire." I said, attempting to come up with a foolproof explanation. "If the Dragon Fire isn't powerful enough to close this portal, what can?"
Everyone glanced at each other, solemnly.
"Then I'm going in with you." Layla replied, a fierce look in her teal eyes. "We do this together." She stuck her hand out to me.
I felt a slight bit of relief, knowing that I wasn't going to be alone. Reaching out, I accepted her hand. "Alright. Together."
We didn't say goodbye to anyone, determined to only think of a positive outcome. Layla did it out of bravery. I didn't because I was too busy trying to put on the façade that I was as brave as Layla. However, that didn't stop me from silently praying that we didn't get trapped in the Omega Dimension or killed in the process.
Facing the Omega Portal, we both began walking towards it.
The closer we got to it, the windier it became. Our eyes were nearly squeezed shut by the time we were close enough to enter it. I wanted to back out. I wanted to back out so bad. Glancing over at Layla, I saw her give me a firm nod. She was confident enough for the both of us. I didn't need to feel brave; I just needed to not think. Then, after taking a final moment to collect ourselves, we tightened our grip on each other and we jumped.
We didn't stand a chance.
Layla and I were torn from each other, separated with absolutely no chance of reuniting. The wind was like thunder in my ears, throwing me around the portal like I was weightless. Brief flashes of icy air continuously struck me all over, knocking the air out of my lungs so much I couldn't breathe.
After what felt like hours, we were thrown from the portal.
The portal flung us away, sending us soaring across the monument. My skin scraped against the rock as I slid to a stop near the edge. Skidding to a halt, I shakily pulled myself up onto my hands and knees. It wasn't excruciating, but it was enough to make it difficult to support myself. A spot of red on the dirt caught my eye, making me freeze. Taking a longer look, I gradually comprehended what I was looking at.
Blood.
Seeing another drop fall into the small puddle, I lifted a hand to my nose, coming in contact with warm liquid.
Looking over at Layla, I saw she was looking at me with wide eyes, just as stunned as I. She appeared to be in the same state, blood dripping from her nose, as well.
It rejected us.
"It's no use," Taboc said, sadly. "There's nothing more we can do. Tides is doomed."
"Oh, stop being so dramatic!" Stella chided, wagging her finger at the priest. "Surely there's someone who can close this thing."
"I'll do it!"
My eyes shot up to Tecna as she boldly walked past us, straight towards the portal. If the portal rejected me and Layla, there was no way it would accept any of the other girls.
Right?
"Tecna, you can't go in there!" Flora shouted, moving to run after her.
"Wait!" Taboc grabbed Flora, holding her back from going after Tecna. "We must let her try."
"You can't be serious?" Musa scoffed in shock. "You saw what that thing did to Bloom and Layla, and they're two of the strongest fairies here!"
"This act of sacrifice may be enough to close the portal."
"I honestly thought that the creation of the portal was going to be the most ridiculous story you'd tell," Musa remarked. "But this is just insane! Surely this portal can't determine sacrifice, right?"
He didn't speak, but gave her a look that made me uncertain.
If Tecna was scared she was extremely good at hiding it. There wasn't a lick of fear on her face as she approached the portal. Her expression was straight, and her posture exuded determination. There was no chance of us trying to get her to come back.
She barely came to a stop when she reached the edge before she leapt inside. Musa blanched, clearly thinking that Tecna wouldn't actually do it. None of us did. Tecna was always so meek; we'd never expect her to do something as bold as this.
To our shock, the reaction the portal had to me and Layla didn't replicate with Tecna. She remained in the center of the portal, at a complete standstill. Her eyes were closed in deep concentration for what felt like an eternity (Stella even asked if she was still alive). But then she opened them.
A bright light shone through the portal, blinding everyone around it for a brief moment. When it disappeared, we were terrified something had gone horribly wrong.
Tecna was still in the portal though, smiling to herself.
She'd gained the new transformation.
She was wearing a two-piece outfit like Layla and Musa, but hers included shorts and was purple, green, and silver with silver transparent gloves, with huge tech-styled wings. Her hair lengthened a bit, but only down to the nape of her neck, and an intricate gold symbol was clipped in it.
What the hell was going on with everyone?
Tecna swerved back, exiting the portal like it was nothing at all. Grabbing the small trinket connected to her choker, she pulled it off and opened it. Tipping it over, it looked like she was sprinkling . . .
"Dust?" I questioned, glancing over at Flora.
Flora's eyes immediately shot to the ground, nervously.
I looked over at the others who had clearly heard my question, as well. All of them were giving me sad, almost sympathetic looks, but still no one said anything
Were they hiding something from me?
I was about to ask what was going on when the wind suddenly began to pick up. Turning my attention back to Tecna, I saw her begin to bend the portal, forcing it down on itself.
"It's working!"
Taboc's exclamation made me start to worry. Yes, it was working, but with the amount of force Tecna was implementing, would she be able to break away?
My stomach dropped.
A bright beam of light exploded from the center of the Omega Portal, causing Tecna to lose focus and get caught back inside. The ground beneath it opened just enough to let the portal collapse, but the force was too strong. If it was going down, Tecna was going down with it.
"Tecna, no!" Musa made a mad dash towards the portal, horror apparent in her almond-shaped eyes. Leaping forward, she reached out to drag Tecna out just as the portal finished spiraling into the ground.
Musa grunted in pain as she fell to the ground.
Silence.
The portal was gone.
And so was Tecna.
Rising to her hands and knees, she started running her hands across the ground, searching for some way to get to Tecna. "What happened?" Musa's voice was small, laced with fear. Spinning to Taboc, her hands balled into fists. "What just happened?"
"The portal accepted your friend's sacrifice."
My blood ran cold.
She paled, shaking her head. I thought she was going to be sick, comprehending what Taboc was saying. "But I grabbed her!" she denied. "I grabbed her arm! I grabbed her!"
Taboc stood in silence, head bowed.
We were all too stunned to break down into tears. My entire body was numb; my brain taking its time in comprehending the full realization that Tecna was gone. I saw a few tears start to slip down the other girls' cheeks, but I was still waiting for mine to come.
Musa's shrill cries pierced through the air, her fists slamming against the small circle that was left of the portal. Her nails tore at it, desperate to try to get it back open. "We have to get her out of there! Convicts were still breaking out of their prisons before the portal closed! She's all alone! If they ganged up on her–"
"There is nothing we can do," Taboc said, solemnly. "There is no way to get her back."
The music fairy shook her head, tears building in her eyes. "No, there's gotta be a way! There has to be something!" she raged. "Anything!"
He said nothing.
"It can't just end like this!" Her head whirled in my direction. "Bloom, you have the Dragon Fire! Do something!"
My heart beat painfully in my chest. I wanted to do something. I would've done anything, but there was nothing I could do. I was powerless.
Her eyes shot to each of the other girls, agony residing deep in them, begging them for help. But they were as powerless as I was. None of us knew what to do. None of us knew what we were supposed to do.
The anger she was exuding disappeared, seeing that we couldn't do anything either. For one final time, she looked at each of us.
Then she broke.
Tears gushed down her face like waterfalls, her hand coming up to cover her mouth to stifle her loud wailing. She lost the energy to keep up her transformation, returning to the clothes she'd had before we arrived. Her forehead brushed against the center of the platform where Tecna had been only moments ago, as she curled into herself.
It was disturbing to see Musa cry. Not because of appearance or anything, that would've been absurd. Musa never actually cried. She did every now again over a few fights with Riven and when something reminded her of her mom. However, this was different. This break down was something none of us had ever seen before.
Tecna was who Musa was the most close to. They were practically siblings, despite how Tecna was always constantly throwing fits about Musa playing her music too loud. Losing her mother, and now losing Tecna . . .
The death of a loved one was something I'd always feared. I'd lost Daphne, but I never actually knew her. I was a baby when she died. I couldn't accurately detail what losing her would've felt like. And, if it felt like how Musa was portraying it, I prayed I never had to endure it.
"This is all his fault," Layla muttered, clenching her fist.
I looked over at her, feeling like I already knew the answer to my question. "All whose fault?"
"Baltor's." Her face darkened. "He's to blame for this."
And for a fleeting moment, I agreed.
I am so exhausted; you all have no idea. This chapter was so much work, and with my crippling existential crisis and my insane prom, I want to crawl into bed and sleep for about a month. It's ridiculous. (Not to say prom wasn't fun; but it wore me the hell out.) I promise I'll fix any grammatical mistakes in the morning. I just wanted to get this chapter out because I've made you all wait long enough.
Tecna is gone. Poor Tecna. I was considering scrapping this scene and just referring to it, but I decided against that mostly because I wanted to show that the other girls weren't they're not just figureheads and they're experiencing things during this battle, too. This event is also one that sets up the basis for the next chapter where Bloom and Baltor get into their very first real fight. That one's going to be fun. I don't know why I love writing them when they're yelling at each other, but I do. I love it so much.
Also, for those of you who keep asking why I haven't let Bloom figure out about Enchantix, that's going to be explained in either the next chapter or the chapter after that; it all depends on where I can fit it in. But, I promise, she's about to learn about Enchantix very, very soon! I just want it to be at the right time, and I have a very specific plan for the next few chapters that way it fits in perfectly.
And if you haven't heard, in-between writing these chapters, I'm doing am AU drabble/one-shot collection about Sparxshipping where I am taking requests for situations that you would like to see them in! I've been having fun writing them, and I'm definitely enjoying the requests I've gotten so far but I would love to have some more, so please, if you an idea or two, PM me! The next one that's going to be up is one about Boy Bands, and oh my god, I love every second of it.
Well, if you all will excuse me, I have a nap I need to go take and a room I need to not clean! If you could, please leave a review for this chapter –I read every single one of them and I even respond to some, so they are greatly appreciated– and I will see you guys later!
~Bloom