See Chapter 1 for disclaimers
CH. 11 Magical Reality and Illusion
"Really, my dears," Stella's voice was saying. "That look has been out for two seasons. Heels with that outfit?" Bloom sighed in aggravation, as she rounded the corner of the building housing, finding exactly what she knew she would find. The fairy of the sun and the moon was examining the outfits of two seniors with a critical eye. That never ended well. Stella's fashion advice was never terribly subtle, and it inevitably antagonized the person she was trying to help. Moving to intervene, Bloom managed to catch the attention of her friend before she could push the senor fairies too far.
"Stella," Bloom called, diverting the attention of the irate seniors her oblivious friend was addressing. "We've talked about this. If they want fashion advice, they'll ask for it… or beat it out of you," she added quietly, causing one of the seniors to snicker and the other to look thoughtful as Bloom walked by them. "Come on. We've got midterms to study for."
"But look at them!" Stella began, but Bloom cut her off.
"Enough, Stella. Let them alone before one of them spells you…again." She led the sullen looking fairy away, waving apologetically to the seniors over her shoulder. The two girls Stella had been critiquing glared after her for a moment, then shrugged and went on their way.
Bloom relaxed when she saw this. There was enough to deal with without having to undo some vicious prank on her friend. Aside from upcoming midterms, the weird dreams continued. A glowing woman spoke to her every night, urging her to begin some kind of journey, but being frustratingly vague about who she was and what she actually wanted.
Miss Faragonda had looked thoughtful about it when Bloom had approached her and asked, but had no ideas or advice to offer. Bloom had been headed for the library when she had stopped to rescue Stella the fashion diva. Extracting a promise to return to their rooms and study, she sent the blond fairy on her way. Bloom then resumed her trek to the library.
In many respects, Alfea's library was just like any other, with thousands of tomes. Given Alfea's nature, it was no surprise that the focus was on magic. There were books on virtually every kind of magic there was. What seemed to be lacking, however, was any obvious means to locate specific books. Nothing resembling a card catalog or a computer terminal was in sight.
She found the librarian, and asked about books on the history of Magix, reasoning that that would be fairly innocuous and she could narrow it down once she found the right section. Without even looking up, the woman waved her toward the magical card catalog. It proved to be a podium that responded to voice commands. Given its nature, Bloom wondered why they called it a card catalog, but dismissed that as unimportant. She positioned herself in front of the podium and said, "town hall." The first book to respond was of no help, so she asked for information about the town hall façade. That got a more useful response and after a few moments of searching, she had an answer. "Daphne."
A book landed in front of her. She blinked in surprise as she took in the title. "This is a book about the great dragon and-" she had to duck as another came flying in, followed by another and another. Soon, she was surrounded by books circling her and demanding her attention. She had to duck repeatedly to avoid being struck by the flying tomes.
Raising a hand and concentrating, she called out. "Arresto Momentum!"
The books froze in midair, shuddered for a moment as if resisting her will and fell to the ground, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief. The librarian rushed over, followed closely by Miss Faragonda. Bloom nodded to them. "Sorry about the mess," she offered sheepishly. "I was talking to myself, and the catalog started yanking books off the shelves at random and tossing them at me." She spotted the book on the Great Dragon and scooped it up. "This is the one I was after." She then spotted one on the last witch coven and grabbed that as well. "I'll help clean up."
"That's alright, Bloom," the librarian hastened to forestall her. "I'll take care of it. It would take longer to show you where everything goes."
"Are you alright, Bloom?" Faragonda asked curiously, eyeing the books she was cradling against her chest. Bloom carefully kept the titles hidden. She was almost certain that the one on the Witch coven had slipped between the bars of the restricted section.
"I'm fine. I just need to be more careful around magical objects that take spoken instructions."
Faragonda allowed a slight smile and nodded before moving on. Bloom found a quiet corner where she couldn't be easily observed and started reading.
OOOOOOOOOO
Brandon managed to visit her the day before her first midterm. Stella had been a bit indignant over the short notice, but Bloom hadn't cared. She just wanted to spend time with him, even if it was just for a walk around the grounds. Given what she'd learned in those two books and three others they referred to, she needed a bit of a distraction and someone to talk to. The handsome blond squire fit her needs perfectly.
"I must admit I'm enjoying school more this year," he told her as they strolled through Alfea's park like campus. The sky was cloudless, but a light breeze kept it from feeling too warm.
"Oh?" Bloom steered him toward a path that led around the dormitories, knowing there wouldn't be too many people there.
"Better people around."
She smiled happily at that. "I'm enjoying everything about Alfea," she said, "and Magix in general," she frowned. "Well, not the witches."
"They do tend to ruin things," he nodded. "Or at least they try to. Seems like every time we get together, something happens."
"Our dates are never dull," she agreed with a nod, getting a laugh out of the young man. "I could use a little calm for a change, especially with the midterms coming up."
"Those are never fun," Brandon agreed with a grimace. "What's up first?"
"Professor Palladium and the magical reality chamber."
"Really?" He gave her a teasing glance. "Hear about the girl who disappeared in there?"
"Pretty sure that's a myth," she told him, rolling her eyes. "I'm not too worried. I'm as ready as I can be."
"Good luck." He gestured to a comfortable looking bench under the spreading branches of an old oak. They settled down to rest for a time.
The conversation drifted on to other topics. Bloom told him of her continuing dreams of the mysterious voice and how she had caught glimpses of an ethereal woman. She still didn't know what to make of it all. Was this woman a friend or an enemy? What was her ultimate goal? What was her immediate goal? Could it really be Daphne trying to communicate with her? If so, why? Brandon listened carefully to her musings and suspicions without interruption, thinking that he could see aspects of Tyger beginning to surface as she considered the possibility that whoever this was might be an enemy trying to manipulate her.
"Whatever happens, Bloom," he told her without hesitation, "I'll be right there to help you through it."
"Thanks, Brandon." Impulsively, she hugged him. He returned it happily. "I guess I'd better call it a night," she said regretfully, noting that the sun had almost dropped below the horizon. "I'll double check my preparations for tomorrow and get a good night's sleep."
"A sound plan," Brandon nodded. "See you soon?"
"Count on it," she promised. With that, they parted ways. She frowned slightly as she made her way back to her room. Bloom hadn't told Brandon, or anyone for that matter, that the idea of the magical reality chamber made her a bit nervous.
She still hadn't told anyone about Aincrad. She still didn't want to.
OOOOOOOOOO
"No need to be nervous, sweetie," Flora said quietly as they sat together on the benches surrounding the screen that
would display what was happening in the chamber, and waited for Palladium to start the testing. "After all, you've been spending an hour or two a day using VR for the past week since Techna got it working."
"Yeah," Bloom admitted, "but I know how that works." She had been diving, and taking Yui with her, but the little girl hadn't yet encountered her father. The time zones were quite different, and while Yui could have hung out anywhere in Alfheim, she preferred to stick with Bloom and see more of the Magical dimension. She wanted to have some really interesting memories to share when she passed her files to the original Yui. Techna was fascinated by the tech, even though it was somewhat primitive by her standards. It was simply an application of the technology she had never considered. She had wanted to build a compatible system for herself and accompany Bloom on one of her trips, but hadn't found the time yet.
"The magical reality chamber is not, virtual reality," Professor Palladium chose that moment to speak up, noting that the girls' conversation had given him an excellent opening. "The environment may be virtual, but the reality is not. If you get hurt in there it will be real."
"Not so different, then," Bloom muttered to herself, earning a puzzled look from Flora.
"Do I have a volunteer?" No one spoke up. "All right then. We'll just go in alphabetical order." Palladium informed them. "Bloom, you're up first. Have you decided which of the options you'll take?"
Steeling herself, Bloom nodded. "I'll try to restore a dead world," she said. "I've packed some basic potions that should help with that. Will I be able to take them in?"
"Of course," he nodded. He cautioned her again about the nature of the chamber and sent her in. Sella and the others all offered their advice and encouragement. "Remember, I won't be able to talk to you after the test begins. If you really get into trouble, I can cancel the program with the emergency button."
"Can I press it now?" Stella asked to the class' general amusement.
Palladium ignored the question and showed Bloom into the chamber. "No need to be nervous, just keep your wits about you." He left her to enter the chamber and await the start of the program as he took his place at the controls.
OOOOOOOOOO
Icy, Darcy, and Stormy watched events unfold in their improvised scrying pool. Their current base of operations was quite a sizeable step down from Cloud Tower, but all three knew that once they had the Dragon's Fire, they'd each be able to have a palace of their own, several in fact. Till then, the cave was well hidden and warded against magical detection.
"We're ready," Icy grinned, watching Bloom enter the chamber. The little surprise Darcy had planted in the chamber's systems should buy them enough time alone with the fairy to achieve their ends. "All we have to do is get her mad enough to use the Dragon's Fire and the crystals will absorb it. We'll become all powerful."
"First stop after that," Darcy grinned, "Cloud Tower, so we can pay Griffin back for expelling us." The others nodded their agreement. "Looks like its ready. Never fought by remote control before," she muttered, examining the wax likeness of herself.
"It's the easiest way in," Icy shrugged, "and it keeps us out of her reach." There was no need for the others to voice their agreement. They knew that was a good strategy.
OOOOOOOOOO
The scene formed around her, and the temperature dropped dramatically. "Brrr. I'm gonna need shelter and food," she mused looking about. Whichever world had been selected was certainly desolate. There was no sign of plant or animal life in the area, and stretching her senses as Palladium had taught them showed that there was no life beyond the microscopic within miles of her. "This is going to be a challenge."
Setting her bag on the ground, she began to take out her potions kit, only to draw back in surprise as Kiko clambered out. "I don't think bunnies are allowed in this test," she smiled fondly at her pet. "Oh, well. Nothing to do about it now. I'm going to plant and eco-totalis tree. That'll give us food and some shelter."
She grabbed the necessary items and ingredients and started the process of establishing a new ecosystem. Before the first tree could even sprout, though, three shadows fell over her. She spun around and jumped to her feet. "What are you doing here?"
"Everyone else is taking midterms," Stormy mocked. "But for you, it's a final exam." They began attacking without further comment, none of them holding back. Bloom snatched up Kiko and retreated to a spot where he was relatively safe while muttering a protection spell she had learned the other day. Then she charged the witches, trying to drive them as far from the rabbit's hiding place as she could.
OOOOOOOOOO
In the control room, Palladium and the other students could only stare. As soon as the intruders had appeared, Palladium had tried to end the test. The emergency button had done nothing. He tried to set the process in motion manually, moving through it step by step, but he had no luck with that either. None of the controls were responding. "We've been sabotaged," he realized.
OOOOOOOOOO
Bloom sent a blast of energy to scatter the witches and flew past them before turning and directing another attack at their backs. The trio had turned and scattered, though, and came at her from three different sides. Bloom conjured a shield to defend herself and neatly slipped out of the noose they were trying to close around her. She'd seen and used that tactic in Alfheim. The witches were clumsy about it.
There were still three of them and just one of her, though. And there was nothing clumsy about the way they used their magic. A spell from Darcy set her head spinning, light and shadow spinning around her, disorienting her till she manage to dispel the affect with a pulse of her own magic. By that time, though, she was encased in ice up to her hips and falling out of the air.
The impact knocked the wind out of her, but the witches didn't take advantage. They just circled her, mocking her helplessness. Even as Bloom freed herself with a burst of heat from her hands, she puzzled over this. What did the three actually want if they weren't there to finish her? It occurred to her that they might simply be too stupid to follow up on their advantage, but didn't think that was the case. So, what do they want?
Their spells had done more damage to the landscape than to her. The cold that had pervaded the scene when she first arrived was gone, pushed back by the heat radiating from the fissures they'd created. Bloom could see rivers of lava at the bottoms of some of them. Shattered boulders and the remains of small hills dotted the barren landscape with debris. The attacks that had done the damage would have killed her, but the witches seemed almost more interested in intimidating her. She still didn't know what they wanted and decided that all she could do was what she'd been doing. Keep them busy until the chamber could be shut down and help could arrive.
Temporarily blinded them with a bright flash of light, she darted away, being careful to avoid Kiko's hiding place. She taunted them to keep their attention on her. "You're boring me ladies. Is that the best you can do?"
It worked at first, they redoubled their efforts, but soon, they seemed to realize they weren't going to get what they wanted. The three pulled back and conferred quietly, allowing Bloom to catch her breath.
OOOOOOOOOO
In the control room, Palladium and the other students watched in frustration. Nothing tried so far had ended the program, and the professor doubted it would do anything to stop the Trix. As far as he could tell, they were projecting their images and powers from somewhere else. He could think of several ways this could be done, but the matter was academic under the circumstances.
He continued working on a complete shutdown of the chamber, cutting all power and forcibly negating the magic in use. Doing so would cause catastrophic damage, which was why there were safeguards in place that were taking time to circumvent, but once the chamber was shut down, they would be able to assist Bloom directly. At the moment, the safeguards prevented anyone else from entering the chamber. He tried to focus his attention on the task before him, but he still snuck peeks at the fight going on. Bloom was fighting like an experienced warrior, and Palladium had to wonder where those skills and those reflexes came from.
"Oh no!"
The professor glanced up at Flora's horrified cry and looked into the chamber. "Poor Kiko," Stella breathed. Palladium found Bloom kneeling at the edge of a crevasse, staring down at a river of lava while the witches hovered above her laughing and making jokes about 'bunny burgers.'
Musa shook her head. "Poor witches," she corrected.
"Huh?" Stella asked, and Palladium glanced at the two students in confusion. Then the blond fairy's eyes opened wide in realization as she stared into the chamber. "Oh, crap. Tyger."
Having no idea what that meant, he turned back to his work, disabling another safeguard, which only left a dozen or so to go. Palladium looked into the chamber in time to see Bloom glaring up at the witches, her face a mask of cold fury unlike anything he'd seen on her before. Thanks to the chamber's magically enhanced acoustics, the redheaded Earth fairy's words carried perfectly.
"You're not going to live to regret that." There was a blinding burst of flames and Bloom moved. She seemed to vanish from where she'd been kneeling. "I warned you!"
The voice came from behind Darcy and Stormy. They turned with startled exclamations to face her. Icy said nothing. She was already falling toward the ground in two pieces.
Every jaw in the control room dropped. Bloom was hovering slightly above the two remaining witches, a sword that seemed to be made of fire in her right hand. No one in the chamber or the control room noticed Icy's body dissolve into smoke.
"You're going to pay for that!" Stormy shouted, forcing down her shock at the sudden reversal and casting a spell that sent a powerful and rapidly growing tornado at Bloom. The red-headed fairy didn't even try to get out of the twister's path, and for a moment, the witches grinned triumphantly as it engulfed her. Then the funnel cloud began to glow red, as if the air itself had caught fire. Suddenly, it moved back toward Stormy with alarming speed.
"Look out!" Darcy shouted, throwing herself out of the path of the oncoming storm.
Stormy could only gape in disbelief as she tried to back away. "Wha-? She hijacked my spell! How did sheeeeaAARRGH!"
The whirlwind slowed and dissipated, leaving Bloom hovering in midair, not a hair out of place. Of Stormy, there was no sign. Bloom focused on Darcy. "Next!"
"Oh crap! Oh crap! Oh crap!" Darcy almost chanted as she backed away rapidly, throwing spells designed to confuse and disorient. Bloom barely seemed to notice, burning through each illusion, but getting no closer to the illusionist. Finally, out of patience, Bloom made a gesture that filled the room with fire. Darcy screamed in pain, and her form dissolved.
OOOOOOOOOO
Bloom landed and sank to her knees, her wings vanishing. She sobbed disconsolately, but her head came up when she heard a familiar sound. Kiko was sitting a few feet to her left. She rushed to him, only to have her hand pass through his body. "Huh?" Looking around, she saw more than a dozen identical rabbits dotting the ruined landscape. "What?" She could still hear the snoring, she realized, and it wasn't coming from any of the Kikos she could see. Following the sound to its source, she peered behind an outcropping and smiled in delighted relief at the sight of the real Kiko taking a nap. She scooped him up and was still happily cuddling him when the devastated landscape vanished, replaced by the bare chamber.
OOOOOOOOOO
"Nothing!" Stormy raged. "All that work for nothing." She raised her bandaged hand. The wax figure of herself that she'd been using for the projection had melted, burning her. She had no reason to complain more than the others, though. Icy's midriff was still tender. It was only a phantom pain, the ice manipulator knew, but being sliced in half, even second-hand, still hurt. Darcy also sported a bandage on her hand, courtesy of the melted wax, and while Stormy wasn't sure, given the dim light of their current hideout, the other witch seemed to have acquired a slight sunburn.
"We'll have to take a different approach," Icy growled. "We need to weaken her, and I think I know how."