Chapter Eleven: My Pit of Despair

"Oh my god..." Stella's agonized moan was filled with obvious dread and regret "Bloom, I think I might be dying"

"Good!" Bloom replied briskly with a hint a satisfaction in her tone, any remorse she had for her friends present situation had been overshadowed by her frustration with the blond girl. Bloom gazed down at her with a brooding look; the girl had sweat forming on her forehead as she draped her body miserably on the bathroom floor, a grey ash colour spreading over her flawless skin. Bloom noted that it was almost the same type of ash grey shade that corpses got after being dead for an hour or so, she'd seen enough corpses personally to make the comparison. Even with the girls obvious agony, the sight of her still didn't summon up any feelings of sympathy, Bloom was much too high strung and tense at the moment for that sort of nonsense. It had been exactly four minutes since Bloom had been standing on the balcony with her friends, watching the mysterious glow in the sky flash dramatically and then suddenly whiz out of existence. With their little strength the girls could only watch with growing horror as ships rained down on the good capital city of Eraklyon, screams filling the air and the need for action growing in each person. But then fate decided to be a raving bitch, and at that moment, the excitement, shock and a long night on the drunken town become too much for Bloom's delicate (And still half drunk) friend Stella. Mere seconds before Bloom was about to spring into queen mode the girl had bolted inside and claimed sanctuary in one of the bathrooms near the dining room, dragging Bloom by the arm with her. By the time the door drifted shut the blond princess was already neck deep in the toilet bowl, disposing of her horror and last night's mistake. And also to Bloom's massive frustration, holding her hostage. Literally holding her hostage! The tight grip on Blooms wrist did not lesson as the seconds of disgusting torture ticked by, so here Bloom sat next to her on the white tiles, slowing stroking the dog Lady's fur as she watched her friend revel in her rather abrupt hangover. Bloom didn't have much information on alcohol or hangovers, so she really didn't know how to help her friend or even know when the actual hangover would end. She guessed it depended on how much Stella drank or how much she was able to...rid herself of in these moments.

Bloom was in the middle of trying to tug her wrist from Stella's grasp when the door to the bathroom swung open to reveal Musa idly leaning against the doorframe with her phone in hand. Stella noticed her and was able to choke out "Musa! Never again! I meant it this time!"

Musa let out a brief laugh "Ha! That's what they all say"

"What's going on out there? Are many people hurt? What's happening?" Bloom demanded quickly, thinking she was a terrible leader in a time of crisis. Lady popped her head up at her mistress's tone but stayed still on the floor.

Musa put up a hand to calm her "Okay Bloom, chill. These people have been through enough catastrophes and wars (Caused by yours truly) to know what to do in these types of...strange situations. I think they've got it pretty under control"

The answer was not nearly enough for Bloom, panic and worry flooded her system as she thought of what she should be doing right now and how she wasn't doing it because she was stuck being Stella's captive. She scoffed impatiently "Okay what are you doing to help?"

Musa held up the phone "Trying to get a hold of Layla, make sure she's okay. But like Techna said, all the phones are down, so there's really no way of getting through to her. But hey! It's Layla, the girl is badass with knives, she's gonna be okay" Musa paused as Stella moaned again near the toilet, the dark haired girl let out a humorous laugh "Oh Stella, vodka is not your friend"

Bloom bustled with anger "You're laughing!" She pointed to the window "There are people out there, my people, possibly dying in the street and your standing here laughing!"

Musa was about to reply when Techna stepped into the cramped bathroom, wrinkling her nose in disgust "Oh my, flush!" Bloom reached over and yanked the handle without looking away from her friend, Techna eyed Stella disapprovingly before turning her gaze on Bloom "Everything is alright, it looks like the engines in all the ships failed but they have a safety procedure for that type of thing. The risk of getting hurt was greatly minimized by the pilot's quick action and thinking, so nobody has died"

"That we know of" Musa mumbled under her breath.

Techna ignored her and kept talking soothingly to Bloom "Now I've sent Flora down to help and she'll be back in a bit to give us an update, I also ran into the Queen on my way back up here and she says she'll handle the situation but they'll probably do a broadcast to the masses to reassure them that everything's alright" She paused for a moment "Well...when the television stations come back online"

Musa turned to her "What do you mean 'online', why are they offline?"

Techna shrugged "Not sure, nobody can use the web or the phones. All communications are knocked out, except for maybe the emergency ones. We'll just have to wait"

Bloom snapped again "That's it? That's all you have for me?"

Techna gave her an exasperated look "Well, what do you want from me Bloom? This situation only just occurred like" She glanced at her watch "Seven minutes ago! I can't just have all the answers, I need information, I need time and I need everyone to stop breathing down my neck about it, jeez!"

Bloom could see she'd hit a nerve, she raised her hands in apology "Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair "I'm just stressed, I thought if anything like this ever happened, anything really wrong, I'd have Sky to back me up!"

Musa observed her nails "Well I assume you won't have to wait long. With the freakish rip in the sky gone, they'll probably be heading home right now. We should go to headquarters to meet them"

Techna nodded "Yes, they wanted us to come in anyway"

Bloom thought for a moment, something was nagging at her, something at the back of her mind that should probably be occurring to her. Stella spoke up from where she'd crawled away from the toilet and was currently brushing her teeth with a toothbrush she'd fished out of her handbag "So I guess that rip wasn't too dangerous...*brush brush*...I mean what'd it do? Exploded in the sky and knocked out our communications for a bit" She chuckled "And everyone was so worried about it"

Musa arched an eyebrow at her "Says the girl who got piss ass drunk last night because she was terrified her 'snuggles' wasn't coming home to her"

Stella blushed; the nicknames she'd made up for Brandon were now a thing only said in private "I didn't get drunk because of that! I did it because of that bloody Mandy! The girl's evil!" She went back to brushing her teeth sullenly.

It was only then that Bloom noticed that she'd been released from the girls clutches, she gasped and sprung to her feet "Okay, I have a televised reassurance speech to give! And then we'll find a way to get to Headquarters!"

"Hmm with no flying ships it's going to be mighty tough but we'll certainly try" Tecna said as she stepped back into the hallway to walk next to Bloom, who was quickly regaining her strength with her newfound purpose.

They paused when Stella called from the threshold of the bathroom "Hey! If you do find a way to get to HQ, let me know. I want to make sure Brandon and the guys are okay, they did just have a front row seat to an in-space explosion"

A deep pinpoint of ice appeared in Bloom's chest right where her heart should be, she nodded and turned back to the task at hand, forcing all thoughts of worry for her husband to the back of her mind. Right now, she had a job to do.

...

Ten minutes last Bloom was dressed in a more official and compassionate looking dress, salmon coloured with baby pink cuffs at her wrists and neckline. She was on her way to the main throne room with Techna at her heels, acting as her unofficial assistant to keep her spirits high. On arrival the room was packed with people flooding through the doors, some looked injured, others just looked plain scared. One among them was a beacon of hope and stability, Flora was in the middle of patting an elderly man on the shoulder when she spotted them and came forward quickly to say "It's not as bad as it looked from the castle windows, apparently the safety systems kicked in before most of the ships even made contact with the ground" Bloom didn't miss Techna's nod of smug satisfaction "So apart from the tough last of electricity and communications, the people seem to be okay" Flora sighed, looking relieved.

Bloom too sighed in relief, looking around at the people she asked "Who are all these people?"

"All the people who were in the falling ships, just the ones around the castle" The King himself stepped up next to them, nodding to them while speaking "If we had to welcome every convoy of startled crash victims we'd have to open up and rent out all the rooms in the castle"

Bloom smiled a little "Which we'd do if the situation called for it. We're responsible for the people's welfare"

The king seemed pleased at her answer and smiled down at her before walking away, her friends gave her a double thumbs up for her efforts and headway with the in laws. Bloom was suddenly distracted by her phone ringing, she glanced curiously at it "I thought all communications were knocked out?"

Techna looked questioningly at the phone aswell "Yes but not the emergency ones"

Bloom raised her eyebrows and answered, half hoping to hear Sky on the other end, calling to tell her he was okay but again she was met with sheer disappointment when she heard Lucus on the other end. Except this time there wasn't any smugness to his tone, just plain furiousness "What did you do?!"

Bloom blinked, completely floored by the question "Umm, what?"

"What did you do Bloom?! I hang up the phone from pissing you off and then the next morning all communications go out and we've got pandemonium on the streets! I told you to stay away from this mission, I even told your toy soldier to keep you at arm's length but look what happened when you didn't get your way!"

Outraged poured through Bloom and she felt her jaw hit the marble floor "What?! You think this is my fault?! I would never do this sort of thing!" She paused and wavered off her sentence when Flora and Techna pursed their lips and gave her pointed looks, she spoke back into the phone "I would never willingly do this sort of thing! How can you think I did this?"

"Well you're always involved somehow! And now you'll be even more involved than ever, stomping over here and demanding we do everything we can to salvage the situation!"The man raged through the phone, Bloom could hear the shouts of employees from HQ in the background.

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion "Well...yeah. Isn't that what HQ does? Takes care of the masses and stuff; fix problems. Of course you're gonna make sure everyone in the ships are okay, what kind of leaders would you be if you didn't put your full effort in?"

There was a LONG silence on the other end. For a small moment Bloom felt the ice in her heart expand for a moment before the man spoke "Just stay away from Headquarters for as long as you can control yourself" With that he hung up.

Bloom closed her eyes and fought off her anger "I hate how he always hangs up on me, what an ass" There was a shouting behind them and the three girls all turned to see none other than Layla making her way through the crowd.

"Okay move it people! Princess of Tides coming through. I've got an important message for Queen Bloom, look out!" As she spotted them she gave a shout of relief as they gave a shout of shock, there was a bloody gash on Layla's forehead that was covered with a bandage. Before they could even ask she was saying quickly "Holy cow balls! You guys, it's freaky! Where's the others, I've got a story to tell!" The girls led her hurriedly back to the dining room where they found Stella and Musa sitting on top of the table munching on sandwiches. They also looked concerned at Layla's injury, Musa exclaimed loudly with bread and meat in her mouth "Wow! Would you look at you! You look like you've just stepped out of a horror movie! Only your boobs are just a tad too small to be the main character who always survives..."

"What happened?" Flora asked in a more concerned voice, wrapping her arms around her body.

Layla faced her friend and waved her hands "I was in one of the ship crashes on my way here! I saw the rip close up in the sky, it was incredible! Then suddenly all the power drained and then everyone felt like they'd just gotten out of bed, I could barely stand up! That's when it gets kind of muddled and hazy but the thing is that all the power is out everywhere! All the planets, it's a system wide black out. Phones, ships, TV's, lights and even my digital watch! People are freaking out!"

The girls stood open mouthed and shocked, Techna was the first to speak "How? It can't possibly be from the rip, can it? Something like that shouldn't have the power or capabilities to stage a full realm wide power drain!"

"Well they said that they didn't know exactly what the rip was" Flora shrugged, still taking in the news "Maybe it did"

Stella turned to Techna "Yeah but if it did, the power isn't gone for good is it? Once all the generators are fixed we can go back to the way things were?"

Techna shook her head, mystified "Well yes of course but this isn't something that we've had to deal with before. It'll take maybe a few hours, possibly days"

"I guess we're having a slumber party girl's" Mumbled Musa as she took another bite of her food.

Bloom smiled and for the first time in the last hour, felt calmness settle in her, everything would be alright. She looked around at her friends and signed happily, knowing they were safe. Except...Bloom jumped and looked wildly around the room "Whoa wait! Where's evil Bloom?"

The girls all looked around with edgy expression, Layla answered "Well we don't know, we can't see her. Like ever"

"Wasn't she in the dining room with us before the explosion, I saw the chair pulled out and assumed she was in it?" Techna mused, looking back at the messy room.

Bloom shook her head and thought back "She'd been there at the explosion and after it; I think she might have followed us out onto the balcony but I got so distracted since then that I didn't notice she'd disappeared"

Stella rolled her eyes "Well you should have noticed sooner! It's not like she's a bowl of fruit, she looks exactly like you!"

Bloom gave Stella a glare "Well I was too busy holding your hair for you while you ruined my castles plumbing and bathroom interior!"

Layla held out her hands in a peace signal "Okay guys, let's just all calm down. I really don't need the yelling, I just took a steel ship to the head!" As they spoke Bloom racked her brains for any signs of EB after the rip closed over, she knew she saw her as she was being dragged away by Stella. She'd looked back at the balcony where her friends were and saw her; she'd been souly focused on the sky that had recently just lost the rip.

"Oh" Flora looked concerned and walked over to Layla "Do you want me to heal it for you? Or I could make you some tea so ease the pain?"

Layla nodded and signed "Yeah, some healing would be great. Thanks Flo"

Bloom squinted her eyes and thought harder. EB had been looking up at the sky and for a brief moment she'd looked back at Bloom before she'd been dragged inside. Bloom focussed on her expression and found it curious. It wasn't one that she'd ever gotten from evil bloom, not one she was sure the girl even knew. Her face was pale and her eyes wide, a small glistening in the corner of her sparkling hazel eyes.

Flora raised a hand to Layla's forehead and waited.

For an instant nothing happened.

Then the instant became a moment.

And then the moment became a while.

And after a long while Flora took her hand away and gave it an odd look, as did Layla. The two stared at each other for a whole eternity before Musa spoke up "Umm, hey Flora? Layla? What's up?"

Bloom recognised the look in that instant, just as the nagging in the back of her head became a full only abrupt shout. The look in evil Bloom's eyes was unwavering and unmistakable fear. Bloom turned back to her friends to speak about the look when she found they were all frozen solid to their places. She waited a moment before speaking "Girls? What's wrong?"

Flora kept looking at her hand, a glistening of tears sparkling in her eyes "It's...it's not working"

"What's not working?"

Flora just shook her head and watched her upraised hands some more. Stella next to her on the table looked ready to hurl again but there was nothing comical about her expression now. She had her pale hand stretched out to catch the direct sunlight being cast in from the outside, the golden rays on her skin. Her voice trembled with fear and shock, realization dawning on her as the seconds ticked by "No...no...It-it can't be"

Bloom was guarded now "What can't be? Somebody talk to me!"

Techna stepped forward, looking ready to faint. She looked so startled that she was pulling in little gasps of air "Bloom. Magic. Do you feel it?"

Bloom veered back, confused "Well yeah. All the time, it's always there. Like a constant warm hug..." She trailed off as she assessed her own feeling in her body, she felt drained and tired. For all the golden sunlight being cast into the room she felt kind of cold, a certain cold she hadn't felt in her bones since she came to Magix. There was no special heat under her skin, giving her power or control. Her breathing started to get shallow as well as she looked from one friend to another. All looking wary and frightened caught in their own thoughts. Musa was touching her ears and straining, as if she couldn't hear properly. Techna for the first time in history looked lost and confused, her mind running wild. Stella and Flora were getting worse in their panic and Layla was looking down at a fallen tear from her eye that had fallen in her hand, concentrating on it. Willing it to bend to her will but being unable to do so. It dawned on Bloom with ice cold chills, running over her skin.

There was no magic in the air to speak of.

Techna stepped forward again, tears brimming as panic overtook her "Look around you! All the lights are broken, the ships are falling from the skies and not even the clocks on the walls are ticking! Do you know what Magix runs on? Electricity and magic. A fluctuation in both of these can cause them to cancel each other out but they always re-emerge. But nothing is happening! It's not the electricity that's the problem. The power is gonna come back but we always assume the magic will come back naturally because it's with us every day. Within us! That rip...the rip in the sky. I don't know how but it did something, it drained us! It took our powers!"

Stella snapped out of her mental coma to gasp out "Wait! It's magic! It always comes back; we take out magic from the things around us. We channel it! How could a rip take away all magic everywhere?!"

Techna paced the length of the room, running her fingers through her hair until she came to a dead stop "Oh my god..." She turned back to her friends "The magical layer. The bubble which surrounds all of Magix, it's invisible but it's still there. It can still be damaged. The magic flares, the rip. It wasn't just a rip in space, what if it was a rip in the very magical layer as well? And what happens when something as fragile as a bubbled gets torn?"

Bloom looked straight ahead, not seeing a thing as she answered "It shatters"

"And takes everything with it" Layla ended the sentence, staring at the floor.

The silence was so deafening that Bloom could hardly breathe, yet she was frozen to the spot. All she could focus on was the absence of her powers...the Dragon Fire. The very thing she'd sworn to her family she would protect, the one thing that made her special in the first place. The Dragon Fire had burned out within her...

"Bloom?" A small voice came from behind her.

Bloom spun and her eyes found the comforting sight of Evil Bloom, standing on the threshold of the room looking shy. Bloom felt more weak than she had all day, shock bearing down on her; she stumbled through the door and into the hallway. She could hear the girls talking but only focused on her friend, her sister. Her other half who was looking at her with such relief yet such a look of utter despair "I'm so glad you're safe" The girl whispered softly.

The words were Bloom's undoing and she suddenly found herself burying her face into the girls neck with her arms winding around her, giving her a tight hug with everything she had. Dry sobs escaping her mouth yet there were no tears in her eyes, Bloom spoke to the girl desperately "Bloom...you disappeared. I thought...I thought you were gone. That you'd been sucked away too, along with the magic"

The girl embraced her tightly back, surprising her even though she was grateful; the girl was actually going out of her way to return the feelings of relief and love "I'm okay. I was just...I had to see something"

Bloom closed her eyes "Where did you go?"

EB didn't answer but hugged her closer, until she whispered "I went into space. To the rip, after it disappeared. It was a mess up there...the space station was damaged"

Bloom gasped and pulled back, still gripping the girls arms "Sky? He was on the space station, is he okay? Is anyone hurt?"

EB shook her head "No, nobody on the station was hurt"

A relief so intense washed through Bloom she thought she might cry this time; she smiled at the girl "It's okay. As long as we have the guys and nobody died...we'll find a way to get magic back to Magix"

A long moment passes "Bloom"

The girl's voice cut through her and suddenly the ice in her chest flashes cold. Bloom feels a sort of strange feeling go through her as she looks at her other half, a question rising to her lips "Why do you look so sad?"

Evil Bloom sucked in a sharp breath and gripped Bloom tightly by the arms, searching her eyes quietly until after what felt like an eternity she spoke softly "Sky, the guys...they weren't on the space station"

"Where were they?" Bloom asked immediately, ice spreading to her arms and legs. Evil Bloom didn't answer her but continued to stare deep into her eyes with what Bloom could only identify as despair, she asked again, more desperation coming into her voice "Where were they?!"

The girls heard her plea and fell silent behind her, all their stares crashing into her back. Bloom was sucking in great gusts of breath now, her other half still didn't say a word. She shook the girl roughly "You tell me!" Her voice breaking on the last word, real tears flooding her eyes "Bloom!" Her voice going softer as the tears began to descend "Where is my husband?"

The ice had spread to her entire body, all the way to her finger tips that still gripped the girls shoulders, going so silent she leaned her head against the girls shoulder and neck, the smallest whisper escaping her "Where is Sky?"

A sudden gasp escaped Evil Bloom and abruptly she had crushed Bloom to her, sobs ripping from her lungs "I'm sorry..."

Bloom let out a piercing sharp wail at her words, air coming in desperate wisps. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move. The floor had opened up from under her and swallowed her whole conscious being, there was only a puppet left now. A puppet that shed tears and held her sister self as if life could be brought back to her if she just squeezed her tight enough. If she could maybe become one true self with the girl again, same body same mind. A person that could survive and get through the next few hours. Few days. Few years.

In the space of an hour Bloom had lost everything...and she was sure she'd die for real this time. And never come back. For now, all she could do was cry.

...Wow...no really...wow. I'm emotional just writing this thing, I can't imagine what's it's gonna be like for you guys that get the read it in one sitting. It's so sad. *Sniffles* Oh god, someone pass the bloody tissues! Oh the injustice of it! But I really love how it turned out, I didn't want there to be a happy scene and then bombshell dropped! I wanted to build up to it, drop hints and so the reader can feel and realize the horrible truth just as Bloom does. I think it's touching how evil Bloom is there for her, I know she's getting softer to Bloom but I think they're more like sisters than friends now. Remember when they first met and it was all sarcasm and "I aint telling you shit!" But now it's hugs and tears. So the real story really is gonna start soon. I'd say maybe two more chapters. One if we're lucky and I'm lazy. I put a lot of work into this chapter and I'd LOVE a REVIEW. I'm thinking maybe as a new thing I could send previews of the next chapter to all the reviewers (Those that are logged in of course), just let me know in said review that you'd like a preview and maybe I'll do it more often. Let me know! Thank you for reading! xoxoxox