Chapter 12

The boys (minus Sky) didn't pick us up in the ship till about an hour later. None of us spoke as we entered it, but we all pitied the girl who had to tell a certain spectacled specialist what happened. The moment he asked where Tecna was, Flora took him to the back and told him.

I'd never seen Timmy get angry. I'd never even seen him yell, or cry. But on that trip back to Alfea, we were all witnesses to it. It near rivaled Musa's break down; him screaming about how we were wrong and that she was still alive, that he could feel that she was still alive. Helia had to help calm him down.

Some of the other girls went to the back of the ship to have their break downs, but I stayed up with the boys to show that we hadn't fallen apart completely. It wasn't that I didn't want to have a break down; I was too riddled with guilt to have a proper cry.

"You know you're allowed to cry, right?" Riven told me. "No one's going to blame you."

"I know."

Catching the sad lilt in my voice, he decided to drop it and focus on co-steering the ship.

Griselda was just about to raise the barrier for the night when we finally arrived back at Alfea. She looked about ready to grill us for being late, but cut us a break when she saw Tecna wasn't with us. All she said was that we'd discuss it at a later time and let us go.

Musa slammed the door to her room behind her when we reached the common room. I cringed at the loud boom. Music started blaring from inside the room, drowning out any other sound from inside.

"I'll go talk to her," Flora said, quickly following her.

"That's probably a good idea," Layla agreed, tagging along.

The two left us in silence, the only sound being Musa's music.

Stella awkwardly stood in the common room beside me, unsure of what to do. Did we wait? Did we go to bed? Did we sit down?

"Any word on your dad?" I asked her, trying to strike up an off-topic conversation.

She shook her head. "He still just seems to be under the spell Cassandra put him under."

I nodded, remembering her telling me about her father telling her everything that had happened to him at the Princess Ball sometime after I'd left the Eraklyon party. Apparently someone had given Cassandra some insane amount of power to spell Radius into doing everything she wished, but it was fading off on him. The thought of who probably had given her that power had me fuming.

"It's weird," she said, walking towards her room. Stella was never one for standing around doing nothing.

"What's weird?" I asked.

She paused in the open doorway, gripping the frame tightly. "You know how I asked you if we could not get so involved with bloodthirsty criminals?"

Despite her facing away from me, I nodded. "Yeah, I remember that."

She quietly laughed, her knuckles turning white around the door frame. "Guess that's a bit out of the question now, isn't it?"

The door shut behind her, and I couldn't block out the pang in my chest.

I didn't bother waiting any longer for Flora and Layla, collapsing on my bed. Hugging one of the pillows to my chest, I barely noticed Kiko leap up onto the bed, as well.

Tecna was gone.

It felt weird to think it. I was going to wake up tomorrow and not be greeted by the pink-haired, accented, technology fairy I'd been friends with for most of three years. Her side of the room she and Musa had shared was going to be bare, a constant reminder to everyone that she really was gone. That she wasn't coming back, and we would have to learn to deal with the pain and somehow move on.

The Winx Club was back down to five members.

It was an hour before Flora came back in, a defeated look on her face.

"How is she doing?" I asked, quickly sitting up.

"As best as anyone in our situation can, except ten times worse." Flora shrugged, closing the door. "She's angry and completely volatile" Not a surprise. "She keeps trying to make too rash decisions."

"Like what?"

She hesitated, running her fingers through a tangle in her brown hair.

"What was she going to do?" I smirked unhappily. Picking up Kiko, I set him in my lap and began gently petting him. "Jump out the window and go attack Baltor?"

Flora shook her head. "No, that was what Layla was going to do." Go Layla.

Taking a seat on the edge of my bed, she had an uncomfortable look on her face. "I don't think I should say anything, Bloom."

"Just tell me, Flo. It can't be that bad."

Doubt clouded her eyes. Whatever it was, I began to think I wasn't going to like it. "She said she thinks it would be best if we disband the group."

For a split second, I felt as if the world came to a complete stop. "What?"

Flora shut her eyes, not wanting to repeat it. "Musa feels like it's just not the same without Tecna. The Winx Club was the six of us together and now that Tecna's gone . . ."

Despair overwhelmed me. I attempted to grasp what Flora was saying, but I couldn't understand it. We'd been the Winx Club for three years. How could we disband the group now? The group was supposed to symbolize our friendship. What would it mean for us if we split up?

And what about our enemies? Who would take up the fight against the witches? If word were to spread that we weren't in the game anymore, it gave them the perfect opportunity to wreak all kinds of havoc. No one was as strong as us; no one else could be able to take them on. The Magic Dimension would fall apart and crumble on itself if we disbanded. All hell would break loose.

Frustration built in my chest, petting Kiko harder. "Tecna being gone is exactly why we need to keep the group together!" I defended, feeling a spark of anger. "If we fall apart, who's going to fight the witches?"

"It's not the witches we really need to worry about," she reminded me. "It's Baltor."

My eyes shifted to the ground and I paused.

I hadn't even noticed that I left out Baltor.

"I know you want to defeat him, Bloom. We all do." she said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "But, you've seen his power. He released a portal strong enough to destroy realms, blinded Layla, and won't rest till he sees you dead." She hesitated, contemplating her next words. "Maybe it's time we let the proper authorities defend the realms."

My brain dropped the thought of Baltor, switching gears instantly. "You want to disband the group, too?"

"I'm not taking anyone's side, Bloom." Flora assured. "I think we all need to take a few days to clear our heads and then discuss it another time. We don't want to make any rash decisions like that tonight. We're all angry, and no one can make smart decisions when they're angry."

"Flora, we can't break up the group!" I exclaimed, desperation slipping into my voice. "Our lives revolve around being the Winx Club! We are the Winx!"

"It could be time for a change. Besides, even if we do end up disbanding, that doesn't mean we're not going to hang out. All of us will always be friends."

"And what if Faragonda asks us to go help someone or has a mission for us to do? What are we going to say? No, sorry; we have a movie we're going to see in like an hour?" I scoffed, flopping back on the bed. Kiko leaped off the bed the second I let go of him, curling up in his bed to get away from me. "That's just ridiculous!"

She sighed, shaking her head. "Nothing's going to happen right now. For now, just think about it," she said, standing up and walking over to her bed. "And positively."

Putting on her pajamas, she gave me a final "Nighty night, Bloom" and went to sleep.

I couldn't fall asleep.

What Musa said endlessly plagued my thoughts. We couldn't break up. There was no way we could break up. It would never happen. We were too close. We'd been through so much together, we'd never think about ending the Winx Club. We'd defeated the witches, destroyed Darkar, saved the water nymphs, saved Magix, escaped from Downland. We'd been through everything. The idea was preposterous.

What worried me was that Flora had subtly agreed with her. And if Flora was considering it, how many of the other girls would consider it?

I glared up at the ceiling, not knowing what to do. I didn't want the group to end for anything in the world. I was heartbroken that Tecna was gone, but that didn't make me want to give up everything we had here.

I wanted to yell. I wanted to scream. I wanted to punch something. Hard.

Maybe Layla's idea was exactly the right approach.

We still had Tecna's barrier buster that she'd made when I was gone to help us get in and out of Alfea after hours. That was the easy part, though. The difficult part would be getting out of the building without alerting anyone.

Waiting for everyone to finally fall asleep was torture. Around midnight, the music from Musa's room died, and all was silent. I remained still for a few minutes after though; just to be sure that no one was up roaming around the common room.

Glancing over at Flora, who appeared to be dead asleep, I put Kiko in his bed and snatched my jacket off the chair to my desk. Throwing on a pair of shoes, I quickly slipped out the door.

Quietly shutting the door behind me, I scanned my eyes across the room. Making my way towards the table by the balcony, I picked up the barrier buster. Turning it over in my hand, I saw Tecna's name perfectly etched into the device.

My vision started to blur with water. I refocused, blinking a few times, and walked out of the dorm.


"What the hell was that?"

Judging by the look on his face, Baltor had been expecting me for a while. I wasn't sure what kind of reaction I thought he would have, but the dark expression on his face created a lingering thought that I shouldn't have started off this conversation by yelling at him.

He locked the door to the office behind him. "Well, hello to you, too."

I could already feel the anger in me rise. How could he be so incredibly nonchalant? Surely he knew what happened on Tides. He reveled too much in others' misery to not watch his destruction.

"Why?" My voice was oddly confident.

Baltor barely addressed me, walking straight to the desk. I turned around to glare at him as he picked up one of the spell books off of the desk and started flipping through it. Furious, I stomped over next to him and slammed it shut. A small layer of dust floated off the cover. Under my hand, I could just make out the last few letters of RIUM. It didn't look like the kind of book he would typically have in his collection, but I was too pissed to care.

He lifted his head, a look of annoyance on his face.

"Why?" I repeated more quietly, teeth clenched.

With a sigh, he pinched the bridge of his nose. He clearly wasn't in the mood for an argument. "I only did what I had to do."

"Making one of my best friends lock herself in a portal forever was something you had to do?" I snapped; eyes wet.

"How was I supposed to know you all were going to try and close it?" Baltor shot back, turning to fully face me. His brow was furrowed, matching my anger. The longer I looked at him, the more I noticed the dark circles around his eyes.

"We're the Winx Club! What did you think we were going to do?"

"I apologize, I thought you all were smart enough to not travel to a realm that was being torn apart."

I dug my nails into the desk, desperately trying to not lose my cool. The familiar throbbing in the back of my head was returning, but I blocked it out.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that much longer, so be happy."

Baltor furrowed his brow. "What are you talking about?"

I debated on whether or not I should elaborate. It was only a trivial topic, but it was enough to bother me. "Musa and the others want to break up."

He went still.

"The girls think it's a good idea to disband the group now that Tecna's gone." I could feel my gaze darken. "I guess I have you to thank for that."

"I didn't force your tech friend to sacrifice herself." Baltor argued, leaning in slightly. "I was trying to destroy a realm."

"Which you shouldn't have been doing in the first place!" I shouted.

"What do you expect me to do, Bloom? I'm the bad guy. If I just stopped my plan to take over the realms because you wanted me to, people would get suspicious, don't you think?"

What he was saying made sense, but I'd be damned if I was going to let him win this argument.

"So to prove you were still a villain you tried to destroy two realms?"

"If you can kill two birds with one stone, I say do it." He opened the book again.

I rolled my eyes. Shaking my head, I tried to make sense of what he was saying. "I thought you wanted to take over the realms, not destroy them all?"

"Omega and Tides would never have succumbed to my rule." he elaborated. "Criminals and bullheaded kings are not exactly the most obedient subjects."

"That is so . . ." I couldn't finish, too enraged by his theory to come up with words. "What is wrong with you?"

It seemed to be yet another day where I was playing the Let's See How Many Times Bloom Can Regret Saying Things game.

Baltor shook his head, removing his gloves. Slowly looking up at me, I saw disbelief in his eyes. "What's wrong with me?" he repeated, chuckling to himself. "You shouldn't be asking what's wrong with me, darling. You should be asking what's wrong with you."

My eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"I saw you on Tides."

"Yeah, and . . . ?"

"Let me rephrase," he waved his hand over the crystal ball on the desk. Colors started appearing inside the crystal, flashing quickly. "I saw everything you did on Tides."

Taking a closer look, I managed to make out scenes playing out inside it. It looked familiar, but it took me a moment to finally realize what he was showing me.

The Omega Portal rejecting me and Layla.

"Yes, I saw you and your little friend try to jump into the Omega Portal." he said, horribly trying to contain his anger. "And almost die."

My heart twisted.

I shouldn't have been surprised. I should've known that Baltor was going to find out somehow. He most likely had had his attention focused on the portal the entire time. He saw what happened to Tecna; it was obvious he'd seen what I did.

My thoughts of feeling like a ragdoll when I was inside the portal looked to be extremely accurate; I actually cringed when I watched our impact as we were tossed out.

"Did you even think before you threw yourself in there?" he asked, angrily. "Of course you didn't. You were too wrapped up in the thought of playing the hero."

"I wasn't going to just stand there and let Tides be destroyed!" I defended. "If I could stop it, I was going to try."

"Tides wasn't yours to save, Bloom!"

"Yes, it was! I wasn't going to sit around while you turned it into the next Sparx!"

I saw his eyes darken drastically, shining red for a moment. "I had nothing to do with its actual destruction, and you know it. You're just being a stubborn, thoughtless, brat who needs someone to lash out at."

"And you're not?" I shot back, holding back what I actually wanted to call him.

"I had to stand here with the witches with a straight face while you nearly killed yourself!"

I bit the inside of my cheek, reminding myself that I was dangerously pushing a line I shouldn't cross.

He took a moment to just stand there, most likely to calm himself down. "Do you know what that felt like?" His voice was low and steady, restraint clear. "Standing here, watching that portal nearly tear you apart? I thought you were dead."

"Why do you care?" I asked, frustrated. "You were going to let all those other people die! Is it our connection or something? Because whether or not I have the Dragon Fire means nothing! What makes me different from any of them?"

"Because it's you!" Baltor yelled, slamming his fist on the desk.

I jumped a little; startled by his outburst and by his words.

Clenching and un-clenching his hand on the desk, he faced me again. "You're different from everyone else there because you're you." He dragged a hand down his face. My heart clenched momentarily. "I could watch anyone else jump into that portal a thousand times and not feel a damn thing." he muttered, more calmly. "But the second I heard you say you would go in . . ."

If he was trying to make me feel like shit, he'd succeeded. I was biting the inside of my cheek so hard, I wondered if I'd pierced it.

I knew I should apologize. I didn't want to imagine how he felt, or what it was like for him to watch me jump. It was easy to assume that it hurt. But what made it worse was that the look on his face made me realize that I'd hurt him.

But I still didn't regret my choice.

"I know this is the part where we're supposed to forgive each other and hug it out, but I'm not going to lie." I said, my nails digging into my palms. "I'm not sorry."

He gave me a look I couldn't read.

"You can ask me a million times about whether or not I'd change my mind about jumping into the portal." I told him. "But I would still jump in. Because that's what I do; I do dangerous shit every day, and I love it. And I don't do it because I get a high off of being a hero; I do it because I want to let everyone else have the chance that I never got." I saw him tense at the mention of Sparx. "No one was there to save my realm; so I want to be the one to save every other realm. So, no matter what you say, I'm not going to stop throwing myself in dangerous situations. This is me; this is who I am; this is who the Winx Club is. And if you don't like it," I uncontrollably hesitated, "you don't have to."

My heart was screaming at me to leap forward into his arms and start crying. Every word that came out of my mouth had my heart bleeding more and more. However, despite how it pained me to say it, I had to. I wasn't going to let someone else try to change who I was; even if it was Baltor.

Embracing every ounce of courage in my body, I walked towards the door to leave, swallowing the hard lump rising in my throat. Each step I took was another stab I felt in my gut.

"The transformation your friends keep earning is called Enchantix."

My hand hovered over the door knob.

"If you're going to insist on being a pain in the ass," Baltor said from behind me, "ask the old woman about it."

I didn't know what to say, or if I should respond at all.

Twisting the door knob, I walked out and shut it. I didn't stop. I didn't teleport. I just walked out of the school, waiting till I reached the woods to finally let the tears I'd been holding back fall.


"What's Enchantix?"

I saw a glimmer of fear in Ms. Faragonda's eyes, but it disappeared in the next second. "Where did you hear about that?"

The light from the afternoon sun was pouring in through the wall of windows behind the headmistress's desk. The beams of sunlight stung my eyes, and made my headache from lack of sleep ten times worse. I had to squint to see her face. I didn't make it back to the dorm till about three in the morning, staying in the forest for about an hour or two to let everything out. And, if it was even possible, I came back feeling guiltier than I had before I left.

I didn't get back to Alfea till about three in the morning

"That doesn't matter." I said. "What does matter is why everyone keeps avoiding telling me what it is. Why does no one want me to know about it?"

She adjusted her rectangular spectacles further up her nose. "It's a very difficult transformation to earn, Bloom."

"Then why have Stella and the others already earned it?"

I'd caught her off-guard. She kept fidgeting with items on the desk –straightening papers, repositioning pens in their holder. "Bloom, I don't believe this is the time for this discussion."

"What's the big deal?" I asked, throwing my hands up in frustration. "Everyone else can know about it but I can't? Why is everyone trying to hide it from me?"

"Because you can't earn it."

I froze. Perplexed, I blinked a few times, and shook my head slightly. "What are you talking about?"

Her expression turned to one of sympathy. "Enchantix is the highest and most powerful transformation that fairies can achieve." she explained. "It is also the most difficult to achieve. The only way a fairy can earn her Enchantix is through self-sacrifice. You must risk your life for someone else in order to gain it." She hesitated. "However, in your situation it is a bit more complicated."

"Why?"

"I don't believe that you are ready to hear –"

"No!" I exclaimed, standing up from my chair. "Stop acting like I'm not ready! I'm sick of people telling me that I'm not ready to hear things! Just tell me!"

She frowned, disapproving of my outburst. "You must risk your life for someone else in order to gain Enchantix." she repeated with a sigh. "Although, it is a strict rule that the one you sacrifice yourself for must be from your home planet."

My heart fell into my stomach. Then my stomach dropped to my feet. And my feet proceeded to feel as if they were falling out from under me.

I was screwed.

Everyone from Sparx was gone. There was no one left. The only two people that remained were Baltor and me, and I wasn't going to throw Baltor in danger just to gain a transformation. That was barbaric.

Collapsing back into my chair, I could feel a lump begin to form in my throat. I was upset, yes, but upset was putting it mildly.

"And we've determined that you gaining your Enchantix is the only resolution to this battle. If you gained your Enchantix, your Dragon Fire abilities would be enough to rival Baltor's."

You'd tip the balance of this war.

I shook my head. "Well, that idea's pretty much dead, now isn't it?" I laughed under my breath at the irony.

My eyes met Faragonda's for a moment, but then shot back to them. Focusing harder on them, I could almost see a shadowy purple aura representing nervousness.

"What else are you hiding?"

She folded her hands on her desk, resuming her reluctance. "There may be a way for you to earn your Enchantix."

My heart skipped a beat.

"It's a very dangerous option, and I wouldn't allow it whatsoever unless I was certain this was the only one left for you."

"What is it?" I asked, excitedly. "I'll do it! I'll do anything!"

"We believe that you may be able to will yourself into gaining an Enchantix."

I gave her an odd look. "And this is dangerous?"

"The only place where you could do this is a realm called Pyros." She took a breath, reluctant to finish. "It's also known as the Island of Dragons."

"Let me guess, because there are dragons there?"

"Thousands of them. In the past, Sparx used it as a trading ground for dragons. Since the attack on Sparx, there haven't been any daring enough to try to tame them again to trade. No one who has gone there has lasted more than a day because of how brutal the conditions are. However, with your Dragon Fire, we believe you could survive."

"What all would I have to do?"

"There's a guardian on the realm that can help you earn your Enchantix. She's practiced in the ways of strengthening will power and is an old friend of mine."

Something nagged at the back of my head. "How long will it take?"

Faragonda frowned. "It all depends on how easily you learn her lessons. It could take anywhere from a few days to a few years."

I was instantly reluctant the moment she said 'years.' That was a long time. And if no one else inhabited that island except for the guardian, then I would have practically no communication with anyone. Essentially, I'd be alone. Something I'm never good at.

But how was I supposed to refuse the offer of the only way to earn my Enchantix? How was I supposed to refuse the chance to earn the one thing that could help set me on the path to finding my birth parents? It would be insane of me to not accept the offer.

My mind was racing to think of another way to possibly earn it. There had to be a better way than disappearing for (potentially) years to earn my Enchantix. The Darkness in me landed on thoughts of Baltor again, and how he was from Sparx. I shook those off the second they arrived. As angry as I was with him, I wasn't going to purposely put him in any danger just to be a means to an end.

Going to Pyros was my only option.

"If you do say yes, your leave will be immediate." Faragonda warned. "I'll inform the other girls myself where you are so that they don't believe something terrible happened to you." She acted like she was going to add something else, but then decided against it.

I nodded, continuing to think on it.

You're really going to leave without saying a word to him?

I shifted a little, uncomfortable. Baltor would have no idea where I was. The moment I agreed, I'd be leaving. I wouldn't get the chance to tell him I was leaving or to remind him I was still angry with him.

I would just be gone.

With no idea of when I'd be back.

If I'd be back.

He would just have to understand.

I leaned back in the chair and sighed, running a hand through my hair. Looking up at her, I felt calm. "Let's do it."


Here, have some angst for your week. Plus, this isn't even the worst fight that's going to come. Something to look forward to. And if you caught the hint at Season 6, you automatically get all the points. Plus, if you noticed, I made Faragonda use the pronoun 'we' instead of 'I.' Why? Because I did it on purpose and for a reason.

PART ONE IS OFFICIALLY COMPLETED. HELLA. Now we can commence PART TWO. PART TWO is going to be much more fast-paced and all of my ultimate favorite scenes of this fic come to play such as very personal moments between Bloom and Baltor (*ahem*ShadowHaunt*ahem*), a deep conversation about their twisted relationship with a shocking character, two people finding out about them, and the inevitable end of the fic! Those chapters should be coming out much faster than the ones I've been posting.

Just so everyone is clear, I am, in fact, skipping over the entire Pyros arc. "But Bloom, that's the most major arc for her!" Yes, I am aware of that. I spent two years studying this damn season. Do you honestly think I don't know that? However, I am not going to sit here and reiterate an entire two episode arc that I'm not going to be changing anything to. All I would be adding is making her think about Baltor; nothing else would be changed. Therefore, it is pointless for me to record it. (Although, the chance to eradicate Buddy from ever existing in Winx Club would be my ultimate pleasure and would bring me the greatest of all joys.)

And, as you can see, we've reached 100 reviews! Which is amazing! I want to thank all of you for making this my very first story to reach 100 reviews. I couldn't have done this without any of you, and I love each and every single one of you so much! Even those of you who don't review, you just read it –you all matter, too!

Well, I'm gonna go cry in a corner because I graduate in less than a month and I need to work on Staring Endlessly at That Bloom Loser. As always, please leave a review telling me what you liked about this chapter or if you have a guess as to what you think is going to happen in PART TWO and I will be back with an update soon as well as fixing any grammatical errors to this when I get home from work!

~Bloom