Chapter 14- Again With the Demons
Bloom stumbled and fell to the ground. Daphne and Nabu stopped and looked at her worriedly. "I'm okay." Bloom mumbled. She got back to her feet and walked past the two spirits in attempt to defy their worries.
Bloom had worries of her own. She believed there was still a way out of this, that much she was sure about. But it was when she got out of the damned death realm that scared her. When she left, her parents hated her for something she'd never done and the universe feared her for her growing strength. Would defying death and returning to reality help her status any?
"Bloom. Maybe we should take a break." Daphne's ghostly form stood in front of Bloom. "We've been wandering for a while now, so you need some rest. You, unlike Nabu and I, are still a living being."
Bloom felt her aching body agree and nodded reluctantly. "Alright."
"I'll, go act as guard." Nabu said. He left the two girls alone.
"He's been a bit nervous. That and he feels a bit threatened about being with women." Daphne smiled. Bloom sat on the ground. Daphne looked at her.
"What?" Bloom asked, annoyed by the fact Daphne and Nabu kept stealing glances at her.
"Bloom, you seem worried or bothered by something." Daphne said.
Bloom hung her head. "Daphne, I didn't tell you everything. Mom and Dad discovered you had been…attacked. They blamed me for what happened to you."
"What! That doesn't sound like our parents at all. They had no reason…"
"Daphne! I don't blame them for anything. They panicked. Mom had reason too. She sensed Dragon Fire had been used. Even so…I'm afraid they'll still be angry." Bloom bit her lip, uncertainty filling her mind.
"No Bloom. After what you did, I'm sure they won't be angry. As you said, they panicked, not only because I was gone, but because you may have done an evil act. Bloom, they probably worried about what they'd have to do to stop you. That would make any parent panic."
Bloom stared at the ground and pondered what Daphne had said. The two remained silent for a time. Then Bloom remembered something. She raised her hands before her and in them appeared Daphne's mask.
"My mask." Daphne stared at the item.
"Yes." Bloom confirmed. The two sisters stared at the mask, now gray and dead.
"Did the magic I put in it help?" Daphne asked.
"No…I didn't know there was still magic in it." Bloom fingered the mask. "I mean, it inspired me to keep fighting Lilith, because I thought about what happened to you. But I didn't really sense any magic."
Daphne stared at the mask even harder then. "I departed the reality and left a powerful magic for you. To help you. I thought you'd use it against Lilith. Perhaps the magic is still there."
"Maybe." Bloom turned the mask in her hands. For a second she felt the urge to put the mask on, when Nabu's spirit appeared out of nowhere.
"We've got company." Nabu hissed urgently. Bloom made the mask disappear and dodged behind a large stone. Nabu looked gravely at Bloom. "I've never seen creatures like these before. I've never seen a living being here before you either, but I don't like the looks of these things."
Bloom snuck a glance back and saw them. She gasped. "Demons."
"Real demons? Why on Sparks…" Daphne stared at Bloom. "How would you know about demons?…Oh wait, never mind."
"Don't mind me…I mean I don't need to know about demons at all." Nabu harrumphed dramatically. Both girls shushed him and turned their attentions back on the demons.
"I ran into them while I was training with the Prima." Bloom explained.
"But why are they here in the death realm? I've never read that they reside here. In fact, demons hate the mourning spirits. They prefer the tortured spirits." Daphne stated.
"They appear to be looking for something." Nabu observed. Bloom caught his pause of thought, then Nabu restated his observation. "Scratch that. They appear to be looking for someone."
"Bloom." Daphne stated with certainty in her voice. Bloom looked at her sister. "They want you because you are alive here. There can't be any living souls in the Death Realm, it just isn't right."
Bloom groaned. "Why can't evil just leave me be? I hate it when bad things and people have a fascination for me."
"We need to get you out of the Death Realm and quickly. If we don't, then those things will surely catch her…and whatever happens after that…" Daphne's voice trailed off. Bloom could fill in the blanks. Simply said, she'd be tortured, killed, destroyed, or become someone's "girl" all of which sucked for her tremendously.
"So then what?" Nabu asked then.
"We need to find some sort of gateway between the Death realm and reality. Maybe we could force her through it somehow." Daphne suggested.
"Sure, but we may have to avoid the huge chance of us accidentally tearing up the space-time continuum." Nabu commented. "Where are those annoying wizards when you need a clue?"
Bloom heard the familiar growl of demon and turned to see them coming for her hiding place. "You guys, maybe we should stop thinking for a while and get away from those nasty demons."
"Right. This way." Nabu led Bloom and Daphne off. Bloom glanced back at the oncoming demon horde, then turned back to follow Nabu.
"Can my life get any worse?" Bloom asked herself.
"You probably just jinxed yourself for life." Nabu said cheerfully.