Chapter 21

Daphne leaned over the still bodies of the Winx. They had all fallen under Obsidian's power. She had no power to help them. Why didn't I fall under its influence? She wondered. She walked over to where Bloom was. Her body was tense, and Daphne could see tears on her cheeks.

"I wish there was some way to help you, Bloom." She knelt down next to the ground; she wiped away the strewn tears on her sister's face. Even still, the sensation of touching another person was strange, almost nostalgic. She instinctively touched her own face, was it still real? A small flutter of fear rose in her throat, what if this was all a dream? What if she woke up and was stuck in the bottom of Lake Roccaluce again?

But she hadn't dreamed or even slept in the past seventeen years. Instantly she felt guilt over thinking about herself over her sister and friends. I need to help them. She crawled over to Stella, who was nearest to her. Her forehead was creased with lines, as if she were confused or upset. Daphne leaned in closer. She could see her body was incredibly tense. They were all tense. It makes sense, Obsidian would only show these girls their greatest fears or trials.

"Daphne?"

Daphne whirled around, Flora was sitting up straight, her eyes wide open. She placed a hand over her forehead, "What just happened?"

"You tell me." Daphne went over and helped the Earth fairy up from the ground. "You are the first one to wake up. I think you must have fallen under Obsidian's influence and then somehow broke free."

"What about you?" Flora looked confused.

"I didn't fall under its influence, for some odd reason." She shrugged.

"Look! The others are all waking up too!" Flora knelt down next to Tecna who was moaning as she rose up from the ground.

Daphne assisted Musa and Layla as they both slowly came to. Stella helped herself up.

"The only one left is Bloom." The girls all knelt around Bloom. She had curled up and was moaning.

"There must be something we can do." Stella said. "She looks like she is in a lot of pain."

Daphne couldn't help but agree, Bloom's face was twisted into the most awful expression. There was something in the pit of her stomach that wanted so badly to hold her baby sister and take all the pain upon herself. She doesn't deserve this sort of pain. She never was meant to be a part of this.

"Daphne…are you alright?" Flora lightly touched the nymph on the knee.

Returning to the matter at hand, Daphne looked at the five girl's eyes all staring at her. They were waiting for her to say something. "Girls, why don't we try to help her just like you helped me, with a conversion spell. That is the purest kind of magic on this dimension, the strongest thing next to love. And I know how much we all love and care for Bloom."

"With all our hearts," Flora replied. "Let's do it."

One by one, each girl placed a hand on Bloom. Daphne took a moment to appreciate what she was seeing. Here they were, surrounded by darkness, fear, and no hope. But in the middle of the endless ocean of darkness, these five girls were surrounding Bloom, her baby sister. She could almost see the pure glow surrounding the Winx. These girls powers went far beyond the magical core inside their bodies. It resided in their hearts, in their souls. They were a symbol of hope, for Bloom and for Magix. Bloom has never been alone, and she never will be. She smiled before placing her own hands on Bloom.

"Remember to think of Bloom, and only her." Stella commanded. One by one, each girl's eyes closed. Concentrating on bringing their friend out of the abyss she was in.

Bloom felt empty. Daphne had lied to her.

She was completely alone.

Sky was going to die. Daphne was going to die. The Winx were going to die. Valtor was going to win. He would take over Magix, take over the entire dimension. He would take over Earth, and kill her parents. He would probably kill her too, after she watched everyone else around her die. She was completely powerless. Surrounded by darkness, and the lifeless bodies of her friends, she could find no solace. She shut her eyes, she couldn't look at them anymore. But even then, all she could see was darkness. Her thoughts were like screams in her head. She didn't want this life, she didn't want this ending.

She wanted to scream, wanted to cry. But no sound came out, and no tears broke free. She was a prisoner in her own body. She was a prisoner of her mind.

Once again, hate tore through and flowed through her like a poison. Valtor would pay if she ever had the chance. She would tear him apart and she would avenge everyone he had ever hurt or killed.

She opened her eyes again. But nothing had changed. She was still drowning in darkness.

Until she saw a small ray of light.

It's finally happened, I'm going crazy. She thought.

"Bloom, wake up!" Daphne's voice rang in her head and in the darkness. It was clear and crisp, there was no mistaking it for darkness. It felt right.

"Daphne?"

Stella's voice suddenly rang out. "Follow the light, Bloom, look up!"

"Come back to us, Bloom!" Flora and Musa sang.

Bloom rose from the ground, how could this be happening? Those couldn't be her friends. She looked down at the lifeless bodies around her, but they were gone, vanished. She whirled back to the light, it was growing bigger and bigger. It was almost blinding, but it also beautiful. She reached out to it, her fingers uncurling and stretching towards it.

"I'm coming! Don't leave me!" She shouted as she broke into a run towards the light.

Daphne was amazed at how quickly Bloom broke free from Obsidian's hold. Her eyes burst open and she flung herself up from the ground and immediately embraced each girl one by one. Daphne noticed that Bloom held on to her a little longer than the others. Whatever she had faced in there must have affected her, she had felt Bloom's body shaking when she hugged her. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her voice was hoarse, but no one dared to ask what she had seen there, they all understood that what had happened in those nightmares did not need to be repeated.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Stella swung Bloom around and pulled her into a tight bear hug. "I thought we had almost lost you there for a minute. You are really good at doing that, you know?"

Bloom broke into a wide grin and burst into fits of laughter. "I can't believe it's only been a few minutes, it felt like an eternity in that dream and I missed you all so much. It's so nice to hear a cheerful thought in this horrible place."

"It's nice to hear anything at all." Musa remarked. "This place is completely silent. Our footsteps hardly make a sound." To prove her point, she silently scraped her shoes against the cold surface.

Standing on the edge of a vast realm of darkness with no directions or maps, Daphne felt completely lost, and that they stood out like a sore thumb. Already horrible visions of Mandragora and her minions attacking them by surprise were running through her head. She blacked them out and grabbed Bloom. "We need to get moving."