He hates that he has a moral compass now.
It would be easy to blame Bloom for it - and part of it is her fault. But Baltor did have morals at one point in his life, until the Ancestresses came along and helped convince him there were things worth compromising for. After that they were dormant in his heart for two decades. But being around regular people again - no witches or royalty or politicians - has coaxed them back to the forefront of his personality, and he's been doing his best to ignore it. Maybe because it truly is one of the last holdouts of his former life. And though he's done so much to leave what he was behind, completely letting go will mean he has to, really, look back on who he was and the pain he caused. Possibly how to make amends to some people.
Baltor isn't sure he's ready for that yet.
"Excuse me, do you have a second?"
It's a girl with cropped red hair on the street corner that starts this train of thought. A duffle bag is slung over one of her shoulders, a piece of paper in her hand. Her accent is British, but more Northern than he's used to. People are rushing by, too busy with their own lives to give her the time of day. "I'm sorry to bother you, my phone's died and I -"
Once upon a time, Baltor too would have walked past her without acknowledgement. Even a year or two ago it would have been a short but polite sorry, I'm running late. But she has a kind face and her hair - though obviously dyed - reminds him of Bloom. He rolls his eyes at himself, but realizes as far as having morals go, this isn't a bad place to start. He steps off to the side of the crowds of people and approaches her. "Looking for a hotel?"
She sighs in relief at him. "No, actually. It's a flat building on one of these side streets…" She hands the paper with the address to him. "See, it's my grandmother's birthday tomorrow, so I came down to surprise her. First time in central London and great job of it I'm doing, having to get directions from an American - no offense, that is! I'm sorry, I'm..."
"You're fine," Baltor gives her a polite smile and scans the address again to make sure he's read it correctly. "You're also going to my building."
The girl gapes at him. "Really? You're serious?"
He stares intently at her. There's a tickle of recognition in the back of his mind when he looks at her. "You...are you...related to Hayes, by chance?"
A slow grin spreads across her face. "Wait...you're the American who lives on the first floor?"
Baltor wants to groan, but settles for a long sigh instead. "I should've figured she wouldn't limit gossiping to just my neighbors. Come on, you're only off by one block."
They set off together down the street, and Baltor stops short of asking if she needs help with her bag. It's silent for a few moments until the girl strikes up a conversation. "Thank you so much for this. And possibly sorry? My grandma does love gossip. I hope it hasn't been too bad."
Part of him feels a bit guilty, but he does still harbor some genuine annoyance at his downstairs neighbor. Ever since he and Bloom got together she's been nothing but kind whenever she comes around. And given him nothing but shit-eating, I told you so, grins. "She's been fine. My apologies for making it sound worse than it is. My girlfriend thinks she's wonderful, if it makes you feel better."
"Hmm...American man upstairs, girlfriend coming around often...you must be Baltor, then."
Of course the Old Bat has learned his name sometime over the last few years. "Yes, that would be me."
"Well, nice to put a face to a name, as they say." She extends her hand. "I'm Sabrina. Nice to meet you."
"The pleasure's mine."
She raises an eyebrow as if suggesting she knows Baltor doesn't mean that, but doesn't say anything. Instead she looks back down the street. "I do have to ask - and I know it probably isn't the case, because Gran does love to over-exaggerate. This girlfriend of yours…"
Baltor turns to look at Sabrina in surprise, but she doesn't meet his gaze as if embarrassed. "What about her?"
"Well I...it's stupid, really. But she is convinced that she's that fairy - one of those Winx, they're called? From the news all the time."
"She gets that a lot," Baltor says, doing his best to sound nonchalant. While Bloom does her best to stay out of the spotlight on Earth, people around the city have begun to whisper about seeing the redheaded girl from the Winx around. Baltor knows where they go, the media follows, making his chances of being discovered more likely. As a result, they've both done their best to squash the whispers where they can. "The similarities are so bad she's been stopped in the street for pictures."
Sabrina laughs politely. "Oh how awful. Well I promise to do my best to set her straight while I'm visiting."
"That would be much…" Baltor starts to reply, and then stops as he feels a chill hit him.
Something's not right.
The sun has just started to set (it's been getting closer and closer to a reasonable hour), but in front of his building it seems almost too dark. The light by the door has gone out, and every light in every flat window facing the street is off. Baltor normally never notices such things, but looking at it in reference to the other buildings on the street, there's a noticeable difference. There's an energy about, almost yelling for passerby to keep walking, lest something worse happen.
It's been three and a half years, but Baltor still knows a perception filter when he sees one.
Next to him, Hayes' granddaughter picks up on the feeling. She bites her lip and looks over at him, almost questioningly. Is this really the right place? "Is...is this it?" she asks like it's a question she regrets.
"Yes."
She also picks up on the tension in his voice. "Is something wrong?"
Baltor starts feeling around in his pockets for his phone before he remembers he doesn't have it - he left it on the coffee table, figuring it wouldn't be an issue to pop down the street for a coffee. Anyone that wanted in contact with him (all four or five people) could wait. He wants to hit his past self for breaking the simplest rule he knows: always be on guard.
"I don't know."
Once a person detects a perception filter, the subliminal message of don't look here dissipates. But it's a different part of his mind telling him to head down the street as quickly as possible and forget about whatever's happening here.
That's off the table, of course.
Mentally, Baltor forces himself up the steps and into the entryway of the building. He's so distracted he forgets about Sabrina until he hears the thud of the door hitting her outstretched arm. She props it open with a rock from a planter, and he nods his thanks before stepping fully inside.
It's worse. The light only reaches so far before it seems to be swallowed up completely. The door to Hayes' apartment is a faint outline, and Baltor can't see the end of the hall. There's a pressing cold, different from the air outside. One he knows all too well.
Darkness.
Someone's set this up.
Sabrina looks around, obviously feeling the negative aura but lacking the knowledge to tell what it is. "How...what is…"
Somewhere in the hallway, there is a low, inhuman growl.
Baltor carefully steps back to hug the wall, keeping his footsteps as quiet as possible on the wood floors. He reaches out and takes Sabrina's wrist, never taking his eyes off the darkness in front of them. "You need to come with me. Quickly and quietly. Leave your bag."
She bites her lip, but nods and allows Baltor to maneuver her by the shoulder to the stairs. "Is this...some kind of magic? Like those wizards a few years ago?"
"Yes."
They head up to the next level, Baltor keeping his eyes on the floor below the whole time. He reaches for some coins in his pocket, and carefully throws them down towards the entryway as a test. There's a loud plink, and shadows dart across the wall, swallowing the old wallpaper up in black. The previously open entryway door slams shut.
Sabrina yelps, and quickly covers her mouth.
The next level is clear, but it won't be long until the darkness downstairs comes for them. Though he's tapped into it for certain spells, Baltor has no more dark magic to cloak himself with. Damn Vortex.
"What do we do? Can we stop it?"
"I know someone who can," Baltor fumbles with his keys, holding off on using any magic in case it sets off whatever's downstairs. Phone, why didn't he bring his stupid phone with him? "And if my hunch about the caster of this spell is right, she'll have more information than me..."
Because he only knows one person crazy enough to release a hoard of darkness in a densely populated, non-magic city in the early evening. And he hates that he was so cocky about her not finding him.
"Who do you know with that much power?"
"One of the Winx." The key finally cooperates, and the door to his flat opens.
"You said your girlfriend wasn't from the Winx!"
"I lied!"
There's no darkness inside. Yet. Baltor practically sprints into the living room, and goes for his phone on top of a stack of books on the coffee table. He picks it up and slides his finger on the screen to open it, trying to plan three steps ahead in his mind. Call Bloom, get out of the building, get somewhere safe. Sibylla's, if he gets far enough to not be detected. Wipe Sabrina's mind if he gets a few extra seconds - she wouldn't need any memories of this. "Sabrina, close that door and lock it while I make a call," he says over his shoulder. "With any luck, she'll be able to get here in minutes - half an hour at most."
"Oh, that won't be necessary."
His fingers freeze. The accent is gone.
There's a fizzling sound, and suddenly Baltor is thrown against the bookcases lining a wall of his living room. Wood cracks and splinters, pages flying everywhere. The breath goes out of him, and it's a fight to keep his body upright as he slides back to the ground.
Behind the fluttering papers, Sabrina goes almost fuzzy around the edges before she's replaced by another girl entirely. Platinum blonde hair, cold eyes, and a small black book chained to her belt.
He's a damn fool. She never knew Hayes' name - he was the one to suggest the connection. And then he confirmed his own identity. And Bloom's.
"You know," Selina says with a raised eyebrow and a smirk, "for the self-proclaimed most powerful wizard in the magical universe, you're pretty stupid."
Instead of replying, Baltor launches a blast of fire from his right hand, aiming for her head.
Selina is forced to jump back and create a shield, and Baltor takes the opportunity to push away form the (now destroyed) bookcases and launch a second full-powered offensive spell, sending it around to attack from behind.
The magic goes behind the shield, but just as quickly reappears on her other side, coming back around and hitting him in the ribs with full force. He grunts in pain and drops onto all fours.
"And a bad memory to boot," Selina's voice reaches his ears, and he looks up at her. "You taught me how you fight, remember? When you decided to overtake me in Tir Nan Og."
She sends a burst of darkness towards him that he barely manages to shield himself from. It bounces and hits the coffee table, splitting it in two. "I should thank you for that, by the way. I finally got the Trix to see me as an ally instead of a weak little first-year."
"If you think the Trix are your allies, you're dumber than I am."
Selina simply smiles, and launches another blast of magic.
Baltor knows he's in trouble - he's been caught off guard and already taken a few bad hits. His better attacks are known by the opposition, and his ways of fleeing are either too far from where he's standing, or blocked by darkness. All he can do for the moment is hunker down, defend, and throw his own blasts when the opportunity presents itself.
Selina must see the gears turning in his head, and she finally lets up on her own barrage. "Let's just cut to the chase, shall we? I need the Dragon Fire to free Acheron from the Legendarium, and you have it. So either you can help me and save us all the headache, or I can take you back to Cloud Tower against your will and drain you of energy until I have what I want.
"Or," she continues, and a dark glint comes into her eyes. "You and I can work together and go take Bloom's Flame right now."
There's a sickly feeling that settles in the pit of his stomach, but it's minor compared to the surge of rage that sweeps over him. He stomps his foot, and fire shoots out from under Selina, knocking her off balance and incerating part of his rug. Baltor fires off rounds of short burst attacks, managing to work his way back to the shorter hall that goes towards his bedroom. "What's it like to be so obsessed with a girl that you lose all common sense?"
"Shouldn't you have the answer to that question?" Selina barks, and finally manages to get out of his line of fire. The look she gives him is more intense than he expected. "Do you have any idea how many stories I've heard about you? Being smart and powerful and able to manipulate people into doing what you wanted without them even realizing it?"
"I'm flattered you think so highly of me."
"But that's not what you are now! You're nothing, a nobody rotting on a magic-less planet full of losers! And you were so much more. You were feared and respected, and now you're not. And it's Bloom's fault!"
Baltor doesn't say anything to that, because in a sense he sees where she's coming from.
"She has you on strings," Selina continues. "And the only reason she's given you anything back is because she trusts you to be a good little lap dog and jump when she says. Aren't you tired of that? Don't you want what you had back?"
It's almost shameful that he thinks about it. A dark part of his mind has stirred at Selina's words, and he can hear it, familiar and coaxing in the shell of his ear. She's right. You know better than anyone what kind of power lays in Cloud Tower's archives, ready to be taken. No more Earth, no more working for Sibylla. It's what you deserve.
And Ogron's voice, coming back twice in as many months. Lie to her, seduce her. And then, when you're certain abandoning her will break her, use her.
"Of course I want it back," Baltor hears himself saying. "Part of me will always want it."
There's a but in his voice, one that Selina easily picks up on. He sees magic starting to charge in her palms. "I promise you this - if you don't play these next few minutes right, you'll never get anything close to it again."
But the threat holds no weight, because while Selina has been trying to coax him to her side, Baltor's been able to get a better grasp of the situation. And how to get out of it.
"Well like you said - I'm the greatest wizard in the entire magical universe. I'll figure something out."
Baltor takes a step back and puts the rest of his available magic into a wall of fire that springs up in front of him, cutting off the living room from the hallway he's now in. He hears a yell of rage, and through the reds and blues of the flames Selina tries to launch another round of attacks. But the fire is too thick, absorbing the magic before it can successfully pass through.
He turns on his heels and races towards the bedroom. He can get out through the window, down to street level, and head to a more populated area. It should be easy enough to borrow (or steal at this point, moral compass be damned) a phone, since his is back with Selina, and get a hold of Bloom. His magic should be recharged enough by them to get him to Sibylla's cave, where Selina has no chance of touching either of them until they come up with a plan.
It's simple, it's fast, and it's going to work.
Baltor throws the bedroom door open.
There is nothing but black on the other side. The darkness has reached the next floor.
He yells and tries to step back, but the toe of his boot just scrapes the darkness. It attaches to his Dragon Fire like a moth going for a light, and darts across his foot and up his leg. Two spouts leap forward and take one arm each, dragging him forward with much more force then he expected. Baltor screams, hoping someone, even on the street below, will hear him and come see what's going on. But the magic rushes up his neck and over his lips, silencing any noise. He hears the fire behind him sputter out, but before Baltor can turn to look at it, his eyes are covered.
And then there is nothing.
I can't begin to explain how long I've waited to start writing this arc. So much so that I am uh...actually quite a ways ahead in writing. So welcome to an emberfire411 first - weekly updates for the rest of February. I'm not kidding. Same rules apply as the last time I had advanced chapters done - if you guys go ham on the reviews, I might post early (is that bribery? Yes it is, what of it?)
We dip a little into AU territory in the next chapter, though the end results will still be cannon (does that even count as AU in that case?). Why? Because screw Nickbow, that's why.
