She gets a call. It is at the most inopportune moment possible because Bloom, along with all of her friends and the Specialists, are in the middle of something important.
And that something important is yelling at Riven.
"You can't just leave!" Timmy is saying, while out of the corner of Bloom's eye she sees Brandon and Sky physically restraining Stella.
"Guys, it's okay -"
"The hell it is!" Bloom cuts Riven off. "Look, this has been a stressful few days with Musa's voice and the witches attacking, but you can't give up! Why would you even do that -"
"Because I'm not my best self right now!" Riven snaps, and the rawness of his voice catches Bloom off guard. "I've let you down - all of you, not just Musa. I've been a shitty boyfriend, a shitty friend, and a shitty Specialist. And the only way I can make that better is to make myself better. I don't even know how to do that yet, though. So I need to go and find out."
They're all silent, exchanging looks with each other. Oddly enough the one who seems the least upset in Musa, though her eyes are glassy with unshed tears. Bloom feels her phone start vibrating in her pocket, and she reaches down and presses the side button to ignore the call.
Sky steps forward first, until he's standing right in front of Riven with an unreadable look on his face. Bloom worries he might start something, but instead the blonde man reaches out and clasps Riven on the shoulder. "That may be the strongest thing I've heard you say."
Riven doesn't laugh, but he looks amused. "I learned from the best."
Her phone goes off again. This time it rings. Bloom scrambles to turn it off.
"All right, sure, this isn't a moment or anything Bloom," Layla says lightly.
"Sorry, I'm sorry." Bloom takes the phone out of her pocket, and presses 'decline' on the screen.
A few seconds later it lights up again, the ringtone louder.
Everyone turns to look at her. Bloom stares at the phone in shock. "That doesn't make sense."
"Magic?"
"Can't be, it's an Earth number..."
She trails off, and everyone looks at each other, the silence finishing their thought. Sky's gaze goes to the mountain Cloud Tower used to sit on. "Answer it."
Seemingly in slow motion, she hits the 'Accept' button and puts the phone to her ear. "...Hello?"
"You know what I think is funny?" a voice asks in a tone far too conversational to be anything but malicious. "After all these years, you have never changed your cell phone number. I mean it's been what; ten years?"
"Selina."
"No, you're right, probably not that long. I've got to be honest; I was so jealous you got a phone first. And do you know what the worst part was? I wasn't even your first call. It was Andy Kim."
"What do you want, Selina?"
There's a deliberate pause. "What, you're not in the mood to reminisce? Fine, I can understand that. I need you to open the Legendarium for me."
It's such a blunt statement Bloom starts laughing. "Oh yeah? And why would I do that?"
"Because I promise your friends, your parents, and everyone you love, will be safe from any harm. The Earth, too, completely off limits. It's our home, after all."
"What a generous offer, but I think I'll have to pass."
There's a laugh, and it makes Bloom pause. Something about it seems almost too confident, an emotion out of place for Selina. "You sure?"
"Am I sure I don't want to help you unleash Acheron, leading to mass chaos and the possible fall of the magic dimension?" Bloom looks over to her friends and gives a dramatic eye roll for effect. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. Are you done? I'm in the middle of something here."
Selina pauses, for so long Bloom thinks she's actually hung up. But just as she's about to take the phone away from her ear, the witch's voice comes back. "Your new boyfriend's cute."
All at once, a chill goes over Bloom's body. "...What?"
"I said your new boyfriend's cute." Selina repeats, and Bloom now hears the smugness in her voice. "In a dark, mysterious, babe-with-the-power kind of way. A little rusty at sparring - not that I'm surprised. You've kept him in a cage for the last, what, three years? No wonder he was off his game."
Bloom feels her legs start to shake, and knows she must have gone pale because she feels Helia's hand sneak under her elbow to steady her. She shoves him away, more forcefully than she meant, but doesn't stop to dwell on it. Her ears are ringing and her heart starts pounding in her chest. "What did you do?"
"And what's with the jacket? Is it a sentimental thing or -"
"What did you do!"
"Oh calm down. I just went and said hi, invited him rather forcefully to Cloud Tower. Gonna see if he'll give me the grand tour later. The Trix say he knows his way around."
"Bloom, what is it?" Stella, as well as the others, have picked up on her fear. Bloom can only imagine what she looks like right now.
She cups the bottom of the phone. "I have a cousin," she says, thinking of the first thing that comes to her mind. "Second cousin. He's a few years older than me but we're good friends. He's spending a semester in London. I didn't think Selina could locate him; he has a different last name than I do."
"What a strange thing to say," Selina's voice is in her ear. "Oh, wait, that's right - you lied to them about this. For all the Winx know, Baltor's nothing but space dust."
"You are the last person that deserves to lecture me about secrets." Bloom snaps into the phone, and turns on her heel to start pacing. She needs some way to control her anxiety. "Prove it. Prove to me this isn't another trick of yours."
Bloom hopes, prays, that the request will throw Selina off her guard. But she just gives a small laugh like she's been waiting for this. "Fair enough."
There's static, the sound of footsteps, and a few seconds later a different, deeper voice comes through the line. "Bloom."
In a fraction of a second Bloom's heart shatters into a million tiny pieces, reforms with cracks still in it, and freezes over. "Bal-"
"Don't." he cuts her off, and that worries Bloom even more. Reminding her of the rules to never mention his name is personal knowledge. Intimate.
She shakes her head, trying to stay calm. Her father has always tried to enforce how important it is in emergencies. That keeping a level head is usually the difference between life and death. "How did she do it? How did she find you?"
"It was my fault," Baltor says. "I was too trusting, too careless with my powers back. More than likely it was after Tir Nan Og, but I don't know for sure. She ambushed me at my apartment."
It makes sense - all of it does. But she still holds out hope that all Selina's done is found out Baltor's alive, and is trying to force a move out of her. "I need you to prove to me this is you. Not Selina or even one of the witches."
There's a pause. "The Trix would have me begging to be rescued. You, however, know my pride runs deep."
"You would never ask to be saved," Bloom finishes quietly.
"Selina knows I can open the Legendarium. I don't have the Flame, but given a few rounds of draining my magic completely, it could be done. Based on how long I've been unconscious, I think she's done it once already."
"So what...this is just another revenge thing?"
"Yes. No matter what you say to her, she has the upper hand, and she is going to unlock that book. So listen to me when I tell you Bloom - I am not worth saving. Your time would be better spent getting people out of Magix. Or figuring out how to lock it."
Bloom bites her lip, looking around the courtyard of fairies and teachers cleaning up from the fight, and over past the forest to Red Fountain and the city beyond. All the people going about their everyday lives with no clue it could all be shattered. "I can't just leave you."
There's a breath of a laugh, as though any more would cause him pain. "Sure you can."
"...This still doesn't prove it's you I'm talking to. Tell me something only you know."
Another pause, longer this time. "You hate sushi. When you were eleven you tried roller skating, but you were so bad at it you stuck to riding a bike. You hate the sound of a fire engine siren because it reminds you that your father might be in trouble. I took you to a steakhouse last weekend for dinner and we got so drunk the cabbie almost threw us out two blocks from my place. And if I had known then that this would be happening now...I would've moved the wine bottle off the counter and never stopped kissing you."
Bloom takes a deep breath, but it doesn't hide the half sob that wracks her. "Oh my god it's you. It's really you..."
"Now didn't I tell you it would be?"
The voice is different, and Bloom feels a sense of rage overtake her that she hasn't felt in a long time. "I wasn't done, Selina!"
"I think I've done plenty to convince you I have what I said I did."
Something grips her shoulder, and Bloom almost pulls away again until she sees Flora with a very concerned expression. Bloom blinks and realizes red has been swimming at the edges of her vision. Looking down, her feet have burned the gravel pathway she's standing on. She takes a deep breath, and hears the sizzle of charging magic cease.
"And you do believe me," Selina continues, "don't you Bloom?"
She grits her teeth. "...Yes."
"Good. So as I was saying…"
Bloom knows it's a trap - even if she says no, Selina will be able to open the Legendarium now. And it would be so smart to do it in front of the Winx and take them out in one shot. There is no way around it. Baltor is right - her best course of action is to let Selina hurt him and spend her time getting as many people as she can out of harm's way. To do anything else would be risking her life, and the lives of others.
She doesn't care.
"I'll do it. I'll open the Legendarium."
"Good. Cloud Tower will reappear where it first stood in two hours. Be at the front gates."
Selina hangs up.
"Bloom?" Sky is next to her, and Bloom doesn't know how long he's been there. "Bloom, is he okay?"
"Are you okay?" Musa speaks up. Her voice is still a bit hoarse from its disuse.
Bloom shakes her head, trying to clear it. She looks around at her friends, and knows how willing they would be to follow her into a battle if her family was concerned. But it isn't her family. It's Baltor. It's almost better and worse at the same time.
"We have two hours. We have to find a way to defeat Selina and close that book."
"Two hours?" Stella repeats, sounding shocked. "And we don't even have the key to lock the book anymore."
"Maybe I can trade my voice back for -"
"No," Bloom and the other four girls say at the same time, and Musa goes quiet again.
"We'll figure something else out, Musa," Brandon insists. "You deserve to keep your voice."
"Not if someone else's life hangs in the balance."
"Maybe there's something else we can trade," Layla pipes up. "There are a ton of old artifacts around Alfea. We can ask Faragonda."
"And we should go let Saladin know," Helia says. "The guys at Red Fountain can start evacuating the city."
"I want to go to my cousin's place," Bloom straightens up, and wipes the tear off her face. "Maybe Selina left a clue about where he took her, and I can get there before I'm supposed to meet her."
Everyone exchanges looks, but nod in agreement. Tecna steps forward and holds her own phone out. "Take this and leave yours with me. I'll see if I can trace where the call came from."
Bloom smiles, and pulls her into a hug before she can stop herself. After a second she feels the others crowd around her, putting her in the center of a group hug that makes her feel better, but also shoves guilt down her throat.
You don't deserve this. Especially since they don't know whose life is really on the line.
She pushes the thought back. Later, she can worry about that later. "I better go then."
"You shouldn't go alone, though," Tecna says. "In case Selina planned it this way. You need backup."
"You're right. Riven," she turns to the redheaded boy. "I know you were leaving, but -"
Riven glances at Musa, who smiles and nods at him. "I've got your back, Bloom."
"Good. Grab what you need and meet me back here in five. We're going to London."
This chapter's popular tropes are Kidnapped SO proving they're who they say they are in a dramatic phone call, and 'You were too good for me.'
Many people dislike Riven for being a general asshat and having his character retconned several times throughout the series. I respect that opinion, but for the most part overlook that to focus on his good character development. That doesn't justify anything, but it's my way of telling you he's gonna be sticking around, because I've always thought he and Bloom have the best non-romantic-boy-girl friendship of the series.
The first draft of this chapter was actually written around the same time as chapter 9, proving that I really planned this story in advance, and that I also wrote a lot of it out of order.
I also refused to write the word Rumplestilkstin in this chapter, because I cannot believe that was a real thing that happened in the show. You can't make me acknowledge it.
Update 2/29/20: lol so i didn't realize it was a leap year and we got an extra Saturday. This is the last update for Febuary, but I'm the next chapter is about 1/3 done. I'll try to get it up as soon as possible. Thanks!
