Bloom stood in front of Brighid's town house, her bags in her hands and tears streaming down her face despite her promise to herself that she wouldn't cry. She let go of the handle of her suitcase to knock on the door with the heavy lion's head before fumbling for a tissue to mop up her runny nose.

The two plain clothes officers from Magix PD shifted behind her uncomfortably.

Everything had gone to hell. She'd been arrested, held for questioning for forty-eight hours, and only been released by a furious Faragonda. The headmistress hadn't sugarcoated how much trouble she was in. She was lucky that Benson had been there to witness Diaspro attack first or the Eraklyon royal family would have pushed for actual jail time. As things stood, they settled for her being suspended instead. She'd miss out on a lot of school, she wouldn't get to celebrate Flora's birthday, and at no point during her whole ordeal had she seen Prince Sky. He had abandoned her.

Bloom knocked again.

A few moments later, Dagda opened the door and stared at her in confusion. Bloom supposed he didn't often have sobbing girls turning up on his doorstep. She tried to squeak out an apology from behind her tears but he didn't wait to offer her his open arms.

"Would you like a hug?" Dagda asked. Bloom nodded and buried her face in his plaid shirt as he gave her a bear hug. She heard him count to ten under his breath before he pulled back and smiled at her.

At least that made her feel a little better. She hadn't been allowed to see her friends before she went so she hadn't been able to hug any of them, or check in to see how Stella was dealing with everything.

The police officers waited outside while Bloom was led up to the same living room as before by Dagda and she took a seat on the sofa opposite Brighid's armchair. The maid hovered quietly in the background, dusting the ornaments on the mantelpiece. The old lady herself waited patiently for Bloom to calm down a bit instead of saying anything immediately, just drinking her tea and smoothing out her extravagant skirt, a deep blue this time with orange flame embroidery.

"For goodness' sake," Brighid said finally and turned to look at her maid. "Martha, get her a handkerchief or something."

Martha nodded and left the room briefly before returning with a small pile of folded hankies and a box of tissues, in case Bloom wanted a choice.

"I heard some of what happened." Brighid said as Bloom blew her nose.

"Were you watching on the TV?" She sniffed. She hadn't realised until she'd been released back to Faragonda that the exhibition had been put on hold while they dealt with her. And the Magix City broadcast channel had mentioned her as the reason. Bloom could only hope that she hadn't horribly embarrassed Stella and Radius.

"I was," Brighid acknowledged. "But I did also discuss it with Faragonda. Being suspended is not the worst thing in the world, frankly the best witches and fairies I know were disciplined like this at least once in their academic career."

"I don't want to leave Alfea," Bloom said, her lip was trembling as she tried to hold back more sobs.

"I know, I know. But it won't be for long and it was really the best outcome you could have hoped for - assaulting an aristocrat really wasn't very smart, especially when she's from Eraklyon," Brighid shook her head. "You know I'm not a fan of monarchy or the landed gentry but burning her face was a little excessive."

"I didn't mean to really hurt her…" Bloom had felt the hot rage in her body but hadn't realised that it translated to a burning hot hand that would leave a blistering imprint on Diaspro's face. She had been assured by Stella that it wouldn't be anything lasting.

"And that's the reason you were not expelled," Brighid said. "Be thankful for that; Faragonda fought hard for you."

"I let her down…"

"You're a teenager. This part of your life is when you repeatedly let people down, piss them off, and make all kinds of mistakes. It is so that you can learn. Don't let shame stop you from learning because then it will be for nothing." The old woman was frowning as she spoke, but her face softened as she looked at Bloom. "I don't mean to lecture you. Especially since I've dealt with adolescents before and no one ever listens to old crones anyway. Now, was there a specific reason you came to see me?"

"I came to say goodbye. I'm going to be gone for a while and I didn't want you to think that I was just ignoring you…" Bloom felt stupid saying that out loud, not least because she probably could have just called.

"That's sweet." Brighid paused. "I'm too used to witches; I thought you were here to ask for something."

"What would I have asked for?" Bloom was confused. Brighid had already said that this was the best outcome she could have hoped for.

"I don't know… revenge on that boy, a curse on that horrible girl?" Brighid laughed. "If you did want a hex I would be the person to come to."

"I don't really want to hurt either of them…" She didn't think that it would help anything if she interfered with Diaspro again, frankly she'd rather forget that woman existed, and she wasn't at all sure how she felt about Bran- Prince Sky anymore.

"Fair enough," Brighid grumbled. "But if you change your mind I might be open to a deal." Bloom repressed a shudder because she didn't want to think about what Brighid could do or what she'd have to offer in return for it. The old lady was friendly, but she had always made the hairs on Bloom's neck stand on end.

"I should get going," she said instead. "I had to tell my parents that I was suspended and I don't want to postpone their disappointment much longer."

"Of course. I do hope to see you again once you have returned. Martha!" The maid was summoned and Bloom was guided back out to the officers waiting for her.

At King Erendor's request, the police delivered her to the teleportation point. They seemed eager to get back to their actual jobs, seeing this assignment as unnecessary babysitting.

Traveling through Gardenia was a blur. When she got to her parents' house she started crying again, harder this time. Loud enough that her mum heard and came to let her in without Bloom having to ring the bell. She had missed her parents so badly, especially when everything in her life was going to hell, but she knew that a difficult talk was coming soon and she was dreading it. She'd never been suspended before, never done anything bad enough to even get close to it. The worst punishment she'd ever had before leaving for Magix was a one-off detention when she'd been caught passing notes with Selena during an exam.

Mike and Vanessa tried to be understanding when they did sit her down for an explanation especially given how upset Bloom was about Sky. But as they had far too much respect for academic authority and no cultural reference for the strict class system on Eraklyon, they hesitated to outright disagree with the decision to send her home.

Their disappointment in her was palpable, and it stung. Vanessa kept glancing over at her with a sad, plaintive look in her eyes, meanwhile Mike spent most of the time studying his shoes to avoid making eye contact. He was more withdrawn than usual. No matter what Brighid said, Bloom had messed up badly and no amount of learning from it would make her feel better right now.

She spent the first day back, after having The Talk, crying in her bed. She didn't want to look at her phone and be reminded of all the friends she was missing, she didn't want to look at her textbooks because it would just make her miss Alfea, and she didn't want to go outside to be reminded that she was stuck on Earth. That and Mitzy.

The second day was also spent in bed until Vanessa managed to turf her out to have dinner with them in the garden so that she could get some sun. Bloom picked at her lasagne, cutting it up and moving it around her plate without really eating any of it. She wasn't getting any joy from the food, the natural light, or the fresh air. She wasn't even sure that she deserved any either. She had embarrassed so many people and she had no way of making it up to any of them. Stella, Radius, Faragonda, Saladin, and even that kind ranger Benson, she had let them all down.

Both her parents could see her misery but neither of them knew what to say. So instead they kept going as usual as if she was back on holiday again and pretended not to be concerned by her melancholy. Vanessa was all smiles, trying to encourage her to go out and do things, but Bloom could see the worry and disappointment in her eyes. But at least their vacation attitude allowed Bloom to play pretend herself.

If she stayed in bed forever she would never have to go back to the magical universe. She'd never have to face Faragonda again, never have to hear about Red Fountain again and nobody would ever recognise her as the girl who slapped the future queen of Eraklyon. She would be far away from Sky and the fact that she had been a fool to think he liked her. When she thought he was about to kiss her she must have been confused, must have completely misread the situation. Bloom didn't believe for one second that what Diaspro had said about 'practice' was true, Sky just wasn't that kind of person.

Or at least, she had thought he wasn't.

Who knew? She didn't, that was for sure.

Maybe she'd never go back.

She could stay on Earth and pretend to be a normal girl, sometimes use her magic quietly whenever she wanted to feel special. It might be possible to persuade the girls to come visit her from time to time so she wouldn't have to miss them. She was beginning to feel like she wasn't worthy of her place at Alfea; there were so many other girls who had worked harder than her, who were far more talented than her, and who wouldn't be suspended in their second term. Surely Faragonda had a list of girls who could take her spot and none of them would slap anyone.

By the end of the first week Vanessa had taken to yanking the covers off her in the morning and dragging her to the flower shop everyday so there was some structure in Bloom's life. She sensed that her mother was getting a little impatient with her moping but Bloom couldn't muster the energy to do anything else.

The shop was still being finished and Vanessa liked to chat with the builders on her breaks. Bloom just kind of stood around when she wasn't stacking the shelves or working the register, feeling out of place at the new location.

Her first real break from the monotony of retail and her depression was later that week when Tecna called. Bloom was surprised that her friend was able to reach her here; the last time that they'd spoken it had been because of the special equipment that Tecna had access to on Zenith. She picked up her phone hurriedly as soon as she saw Tecna's name on the buzzing screen.

"Hello?"

"Hi." Tecna's voice was as cool and calm as ever. "How are you doing?"

"Er, you know," Bloom said weakly. "About as well as can be expected."

"Okay, well, I set up a makeshift signal booster so you can be here for Flora's birthday. Sort of."

"Oh," Bloom said. She had forgotten that Flora turned eighteen today, she was a terrible friend for not remembering. "I hope she's not too disappointed that I can't really be with you all."

"I'm sure that's not an obstacle to the birthday fun."

Bloom listened in on the Winx as they surprised Flora with presents, cards, and cake. Stella had got her a whole tray of succulents, Musa had written and recorded her a song, and Tecna had given her an envelope with an amount of money in it that made Flora gasp.

"Way to upstage everyone else!" Stella laughed and Bloom could almost hear Tecna's shrug in response. They all sang a birthday song, one that Bloom hadn't heard before but could pick up easily, and then she listened in on them talking and having fun. At some point they started dancing to Flora's song and Bloom just listened to Musa's fast paced vocals, hugging her knees as she lay in bed. She missed them all horribly.

It was hard to go back to her existence in her bedroom after that.

Far away, her friends were laughing and joking around and she wasn't able to join them. And she wouldn't be able to for a long time. It was impossible not to feel worse for the call, despite her friends' best intention. She was so cut-off here.

It took her a few days to work up the emotional energy, but eventually Bloom sent a message to Stella begging to talk. She didn't even want to talk about anything in particular - not her suspension, not Sky or Brandon, she just wanted to talk. The princess had become her best friend and closest confidante over her time at Alfea so not being able to talk to each other was making things harder on Bloom. With whatever device Tecna had used for Flora's birthday call, she was able to get through to Stella.

She was enthusiastic at the prospect of giving Bloom all the details of what she had missed during her suspension so far. Even over text, Stella was desperate to talk and Bloom nearly cried at the barrage of messages she received. Although, while she teased all sorts of information about school, their classmates, and Magix gossip she didn't mention Sky or Brandon, not even in passing. Evidently, it wasn't just Bloom who was deeply hurt and embarrassed by what had happened.

Stella promised that she would find a way to come to Earth in the next few days for a clandestine visit. They agreed that when she could get away from Alfea for a few hours she'd let Bloom know and Bloom would call when she was in a suitably private spot for Stella to teleport in. Bloom knew that her parents would not be supportive of more rule breaking so she just decided not to tell them.

Both Vanessa and Mike were surprised and a little hopeful when Bloom told them about her plan to voluntarily take Kiko for a walk in the park at some point that day. She felt bad for lying about feeling better when really she was going to mope under the cover of some trees until Stella phased in, but she was far too desperate to see her friend to dwell on it.

She received the text. She rushed to get Kiko on his lead.

As she walked the few streets she kept looking around her guiltily as if perfect strangers knew that she was up to no good and were going to be stalking her. Bloom almost had a heart attack when she thought she saw Darcy standing outside the newsagent, but it wasn't her; just a brunette in glasses and purple trousers. She needed to relax before she got way too paranoid.

Once Bloom was by the trees in the park she tried calling Stella but got her voicemail instead. It declared that the Princess of Solaria was currently busy and to please leave a message after the tone, unless it was Brandon, in which case he could sod off.

She was about to make a second call when she saw a woman stroll by, across the park, and Bloom's heart plummeted. She didn't know why; there was nothing strange about the woman, just a platinum blonde officer worker on her lunch break, but something in her gut was screaming at her to leave.

Kiko was agitated too, tail between his legs and growling at the trees when their branches moved. She froze, instinctively staying as still as she could as if remaining unmoving would somehow keep her safe. It was like one of her worst anxiety attacks but this time she was convinced that it wasn't over nothing. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. Bloom didn't have a clue what was going on but she wasn't going to ignore her intuition and her intuition was telling her to get home. Now.

She walked fast, Kiko was glued to her heels and snapping at anyone who got too close. Normally she would have apologised for his unusually aggressive behaviour but right now she was terrified of every stranger on the street and grateful for the space her dog was keeping around them.

There was an odd aura in the air around the road to her house, similar to the feeling she got whenever she returned to Alfea, it was definitely magical and not something she'd ever expected to feel on Earth. For a moment she thought that maybe Stella had disregarded their plan and just phased straight into her bedroom, but the hulking figure that she could see through the living room window dispelled that quickly.

Bloom dropped the lead in shock and ran to the front door. Throwing it open, she came face to face with the ogre.

With a yelp she ducked out of the way as his hand slammed into the door, smashing a dent into the centre of it. Bloom wasn't quite used to transforming so suddenly and in such a restricted place, but she managed to achieve her fairy form and send a ball of fire directly into the ogre's chest. He stooped to grab at the burning on his chest and she seized the opportunity to fly over his head.

Behind the ogre's hulking figure was a scene from her worst nightmares. Taking over the hall of her home and assaulting her parents were three women; the woman in purple trousers from the newsagents, and the blonde office worker from the park, and Stormy.

Both Stormy and the woman in purple were leaning against the stair rail, looking bored, as if this was just an everyday chore for them. The blonde however was finishing her work on Mike. He tried to call out but was cut off by cold fingers sealing his mouth shut with blue-white ice. She had already dealt with Vanessa. Her parents were frozen to the far wall with ice pining their hands and feet in place and gagging them.

In the moment that they saw her, all three of them started smirking. Icy and Darcy dropped their disguises.

"Sisters," Icy said lazily as she stepped away from Mike and turned to fix Bloom with her frosty stare. "Stand up straight and be polite; our hostess has arrived."

"What are you doing?" Bloom demanded, fire was burning under her skin and she pulled the flames out to encase her fists.. "Let my parents go!"

"Now, now, Bloom," she said, the edges of her lips twitching upwards into a cruel smile. "Is that any way to treat a guest? We just came to pay your parents a visit, I do hope that's okay."

"Let them go!"

"Just as soon as we take what we came for." The three witches raised their hands to summon their crystals and Bloom responded by collecting balls of flame in her palms.

"Whatever it is you want, you're going to have to fight me for it."

She was being as brave as possible, knowing that her parents didn't have a lot of time, but Icy just sighed and rolled her eyes. The witch looked deeply unimpressed by Bloom's show of bravado.

"If that's how you want it…" Icy motioned to the ogre still in the doorway. "Knut, rough her up."

Bloom managed to dodge the first few swings Knut the orgre sent her way. The Trix were content to let their monster do the work for them for now, laughing as she tried to evade the giant ogre in the tiny hall. Since one-on-one was much more preferable to four-on-one she decided to focus on Knut and not involve any of the witches yet, despite her overwhelming urge to send fire directly at Icy's face.

As she flew up to avoid a punch to her stomach, she left her legs vulnerable. Knut snatched her ankle and before she could get away he swung her hard into the wall. She raised her arms to protect her head as she collided with the drywall, fragments of plaster exploded around her. Something in her wrist popped, and her vision clouded over for a moment.

She was yanked back as Knut prepared to slam her into the floor, her head spinning as she made contact with the rough hall carpet. Thinking fast, she ignited the leg he was holding onto and her fire scorched the ogre's hand. With an uncharacteristic yelp, he dropped Bloom's ankle, and she struggled to her feet in a daze.

Knut continued to swing at Bloom, undeterred by his burns. He took out the hall light with a punch as he missed her head, mangling the metal fitting. He still managed to box Bloom in between the wall and the bannister as she was forced up the stairs. Bloom backed away until she reached the landing and cursed her fire magic. If she went all out here, she would probably set the house on fire, or worse, her parents.

Bloom's only option was to keep moving and whenever the ogre caught her, burn him. He wasn't very fast, but he wasn't as slow as she would have hoped either. He screamed with pain whenever she blistered his skin but he wasn't stopping. A horrible thought occurred to Bloom; her only option might be to kill him.

No. She couldn't. She- no. Killing was not an option.

Could she knock him out? It seemed unlikely given his bulk and how thick his skull was. And even if she did manage to hit him hard enough to knock him unconscious, this wasn't an action movie. A blow that hard would likely cause him serious problems when he woke up, if not end up killing him anyway.

Her dilemma caused her to hesitate in her attack, giving Knut the opportunity to seize her by the waist and fling her down the stairs. Bloom bounced off the bannister as she tumbled back down to the hall. She scrambled to her feet as Knut stomped after her, acutely aware that the witches were close now.

"That's enough," Icy said as she inspected her nails. "I'd like to keep this as bloodless as we can."

Bloom still backed away, panting hard. She wanted to keep a reasonable distance in the small house. Blood was dripping down her forehead and into her eyes from a gash by her hairline. She wiped away at it, but stopped when she felt a splinter of bannister being pushed further into her scalp. Her parents were still frozen to the wall, faces pale and bodies wracked with chills. Darcy was next to Mike and Stormy was next to Vanessa. Icy was still in front, placing herself between Bloom and her parents.

"Let them go! Please..." Bloom pleaded. She'd suffered through the witch's ice before and she knew how excruciating it was.

"Here's the deal," Darcy said, resting her face on her gloved hand. "You let us take your powers, return you to normal, and we will let your parents go."

Her powers, what? Why? It made sense after everything that they'd done that her magic was what they were after but she didn't have a clue why. Why her? Why her powers in particular?

"Hurry up, Bloom," Icy said. "They don't have much longer left."

Bloom just stood there, paralyzed by the pain of her injuries and the weight of the choice she was being forced to make. She couldn't imagine giving up something that was such an intrinsic part of her. She may have only just realised she had it, but her magic was part of her essence. It was in the fabric of her soul. To even think about giving it up… Bloom thought it would kill her. Even when she'd been playing pretend about staying on Earth her magic was still there. Give up her powers to the Trix? It felt impossible, but what else could she do? The witches looked prepared to let her parents die for this and Bloom fully believed that these girls would resort to murder to get what they wanted.

She opened her mouth to say something, probably to agree, but before she could speak a streak of lightning hit her square in the chest, singeing through her clothes and burning her flesh. The force of it threw her hard across the floor and into the living room, the friction of the carpet grazing off several layers of skin from her shoulder. Bloom couldn't stop twitching as the electricity rolled through her muscles. Her fingers were numb and she had no control over her body.

"Stormy!" Darcy chided.

"What? We didn't know that she was going to just let us." Stormy shrugged. "It won't last for long, long enough so we can restrain her."

"Is she even weakened enough yet?" Darcy sounded annoyed with her trigger-happy sister but Icy was ignoring them both and instructing Knut to pin Bloom's limp body against the living room wall.

Icy placed her hand over Bloom's heart and her ice rolled out from her fingers, momentarily soothing her electrical burns before the cold started to bite into her. It spread across her whole body, leaving only her head, shoulders and the part of her chest under Icy's hand free. Bloom was frozen in place, unable to move as the three witches formed a triangle around her, all staring with varying degrees of interest and glee as she hung against the wall. Bloom managed to summon what was left of her dwindling energy to use her voice.

"Why are you doing this to me?"

Icy paused, crystal in hand, and then moved closer to Bloom. At this distance she could see Icy in a way she never had before, the witch looked hauntingly beautiful. But that might have been the cold talking. Icy was so pale that her lips looked almost purple under her lipstick, her eyes such a light blue that they almost looked white, especially compared to her heavy eye makeup, and her porcelain skin was so translucent that Bloom could see her veins clearly beneath it. The witch of ice so resembled her magic that even her eyelashes were white. She looked pensive as she hovered over the fairy's face.

"Let me tell you a story," Icy's voice was smooth and calm, almost hypnotizing, her eyes boring into Bloom's like a snake transfixing its prey. "A long time ago the greatest power in the magical dimension was gifted to the realm of Sparks. That power was the Dragon Flame. As it was passed down the royal family it enabled Sparks to become the richest, most powerful realm in the universe. But wherever there is light, there is also shadow and Sparks' shadow sought to destroy it.

"The Dark Phoenix pulled the three Ancestral Witches under his command and set them loose on the planet, the price of their service to him was the Dragon Flames that burnt there.

"They destroyed Sparks but they failed to capture the Flame and it slipped out of their grasp. Like the Ancestresses before us, the mothers of all witches, we seek the power of the Dragon Flame."

None of this made sense; what did all this have to do with her? This had all happened eons ago and there had been the expedition to retake the planet since. Princess Rose had been the last fairy to guard the power and she had died with the rest of her family.

"But the Keeper of the Flame, she..."

"Was taken back to Domino, yes. And supposedly the power died out with her, but magic like that doesn't just disappear. The whole universe would be put out of balance if that happened… and if the Dragon Flame still exists, where did it go? Our first thought was that perhaps it had returned to one of the relics that had been used to wield it before." Icy was intoxicated with excitement and Bloom felt exhaustion wash over her as her own fire slowly retreated from her limbs. "The Ring of Solaria turned out to contain only the power of the three Solarian Suns, it was just a powerful artifact like all the others we had searched for before. We were looking in all of the wrong places… why? Because the little baby Princess Rose survived her parents' idiotic mission.

"At the cost of her own life, Daphne sent her little sister to the safest place she could think of; a magicless rock called Earth where she was adopted by two other idiots who named her after her big sister's nickname for her, one of the only things she could say; 'Bloom'."

"No…" Bloom couldn't comprehend what was going on, what Icy was saying, what it meant.

"Your name's Bloom, you're adopted, and you have fire magic," Stormy cut in. She looked bored with her sister's speech. "It doesn't take a genius to work out what happened, so here we are. You're the last Princess of Domino, you hold the Dragon Flame and we want it. Icy, sister, can we please hurry this up? It is very dull."

"No!" Bloom was struggling against the ice holding her down. If she had this power, if she had the Dragon Flame, then surely she could use it to save herself and her parents? But she had no idea how to use it, not when the Trix were draining her like this. There was no way for her to gather up enough magic to do anything.

"It's okay. We are relieving you of the responsibility and you can become a normal Earth girl again," Icy stroked her face, the witch's hand almost as cold as the ice that held Bloom in place, a line of frost trailing down her cheek in its wake. "You never really fit in at Alfea anyway."

"Can we start the incantation to finish it all now?" Stormy asked, her interruption earning her a glare from Darcy.

Bloom kept struggling in vain against the freezing restraints as the fire was slowly pulled from her. Whatever was in those crystals that was seizing her flame was causing her full-body agony. No part of her was spared as she was ripped asunder for every last piece of fire. There felt like there was a gaping cavern left in her heart, as her very being was violated in search of the Dragon Flame. She screamed in agony as a ball of bright fire erupted from her chest and split into three before sinking into the crystals.

Icy exhaled deeply as she stood triumphant.

"We've done it," she breathed, eyes wide in shock as if she couldn't quite believe that it had really happened. "Sisters, we are now the most powerful witches in the entire universe."

"Knut," Darcy called to the ogre. "It's time for us to leave. I need to go thank Riven for all his help." The three witches laughed as they were joined by their wounded pet.

"Do you think he'll still be on board after he finds out what we've done?" Stormy asked, smirking as she held onto her sisters' hands.

"He won't have a choice," Darcy laughed. "I want to keep him handcuffed to my bed so his compliance isn't really a factor."

"My parents!" Bloom managed to get the words out from between her chattering teeth. The witches turned around to look at her, as if they had forgotten that she was still there, and Icy shrugged.

"What about them?" She said callously, and Darcy phased them away from Earth.