A/N: Thank you, winxclub4evr, for leaving a guest review. It really meant so much to me! XOXOX
Chapter 24
The bitch's transportation technology was recovered from the battlefield, mostly in tact. Enough to make the required jump to Magix. The bitch moaned the whole time, alternating between cursing Bloom's name and the succubus race, and wailing after her lost pet. The sight was pathetic: the bitch crumpled around herself, naked and bound in chains. Bloom almost felt compelled to comfort the miserable creature. Then, Abaddon's broken body flashed back into memory, and the seething hatred returned.
When the lights of the portal cleared and the City of Magix had been breached, Bloom took a deep breath. She relished the scent of pine and smoke. From far off, something was burning.
The city, Bloom realized as the smoke towers rose in the distance. The horizon of a city razed, a farce of what once were proud, sleek skyscrapers.
Beautiful.
She never thought she would have to set sights on this city again. So many terrible things happened here. So many life-changing, incredible things.
"Where are we, Your Majesty?" one guard asked. Bloom had brought a dozen or so of Eros' most highly-trained warriors with her. She didn't even have to enlist anyone; they volunteered to hunt down the witches who led to their queen's death.
"The woods just outside the Alfea School for Fairies," Bloom replied, reaching down to touch the fertile ground. Pristine, undamaged. A pocket of perfection, an oasis amongst carnage.
Through the trees, she spied water. Lots of water. As she pushed through the woods, the ground became rockier, sandier, until there were no tress at all and Bloom came face to face with a large, crystalline lake.
The magic here was strong, like a living force. There was something pulling in her gut, something warm and familiar. She had been here before, but only in her dreams.
"Lake Roccaluce."
"Do you know this place?"
This time, it was Wrathis who asked. The incubus was the only one Bloom asked to accompany her, personally. Perhaps it was foolish, or a sign of weakness, but he was her only remaining family. She did not wish to part with him, not yet. Though she did not know Abaddon well, her death hit Bloom hard. And though Wrathis was not an expressive creature, she knew he was hurting worse. They needed each other. They were stronger, together.
"In a way." It was hard to explain her connection to the lake...and the spirit who lived in its depths. She could feel its pull, a string around her heart. "I know what lies beneath."
She stepped into the water, cool around her ankles, inviting. The pull grew stronger, urging her further, deeper.
Wrathis caught Bloom's arm, turned her to him. His eyes carried a warning he did not have to voice. Be careful.
"I know what I'm doing," Bloom said, and freed herself from his clawed grip.
She walked forward into the lake, let the water rise higher and higher, over her hips and breasts and clavicle, over her head, until she was entirely submerged. When she opened her eyes, the lake came alive. Not just with aquatic life, but with a bright light originating from a cave on the opposite end. Bloom walked towards it, feet on the sand as if the water bent around her, allowing her to push through without hesitation. She did not need to breathe. She only needed to follow the light.
Inside, the cave grew brighter and brighter, impairing Bloom's vision until she stood in the center of the light. Only then, did the light contort into a creature. A woman.
Daphne.
You should not have come back, Bloom.
Of course the first thing Bloom would receive is a lecture. Out of all the parental figures in her life, Daphne had the least right to sit on her high horse and look down at Bloom through that golden, stoic mask.
And that...that was all Daphne really was, wasn't she? A ghost in a floating gold mask, nothing but cheap parlor tricks covered in spray paint. Now, Bloom had learned to see through the cracks, to pick out the chips in the glittering veneer. Daphne had never been in Bloom's way, never been a hinderance, a real challenge. She remained in death who she was in life: a scared little girl who couldn't fill her large title.
The realization made it easier for Bloom to ask, "Were you ever going to tell me? Or were you going to lie to me my whole life?"
I was trying to protect you.
"Oh, so it's gonna be that bullshit excuse again? Should have known..."
It may not be what you want to hear, but it is the truth. Daphne's form surged downward and shrunk to make her hands fit on Bloom's shoulders. They were warm, too warm, and tangible. Like she wasn't seventeen years dead. You are my daughter. You will always be my daughter, a Princess of Sparks.
"I am the Queen of Eros, leader of the Succubi. I am not your princess," Bloom spat, anger rolling inside her, heating the water around her to a simmer. She pushed Daphne's hands off her, put distance between them. "Besides, why would I want to be? Your planet is dead, its rulers murdered. I would be the Princess of Nothing."
You would be hope for the Magical Dimension. Bloom was tired of being hope, or destiny, or something special. The whole fucking universe did not depend on her or her power. But it would bow to it. Daphne frowned, like she could read Bloom's mind. The Dragon Flame was never meant to be perverted in this way.
"If you knew what I was, you never would have given the Dragon Flame to me in the first place."
The silence was damning. It hit Bloom harder than she expected. It was one thing to speculate that the woman who birthed you thought you were a monster, undeserving of the power you wielded. It was another thing entirely to have those thoughts validated with the look of disappointment in Daphne's eyes.
"Well, don't worry. I have it back, now, and I plan on using it to fight those witches," Bloom said, lighting a fire in her palm just because she could. Just so she could show Daphne that nothing could stop her, not even the laws of magic themself. "I will rip the power they stole right out of their cold, dead hands. I will reclaim my birthright, and I will rain fire on the Magical Dimension for all the pain, all the suffering they have caused my people. The succubi will stick to the shadows no longer. And you...you will stay here, chained to your cavern, alone, pathetic. Use that time to think about all the damage your protection has caused."
Bloom turned her back on the light.
As she rose from the lake, water dripping down her skin, glistening in the setting sun, she felt stronger than before. She had finally laid the last of her demons to rest. Her adoptive parents, her biological parents, her vessel... Now, she could move forward. Now, there was nothing holding her back from her glorious destiny.
Wrathis offered her his hand. Bloom took it and raised herself up on a boulder. From up there, she could see her small army of guards, Azazel, her father, all waiting on her orders. They would follow her anywhere.
She intended to lead them to greatness.
"Onward," she commanded, "to take Cloud Tower!"
The halls of Cloud Tower were empty, silent, save for Knut's snoring. The oaf of an ogre laid face-down on the floor and slept in front of the fire, fat and content and completely useless now that there was an entire army at the Trix's fingertips.
Icy had been having thoughts of mounting his head above the fireplace and using his hide to upholster a new throne. The one she had now just wasn't big enough. Not for the queen she was destined to become.
The doors blew open and slammed against the stone walls. Knut didn't budge, merely snuffled and rolled over. So much for being a bodyguard. The urge to turn him into decor escalated.
Luckily for Knut, the intruder was Darcy. Stormy followed behind her a few moments later. Both seemed...disturbed.
"Spies near Alfea's border have picked up portal energy. The same portal energy we gave that miserable fairy traitor," Darcy said, her tone short and clipped, the same way it used to get before final exams, back when they actually had to worry about something as trivial as school. Icy would laugh at the girl she used to be. What a fool, so short-sighted.
"So what? She's back?" Icy asked with a flick of her hair. Normally, Darcy didn't bother her with such mundane things.
"She and what looks like a whole army of Succubi."
Now that was interesting.
Icy removed herself from her throne and sauntered over to the dais which held the former Headmistress' crystal ball. She placed her hand on the orb and summoned forth enough power (a laughably small sum for the Dragon Fire that now coursed through her veins) to see through her minions' eyes.
The best part of having an entire army of creatures of rot and carnage was that their brains were so simple to invade, control. All it took was a little manipulation, a few simple words, and Icy could project the vision of a creature half way across the planet. Wonderful.
From those beady, black eyes she spied exactly what Darcy said: a group of Succubi, perhaps ten, maybe twelve at most, all strong and mature. Hardly an army. At their center stood a succubus with flaming red hair and slitted amber eyes. Despite the notable changes to her physique - the claws and horns were new - Icy knew exactly who she was looking at.
"My, my how the little pixie's changed," she mused, hand rubbing idly over the picture of the girl in the orb.
"Whatever she's here for, it can't be good," Stormy grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Should we give the order?" Darcy asked, one brow arched.
"No, I don't want her dead. Not until we know what she wants," Icy said, her mind whirling with the possibilities of what the fallen princess' intentions could be. It wasn't hard to make the leap that the fairy traitor had sold them out, most likely before she met a gruesome fate. Icy had hoped she would bite the dust before running her mouth. Now, the question remained of what exactly the fairy traitor spilled, and what Bloom intended on doing with that information.
"Are you forgetting we ripped the Dragon Flame from her chest, blackmailed her into leaving Magix, and then left her for dead?" Stormy reminded, as if Icy could forget the single most incredible moment of their lives.
"Clearly she came out on top of that situation. She should thank us," Icy hissed, unwilling to back down from the challenge presented to her. "Let's give her a warm welcome, an open reception. Treat her to the finest spoils we have to offer. And then, when the time comes, we drive a stake through her cold, dead heart."