Thing to Trade

Most of the Winx are in the library, but Bloom hasn't shown up. Stella asks why, as Bloom's usually the most punctual one after Techna, and Daphne says "She said she had an idea for what to give Rumpelstiltskin in exchange for the Legendarium Key. So, she took Sky and went back to Asgard."

Musa smirks and asks "And you're sure she didn't do that just to get some alone time with him? Or visit your brothers and other sister?"

"Look, she said she'd be back with something that even a guy as picky as Rumpelstiltskin would jump at, alright? And Sky asked if they could talk, but the duel kind of put a hold on it, so she invited him to go with."

Flora says "Aw, that's so sweet!"

On Asgard, Bloom and Sky teleport into her bedroom - which happens to be painted in an exact likeness of Pyros, specifically the spot where she was staying with Ember up until they found her. "Wow, Bloom, this is amazing."

She smiles, and pulls at his arm saying "You do realize the entire palace is a lot bigger than one room, right?"

"Yeah, but…you did this. Not the rest of the palace."

"So, what did you want to talk about? You know, before the duel started and we got sidetracked?" She pulls him out of the painted walls, semi-distractedly saying "Loki's likely in the Library, Thor's almost certainly in the Throne Room, and Hela's probably sparring in the Training Ring."

"Uh, yeah, talk…it can wait until after."

Bloom raises an eyebrow, getting a worried look on her face, and quietly asks "Something wrong?"

Sky pulls her to him, saying "No, nothing's wrong, I've just got something to ask you. That's all. It can wait until after we get this…what did you call it?"

"The Tesseract. A.K.A. the Space Stone. On the level of the Dragon Flame in terms of power. If Rumpelstiltskin doesn't want that, then I've got nothing." She told him about the Infinity Stones, and about how each of them could cause massive destruction all by themselves - locking it in the Legendarium would solve the problem of that stone.

"Bloom, that's genius. Let's go find it."

She looks up at him, an unusually vulnerable look in her eyes, and asks "So…we're good? You don't want-"

Sky stops her right there by kissing her. When he breaks it, pushing Bloom back a step, he says "I just want to ask you a question, alright? Or maybe 'say an idea' is a better way to put it. Alright? Stop worrying, it's not going to turn out like the Millennium Party." Bloom nods, tries to kiss him again because it's only been about a week and a half since Fearwood, and then gets herself together enough to make herself turn towards the door.

When they walk out into the corridor, the startled guards immediately react and point their weapons at the couple - and then one of them recognizes Bloom. "Princess Bloom? What…how…when did you return?"

"A few moments ago. Stand down, he's with me."

The guards step away, returning to their posts, and Sky says "I guess that's sort of payback for that time in Eraklyon, huh?"

"No!"

"Really? Because the same thing happened in reverse when they saw you after the party until we got it straightened out with my parents and the guards."

Bloom rolls her eyes, and says "Thor's probably in the Throne Room. And, technically, we need to ask permission from the King to take anything from the Weapons Vault."

"Just like getting into the Library on Solaria, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

They get into the Throne Room, Bloom having fended off about twenty different guards reacting to the presence of a total stranger in the halls - despite him being with a girl they recognize as their princess - and find Thor sitting on the Throne with Loki at his side and both of them listening to a man from Vanaheim talking.

After a good ten minutes of him talking, Thor dismisses him with a promise that he'll send some Einherjar to stop the rogues attacking his village - because Loki noticed Bloom and Sky, and quietly nudged him in the side to get his attention. Loki gets the first hug, leaving Thor with a fake-hurt expression on his face. "Bloom, you wound me! Loki gets all the affection, even now?"

Bloom grins, pulls back, and says "Don't think your right all the time, Brother. Just because you're the King of the Nine Realms now doesn't mean you know everything."

"Such as?"

"Such as when I'm sneaking up behind you." She drops the illusion that was in front of Loki for the past few second, and tackles Thor from behind and puts him in a headlock.

Thor tries to get her off him, to no avail, and finally fake-seriously glares at Loki and says "You taught her too well, Brother."

Loki grins and says "She wanted to learn. So much so that she'd have raided the library at every possible moment and possibly blown up the palace trying out a spell on her own."

Bloom grins, completely unashamed of her complete love and curiosity of all things magical, and proudly says "Yes, I did."

Thor finally says "I yield, Sister. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

Bloom starts laughing at that, and says "Very well, Thor."

She releases him from the headlock she had him in, and Loki asks "So, what brings you back here?"

"I need the Tesseract."

Their expressions change instantly, and Loki says "Bloom, the guy that held it before me got sent to Thanos. The Red Skull, he calls himself. Now he's one of Thanos' children. Why do you-"

"I want to get it out of Asgard and somewhere Thanos can't follow. Loki, you know he's going to come for it."

"I do, and I know he won't just stop because he can't do the Snap."

Sky asks "The Snap?"

"He wants to kill half of all life in an instant. Collect all six Infinity Stones and use their power to make half of all life, everywhere there is, just vanish."

"But Bloom said she-"

"Destroyed the Aether. I know. And she did, there wasn't a single trace of its power left after that. But he won't exactly stop in his insane quest to 'save' the universe by committing a mass genocide of every planet just because one Stone is already missing. He'll just get furious as Hel and kill her. Or he won't kill her."

Bloom says "Loki, if the Tesseract isn't even on Asgard, there's a chance he'll never even come here. Then, after we lock the Legendarium-"

"No! Bloom, I won't let you go after this madman. You don't know what he's like, what he's capable of, what his 'children' are capable of-" Bloom looks at Loki's increasingly panicked expression, and teleports behind him and clamps her hand over his mouth to stop his speech.

When he isn't attempting to speak through her hand, she walks over in front of him and says "And they don't know what I'm capable of, Brother. Destroying an Infinity Stone, for instance."

They can tell Loki's not going to win this argument, not going to convince his sister not to go and stop Thanos. Finally, Loki gives in and admits defeat on the subject, and they get permission to take the Tesseract - and Bloom promises they'll talk more on this particular subject, making Loki groan softly and Thor say "It was going to happen eventually, Loki."

In the Weapons Vault, Bloom snaps her fingers and a glass case appears slightly bigger than the Tesseract, and she floats the glowing cube into it and seals it with a spell. After putting it in the bag at her hip, she turns to Sky and asks "So, what'd you want to talk about?"

He lets out a nervous laugh, rubs the back of his head, then says "Let's get back to Magix first. So Selina and the Trix don't get any ideas about sending something else after you." He's putting it off, he knows he is - but he was close to doing the same thing when he actually asked to marry her.

And she said yes, you idiot. Just tell her you don't want to wait for a time when the Trix and whoever they find to team up with next aren't going around destroying stuff! You've got lives outside of fighting them, after all!

Bloom says goodbye to her brothers, remembers to go and visit Fenris and gets covered in Asgardian Wolf fur - Sky's amazed that any wolf can be that gigantic - and then they head back to Magix.

AN: Hey, all! Sorry about the wait, but school is hammering me with Midterms at the moment - which, unfortunately, must come before fun. *Sniffle* Anyway, next chapter is here! Yes, Bloom is fully intending on giving Thanos the beating of a lifetime after the Legendarium is locked for good - and, as some of you doubtlessly guessed, I'm sealing the Tesseract in it as well. Unfortunately, Thanos is quite a bit tougher than any enemy Bloom's faced - in the movie, he takes the Hulk down in about three hits. After taking a few from the big, green guy. So, please, nobody get angry at me if Bloom does in fact get hurt for once - any guy that can take a beating from the Hulk and walk away without even a bruise isn't someone to underwrite. Anyway, enjoy! IW is coming very soon! I promise! Just, please be patient - juggling classes, studying, tests, some of which I still have to take right now, and writing down ideas.