So over the quarantine, I've been re-watching Winx club, as well as reading a lot of fanfic. The thing that I've realised is that I wish Winx were aimed at a slightly higher age group and included a few more things so I've decided to take up the challenge. I hope to write quite a bit over the quarantine so hopefully I can get quite a lot of the story out.

ch.1: It feels like magic

Bloom rode her bike through the streets of Gardenia, California, humming a happy tune. It was a warm, sunny day and she intended to make the most of it. Kiko, her pet bunny, rode along in the basket of her bike munching . As she sped along, she waved to neighbours and friends. Her family was well known and liked in their small town. Her mother, Vanessa, owned the local flower shops, and, though many tried to surpass her over the years, it remained the go-to shop for any occasion. Her father, Mike, was a fireman and had helped countless members of their community.

She saw Gardenia park before her - a perfect place to stop and relax. It was the largest park in the whole town, taking up almost a third of the space. It featured a large man-made lake in the center and had many areas that were nothing but trees, as well as several small parks, two skate parks, a basketball court, baseball diamond and a tennis court. Bloom stopped just outside one of the clearings where she was surrounded by trees. She'd not go to the clearing as those were usually filled with people and she just wanted to relax right now. Hopping off her bike, she made her way to the closest tree. "Go find an acorn, Kiko, and I'll toss it around with you" she said to the small blue bunny as he jumped out of the basket.

No sooner had she sat down to eat her apple did she see Kiko running back. He looked shaken. "What? Did you see one of those scary squirrels again?" she teased. He was not having it. The bunny tugged at her pant leg, desperate to show her what he'd seen. After a few tugs, she relented.

Kiko led her to a nearby clearing. Bloom noted that it was surprisingly deserted for such a nice day. She was about to make a joke, but got distracted when she saw what Kiko was pulling her towards. She ducked behind a tree to get a better look.

A blonde woman was fighting ... dogs? No, not dogs. They looked much scarier, and like they were made of shadows. Blooms eyes were stuck on the creatures. What were they? She could only describe them as something from a nightmare.

She was shaken from her thoughts when she heard the blonde yell at them to get back. That's when she properly noticed the woman - she was no ordinary woman. She wore her hair in two low pigtails, and despite the ongoing fight, there was not a hair out of place. She wore a sparkly orange one shoulder crop top and tiny matching shorts (could you even call them shorts?). Her boots were the same shade of orange, but lacked the shine. In her hand, she held a scepter, made of a light blue material that matched the cuffs on her arms. But her outfit wasn't what caught Bloom's attention. It was her back that did. Or, more specifically, what she had on her back. Wings!

Another shout by the blond brought Bloom back to the situation.

A light shone from the blonds hand and the creatures fell back. What the fuck was happening? Was this girl a fairy? How is that possible?

The light died down and Bloom could just make out the shape of a... what was that? It was huge, easily 300 lbs and wore overalls, no shirt, and no shoes. The creature groaned, obviously annoyed that the blond had defeated some of the shadow creatures. Ghouls, Bloom thought she had heard the blonde call them. She looked over at Kiko. "We can't both be seeing things, can we?"

The blonde began to glow. Her scepter hit the ground, causing a small shake and knocking the ghouls back. One was caught by the large creature, who proceeded to give it a squeeze and then it... disappeared?

Angered by the turn of events, the large creature stepped forward to attack the young woman. Bloom got a good look at him and boy was he ugly. His skin was yellow and he had a huge head with tiny little eyes which were covered with thick, brown eyebrows. His small, pointy nose wasn't much bigger than his eyes. His ears were so small that Bloom almost thought he didn't have ears. His mouth was truly the defining feature - it was so large that he could probably eat the blond woman in one quick bite. A scruffy beard framed his square jaw. He had to be an ogre, Bloom thought, remembering the stories she'd read as a child.

"News flash Mr. Hideous" said the fairy "the power of Solaria is so gonna flatten you"

"You're the one who's gonna get flattened" roared the ogre as he charged towards the blond. He hit her square in the chest, causing her to fly back and land with a thud a few feet away.

"That's gotta hurt" muttered Bloom.

The blonde sat up, using her elbows to support her. The ogre laughed as the ghouls approached her.

"You're finished little fairy girl" laughed the ogre. "Now ghouls, bring me her scepter!"

The ghouls sped up, grabbing at the fairy's arms and legs. "I'm warning you! You'll never get away with this" she cried before one of the ghouls wrapped its arm over her mouth.

"I think I just did" replied the ogre, grabbing the scepter from one of the ghouls. "Your scepter's ours!" he laughed, "and you're history"

Bloom couldn't believe what was happening. The ogre was winning! How was that possible? The bad guy never won in the books she'd read. She had to do something! "Leave her alone! Come get me" she yelled, jumping out of her hiding spot behind the trees. Then reality hit her "wait, did I just say that?"

"You sure did" the ogre replied, turning his back on the blonde and staring straight at Bloom. Oh God, what had she done? She couldn't fight!

The ogre let out an angry roar.

"You should learn to mind your own business" he said. In one quick swoop, he had grabbed her by the arms and was dangling her one foot off the ground.

"Let go!" Bloom screamed. She may not be a fairy, but she was never one to go down without a fight. A power surged in her that she had never felt before, and before she knew what was happening, a bright light emanated from her. The monster was pushed back, letting Bloom go. She wouldn't know this, but her body had heated up to a point where the monster was forced to let her go unless he wanted to risk severe burns.

She opened her eyes, happy to see that she landed on her feet. She was not so happy, however, to see ghouls rushing towards her. "Get back" she screamed, thrusting out her arm to hold off the ghouls. Again, she felt that power surge in her. Whatever it was had pushed the ghouls back.

"What just happened?" Bloom asked no one in particular. "How'd I do that?"

Her moment of confusion passed when she saw a ghoul approaching Kiko, who was doing the cutest celebratory dance. Thinking quickly, she picked up a thick branch that was on the ground.

"Hey ghoul" she said, tapping it on the shoulder to grab its attention. "Take off!" She brought the branch up and swung at the ghoul, sending him flying.

The blonde picked up her scepter and walked over to the red head that had helped her. "Wow! You've got winx, girl. Major winx!" she said.

The redhead, who had leaned over in an attempt to straighten out her head, looked up at her in confusion. "What? Me? What do you mean?"

Their conversation was quickly interrupted when they heard a cackling laugh behind them. The blonde turned on her heels and gave the ogre a once over.

"Laugh all you want, fashion fiasco. You're going down" said the fairy. A bright light shone from the end of her scepter. It flashed at the monster, sending him flying. "I suggest you, like, get out of our realm now"

"Watch it" yelled Bloom. Ghouls were approaching, but the blonde didn't seem too worried by them. With a cry, she created more light, pushing the ghouls back into a nearby tree. They landed in a pile, and disappeared. The blonde gave a little giggle and a twirl of her scepter.

She hadn't gotten all the ghouls, though. One grabbed on to Bloom's pants. She swiftly kicked it off, but it ripped part of her pant off before returning to the monster's side.

"We'll meet again Princess Stella" said the ogre before disappearing in a burst of purple light.

"Ew... can't say I'm looking forward to that" deadpanned Stella before passing out. She hit the ground with a light thud, and began to glow. Her outfit changed in a flash of light. What had been a very orange crop top and booty shorts became a very orange crop top and maxi skirt. She wore a headpiece bearing the same design as the scepter she previously held.

"Oh no" Bloom yelled, dropping to her knees. "We better take her home. She needs major help!"

Getting Stella onto her bike had been no easy feat. Bloom had eventually settled on putting Stella in front of her so that she'd be trapped between Bloom's arms as she rode. She'd stuck the blonde's feet in the basket - much to Kiko's dismay - so that her feet wouldn't be dangling and getting in the way as she peddled. To say that she'd gotten a few strange looks on the ride back to her house would be an understatement. After all, it wasn't everyday that someone rode through town with a strange, unconscious girl on their bicycle.

Getting her into the house was, thankfully, much easier as her parents were both at work. Her mother would be back around 5:30, just after she'd closed the shop; her father closer to 8 as shift change was at 7.

Bloom picked Stella princess-style since she didn't have the strength to put her in a fireman's hold, even if her father had told her multiple times that it was the easiest way to carry somebody. She carried the fairy into the house, knocking her legs into the door frame in the process - hopefully Stella wouldn't feel that when she woke up. Looking up at the stairs, Bloom realised there was no way she'd get Stella to her room - her arms were already starting to shake as it was. It would have to be the guestroom adjacent to the kitchen. Hopefully, her parents wouldn't notice; Bloom had no idea how to explain to them that an unknown girl, who also happened to be a fairy was in their guestroom.

Vanessa peaked into Bloom's room. Her daughter was fast asleep, which was a bit unusual. Bloom would usually be up already. Vanessa crept in, when she noticed the book that lay at the foot of her daughters bed.

"Fairies?" she whispered to herself "Bloom hasn't read the book since she was little"

"Rise and shine princess. A beautiful day awaits" She said, giving Bloom a small shake "You know, that used to be your favourite book. You used to pretend you were a fairy. You could do it for hours."

Bloom had stirred, but hadn't gotten up. She had rushed in yesterday afternoon, with a strange girl on her arm, ran upstairs, yelling at her parents not to bother them. Vanessa and Mike, having no reason to not trust the responsible young woman they'd raised, respected her wishes. The girls hadn't come down for supper, which was strange. When Vanessa went to see what they were up to before going to bed, she found Bloom fast asleep and alone. Maybe the blond had slipped out while both parents were busy? Vanessa had found it a bit rude of her not to say goodbye, but she trusted Bloom's judgement so she chose not to question her. It was only this morning, when she'd gone to put away the spare sheets in the guestroom did she realise that the mysterious blond girl had never left. Instead, she was fast asleep on the guest bed.

"So who's the girl downstairs who's fast asleep in the guestroom? Vanessa asked her sleeping daughter. Just as she'd assumed the redhead would, Bloom jumped awake.

"So it wasn't a dream" Bloom cried, jumping out of bed. "And she's still asleep? Good!" Vanessa had never seen her daughter get ready so fast. She had somehow showered in two minutes and was now running a towel through her hair at lightning speed. "She's Jenna's cousin and she's visiting from far away." Bloom had already slipped her pants on and was now pulling her head through her favourite blue and yellow crop top. "Don't wake her up, okay mom?"

"Come on downstairs for breakfast" Vanessa said, trusting that Bloom would explain soon enough. She gave her daughter a small smile and shut the door behind her.

Mike was sitting at his usual spot, reading the morning paper when he heard his daughter coming down the stairs.

"Hey Bloom" he said "today's the day were going to clean out the garage" He knew neither of them were particularly looking forward to the chore, but it was a great reason to spend the day together reminiscing about all the knickknacks they'd find.

"C'mon dad! I have lots of other stuff I have to do" Bloom sighed "lots of important stuff"

"What sort of stuff are you talking about?" laughed Mike. It was summer vacation and Bloom worked part time at the flower shop with Vanessa. How much could she possibly have to do?

"Do you remember when I was into fairies and witches, dad?" Bloom asked apprehensively.

"Of course I do" Mike replied, wondering where this conversation was going "You were so cute, always pretending to know magic"

"Well here's the thing" Bloom started before being cut off by her father.

"If you knew magic, you could just wave a wand and the garage would clean itself" he joked.

"That's kinda the thing I wanted to talk to you about... you know my friend, the one who's asleep in the guestroom..." Bloom started again, only to be interrupted by her mother.

"Just give her a break, honey. She wants to spend the day with her friend" Vanessa laughed. Bloom could always count on her mother to take her side and just like he always did, her father laughed and gave in to his two favourite girls.

"Okay. You get the groceries and you're free for the rest of the day" He said, giving his daughter a wink.

"You guys are the best, thank you!" Bloom said with a laugh, running off to do her only chore for that day.

Bloom pushed her bike through the streets; Kiko was in his usual spot in the basket. She hadn't felt any power today and that discouraged her. Hopefully they hadn't worn off or been a onetime thing.

"Hey Bloom" a whiny voice interrupted her thoughts "Isn't it time to send that two-wheeled relic to the junk pile?"

Bloom looked over to the slim, dark-haired girl. She wore her long hair up in a high bun today, as did Bloom - it was another one of those hot California summers. Cold blue eyes peered at her through the lenses of the girl's dark-rimmed glasses. It was Mitzi, a bratty classmate who insisted on making Bloom's life awful. To be fair, she tried to make a lot of other people's lives awful too, but Bloom always felt that Mitzi had it out for her in particular.

"There's nothing wrong with this bike. My dad got it for me" Bloom stated. Her father had bought it at the beginning of last summer. Sure, Bloom had used it a lot over the last year and some months, but it was still in great condition.

"Oh you poor girl" Mitzi started "Of course, I don't mean poor as in not rich, even though that is what you are" God, Mitzi knew just how to get under her skin.

A clanging sound caught both girls attention and the dark-haired bully turned around angrily, having already identified the sound. "Hey fellas, careful with my scooter!" Mitzi yelled to the two gentlemen who were pulling a shiny purple scooter out of the back of a truck. "It's brand new you know" she said, turning to Bloom. Obviously she had meant to gloat but Bloom decided she didn't have the patience for this today. She had other things to do.

"Well, see you later" She said to Mitzi dismissively. "If I had do have powers, Kiko, remind me to turn her into a monkey" Bloom laughed while driving off.

"So she's been asleep for 20 hours because she's a fairy?" Mike asked. "Is that like a goth or something?" Bloom was not making sense. She had always had a vivid imagination, but she had to know that fairies weren't real. Maybe this was a prank?

"I'm talking real fairy, dad" Bloom cried "with a scepter, magic powers and fluttering wings! She's amazing"

"You must have a very high fever" Mike said. "I think we should call Dr. Silverman..."

He was interrupted by a soft voice wishing them a good morning. The mystery blonde, or fairy as Bloom claimed, had woken up.

"It's evening, hun" Vanessa told her gently "How do you feel?"

"Uhhhh, fine now thanks to this girl right here" the blonde said, gesturing to Bloom. "My name's Stella"

"Hey there Stella, my name is Bloom"

"Let's call your parents now, shall we?" Vanessa interrupted. She knew that if Bloom went a whole day without contacting them she'd be worried and she wanted to put Stella's parents at ease.

"I'm afraid that's like so way easier said than done" laughed Stella "I mean let's face it, they live like six whole realms away in a kingdom called Solaria. I was on my way to the Alfea school, you know, to continue my magic training and..."

"Oh boy, oh boy" Interrupted Mike. "I'm calling Dr. Silverman. We'll see if he can figure out why the two of you are seeing things that aren't there". Clearly the girls had gone wacky, he thought, or worse, had this Stella girl pressured his sweet innocent Bloom into taking drugs. Was that why they were talking crazy?

Stella did not like Mike insinuating that she was insane. With a giggle and a flourish of her hand, she transformed the phone into a carrot and some lettuce. "You still think we're out of our gourds?"

"Woah, that was so awesome!" Bloom shouted. Stella couldn't help but be amused and how easily the girl was impressed with the simplest of magic.

"You're the one who's majorly awesome, Bloom" Stella said "When this ogre attacked me, she gave him an energy blast that kicked his booty into another dimension"

"It's true, but I don't know how I did it" Bloom replied.

"It's like I told you yesterday, Bloom. You're loaded with magic!"

"Me?" Bloom blushed. She was briefly pulled into a daydream where she swore she could magic and stars floating through the air. Then Stella started speaking again and Blooms daydream disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.

"Hey, I just had like a great brainstorm. You should come to Alfea with me. It's like so far and away the best magic school in a whole 8 realm area"

"Hold it" interrupted Mike "My daughter's not going to another realm".

"I think that's enough for tonight" Vanessa said, giving her husband a pointed look. "Let's call it a night and we can talk about this some more tomorrow"

Bloom led Stella up to her room; she wanted to ask her about everything that her world had to offer. There were clearly princesses - and she was one according to the ogre - but what about witches and dragons and elves and all the other wonderful things she'd read in books as a child. "Well, here we are" Bloom said, opening the door to her room. The small room was painted a light pink - a colour Bloom had chosen three years prior. Her bed lined the right wall; her library and desk, the left. It was an ordinary room by any means, the thing that made it Bloom's were the drawings that covered the walls. Bloom loved to draw; not that she'd consider herself to be a great artist or anything, it was just a hobby.

"Wow! Cool room, Bloom" Stella said with an approving nod. "You should totally bring it to Alfea. A quick packing spell and it'll fit in a handbag"

"Stella, I don't think I'm going to Alfea" Bloom sighed, earning a shocked look from the fairy "I don't think I have powers anymore. I mean, I know I fought that ogre in the park, but now..."

"Trust me Bloom. Someone with magic like you have, doesn't lose their powers" Stella replied, turning to look out the window. "They're just rusty from sitting unused for so long"

Maybe Stella was right, Bloom thought. Could she actually have magic? "Do you think I'm like the girl in that book?" She asked, pointing to the fairy book that lay by Stella's hand.

"Hmmm..." thought Stella, picking up the book to flip through it "Let's see"

"Kinda..." She said after having flipped through a few pages "But this book was written by humans. You're so much cooler than this. And more fashionable"

"Wow, I can't believe that I really do know magic. And I have... what did you call it? Winx?" Bloom said, letting herself fall back onto her bed.

"Your magic's always been inside you" Stella pointed out "It's like my fairy godmother used to say: sometime you just need an ogre to attack you to find out what you're really made of" Now, obviously, Stella's fairy godmother would never have let her be attacked by an ogre. The girl was the crown princess of Solaria after all. Way too valuable to be fighting ogres, but Bloom didn't need to know that.

"Now try this. It's a simple matter-merge exercise" Stella said, making the pencils on Bloom's desk float and join into a single large pencil "Okay. You give it a shot, put them back how they were"

Bloom looked uncertain, but gave it a try. No luck, the giant pencil just dropped to the ground. "C'mon. Try again" Stella encouraged.

"I don't feel anything" Bloom sighed, obviously discouraged.

"You just need some practice Bloom" Stella sighed, sitting down next to the girl. "It's actually no biggie. That's why you have to come with me to Alfea! Before long, you'll be zapping ogres left and right"

Bloom quite liked Stella. The blond was naturally perky and was surprisingly good at cheering Bloom up. If she got to go to Alfea, she thought that they could be good friends.

"So where is it?"Bloom asked. She couldn't go to a school if she didn't even know where it was.

"Well it's sorta in a parallel dimension" Stella explained matter-of-factly "You go to the inner realm of the enchanted ring and then you..."

Bloom had no idea what she was talking about. Until yesterday afternoon, she had been a plain human. Stella knew a better way. Making a postcard appear and dropping it to the ground, Stella said "look, why don't you come with me and I'll show it to you"

The postcard grew to easily ten times its original size. Bloom gasped at it. As cool as magic was, it would definitely take some getting used to. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Stella get up and walk towards the postcard.

"This" Stella said "is an express portal. C'mon. It's cool" If she hadn't known about magic, Bloom would've sworn she'd bumped her head when she saw the blonds feet start to sink into the picture. "Now follow me" She said, as the rest of her body followed until her head had gone through.

Was she insane? Bloom thought to herself. She'd been swallowed by a picture and she expected Bloom to just follow her like it was the most normal thing in the world. But, hey, if she wanted to live in a world with magic, she was going to have to embrace things that made no sense to her. With a deep sigh, she pulled herself off the bed and walked onto the picture just like Stella had done. No sooner had she set both feet down, did she start to sink in.

"Stella this feels really weird"

"Don't worry" the blond replied "almost no one gets lost between dimensions".

Bloom was starting to doubt what she had thought earlier about Stella being good at cheering her up. You could get lost between dimensions?! That was information she would've preferred not to know at this point, but Stella had said it anyways. Bloom didn't have time to dwell too much on that worry, though. As soon as her head had sank through the photo, she found herself standing at the edge of a forest.

"Well, there it is Bloom" Stella said, gesturing to the large building before them "the famous Alfea castle"

Bloom was blown away by how beautiful the building before her was. It was light pink in colour, with a gorgeous blue roof and Bloom could swear it had come directly out of her favourite fairy book.

"So what exactly goes on here" She asked Stella, pulling her eyes away from the school.

"The best and most fabulous come from all over the universe to perfect their powers. Most are princesses like moi but we also have pixies and get this! We're only one enchanted forest from the Red Fountain School for Heroics and Bravery. It's full of hunks." Stella said dreamily. Clearly the girl would be boy crazy. "But we're also just down the lagoon from the creepiest place in the entire realm: the Cloud Tower School for Witches."

"Wow. This is a really big decision" Bloom sighed. On the one hand, she really wanted to come to Alfea. Her whole life, she'd dreamed of a world where magic was real and now she had a chance to actually live in it. But there was also the matter of leaving her parents, and friends and everything she'd ever known to go to a school in a whole other dimension.

"To help you make it, I invited some of the H&B boys over to your house" Stella announced, clearly very excited at the prospect of seeing them.

"The hero guys are coming to my house? When?" Bloom loved the idea of getting to meet handsome boys, especially magical ones. She wasn't so sure her father would love it, though.

"Pretty soon, so let's get going" Stella said, jumping up back into the portal. Bloom didn't take a second to think about the possibility of getting lost in another dimension and followed the blonds lead.

Mike and Vanessa were sitting on the couch discussing the possibility of sending Bloom to the fairy school when Kiko ran up to them, clearly agitated by something.

"Not now." Mike told the bunny firmly, pushing him away from his pants "we can play later, Kiko. It's been a long day". The bunny didn't let up though, moving over to Vanessa's leg to get her attention. "I don't know what's wrong with him. Maybe Bloom forgot to give him his dinner? Or maybe he's doing that thing where he pretends he didn't eat so he can get a second serving?"

Kiko ran back into the kitchen and started making a ruckus.

"What is that rabbit doing?" cried Mike, getting up from his spot. "I told you we should've bought Bloom a hamster" His annoyance was shortly replaced by shock and fear. A troll had appeared at the door. He was easily ten feet tall, blue and ugly. He'd been in their home all of thirty seconds and had already succeeded in breaking two doors, several pots and damaging the wall.

"Tell us where the girls are or you're ghoul food" the shorter, equally ugly, yellow monster shouted.

"Turn around, sunshine" Stella said. From Bloom's room upstairs, the girls had heard Vanessa's scream and lots of smashing. "I guess someone didn't learn their lesson." With a bright flash of light, Stella had transformed into the fairy outfit Bloom had originally met her in. The blonde flew up off the step and gave the troll a swift kick in the face.

"Are you just gonna stand there and let that little fairy kick your ass?" The ogre yelled at his troll minion.

"Me mad" growled the troll.

"Then do something about it tall, blue and gruesome" Stella challenged.

"Bloom, I'll handle the two gross outs" Stella said, not even turning around to make sure Bloom was still there "you take care of the ghouls"

"But how?" Bloom cried. Clearly Stella had forgotten that Bloom didn't exactly know how to use her powers, she just knew she had some.

"Just do something."

"Okay... I'll try" Bloom said, running out of the room. The ghouls chased after her, just as she'd hoped they would.

A blast of light came from inside the house. Hopefully that meant Stella was winning. Bloom, however, wasn't sure if she was. The ghouls had surrounded her and she had no idea what to do.

"Uh... nice little poochies. Roll over?" She tried. And then, as if Stella had sensed her fear and uncertainty, the ogre came crashing through the door, smushing the ghouls beneath him. "Good one Stella!" She yelled, only to see the fairy be thrown out the window two seconds later. Bloom ran to her side but before she could help her up the troll came waltzing through the front door, causing what was easily thousands of dollars in property damage.

"What do we do?" whispered Bloom.

"Hey Princess Stella" a masculine voice said from behind the troll as a rope wrapped around its neck "I hope your friend's the pretty one in the blue pants"

"Yeah" another voice said "and not this ugly guy at the end of the leash here"

Bloom looked behind the troll and saw four guys. They must be Stella's friend from the Heroics and Bravery school, Bloom thought.

"Ditto that" said the nerdy redhead on the far left. He was shorter than the rest of the guys and definitely didn't seem like the type of guy Bloom had imagined at a heroics school. He seemed more like the kind of guy she'd see hanging out at the arcade or at the internet cafe near her mother's shop.

"All right" said the blond boy right beside him "I suggest a three pronged rescue op" Bloom knew this wasn't the moment, but wow was he attractive. If it hadn't been for the troll between them, she could have stared at him all night. He had a stronger build than the redhead, but not overly-muscled, which Bloom liked. He had shoulder length hair and kind blue eyes. Bloom couldn't pinpoint it, but something about him radiated confidence and gentleness.

"Forget that" said the guy on the blond boy's right - the one holding the rope tied around the troll's neck. He had magenta hair, which bloom thought was kind of odd. She wondered if he dyed his hair. That wasn't his most interesting feature, however; that would have to be his striking violet eyes."I got this bitch-boy wrapped up all by myself."

"Dude, one summer at a swashbuckler camp doesn't mean you can go solo on a troll" sighed the classically handsome brunet on the far right, as his friend with the odd-coloured hair was pulled forward by the troll landing just behind Bloom and Stella.

"I rest my case" sighed the brunet again.

The troll approached the three other boys as the blond put up his shield. "Stay behind me" he instructed his friends. The troll began savagely pounding on the shield and Bloom hoped that it was very strong. She didn't want to see the handsome one get hurt. Or any of them, really, but particularly the handsome one.

"Hey guys, what did we learn about battling trolls?" The blond yelled as he tried to hold off the troll.

"Well" the brunet said, perking up a bit. He jumped up, bringing his sword above his head. "Smash 'em, I think" As he came down, the sword did too, causing the ground underneath him to split beneath the troll.

"No Sky" the redhead said "you take out their feet". He pulled up some sort of gun, though it was nothing like Bloom had ever seen, and shot three times. His aim was perfect and knocked the troll down into the chasm the brunet had caused.

"Way to go Timmy"

"Good thing you aced how to battle forest creatures, Timmy" the blond laughed, looking up at his friend.

"Ghoul alert" Sky cried.

The magenta haired boy got to his feet now that the pain from his crash had subsided. He looked back at the two girls and sharply instructed them to stay put. Pulling his sword, he cut through one of ghouls before another jumped on his back. He threw his arm behind his head, pulling the ghoul off of him only to feel a sharp blow to the chest as the ogre punched him. This was really not his day, thought Bloom.

"Leave him alone" cried Bloom, pushing a burst of light out of the palm of her hands.

"Awesome shot there, Bloom" giggled Stella.

"It just happened" Bloom said, staring incredulously at her hands.

"Like I said, you've got winx"

The ogre got to his feet, while emitting a deep growl. The magenta haired boy, who had quickly recovered from the hit, smirked at him clearly ready for a fight.

"Back off shorty" warned the ogre. Bloom thought it was funny that the ogre called him shorty seeing as how the boy, who was the tallest of his friends, was almost the same height as the ogre.

"You're the one who's going to back off" quipped Stella "or I'm gonna put my Stinkus Removus spell on you and you're gonna end up smelling like you just took a bath" Bloom didn't quite understand how that was a threat seeing as how the ogre was actually in desperate need of a bath, but clearly it worked so who was she to question the validity of the "threat".

Much like he had done last time, the ogre disappeared in a flash of purple light.

"I knew that would scare him" Stella laughed, walking over to the boys. "Bloom, these are the Red Fountain guys I was telling you about."

"Meet Riven" she continued, pointing to the magenta-haired boy, who glared at the two girls.

"Prince Sky" she pointed to the brunet, who greeted them with a flirty "Hey"

"Timmy" she pointed towards the geeky looking redhead, who gave a shy laugh and a small wave.

"And Brandon" she pointed towards the blond that had caught Bloom's attention. He retracted his sword and shield, gave the girls a quick wave, and said "How you doing?" before turning to the troll who had woken up and popped his head out of the ground with a low growl.

"Not so fast tough guy" said Brandon, putting some sort of electrical neck brace on him "you better come with us"

"Yeah, you've done enough damage for one day, pal" laughed Sky.

"Where are you guys taking him?" asked Bloom.

"We'll bring him back to Red Fountain. They'll probably send him to a creature preserve" Sky answered as a portal opened up to transport the boys and the troll back "So long"

"Bloom, I sure hope I see you at Alfea" she heard Brandon yell before being sucked into the portal.

Stella walked into the living room to find Mike sweeping up the mess that the troll had caused.

"I'm sure glad that's over" she heard him sigh to himself.

"Hey Bloom's dad" she said "Why don't you let me whip this place into shape with a little magic?"

"I've had enough ma-"

"I'm ready, dad" Bloom interrupted.

"Why do you have a suitcase?" he asked.

"You know" Bloom started nervously "just in case you guys say I can stay. Then I'll be packed"

"I know that you're way more grown up than we thought you were and that you have a special gift and all" Mike said "but we still have to check the school out." He didn't want Bloom to get her hopes up. What kind of parent lets their child go to a boarding school in a whole other dimension?! "We have to get more information about Alfea"

"But if it's anything like Stella says it is" Vanessa jumped in "you'll be in for a wonderful adventure. It's so exciting!" As always, Bloom could count on her mother to take her side.

"I know mom. It really is!"

"Hey Stella, how do we get there" Mike asked "Car? Plane? Broomstick? Do they make a broomstick for four?"

"Um... duh dad, broomsticks are for witches" Bloom sighed.

"Oh yeah, that's right" Mike said, reaching for his jacket "so what do you use Stella? Wait! Don't tell me. Is it fairy dust?"

"Are we gonna use the portal?" Bloom asked, looking over at Stella.

"Regular humans can't go in it, but you know what?" she replied, pulling the ring off her finger "My scepter can handle a little transdimensional puddle jump like this" The ring shone so brightly Bloom had to avert her eyes, and when she looked back the ring had transformed into the scepter that Stella had when she was in her fairy form.

A bright light enveloped them and before she knew it, Bloom was falling through space and time. It wasn't like going through the photo portal they'd used last time. That had been instantaneous; one minute she was in her room, the next she was outside Alfea. This time, it was what she had imagined travelling through a portal would be like. She was surrounded by magical energy and felt like she was somehow simultaneously floating and free falling. She glanced around her and saw the wonder on her mother's face, the fear on her father's, and the grin on Stella's.

Their landing was much rougher than the last time too. The portal had opened up in the sky, but instead of gently dropping them, it just threw them out onto a cliff in the forest. They were much farther than they'd been last time so that you could see the forest surrounding Alfea.

"Wow. Would you look at this place?" exclaimed Mike from his spot on the ground.

"Pretty cool, right?" Bloom laughed. Her parents were in complete awe of the sight before them. Bloom didn't think her father's jaw could open anymore, nor could her mother's eyes. Alfea, and its surrounding enchanted forest, was truly a sight to behold.