Chapter One

Stella's PoV

Stella stood in a small room—that might have once been that of an old school house's, before the industrial revolution—and swept the floor until blisters scarred her fingers. But even as her body swore at her, and she couldn't see a single speck of dust for miles, she knew it still wouldn't be enough: Griselda, no matter what, would come in and say she was slacking, so it was best to just keep at it.

Day became night and night became day, and still Stella worked.

And in the end… what Stella had guessed was exactly what ended up happening. Griselda came into the room, and yelled at Stella because the window the blonde looked out of—that was her soul freedom in this place—was dirty in the eyes of the middle-aged woman. Probably because Stella had been leaning her face against it, dreaming for a moment, before Griselda had made her appearance. But it was okay...

Somehow and some way, Stella had just pulled light into her hand. And after she let out the phrase "Sun Power!" (something she'd often asked the sun to give her—power, that was—as Stella often thought of the sun as God looking down on His creations), she threw the light in a burst of energy.

And she was free.

Bloom's PoV

Bloom was currently sitting in a train with a young man, who she thought's name was Sky? But she couldn't be certain. She wasn't even entirely sure that her name was Bloom, but it seemed to sound right in her head.

Why Bloom was on a train, though, she couldn't even begin to know—for the young girl had amnesia—but she couldn't help feeling like she was an eleven-year-old about to go to Hogwarts for the first time to start her magical journey… Or she would have been thinking that, if she believed Earth had any magic to it at all.

"...And then I came up with a comic, where someone thought one plus one was eleven instead of two," Sky attempted to joke with Bloom now. And while the joke was certainly lame, she had to appreciate that the stranger was at least trying to make her laugh when she felt so lost.

So, Bloom giggled a little bit, before picking at a loose thread in her jeans. "No offense, Sky... But that story wasn't the greatest. You sound a bit like someone who's trying to be hip with the kids, so you're trying to sell the one time you tried to make something as cool as a comic—that didn't go well—as some lifechanging event that happened to you."

And here it was Sky's time to chortle. "Maybe you got me, Bloom. You got me."

And while Bloom definitely thought Sky was uncool—though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing; she doubted that she herself was—she still found herself enjoying this strange, mysterious life of hers… if for but a moment.

But since Bloom's life didn't seem to be without irony these days, it was of course when she was feeling comfortable with Sky—and maybe even a bit romantic—that the train would skip the track and topple over once—catching the room they were in on fire, as it spun around.

But Bloom was able to catch the fire into her hands and save them both (Sky looked at her wide-eyed as she did so). And as Bloom was holding the fire, her mind's eye supplied her with an image of a girl holding the sun… and of a fairy who actually knew magic?!

Flora's PoV

Flora, simply amazingly, was the only person on Earth who had been able to retain her powers when magic went away.

She wasn't sure why that was, exactly... Perhaps it was because she was so in tune with nature and the planet rewarded her for that?

But if that was the case, Flora didn't know why she was still blessed. Ever since everyone else had lost their connection to mana, Flora had grown depressed and lost her tie to plants. Now, she mostly only focused on magicking pink things—which was maybe somewhat like someone she had just had a vision of—but even then, the fates allowed her to still see the future.

And so, she had known of the day that Stella would break free of Griselda, and that Bloom would find her way here (a path that would also eventually lead Stella and Bloom to each other, too).

So, Flora, for just a second, used her magic to make her flowers more rose colored and then she turned around to see Bloom and Sky trekking towards her in this lovely forest.

It was clear that the two were injured, even with Bloom's quick reflexes that had saved them, and Flora didn't envy them their tired and heavy limbs or the slight blood dripping from their wounds. And thus, she found herself flying towards them, to make their quest much more manageable.

However, the moment Bloom saw Flora, it seemed to take her aback. And she grabbed onto Sky's hand in shock, Flora saw.

"I... I saw you in a dream," Bloom stammered, losing her balance some, but then recovering it just as quickly as the girl was nothing if not sporty. "Right before the train lost its way, I saw you."

"Yes," Flora agreed—while she ushered her new friends into her hut: where fresh raspberries were waiting for them to eat and cloth rested on a table, begging to be used as a tourniquet to stop the bleeding of their wounds. "The four of us—and perhaps others still—are needed to make magic and technology co-exist together in this world."

Author's Note: For some reason, whenever I've tried to write Winx Club fanfiction in the past, this AU has always popped into my head. So, I'm finally writing it, I guess. But if anyone's even interested in this story, know that updates will be very sporadic as I have at least one other novel-length fanfiction that takes precedent. I'm sorry:(

Also, as I'm writing this, I'm thinking the main pairing will be BloomStella. But there may be a SkyBloomStella love triangle at first (maybe it'll even be a love square, if Brandon shows up. But then I may be tempted to switch to BrandonStella, as I do love them. Haha). I actually hate love triangles, but that's what's in my head with this for some reason. So, whatever. The rest of the ships will probably be the canon ones:)

I'm also sorry that I seemed to vilify Grizelda here, but all may not be as it seems there.