Chapter Seven – The Two Powers

Darkness surrounded her, and darkness was all she could see for miles and miles around her. Panicked, she made her way through the desolate darkness, looking for light.

And suddenly Light shone. She looked around surprised, trying to see where the Light was. She saw no glimpse of its source however, though the Light was all around her. Suddenly she realized: she was the source of the Light.

She looked around, and saw how her Light drove off the Darkness. She was overjoyed, and travelled great distances in the darkness to spread her Light. But she noticed that after some time, the Darkness didn't back away from her Light anymore. It swarmed around her, not backing away anymore but not coming to her either. It had become Shadow.

Then it attacked. She was overwhelmed by its power, and it threatened to extinguish her Light. She felt her Light weaken, and the Shadow seemed to succeed in its mission.

But then suddenly, she was aided by another Light.

Bloom sat up straight in her bed immediately, her pyjamas soaked with sweat. Her head was pounding, but there was something much more important she needed to take care of before she could handle that.

She rushed out of bed and into her clothes in the blink of an eye, and was out of the apartment in no time at all. Bloom didn't know why, but she had a feeling the answers she was looking for she would find in the arena.

She transformed, and flew to the arena, where she found Phoenix standing in the middle of the battleground. She landed right in front of the green-haired boy, and was surprised to discover that she felt just as calm as the boy looked.

"Chaos…he tried to destroy the Dragon, didn't he?" Phoenix didn't even move one inch. "He didn't just try to destroy the Dragon, he almost succeeded." Bloom shivered.

"The Dragon was saved. It was you, wasn't it?" Now Phoenix began to tremble slightly. "I intervened, and joined powers with the Dragon to defeat the Shadow. But it wouldn't be destroyed, it cannot be destroyed. So the Dragon and I came to an agreement."

The green-haired boy sighed, in a fruitless attempt to stop trembling. "We caged the Shadow, but realized that one of us should be there to prevent it from escape. Our battle with it had cost us much, and we had no desire to fight it again. The Dragon was young and restless, and I offered to be the first to guard the Shadow."

"But the Dragon never returned," Bloom stated and she thought she saw a sad look cross the green-haired boy's face, but it was gone even faster than it had appeared and Bloom thought she had imagined it.

"In his youthful enthusiasm, he had created the magic dimension. Of course, such a feat had tired him, and he had laid himself to rest. Unfortunately, the Shadow proved more cunning than we had expected. It had fooled me and had forged the three witches, ancestors of the Trix, and they attacked the Dragon."

"But if you and the Dragon fought alongside to conquer the Shadow, why do you hate me so much?" Phoenix started glowing. "Because due to the Dragon's stupidity I was doomed to guard the Shadow for as long as I have existed! And now the Shadow has returned, and much must be sacrificed if it is to be recaptured! If it can be recaptured…It has the knowledge of Faragonda, Griffin and Saladin while we have nothing!"

The green-haired boy levitated. "Nothing but an ignorant fairy with too much power and a bunch overzealous fools with a death wish. And all of it is the Dragon's fault!" Phoenix launched a fireball at Bloom.

Bloom prepared to dodge the fireball, but suddenly she heard her name being called. She looked around, confused, but couldn't see anyone else around. Somehow, the voice seemed familiar but Bloom couldn't place it.

Suddenly she remembered the fireball coming toward her, but she couldn't dodge it anymore and was thrown backwards by it. Overwhelmed by the power of the attack, Bloom couldn't even get up.

Suddenly, she was pulled to her feet. To her surprise, it was Phoenix. "We have to save them," the green-haired boy said gravely. "Save who?" Phoenix let go of Bloom and the fairy finally stood firmly on her feet again.

"That voice you heard…Faragonda, Griffin and Saladin were calling out to you. They're alive, and I have a pretty good guess about where they are. Come on," Phoenix said before blasting off.

Bloom had tried her best, and with a lot of effort she could keep up with Phoenix as the green-haired boy flew in front of her. She was so engrossed in keeping up with Phoenix she didn't notice where they were going until they landed at Roccalucci Lake.

"They were here," the green-haired boy said. "How do you know?" Phoenix pointed at a charred tree and some scorch marks on the ground. "There was a battle here. I feel Chaos' residual energy, and hints of the three headmasters as well."

Bloom closed her eyes, trying to feel anything. "I don't feel anything," she complained, and Phoenix laughed almost good-heartedly. "Close your eyes. Feel the air on your skin, the earth beneath your feet. Hear the water. Still with me?"

Bloom nodded. "Good. Now imagine you are the air. Imagine it's you on someone else's skin and in someone else's hair. Imagine you're the earth, and feel our weight pressing down on you."

Phoenix saw how Bloom's expression changed gradually until her excitement was clearly visible. "Amazing, isn't it? Now, what do you feel?" Phoenix watched as Bloom's expression became focused again.

"I feel an incredible power. It…it is the same power that tried to kill the Dragon in my dream! Bloom's eyes shot open while she screamed out the sentence. "Chaos is so powerful, how can we ever stop him? You were right before: we have nothing!"

Phoenix looked away, and his voice didn't sound convincing at all when he spoke. "He may be powerful, but we have the Dragon Flame and the Phoenix Fire. Maybe we can't stop him, but at least we're going to try…Now, did you feel anything else? Anything familiar?" Bloom nodded. The minute she had laid the link between the great power she felt had been there and the power in her dream, she had forgotten all about what she had felt before.

"I felt them, a trace of them…" Phoenix shook his head. "I know, I felt it too. But focus on the water now. What is it telling you?" Bloom closed her eyes, and opened them again immediately. Phoenix knew then that what she was going to say was exactly what he had heard.

"O my God, they're down there!"

T.B.C.

Author's Note: I just found out that somehow my review/author alert got disabled...And here I was, thinking that you guys didn't like the story...

Don't worry, you'll learn about the Phoenix Fire in the next chapter...

And sorry about the chapter title, but I couldn't control myself...