A/N: Hello loves! Sorry for the wait but here is the next installment! Life got in the way as it is wont to do, and I also wanted to finish up A Dragon's Tale before I updated for this story. A guest reviewer asked lots of good questions, and I'm glad they did. However, a lot of those questions will have to wait to be answered because I plan on having explanations for those things later on in the story. This story is seen through Bloom's eyes - which are biased in the means of beauty and other things based on where she was raised - and since she doesn't know what's going on, there is a lack of explanation on her succubus condition and succubi in general. If the guest still wants their questions answered now, feel free to PM me. Love you all to bits and hope you enjoy! XOXOX!

Chapter 3

Bloom was upstairs in her room when she heard the screaming. It startled her so badly she jumped straight up out of her desk chair. The screaming wasn't male, nor was it her mother's usual put out shouting when her father forgot to put dishes in the washer. No, this screaming was very high pitched and feminine, meaning that the blonde girl had woken up, and by the sound of things, she was not happy.

She took the stairs two by two, trying to beat her parents to the blonde girl so she could have time to fabricate a story. However, when she reached the living room, she found that her parents were already neck deep into things. The blonde girl had gotten up from her makeshift bed on the couch, now standing and poised to strike with her scepter in hand. She had yet to brandish her wings, and Bloom was grateful for that small miracle, though if she hovered in the hallway any longer, her parents were going to be blown to smithereens.

"Who are you? Where am I?" the blonde girl demanded, her stance strong though Bloom knew she had to be super weak from the fight in the park.

"Let's just calm down..." her father tried to placate the girl, but she jabbed her scepter further out in warning.

"Take one more step forward and I'll blast you into the next dimension!"

That was Bloom's cue to do something so she ran into the room, jumping in between the scepter and her father. The blonde girl seemed surprised to see her there, but did not initially lower her scepter. Bloom thought that maybe the blonde girl didn't remember her, and so kept her hands up in the air in a surrender-like stance.

"Hey! It's me, remember? The girl from the park?" Bloom tried, putting on a smile.

"Of course! You only saved my life," she replied, her mood much more agreeable and cheerful. She lowered her scepter to her side where she compacted it back into a ring that she slipped on one of her slender fingers. "But what are you doing here?"

"This is my home. You passed out so I took you here to get help," Bloom explained, getting the blonde girl to calm down. "These are my parents."

"You're kidding, right?" she asked, her eyes lit with amusement as she surveyed the place and then her parents.

"No..."

"Well, I hope you don't mind if I ask, but what's a girl with such serious Winx doing hanging around a backwards place like Earth? There isn't even magic on this planet," the blonde girl asked, though Bloom couldn't prevent taking her words as a slight. Earth wasn't backwards, it was her home. Besides, what kind of question was that anyway? Was there anyplace else that people could live?

"You've said that word before...Winx..." Bloom focused on instead, hoping for some kind of explanation as to what the hell was going on.

"The source of a fairy's magic - duh!"

The way she added the 'duh' made Bloom feel stupid. Was she supposed to know what that was? Did having abilities come with some sort of manual she was supposed to read?

"Hold on a second...fairies?" her father interjected, reminding the two girls that Bloom's parents were still in the room.

"Yeah, fairy," the blond girl repeated. "What else did you think I was?"

"Deranged," Mike mumbled under his breath, earning a glare from the blonde girl and an elbow to the ribs from Vanessa.

"Who are you, exactly?" Bloom asked, almost embarrassed not to have thought to ask the blonde girl's name before.

"Princess Stella of Solaria," she replied proudly. "I'm the Fairy of the Sun and the Moon. And you are?"

"Bloom. Bloom Peters," Bloom replied weakly, not really sure how to follow up on that kind of introduction. "I'm not sure what I'm the fairy of..."

"That's because you're not a fairy!" Mike exclaimed, seemingly annoyed. "Don't listen to this girl's crazy talk. I'm going to call the doctor right now to see what's wrong with her..."

Stella pouted as Mike made his way to the phone. Then, subtly, Bloom noticed her reach out and wave her hand, smirking as a wave of magic flowed from her fingertips and hit the phone, turning it into a cabbage and carrot. Mike was horrified, but Bloom couldn't help but laugh.

"Do you believe me now?" Stella asked sassily, her hips cocked and arms folded over her chest. She seemed like the kind of person who was used to getting her way, and this was no exception.

"Just because you can do whatever it is you do, doesn't mean that Bloom can," Mike protested, not convinced.

"But I can Dad," Bloom spoke up. "In the park earlier today, there was this ogre -"

"Ogre?" Mike interjected, highly skeptical.

"Just let her finish," Vanessa chided, trying her best to be supportive when she too thought this was insanity.

"There was an ogre and I saw him try to hurt Stella and I just..." Bloom hesitated, unsure how to phrase the next bit. How could she describe the feeling of burning on the inside without frightening her mother? "I let something loose. It was like this energy came bursting out of me and next thing I knew the ogre was on the ground."

"It was more than that!" Stella exclaimed. "It was like fireworks - boom! I've never seen an attack so powerful!"

"Thanks," Bloom blushed.

"What happened after I passed out? Showed him just how much fairies can kick ass?" Stella nudged Bloom playfully, but she only blushed and nodded.

Perhaps it was best to keep the claws and rage out of conversation for now, at least until she knew more about being a fairy. Who knew - maybe she activated some kind of anger spell that gave her a lot of strength? Or maybe she transfigured her fingers into claws, or did that only exist in the British wizard series she loved so much? No matter the case, Bloom knew that those details were best kept under wraps. She didn't want to look like more of a freak than she already was.

How am I going to explain this at school? she thought worriedly. Everyone already hated her. If word got out that she had abilities, that she was a fairy, the torment would never stop. Yet another reason to be picked on.

"Bloom, sweetie, are you alright?" Vanessa asked when Bloom realized she'd let the silence go on for too long.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just overwhelmed," she replied, giving her best smile.

"I hope not! Because I have something to show you that I think can really help you understand yourself, and your powers," Stella exclaimed, pulling Bloom up the stairs by her arm. "Come with me!"

In the kitchen, Mike was making coffee even though it was approaching nighttime. He was going to need it after the day he'd had. A long day at the station followed by this seemingly impossible revelation about his daughter was pushing his limits to the max. Vanessa appeared to be the same, worrying her hands as she glanced out the window.

He placed two mugs of steaming hot coffee down on the kitchen table, taking a seat across from his wife. She turned at his presence and took the cup gratefully.

"So, do we believe this Stella character?" Mike asked Vanessa. She had remained uncharacteristically quiet throughout the exchange, and he was riddled with curiosity. Usually his wife was the more levelheaded of the two of them. If anyone could help Bloom see reason, it would be her.

"I'm not sure. I want to say she's crazy, but I can't deny what she did to the phone."

Mike nodded, replaying the moment over again in his mind. "That could've been anything. For all we know, she could be a skilled magician, or a con artist."

"Don't you think that's pushing it Mike?" Vanessa asked, her tone heavier than she was aiming for. "Besides, I know you were busy dialing but I saw something come out of that girl's hands - like sparkling dust. That's what covered the phone."

"So you're saying you saw this magic?"

A pause. Vanessa sighed and rubbed her temples, trying to think things through.

"I sound crazy don't I?"

She looked to be on the brink of tears, exhaustions gripping at her every feature, and Mike lifted his free hand to cover hers. It was a soothing gesture, one she was grateful for.

"No, sweetheart. I just wish there was a logical explanation for all of this."

"Me too," she agreed shakily. "Where are we even supposed to go from here? What do we do with a daughter who can do the impossible?"

"We still haven't seen Bloom do anything like that," Mike countered.

"If Bloom says she can do it, then I believe she can. Our daughter is not a liar."

That was the truth. A parent of a troubled child might suspect drugs, but Bloom wasn't like that. Though she was definitely strange in her own way, she was a good girl and had never once lied to them about something as serious as this. Of course there were the childhood "of course I didn't eat the last cookie" but to say she fought something with magic and won...that's a rather strange lie to make up. That and the way she looked while telling the story...she looked just as scared as he did, which was the only reason he was inclined to believe the story whole-heartedly.

"Mike...do you think this has something to do with where she comes from?" Vanessa asked tentatively, surprising him.

"You mean...her biological parents?"

Vanessa nodded slowly, a slight shift of her head like she was afraid to admit where her mind was going. "You found her in a fire Mike, a fire that killed the three other people in the building but not her. Even you said there was something strange surrounding her, like the flames couldn't touch her."

Mike frowned and pulled away, staring into his coffee. He hadn't thought about that night for so long, but sometimes he still dreamt about it: the impossible fire that seemed to not only avoid but protect the smiling infant, that ring of protection surrounding him as he brought her to safety. He used to chalk it up to hallucinations due to dehydration, but now he wondered...

"Honey, we need to tell Bloom where she came from. It's been long overdue, and after what happened today, maybe this Stella girl can help us figure everything out," Vanessa said, her tone resolute despite her distraught manor.

"Are you sure?" Mike asked, surprised yet again. He'd never been opposed to telling Bloom about her origins; he just never saw the need to and the occasion never arose. Her biological parents never came knocking and Bloom never asked any questions as to why she looked so different from the two of them. So long as she was happy, he was happy, and that was how things stayed. Until now.

"No, but it's the right thing to do," Vanessa said, her eyes sparkling with tears. "She's our little girl, always and forever, and I have to believe that whatever happens, we won't lose her."

"We won't let that happen," Mike insisted, pulling Vanessa to him and giving her a kiss on the forehead. She calmed in his arms, enjoying the last few moments she had as the Peters family unit.

It would have been a perfect bittersweet moment had the wall not blown apart and a giant monster storm through the house, charging their way with a deafening roar.

"So, what did you think?" Stella asked, bouncing on her toes.

They had just gotten back to Bloom's room, rising up through Stella's really trippy carpet, from a visit to what was apparently the best fairy school in the Magical Dimension - whatever that was. The school was called Alfea, and apparently Bloom was supposed to be impressed by this and Stella was surprised when she was not. Not to say that the school wasn't impressive; it was beautiful. The sprawling forest and greenery made the blush and blue colored school stand out, the winged gates and spiraling towers too delicate to be bound by any law of physics. It looked like a castle, and Bloom thought that perhaps she really was dreaming. But Stella's blathering in her ear was very, very real and also obnoxious.

"It was really pretty," Bloom conceded, not knowing what else to say. It wasn't like Bloom could actually go there. She unfortunately had a permanent spot in the Gardenia High sophomore class.

Stella was about to open her mouth to say more, but a huge crash that shook the entire house shut her up immediately.

"What was that?" Bloom asked, terror running through her.

Stella whipped out her scepter and transformed. "I don't know, but whatever it is will regret messing with the power of Solaria."

Slowly, they crept down the stairs, being careful to check their surroundings. Bloom didn't know exactly what the threat was, but she didn't want to run straight into the barrel of a loaded gun. When they reached the landing, Stella held Bloom back.

"I'll check the back, you check the front, got it?"

Bloom nodded and both girls parted ways. Stella walked directly out of Bloom's line of sight, but she didn't hear anything breaking, so whatever it was must not have seen her yet. Bloom crept along slowly, checking every corner and ducking out of the way of mirrors. It felt like she was in one of those old spy movies, and it would've been funny had the situation not been so terrifying.

When she rounded the corner into the kitchen, it turned directly from terrifying to horrifying.

"Mom! Dad!" she screamed, rushing over to where they were lying on the kitchen floor.

It was a hard sight to stomach: her parents sprawled on the ground lying in puddles of their own blood, bodies sliced and bruised. She couldn't stop the tears, nor the violent illness she felt roiling in her stomach. Bloom fell to her knees and ran her shaky hands over her mother's chest and further up, finding the pulse in her neck beating weakly. She did the same for her father, and when she was certain that they were both still living, she let the red creep back in.

Whatever had done this would pay.

She got up from the floor and ran through the rest of the house, finding the back wall blown through and the furniture in complete disarray. There was yelling and crashing coming from the back, and so that's where she went. As soon as she passed under what remained of the door, she could see Stella fighting off a bigger, uglier, and bluer version of the ogre she had fought earlier. Didn't those things know when to give up?

Stella shouted another spell and rays of light hit the ogre - troll her mind corrected for her - knocking it to the ground. However, this beast seemed to be far stronger than the ogre, as it got up without a scratch, grunting and roaring in irritation. Stella seemed to be at a loss, dodging the charging troll and narrowly missing it as it smashed its fist into the ground right where her head would have been.

Perhaps it was stupidity, perhaps it was some need to feel important and avenge her parents, but Bloom threw all caution to the wind and charged the troll. It was no surprise when it backhanded her into the fence right behind Stella, Bloom's ribs aching as she tried to catch her breath. The pain only made her angrier, the fire brimming up under her skin as it had before.

Stella was the one to run this time, striking the troll with her scepter, sending it stumbling back. Her power was running out. She was still weak from the fight in the park and Bloom could see her knees shaking and the sweat beading on her drawn forehead. This girl was going to die trying to protect her - one more person she had gotten into trouble. That thought was enough to send her over the edge.

The fire reached its peak, and when the troll went to charge them, Bloom aimed that fire right at it. The force of her energy sent the monster flying back, cratering the ground where it landed. It howled, skin steaming and burnt where the attack made contact. Bloom should've been happy. Instead of victory, all she felt was extreme exhaustion. Her knees buckled and she sunk to the ground, the red fading out of her vision as her strength left her. She had thrown everything into that attack, and her body was not having anymore.

Unfortunately, the troll got up. It was worse for wear, but still standing. Slowly, it hulked over to Bloom, it's massive, stinking frame towering over her menacingly. Bloom wanted to fight back but couldn't. She was too weak, and Stella was nowhere to be found. The troll raised its meaty fist - the size of her head - above her bent frame.

So, this is how it ends, Bloom thought, accepting defeat. At least I'll be with my parents...

Instead of a fist, Bloom felt a great gust of wind blow through her hair. Looking up, she no longer saw the troll above her, but instead a massive, hovering red ship. Loud shouts came from in front of her, and she shifted her gaze to see the troll being tied up with glowing blue restraints, five guys in cream colored jump suits and capes getting the job done supervised by Stella. At least that solved the mystery of where she went...

When the guys were done and the troll taken care of and beamed back on the ship, Stella went over to help Bloom up. She was shaky on her feet, but Stella let her lean on her shoulder for support.

"I thought you'd left," Bloom mumbled.

"I just needed to bring in some help," she explained, a guilty expression on her face. "These are Specialists from Red Fountain."

"Specialists?"

"They're like heroes. They go to hero school."

That sounded pretentious and a little fake, but Bloom didn't have the energy to argue or ask more questions. She just rolled with it and watched the so-called heroes clean up what they could of the mess the monster had made.

"Hey Stel - I think we've about wrapped this one up," a guy with short brown hair said as he came up to the two of them, pointing to Bloom. "Is she alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Bloom lied, trying to disguise the discomfort in her voice. Her ribs hurt with every breath and she was sure she had a concussion, but other than that, she was fine.

"You should really let us look at you. You probably need some serious medical attention," the brunet insisted, gesturing to the ship. "I have all the supplies on board."

But Bloom wasn't thinking about herself anymore. No, at the sound of 'medical attention' she was thinking about two entirely different people.

"Does anyone have a phone?" Bloom asked, panic settling back in as she remembered her parents in the kitchen. "Like NOW?"

"Yeah, I do," a blond-haired guy said as he pulled a strange looking device out of his pocket and gave it to her.

She didn't even thank him as she snatched it out of his hand and hastily dialed an ambulance. There was no way she was going to let the hero boys touch her parents with mystery supplies from their flying ship. She didn't trust them, at least not with this. She was only hoping that whoever got there came in time to save the only two people that she loved.

Stella told her that she and the Red Fountain guys would wait for her outside the hospital when the ambulance arrived. Since Bloom was allowed to ride inside, she was separated from the group, but trusted that they'd keep their word. All the guys looked pityingly up at her and she hated them for it. She really shouldn't have glared - they were only trying to help - but she couldn't shake the feeling that if they had gotten there a little earlier then all of this would not have happened. If only she had ignored Stella in the park and let the ogre take her ring, maybe her parents wouldn't be breathing through tubes and oxygen masks.

When she got to the Emergency Room, the nurses had to physically restrain her from running in after the two identical stretchers. She eventually was allowed back once they were stabilized, allowed to touch their papery, cold hands and watch them breath mechanically through ventilators. It was haunting to see two vibrant, lively people reduced to vegetables.

They aren't vegetables, she reminded herself, chanting it like a mantra. They still had brain function, but to Bloom, they might as well have been. It wasn't like a medical coma was any better.

The doctor told her that the coma was to protect them, to help their brains heal. What he found harder to say was that sometimes people just didn't wake up. That terrified Bloom. She was only sixteen years old. She had no idea what the world was like or how to live on her own. It wasn't like she had extended family that she could run to if the worst happened. No, she would live out her worst fears and be completely and utterly alone.

When she finally had enough of the haunting shells of her parents, she moved to the waiting room where nurses gave her lots of forms to fill out. Insurance information, personal information, health records, income, and any other scrap of identification they could come up with. The most offending of all was the last form. Bloom almost signed off on it without thinking before she realized that it was an authorization form to pull the plug.

She spent an hour just staring at that last form, up to the clock, and back. She watched the hands tick away minutes of her parents' lives - minutes spent in sleep that they would never be able to get back. It was late now, this night ending far differently than how the day began. How strange it was to think that her life could be turned upside down in such a short time...

"Bloom, I know I said I would wait outside, but..." Stella stammered, interrupting Bloom's thoughts while trying to catch her breath, as she had clearly been in a rush to get there. "We need to go. The troll that came after you is just the first. The creeps who are after me must be after you now, and they're gonna keep sending creatures to kill you. I know this is my fault. I'm so sorry. I'm going to make this right, I promise, but I have to protect you to do that...I need to get you somewhere safe...Are you even listening to me?"

Bloom had been listening, but only half so. She got bits and pieces, the important parts - especially the part where she had to leave. She didn't want to leave. Her parents were here; her home was here. But she could see how staying would put them in more danger. If someone was after her, then she would have to lead them away from the things she loved most.

"I don't blame you Stella," Bloom replied tiredly.

A half-lie. She did resent Stella for bringing her into this world of magic and chaos. A lot, actually. But that didn't mean she knew what was going to happen to her parents. That was yet another example of how Bloom's life was just meant to suck, and she couldn't fault Stella for what the universe had already deemed was fair.

"Well I do," Stella said softly, the first sensitive thing she'd said all day. "Come on, we have to go. The guys are out back. They have the ship primed and ready to leave as soon as we get there."

"Where are we going?"

"Alfea. It's the only place with protections strong enough to stop whatever it is that wants us."

Bloom nodded. Of course they would be headed there: to the magical school Stella had so excitedly shown her through the carpet portal just a few hours ago. It seemed like a dream - a far away place where she could only fantasize of going. Now, the glittering appeal of the school wore off. Alfea was a shelter, a last resort for the hopeless little Bloom. She had nowhere else to turn and so Stella would take her in out of pity, open the doors to the exclusive school in order to ease her own conscious.

It was strange, how distrusting and morbid she was. When she was a child, her classmate's mother had developed cancer and Bloom was the only one to get her to look on the bright side and smile. Now that it was her own mother lying on a hospital bed, it was hard to see a bright side, especially when there was no one there to provide the smiles.

She needed to go. Time was of the essence and Stella was waiting at the end of the hall. But that didn't stop Bloom from stopping out front of her parent's room to say one last goodbye. Visiting hours were over, but she could see the rise and fall of their chests through the glass, bodies lying in contrast to the white walls and sterile surroundings. They looked so peaceful, so serene in their sleep. But it wouldn't be sleeping for long, not if she had untying to say about it.

"I'm not giving up on you guys," she swore, her hand firm on the glass of the window. "I will be back and I will make this right."

She tore the form up, the little pieces scattering behind her as she left.