A/N: Long chapter - combines two loaded episodes! Lots happening! I hope you like it! Make sure to leave me your love and comments on the way out! XOXOX!

Chapter 9

The Day of the Rose celebration in Magix was apparently a pretty big deal.

Bloom was told there would be great food, races, and general festivities to take her mind off of the endless cascade of nightmares it had recently become. Of course, this was before she knew that The Day of the Rose was the Magical Dimension's version of Mother's Day and Father's Day put together, which swiftly proceeded to ruin any semblance of happiness she was starting to feel. Still, it was a festival, and since she and the rest of the girls had finished all of Faragonda's detention a few days ago, there was nothing better she had to do with her time. Flora and Tecna had already made plans to go to their home planets, but Musa and Stella were still around.

Musa seemed just as down as Bloom was about the day. It took her a bit, but at breakfast it she told Stella and Bloom about losing her mother and her father's absence in her life. She was just as alone as Bloom was, and Bloom felt closer to the girl because of it. It also appeared that Stella's life was not as perfect as she painted it. Her parents were divorcing, neither in the mood to celebrate the other, so Stella preferred to stay away from the mess. She felt distanced from her parents, like she didn't have any at all. Perhaps Bloom was too quick to judge the princess before. Perhaps they were all more similar than she thought. They were better off together than alone, a fact that took Musa some convincing as she originally wanted to spend it on her own.

A few hours later, walking along the streets of Magix, Bloom tried to get into the sprit. It was harder than expected due to all the happy couple and families out celebrating the holiday together, reminding her of what she was currently deprived of. A ship flew overhead and rained down hundreds upon hundreds of red roses, and Stella picked up three. Bloom tucked hers behind her ear, with some prodding from Stella, and went back to being gloomy. She knew she was being a buzz-kill but she couldn't help it. Stella would have to be perky enough for all of them. Thankfully, that was something she did easily.

"Oooooh there are the guys!" Stella squealed, flipping her hair and puckering her lips as the group of three Specialists approached. Bloom remembered that Stella had been texting them at breakfast, but she thought they wouldn't be meeting until later in the evening. If she had known this would be an all day affair, Bloom would have rethought going out. There was no leaving now.

"Hey ladies," Prince Sky greeted with a wave of his hand. "How is everyone?"

"Much better now that you're here," Stella cooed, latching herself onto his muscular arm like a leech.

Everyone naturally paired off. Stella jabbered on, talking Brandon's ear off while he smiled and laughed at her endless stream of commentary. Riven approached Musa tentatively, though both of them seemed too aloof to know what to say. That left Brandon, blond hair and fuckboy good looks and all to saunter up to Bloom. She tried not to cringe or will him to leave. He wasn't creepy or anything; he was just trying to be friendly. Maybe Bloom should stop being so hard on him.

"I heard you guys snuck into Cloud Tower and stole back Stella's ring. Pretty cool, though didn't you worry you were going to get hurt? Witches can be pretty brutal."

"We almost did," Bloom said. "I touched something I shouldn't have and it set off a failsafe. The whole library caught on fire. We barely got out in time."

Bloom left it at that. She didn't want to get into the golden woman just yet, not when she didn't know what it meant for herself. That, and she would have to explain everything that happened that night to Brandon, and that was a little too much for her to handle right now especially because she still wasn't sure if she was capable of opening up to anyone, especially someone who was clearly trying way too hard to get close to her.

"You're lucky you made it out in one piece. You could have called us for backup."

"We're stronger than we look," Bloom replied, somewhat defensive of the fact that he thought that she and the rest of the girls couldn't take care of themselves. They were just fine without the Specialists thank you very much.

"Didn't say you weren't," Brandon replied lightly, hands up in a surrendering motion.

The rest of the group moved on, but Bloom looked out into the crowd, standing in silence as she thought over things from that night. There were a lot of things she didn't understand, many things clouding her thoughts. Being in the Magical Dimension was confusing. Nothing was straightforward. Nothing was easy. She had just fought for her life in a hostile environment, and now she was out on the town as if nothing had happened. Her parents seemed so long ago, so far way, like a dream. Now her main priority, her main focus was on the book and her powers. Being there, with Brandon, in Magix, had distorted her priorities, and that was not a good feeling. Even worse was the feeling that answers were within her grasp, and she had just let them go.

Her wandering thoughts led her vision to a dancer in the distance. She was dark of skin and was twirling in the midst of bright red ribbons. She wore a mask that resembled one Bloom had only seen once before. The closer she looked at the woman, the more the red faded to gold and the ribbons turned into a flowing gown. The golden woman was dancing in the middle of the street, the red woman all but forgotten, and Bloom wondered if she were the only person to be seeing this as well.

Find me, a voice whispered in her ear, that same voice from Cloud Tower.

Find me.

Bloom shook her head and grounded herself back in reality. The golden woman was no longer there, the red woman spinning in her silks in time to the floating instruments as if nothing had happened. She had no idea how long she had spaced out, but it couldn't have been long. Brandon was still standing next to her, staring at the entertainers as she was. She really had to stop spacing out. Perhaps she just needed sleep. A lot of sleep.

"There was a book in the library in Cloud Tower, it had my name on it," Bloom found herself saying.

"That's weird," Brandon commented, looking confused as to why she had mentioned it.

"I want to go back and read it."

Brandon's eyebrows shot up, surprised that she would readily jump back into the line of fire. "Really? Why?"

That was a good question, Bloom thought to herself. Not even she had a clear, distinct idea as to why she would want to do something more reckless. It was a horrible idea, logistically impossible now that Cloud Tower knew they were trespassed upon, but one that burned in her core. Until her subconscious voiced those words a few moments ago, that was something she didn't even know she wanted. Still, the words managed to find their way to her lips, some half-formed feeling that she didn't even know she was harboring.

"I don't expect you to understand, but my whole life weird things have been happening to me. I'm like a magnet for weird shit, and I want to know why. If the universe is going to keep throwing things my way, I deserve a reason."

Another long silence spanned between them. Perhaps she had said too much. Perhaps she was too honest with a stranger she had barely even conversed with before. But Brandon's face didn't show disgust. Instead, it showed deep thought, like he were mulling over her rationale.

"Okay. I'll take you," he said finally, and then it was her turn to be shocked.

"Are you serious?" she asked, not really believing someone would do that for her. But then again, he was the guy who saved a stranger from an ogre and took her to safety. He was a hero at heart, and she was someone he could save.

"Yeah. If you think that's something you need to do, I'll help you."

Bloom smiled a half smile, the first time she felt hopeful all day. "Thank you. It means a lot."

"Don't mention it," Brandon shrugged it off, gesturing to the crowd growing behind them. "It's almost time for me to race. Want to watch?"

Thankful for a distraction, Bloom agreed and made her way to their group of friends with Brandon by her side. She knew that Riven would be racing on one of those levabikes, as well as Prince Sky and Brandon; it was a tradition, one they had participated in before and planned on doing again to represent the heroics of the students of Red Fountain. The whole sport looked dangerous, but they had assured the girls that the padding on their suits was state of the art and the bikes themselves were very safe. Still, the bikes whizzed by like lightning, the riders circling the course, dodging and weaving through strategically placed obstacles as they warmed up, everyone vying for the trophy standing on a podium at the finish line.

From this angle, Bloom could see Riven next to his bike, helmet under his arm as he waited his turn. She and Brandon adjusted their course and headed his way.

"'Bout time you love birds showed up," Riven commented snidely as Brandon and Bloom approached. He was already in his racing regalia, and Prince Sky was checking his bike over.

"Come on now, don't be jealous bro," Brandon said jokingly, throwing an arm around Bloom's shoulders. She had half a mind to shrug him off, to deny what Riven thought they were to one another, but she didn't have the heart. Now was not the time nor the setting for that battle. "I'm sure we can find you a cheerleader somewhere."

Out of the corner of her eye, Bloom could see Musa flush a deep red. It was no secret that she was into Riven. Everyone knew it, except for him apparently.

"I'm not jealous, bro. If I actually wanted one of those Alfea pixies, I could have my pick of the whole litter and you know it," Riven replied in a holier-than-thou tone. "In fact, a certain someone has been giving me the eye. Isn't that right Bloom?"

Riven's gaze travelled up and down her body, purposely being creepy before he cocked a brow as if asking what she could do about it. The flush immediately left Musa's face, and Bloom could tell that she was trying so hard not to look devastated. Riven had hurt Musa in such a low way. That was when Bloom lost it.

"The only 'eye' I would give you is a black one," she replied lowly, stepping close into his space so he knew just how serious she was. She hated when men thought they could get away with objectifying her like she was nothing. Riven was just another pig amongst a sea of creeps and predators. It was time he was put in his place.

"Yeah right," Riven scoffed, though there was the first tendrils of fear rooting themselves in his indigo irises.

"You are a conceited, cocky, boring waste of good oxygen," Bloom said, making sure each word was sharp like a knife into his over-inflated ego. Whoa, where was this even coming from? Bloom didn't know. All she knew was that she wasn't done yet. "Guys like you give guys a bad name. I still don't understand why Musa had a crush on you."

"You are really cute when you're angry, you know that?" Riven said playfully, pretending that the words didn't hurt him while placing two fingers on her chin to pull her closer. "I dig girls that play hard to get."

"Don't. You. Touch. Me," Bloom hissed, the red fringing at the edges of her vision.

Riven's smirk deepened, taking her words as a challenge and not the warning they were meant to be. If he wasn't going to listen, fine. So be it. He deserved the pain headed his way.

Before his lips could touch her own, Bloom took an elbow to the corner of Riven's jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground. It was a single, brutal move. She could hear the bone dislocate when she connected her skin with his. She wouldn't lie; her elbow stung like hell, but it was no comparison to how he must've been feeling. She wished she cared.

"Still think I'm cute when I'm angry?" Bloom asked, her lips curled up into a dark smirk.

"You're fucking crazy!" Riven shouted, scrambling up from the ground, holding the side of his bleeding face.

Everyone around them was shocked still, unable to process what had just happened. No one thought Bloom had that in her. Any of it. But there she was, cutting Riven down like a weed. She glared at him until he backed up and returned to his bike, away where he could not dig himself further into a hole.

"Come on Bloom, he was only messing with you," Brandon said, looking over towards Riven with sympathy.

"I didn't appreciate it," Bloom said curtly. She was in no mood to hear Riven's side. Maybe later when she was less mad and more level headed. "And don't make excuses for his behavior. We both know he was out of line."

"I know...but that was..." Brandon trailed off, not sure how to put things without offending her or catching a beat down of his own.

"A lesson he needed to learn the hard way," Bloom finished, the conversation closed. She bent down to pick up Brandon's helmet and thrust it towards him. "Here. You should get ready for the race. It's starting soon."

Brandon nodded without complaint, taking the helmet and leaving the girls to get changed. Musa, Stella, and Bloom all worked their way through the crowd to find good spots. They ended up curbside, giving them a great view of the track. It would be a fun time, if Bloom allowed herself that small pleasure. She was still worked up from Riven, though why she did not know. Her anger was simmering on a back burner, taking its sweet time in dying down.

Before long, the racers were lining up at the starting line. There were fewer competing than Bloom expected, but still a decent amount. All three Red Fountain boys had lined up at the edge of the row, revving their engines trying to sike each other out or just show off for the girls. Bloom felt much more like herself, allowing a smile and thumbs up to Brandon before the light turned green leaving everyone in their dust.

The race started off fine, but as it progressed, Bloom could tell something wasn't right. Everyone else was slowing down for some reason, while Riven was weaving and swerving sharper and wider than the rest of the bikes. He seemed unstable, like he was driving blind. In the next moment, his bike flipped and went off course, confirming all of Bloom's fears. Musa screamed and started running towards him, like she could catch him in time. Before Riven could hit the ground, however, a mystery rider appeared out of nowhere, catching Riven and saving him from a brutal fall.

The mystery rider laid Riven gently on the ground, removed his helmet, and brought him back to consciousness. There was something about the rider's movements though that looked strange, like they were not the kind that would be used in medical care, more like for casting a spell. Bloom swore she saw a flash of purple before Riven spurred into action, coughing and hunching over into a sitting position.

"Who are you?" he asked, his voice rough.

The mystery rider removed their helmet to reveal none other than the brown-haired witch. All three girls sucked in a uniform breath, immediately recognizing their foe. They couldn't do anything about her there though. In the moment, she looked like a hero. Any unprovoked attack and it would be them that looked like the villains.

"The name's Darcy," the witch said in a sultry tone. Riven looked up at her as if he were a blind man seeing the light for the first time. It was almost sickening to watch, such a strange juxtaposition to his normal behavior that Bloom immediately suspected that the purple flash she thought she had seen before was definitely real. Riven was being spelled, the only questions now were what the spell was and why the witches wanted him in particular.

Darcy helped him up gently, avoiding the scrapes and bruises that covered his body despite the incredible padding. He must've been hurting all over. Maybe that was why his next words were so horribly mean.

"This is your fault!" Riven shouted, pointing to Bloom.

"Me?" she asked, flabbergasted. "How is this my -"

"Your little display earlier just wasn't good enough was it? You had to publicly humiliate me, had to go messing with my stuff? You did something to my visor! I couldn't see a thing!" Riven accused, and if he were more in control of his body, Bloom knew he would try to go at her physically. "You could've killed me!"

"That isn't true!" Brandon insisted, coming to Bloom's defense when she couldn't find the words to reply. "She's been with me this whole time!"

"Oh yeah? I've seen they way you look at her," Riven sneered, blatantly ogling Bloom's body to make a point. "How do I know you aren't just saying that and taking her side so you can get into her pants?"

"Riven, I know I hurt you earlier; I took things too far. But this wasn't me. It was her! It was Darcy - I saw her cast some spell on you! Don't you believe me?" Bloom asked, seeking a genuine answer. Today aside, she had only ever been nice to him; she spoke her peace and she'd had no other reason not to treat him well. Still, he looked at her as if she were the scum of the world, his eyes full of hatred and cynicism. They seemed even further angered by the fact that everyone seemed to be taking Bloom's side, not his.

"Darcy has done nothing but help me," Riven shot back, standing next to Darcy's side while she smiled smugly, clearly proud of whatever work she had done. "You're the ones who have the problem, not me!"

"Bro, think about this for just a second - " Prince Sky pleaded, trying to deescalate things.

"Fuck this, I'm out," Riven cursed, shrugging off Musa's touch, scooping up his shattered helmet, and storming off.

"Come on Riven, you need to get checked out by a medic!" Brandon tried to get him to listen, but to no avail. He body checked his friend and kept on his way, Darcy close behind, attached to his side.

By this point, everyone within a few feet radius was staring, and none of them had kind looks to go Bloom's way. She felt her skin prickle, all the negative attention putting her on edge. The group clustered together tightly, everyone worried about their wayward friend. Riven might have been a dick, but they still cared about him, and running off with a witch was a recipe for disaster.

"We can't just let him leave with her," Musa said worriedly, watching him get further and further away.

"Come on, let's go get him before he does something stupid," Prince Sky suggested, and the girls and Specialists left in Riven's general direction.

It was easy to catch up with him. He was tired and weary; there was only so far he could go. Darcy was carrying him to the witches part of Magix, and everyone knew that witch turf was dangerous turf. No one crossed over unless they were in search of a major beat down. To make matters worse, the other two witches were waiting for Darcy on the corner, the ice witch wearing a victory grin as she watched her sister bring home their prize.

"It's those witches!" Bloom shouted, bringing attention to them.

"Time to stop them once and for all!" Musa said, angry and rearing for a fight. "Magix Winx!"

The girls transformed, even Bloom whose dark transformation garnered strange looks from Prince Sky and Brandon. Now was not the time to focus on fashion though. Now was the time to kick ass.

"Oh look, how cute. The pixies actually think they stand a chance," the ice witch simpered, not even bothering to stand and fight them as she leaned against the building. Her confidence and cockiness were enough to rival Riven's. Perhaps he and the witches were suited for each other.

"Watch where you're standing losers!" the poofy haired witch shouted, alerting them to the fact that they were close to dangerous territory and that there were dozens of angry, fairy-hating witches waiting to back those three up.

"Ladies, attack!" the ice witch ordered.

All hell broke loose.

The girls were bombarded with spells of all sorts from every single one of the witches on the street. It was like dodging bullets, completely impossible not to get hit by something. Thankfully, Prince Sky unsheathed his blade and struck the ground, creating some sort of green force field that divided the witches from the girls, knocking them all off balance. There were still the original three to deal with though, and they did not seem to like this thinning of their ranks.

Darcy whispered something into Riven's ear, and he shoved his way through the crowd of disoriented witches to expose his own magenta blade. He struck Prince Sky, forcing him to duck and roll, removing the force field that let the three senior witches back into the battle.

Round Two was worse than the first.

The girls were getting tossed around like rag dolls. Every time they got a punch in, the witches came back in full force. The ice witch turned the air so cold Bloom could barely feel her fingers, chasing down Stella as she combatted solar energy with frost. Darcy targeted Musa, tormenting the girl with clones and mirages, cornering her into a parking lot. She raised the cars in the air and aimed them Musa's way like some form of sick bumper cars. It only took a few of them to knock the music fairy out, her delicate frame lying splayed on the ground. Riven didn't even seem to care, his focus on Prince Sky and Brandon, the three of them clashing swords and brawling in the street.

Bloom needed to end this. They weren't going to last much longer.

She tried to fly towards Musa, to get her up off the ground before Darcy crushed her under the weight of ten cars, but she got pulled in by a tornado.

"Not so fast!" the poofy haired witch yelled, manipulating the storm as it tossed Bloom around, throwing her out roughly in the opposite direction of where she needed to be.

Again, Bloom dashed towards Musa, only to have lightning strike her off course.

"Your friends are done for! There's nothing you can do," the poofy haired witch taunted, blocking Bloom off at every turn.

Bloom was angry. Each bump and bruise, each time the witch stood in her way, only escalated the fury building inside her. It was getting too hard to contain. The red was overpowering. More than red was gold - a fiery gold that swarmed her vision. Her fists clenched tightly, primal energy building at her fingertips.

"Get out of my way!" Bloom roared.

There was such a huge surge of power that it knocked back everything in its path, sending the witches falling out of the sky and crashing to the ground. It seemed like disorganized chaos, but when the light dimmed down, for a split second, the image of a dragon could be seen coiling around the explosion's epicenter. It faded away quickly, the power surge dying. The light went away altogether, but everyone was gone when it went out. The witches were gone, the civilians were gone, Riven was gone. There were only the two Specialist and two fairies staring up as their friend touched back down to the ground with the most intense orange glow. There was no denying who was the cause of such an efflux of power. There was no denying that Bloom was so much more than what she led on to be. Not when she was radiating pure power and energy even when in a non-transformed state.

But Bloom didn't get to see any of that.

Exhaustion drove her to her knees and all she saw was darkness.

"We got our asses handed to us by freshmen. I hope that doesn't ruin our reputation," Stormy lamented as she studied her nails, one of them clearly broken.

The three sisters stood outside the doors to Cloud Tower, enjoying the positively terrible weather on the pavilion. It was a night for celebration, a night to revel in their victories even when they disguised themselves as losses. Nothing could ruin Icy's perfectly evil mood. She was standing on the cusp of greatness, she could practically taste it.

"It doesn't matter. Not one bit," Icy told her sister. "We finally know who has the Dragon Flame. All the power of the Magical Dimension is finally within reach."

"Now with Bloom's friend turned against her, it's only a matter of time before we turn the rest and have her running right into our clutches," Darcy added, arms folded across her chest as she looked up to the sky, no doubt thinking about how she would rearrange the stars to her image once she had the power to command them.

"What did you end up doing to that boy Darcy?" Stormy asked, unable to keep herself from taunting her sister. "Did you domesticate him?"

Darcy rolled her eyes. "He'll do his part. He'll make the perfect spy."

"And the perfect lover," Stormy said under her breath, causing both she and Icy to laugh at their sister's expense.

"Laugh all you want, but every part to this plan is important," Darcy replied shortly, not liking being made fun of. It wasn't her fault she had a sexual appetite that only egotistical, brutish males could satisfy. Besides, if she was going to use a boy for nefarious purposes, she might as well milk him for what he was worth. No one could blame her for that, especially not her sisters. Not when she was helping them towards greatness.

"You're right," Icy replied. Her sister had a fair point. Besides, one boy's fate hardly mattered in their grand scheme of things. He was insignificant, a pawn to be played and then discarded. They were the real players on the board, and in time everyone was going to know it. "Soon, all our hard work will pay off. We will rule like the queens we were always meant to be."